Research:Temporal rift

This is a research page for the temporal rift accessed by Chronomage punishment, Familiar Gate (930), and glyph traps. Each realm of the game has a fixed number of exits. Those areas without defined exit points will drop the person into their original room. In the past the temporal rift script caused temporary hasting, slowness, and strength weakening effects. Magic will ineffectually fizzle when cast inside the rift. The rift imposes its own randomly flaring hazards in the form of dispels and stuns or health, mana, and spirit drains. These only take a third of your remaining balance, mana drain will take half.

Walking in the rift incurs RT and an ambient messaging. There does not seem to be a hidden pattern for navigating in these messages. At the moment these rifts are buggy in that they display the regional weather and messaging from the day/night system. In the event an area is removed from the game, it still exists as otherwise inaccessible rooms. If this happens to include exit points for the temporal rift, such as when the Abandoned Inn was changed to the Hanging Inn or the alchemist shop was ransacked and closed down, the wrong version of the locations can still be accessed until it is eventually fixed.

Messaging

Rift Appearance

The temporal rift looks almost identical in all of its instances, but they are each separate and there are minor differences in the wording. Some of them allow "out" as a direction and others do not.

(1) Three Dimensions

[Temporal Rift]
Time and space seem to swirl around you.  You catch brief glimpses of events both past and future.  Beyond these strange and confusing visions extends a vast, ever-changing field of stars, pinpoints of light against unfathomable utter blackness.  It is very cold here.
Obvious paths: north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, up, down

(2) Four Dimensions

[Temporal Rift]
You are trapped in a time rift!  You catch brief glimpses of events both past and future.  Beyond these strange and confusing visions extends a vast, ever-changing field of stars, pinpoints of light against unfathomable utter blackness.  It is very cold here.
Obvious paths: north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, up, down, out

Entering Rift

Familiar Gate

Third Person:

XXX gestures.
A panicked look briefly crosses XXX's face as she is suddenly engulfed in a cloud of swirling blue-white essence!  Bizarre, alien sounds, discordant and grating, can be heard from within the mist for the moment before it dissipates.  When the mist clears, XXX is nowhere to be seen.

Glyph Trap

First Person:

Suddenly a dark splotch erupts from the lock mechanism and envelops you!  Time seems to slow down and almost stop...

 Suddenly you see yourself cast at a locked trunk about to try to look inside...something goes wrong but...

 Suddenly you see yourself cast at a locked trunk about to try to look inside...something goes wrong but...

 After a moment you feel a great sense of deja vu....

 Suddenly you see yourself cast at a locked trunk about to try to look inside...something goes wrong but...

 Your head begins to throb from all this.  After a moment your vision clears and you see...

Third Person:

XXX gestures at an enruned monir trunk.
A large, dark splotch erupts from the lock mechanism and engulfs XXX who subsequently vanishes!  A stiff wind rips past you and into the gulf which collapses on itself, leaving no sign it ever existed...

Chronomages Cross-Realm Punishment

This messaging is much older, dating back to the Navigators. It is when your gold ring gets "Navved", taken back by its owners.

First Person:

You gesture into the air.
A silvery fog envelops you.  You feel a sudden lurching motion, and as the fog dissipates you see...

Suddenly you find yourself standing in a large round room smelling of saltwater and wood.  The chamber is filled with a dozen or so men sitting shoulder to shoulder around the perimeter.  Each of them seems much larger than normal humans grow and all have the weathered look of a seafarer.  You seem to be the focus of their attention, standing dazed in the center of all this.

One of the less passive individuals steps forward.  A sneer crosses his face and he whispers, "Trying to use our time tunnels without one of our rings?  Think you can just do without us?"

He turns back to the rest of the assembly and declares, "Probably wanted to go into business for himself!"  With that, the room explodes with the roar of deafening laughter.  You begin to feel a little naked standing there like that.

The man turns back and starts rummaging through your pockets.  You move to resist but he is much quicker and stronger than any normal human you have encountered.  He steps back, empty handed and says, "Not even a silver to put forward as compensation for the infraction.  Time is money!  Now get out of here before we decide to teach you what thieves are worth to us!"

He adds, "We'll be keeping a close eye on you."

Suddenly your surroundings shift again...
[Temporal Rift - 1768]
Time and space seem to swirl around you.  You catch brief glimpses of events both past and future.  Beyond these strange and confusing visions extends a vast, ever-changing field of stars, pinpoints of light against unfathomable utter blackness.  It is very cold here.
Obvious paths: north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, up, down
Roundtime: 5 sec.

Exiting Temporal Rift

First Person

You suddenly notice that the images of your past are catching up with you.  With a blinding flash you find yourself whisked forward in time and space until...

