A Return

[Corwin]

"Is Balance inferior to any of them, or just as equal? Were you there, at the start? Why is time travel banned? Why can everyone come together to prevent its spread or to stop those from Beyond, but not for anything else?"

[Anastasia]

"Balance is Balance. The Incarnations are equal, as far as we know, it's a valid choice," Waukeen says, thoughtfully, a hand to her chin, "I was at the beginning, but a question at a time." Waukeen says. "To begin with the question of time because it's the simplest: Are you familiar with the Temporal Compact?"

[Corwin]

"I know it exists and is enforced by everyone, but not the specifics. Would you mind filling me in?"

[Anastasia]

"Oh, that! That scandal, that fiasco," Waukeen sighs grandly, "Of course, Seira dear. Long, long ago mortals discovered the secrets of Chronomancy, a rare sort of magic meant to be used sparingly. Naturally, this was discarded as it was used more and more. Chronomancy isn't dreadfully hard in the Weave, in fact, it's an entire school akin to transmutation or divination.A 9th circle spell can travel thousands of years in the past, and greater magic even farther."

A pause to eat, Amaryl piping up with a thoughtful look on her face. She hums aloud, "Is it because the Incarnations aren't bound by linear time? I remember a report from Aurora talking to a creature created by the Incarnations, he was not bound by linear time."

"That's right, dearie," Waukeen agrees, and with a grand wave of her fork, "Oh, at first no one abused it. For a long time, as we were the ones who knew it and we are immune to temporal manipulation. Why, Shar herself could go to the past and slay you as a mortal, yet you would still be here. The Incarnations did not desire the main shepherds and keystones of Creation to be so casually changed, so they made it so it could not be so. Besides, it's terribly bad for business when the results keep changing. You can hardly predict market swings and trends when reality is shifting itself every five minutes!"

"So," Amaryl says, "If we aren't able to be changed, but others can be?"

"Precisely and precisely the problem. In time, mortals used temporal magic more and more, and all other creatures matched them. Results would change wildly with each intervention. I would be talking to a newly arrived soul, then it was never there mid word, until I sent a servant to counter the forces the changed its final fate. Then I'd resume the conversation, only for a minute later the soul not being there, because it died ten years ago in a massacre of its village. Again! Again! Again!  Do you know how tiresome it is to live in a reality where the past is constantly being altered? I daresay the Incarnations did not choose wisely there, but as this was after they had largely withdrawn, it fell on us to fix the problem."

"So we all got tired of it, enough to put aside the normal quibbles and decided to do something about it," Waukeen continues onward, "We had a grand meeting, the Convocation of Time. After a lot of negotiation and bickering, we all agreed to ban Chrononmancy. Even to ourselves, through - that reminds me. I am permitted to teach you some basic Chronomancy and how to mimic it with alter reality, though using it beyond that is utterly forbidden. Anyway, we made quite the force to enforce that on all sides. Aurora ran into one of them, Grandfather Time. They're known as Keepers of the Pact and are backed by quaruts from Mechanus, eladrin servants from Queen Morwel - she was instrumental in getting the pact agreed to, but that's a whole other story - and forces from all of the ethos and forces. They make sure the magic stays forbidden and they're extremely good at the task."

"I remember that report from Kascha," Amaryl admits, "About the Guardian as well as Grandfather Time. Was it truly so terrible to require those measures?"

"Worse," Waukeen says, "Near the end, there was a day that had over ten thousand temporal changes, each cascade unique to a time traveling past. Mystra herself agreed to limit her Weave to stop it." A resigned, tired sigh at that, "Dears, even thinking about those days gives me a a headache, and it shouldn't be possible for me to have one. Lathader was tired of adjusting newborn life to all the changes, with a new spread each change. Oghma grew weary of chronicling the changes each time the past was altered. I was fed up with my bottom line and profits being in flux, I couldn't invest confidently in anything! Even Asmodeus admitted he was sick of planning around the changes. It's simply had to go."

"Besides," Waukeen points out, "Shar was the main force against the change during the Convocation of Time, so this may have been one of her annoying plots. That or she was taking advantage of it, choose whichever you prefer. It really only got out of hand for about five millennia, rather rapidly in fact. I've always wondered about that, but no one can prove anything. It's tempting to assume it was one of her gambits, but it's also a mistake to think she's perfectly planned every mishap she takes advantage of."

A beat at that, a lull for wine to be enjoyed. A pause as Vayley comes through, replacing the main course with dessert - a confection of syrup, fruits, cream and cake. Once she's gone, "Of course, the changes to magic as a result are without a doubt a loss, but an unavoidable one. Did you know haste was a far more powerful spell before this, allowing far more accelerated action through temporal manipulation? Or that a spell of the 6th circle could allow temporal revision to a body hours in the past, undoing harm and calamity? Tragic, but for the best."

[Corwin]

"Why weren't just the harmful spells banned?" Seira asks curiously. "In fact, aren't there a couple spells that undo immediate harm to a person, along the lines of Fortunate Fate or Contingency? I cannot see the spell that returns the body to an earlier state as more debilitating, assuming it was kept under those same guidelines of immediate action rather than traveling hours into the past."

[Anastasia]

"We decided to be through, to remove any chance of the line being blurred," Waukeen says, "Better to remove an infection entirely, rather than to give it a foothold to recur." Sampling the dessert and making a pleased little noise, Waukeen pauses to have more. After several bites, "Also, most of us were wary of others abusing any latitude we left in. It wasn't going to be agreed to otherwise, so we took the agreement we could all accept."

[Corwin]

Carefully finishing a strawberry cheesecake, Seira asks Waukeen, "So what are we allowed to do, then? Something along the lines of divination, heading into the past to observe events?"

[Anastasia]

"As I said, nothing, beyond teaching you the basics," Waukeen says, "Which is more for self defense and knowledge than practical use. Stick to the magic you know- divinations to view the past, that manner of things."

[Corwin]

Does Shar have to ruin everything fun?!

Seira can't afford to be petulant for long, however. "Are there any other agreements or convocations that are hidden from everyone?" she asks. "In fact, what else is hidden from people? Anathemic knowledge? Secret planar layers?"

[Anastasia]

"Anathemic knowledge..." Waukeen trails off over her dessert, "Those are the main things that we've discussed. The Hidden Layers of Arborea are the other - Morwel offered them as dominions for the various functionaries of the Temporal Compact, and gained some dominion over time as a result. Other things? We all have our secrets, Seira. Secrets we ward ourselves, little things and big things alike. The mysteries of Chronias are but a well known example of that. Not even I know what awaits up there."

[Corwin]

"Or below, at Asmodad's place," Seira agrees with a nod. "Hells, I don't even know what the elf deities are up to, so hopefully it's not a junior goddess thing but a pantheon-wide secret thing."

Shaking her head, she asks, "Arborea is the only plane with hidden layers? Wait, that can't be, doesn't Elysium have at least one? I think I heard that in relation to anathemic knowledge."

[Anastasia]

"Oh the Se-" Waukeen pauses at that, "Wait, Asmodad?" she asks, a twitch of her lips up. "Seira, are you telling me something about your parentage?"

[Corwin]

"As if! You know my parentage. I just don't want to say his name and this is a funny alternative."

[Anastasia]

A chuckle follows at that as Amaryl joins in.

"Certainly, dear. No, the elves are keeping their current issue in house, whatever it is. They do that sometimes." Waukeen admits, "Versus with Moradin, who can be hard to get ten words out of, so it's always like that."

[Corwin]

"I won't take it personally, though. A shame, too, Amaryl really wanted to visit."