Watcher

Observers of time.

Basics

• Taxonomic Order: Insinsi

• Alignment: Aetherial

• Energy: Temporal Aether

• Lifespan: 2,400 years

• Diet: Well-preserved mortal fare

• Habitat: Arctic tundra

Origins

Evolved from shemir who were chosen by Father Time to observe the flow of time itself.

Description

Watchers are anthropomorphic beings with tall foreheads, hair around the fringes of their heads but not on top (usually black or white), and skin tone between copper and nutbrown.

Procreation

Watchers reproduce sexually and asexually. To reproduce asexually, they engage in a ritual of temporal aether and meditation that allows them to clone themselves. They can reproduce sexually with other watchers and other insinsi, where the offspring’s species follows that of the mother. Outside of these species, it requires supernatural intervention.

Powers

If in danger, a watcher can stop time by clapping their hands twice. This exhausts them and requires months of rest.

Observation

Watchers can move outside of the flow of time to observe it if they have trained their minds by meditating on the flow of time, usually with a ticking clock, for 24 straight weeks without resting. It is a meditative art to step outside the flow of time. They do this with a great deal of training. They can record the events they see using special quills called a manimbar and special paper called a sortian. Watchers have the ability to go back in time a full day to watch events over again if need be; with extensive training, they can learn to travel further back, but never forward (unnaturally). Going back a day is done by focusing to step outside of time, but doing it backward.

Weaknesses

Brown aether and littany metal can kill them.

Nations

There is one nation of watchers, the Chronurians.

Culture

Chronurians are stewards of history. Because of the supernatural energies on Shem, time can often be fragile, and the watchers have taken the responsibility of ensuring it remains as stable as possible. Watchers live in one massive city-state that exists at all points of time called Chronur. It is ruled by a massive council called the congregat. This 24,000-member parliament debates, discusses, and decides the policies of their people, writing the extensive Code that governs the lives of watchers. Members of the congregat are elected every Age by the whole of Chronur.

The main rules of the Code are related to their stewardship of time:

• Never change the past.

• Never intervene in the flow of time unless it is in danger.

• Never look into the future.

• Never reveal yourself without great cause.

• Worship none but Udraqes, Father Time.

But thousands of other rules, nuances, and convolutions exist. Because their city exists at all points in time, these rules become absolute retroactively. This leads to many complicated situations, and thus, Chronurians have an immense lawyers' guild.

Every Chronurian is equal in society. They have an equal voice as soon as they are legally adults (24 years). As children, they are raised communally, and they enter school very early to begin learning to master their powers, understanding the Code, and learning the basics. As adults, they often seek out specializations. The main specializations are those who take on the primary task of the watchers, recording history; lawyers; rogue-hunters; warriors; mystics; teachers; and builders.

They store dry food stuffs, maintaining their diets through well-preserved foods, as the flow of time in Chronur makes it difficult to keep food fresh. Because time flows differently, they simulate days, months, seasons in order to maintain a structured existence. They use holidays to designate changes of seasons.

Clothing is often muted, off-whites, dusty greys, pale browns. They work hard to be discreet, unnoticeable, in case they are ever exposed.

Rogues

Any watcher who violates the Code (in a major way) or intentionally tries to flee watcher society is considered "rogue." These are hunted down by the rogue-hunters, who kill them and erase any ill effects they have had on history. Rogues often do not survive very long without being very powerful, and thus, the most famous rogues are legendary. Rogues most often leave over matters of love for subjects they are watching, interventions into history, or acts of theft or murder. Some rogues gain hushed reverence for their deeds, while others are considered the most foul criminals.

Esoterica

Watchers are beings of temporal aether. They are the greatest of its users. They also use kor to follow up on history. All other esoteric energies are sometimes employed except for brown aether and fate.

Religion

Chronurians are required by their own laws to worship Udraqes, known also as Father Time. This is enforced by the rogue-hunters, who serve as secret police as well. The priesthood is non-hierarchical, but very structured. They have even stricter rules than the Code. Worship of Father Time is very rigid, with required services every two "weeks."

Their main beliefs are that time is sacred and must be protected. History is fragile, a thing manipulated by fell forces. They seek to preserve it through their practice, through meditation and prayer, and ritual offerings of foodstuffs. Every Age, there is a great gathering of watchers to pay tribute to Father Time by reciting their own histories. This lasts mere moments and many millennia at once.

Gender

Chronurians observe 24 genders, one for each hour of the day, and assign it based on the hour someone is born. They may change their gender as they please by declaring a new birth hour.

Economy

Chronurians share property communally.

Military

Ratkahthos, the rogue-hunters, are the most elite of warriors amongst the Chronurians. They have other warriors amongst them, all of whom serve the congregat directly.

Language

Their language is made up from a hodgepodge of many languages, including Latin, Greek, Arabic, and Mohawk.

Trade

Chronurians do not trade with anyone. They gather what they need from history.

Occupations

Some common occupations include

• Observer (metahistorian) - the basic watcher occupation.

• Ratkahthos - rogue-hunters

• Iehshàkon - ambassadors from one time period to another to speak to watchers in the past.

• Ohiatónhkwa - administrators who run the Chronurian archives.

• Congregat - parliamentarians of Chronur.

• Shakorihonniénni - those who teach other watchers.

• Anguestrian - those who ride the great eels (jinshin uwo) of time.

• Kéntson - anguestrians who are also warriors.

• Ohónhsa - those who attend Udraqes.

• Untlatisimah - a chaplain of the faith in a specific time period.

• Auscultator - a cleric of Father Time.

• Ecru druid - one who communes with the rivers of time.

• Meguohou - monk of Udraqes.

• Omarim - those who predict the future by studying the past and present, helping the Chronurians guess whom to follow and observe.

• Rogue Watcher - terrorists who disrupt time.

• Timeskipper - rogue watchers who become pirates of the timestream.

• À'are - rogue watchers who take up smuggling from the past.

Outside View

Most know nothing of watchers except rumors. Those who know of them often believe in them on faith alone, never interacting with them. Those who do interact with them often do so in very remarkable circumstances, thus giving watchers a certain mystique.

Notables

• Malakuq, Watcher Manifest, Crone of the Hourglass Sands

• Iqnacia, Consort of Hours

• Thurqus, Witness of the Broken Heart (rogue) (deceased)

• The Veil of the Sathers (rogue)

• Tarhaq, High Priestess of the Historian

• Wanthur, Spear of Hours, Rogue-Hunter-General

Estimated Populations

• Chronurians: 24,000,000

• Rogues: 24

• Others: Unknown

Sample Stats

PRO 7
ATH 8
STR 7
AWA 17
WIL 11
PRS 7
STH 8