Third Person

From inside the rift:
XXX wanders off into the star field and vanishes.

From outside the rift: 
Suddenly there is a horrible shriek and a bright, intense flash as XXX appears looking extremely confused!

Death

Dying in the temporal rift ends up sweeping you out into an exit spot for the realm.

First Person:

It seems you have died, my friend.  Although you cannot do anything, you are keenly aware of what is going on around you...

You mentally give a sigh of relief as you remember that the Goddess Lorminstra owes you a favor.

...departing in 10 mins...

>
 * XXXXX just bit the dust!
>loo
You suddenly notice that the images of your past are catching up with you.  With a blinding flash you find yourself whisked forward in time and space until...

[Thanatoph, Vine Covered Shrine - 3575]
Stepping into the small stone shrine, you are amazed as neither dust nor dirt nor any of the overgrowth that kept it hidden from outside is present.  Echoing the loud hum outside, the walls hum with the flow of ancient power.  There is a small opening set above a stone altar, but otherwise the shrine is empty.
Obvious exits: out

Movement

The following are the messages given when moving in the temporal rift. It incurs 3 seconds of RT. Some messages might not happen in some rift regions.

Number	Message
1	Time and space fold in upon itself...
2	You feel strange here...
3	Funny how life seems to repeat itself...
4	Things remembered, things forgotten, things never done...
5	You travel among the star field, randomly seeing visions of your past...
6	You wonder, now that you have it all to do over again...
7	You feel that if you just move forward enough you'll find your way out of this hiccough in time and space...

Area Effects

These are random area effects within the temporal rift. Not all of them are still functional. Some might not happen in some rift regions.

Number	Message	Effect
1	Dark forces tear at your soul!	33% Spirit Loss
2	The temperature drops rapidly!	33% Health Loss
3	Waves of anti-magic tear at you!	50% Mana Loss
4	Space collapses upon itself almost crushing you!	Stunned
5	Things seem to slow down around you!	Used to be a Haste spell effect
6	Time seems to speed up around you!	Use to be a Slow 2 spell effect, 9 seconds RT. (note: this message no longer happens)
7	Bright lights suddenly flash around you! You feel weaker!	Used to be an Unstrength effect
8	Dark waves of energy flow overhead!	Dispels 1 buff

Duration

It is unclear how the mechanism works for determining how long you stay in the temporal rift or if direction matters. If you do not move you will never leave it. If you die in the temporal rift, it will drop your body into an exit spot of that realm. There may be a maximum number of movements capped around 125. It is more likely only a probability of exit (~5%) on each movement or set by some form of random dice roll. Sometimes you exit on the first movement, other times it may take several dozen movements. Some rooms seem to have higher probability of happening, but this could be an artifact of low sample sizes.

Geographical Exits

The exits of the temporal rift are finite in number, and seemingly cannot be predicted from the rift messaging. While the rift can be entered from any room where it is possible to cast magic, including non-teleportable locations, the exits will be one of a given set of regional locations or else the same room. These rooms vary in the degree of hazard they pose from monsters. The temporal rift mechanics are old. The regions for them do not necessarily correspond cleanly to the current teleportation divisions of realms and zones. The Pinefar temporal rift exits are sometimes located in what is now the Icemule realm, where the realm of entry is what decides the set of exits. There are always twelve exits in the regions that drop you in other locations. Trails between towns and special areas usually have only one exit.

Broken Lands

There are twelve exit points in the Broken Lands with varying degrees of danger, particularly providing a way of circumventing the huge stairs and puzzles. The temporal rift is a hidden backdoor for the locked and/or trapped Sheruvian summoning chamber and chapel. This is the primary hazard for using the temporal rift in the Broken Lands, as these rooms will fill up with a few dozen greater vruul.

Number	Room	Region	Hazards	Lich Number
1	[The Broken Lands, Jagged Plain]	Jagged Plain (Crystal Dome)	Giant fog beetles, hooded figures; meteors, boiling mud	7450
2	[The Broken Lands, Jagged Plain]	Jagged Plain (northeast)	Giant fog beetles, hooded figures; meteors, boiling mud	17327
3	[The Broken Lands, Jagged Plain]	Jagged Plain (far east)	Giant fog beetles, hooded figures; meteors, boiling mud	7457
4	[The Broken Lands, Workshop]	Uthex Abode	Hooded figures, Sheruvians	6629
5	[Deep Pit]	Dark Grotto (southeast)	None; magru nearby	7473
6	[Dark Grotto, Cavern]	Dark Grotto (southwest)	Magru	7466
7	[Dark Grotto, Huge Cavern]	Dark Grotto	Myklian, rare dark vorteces	7482
8	[Dark Grotto, Long Stairway]	Dark Grotto	Lesser vruul, dark vorteces	24560
9	[Dark Shrine, Storage Room]	Dark Shrine (west)	Lesser vruul	19272
10	[Elder's Chambers, Bath]	Sheruvian Monastery (east)	Monks, initiates, banshees, large black cat	6672
11	[Sheruvian Monastery, Chapel]	Sheruvian Monastery (center-west)	Greater vruul; priests, warlocks, monks, harbingers	6653
12	[Sheruvian Monastery, Summoning Chamber]	Sheruvian Monastery (center-east)	Greater vruul; warlocks, monks, harbingers	6665

Rift Appearance:

[Temporal Rift]
Time and space seem to swirl around you.  You catch brief glimpses of events both past and future.  Beyond these strange and confusing visions extends a vast, ever-changing field of stars, pinpoints of light against unfathomable utter blackness.  It is very cold here.
Obvious paths: north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, up, down

Caligos Isle

Goblyn has a temporal rift access point to her office when Caligos is opened to the public for the Ebon's Gate festival.

Number	Room	Region	Hazards	Lich Number
1	[Between Spaces, Cavern]	Goblyn's Garden	Goblyn

Rift Appearance:

[Temporal Rift]
Darkness abounds in every direction, even up and down, creating a dizzying effect further compounded by the impression of time and space swirling around you.  You catch brief glimpses of events both past and future -- or so it seems.  Beyond these strange and confusing visions extends a vast, ever-changing field of stars, pinpoints of light against unfathomable utter blackness.  A heavy chill fills the space around you.
Obvious paths: north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, up, down

Elemental Confluence

There are no special exit rooms for the Elemental Confluence. It is separate from the regions where it was entered.

Icemule

There are twelve exit points in the Icemule region. It does not drop you further up the Pinefar trail than Olbin Pass. From Olbin Pass it is still Icemule exits.

Number	Room	Region	Hazards	Lich Number
1	[Snow Fort, Battlement]	Snow Fort	Snow spectre	3023
2	[Bramble Ravine]	Abandoned Farm (north)	Wraith	3023
3	[Abandoned Farm, Orchard]	Abandoned Farm	Rotting farmhand, spectral woodsman, elder tree spirit	3149
4	[Twisting Tunnels]	Twisting Tunnels	Cave gnome	15926
5	[Ice Plains, Master Quarters]	Ice Plains	Cold guardian	3297
6	[Abbey, Ossuary]	Abbey	Arch wights	15944
7	[Icemule, Ruins]	North Gate	Lesser frost shades	3324
8	[Frozen Garden, Clearing]	South Gate	Thyril	3173
9	[Subterranean Island, Hillock]	Thurfel Island	None; crocodile, monkey nearby	9134
10	[A Frozen Battlefield]	Frozen Battlefield	Frost giants, ice trolls, skeletal ice trolls	3255
11	[Snowflake Vale, Clearing]	Snowflake Vale	Greater ice spider, snowy cockatrice	3210
12	[Olbin Pass, Boiling Lake]	Olbin Pass	None; greater ice giants, snow crones nearby	2890

Rift Appearance:

[Temporal Rift]
You are trapped in a time rift!  You catch brief glimpses of events both past and future.  Beyond these strange and confusing visions extends a vast, ever-changing field of stars, pinpoints of light against unfathomable utter blackness.  It is very cold here.
Obvious paths: north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, up, down

Lich's Landing

Goblyn's workshop has a special temporal rift (also accessed on Caligos) and leads to her office which has books on making time warps. Lich's Landing is otherwise Wehnimer's Landing realm.

Number	Room	Region	Hazards	Lich Number
1	[Between Spaces, Cavern]	Goblyn's Garden	Goblyn

Rift Appearance:

[Temporal Rift]
Darkness abounds in every direction, even up and down, creating a dizzying effect further compounded by the impression of time and space swirling around you.  You catch brief glimpses of events both past and future -- or so it seems.  Beyond these strange and confusing visions extends a vast, ever-changing field of stars, pinpoints of light against unfathomable utter blackness.  A heavy chill fills the space around you.
Obvious paths: north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, up, down

Unique Movement Messages:

Number	Message
1	Memories flit across your vision as if they haven't yet happened..
2	Your head aches from the inside out, the convergence of time scrambling your thoughts.
3	A possible future, just within your grasp to spy upon, but then it streams past you...

Entrance Messaging:

First Person:

Pushing your hand against the nonsensical carvings causes the solid rock to melt away.  You continue forward, the rock providing no resistance to your movement, yet somehow reforming around you.  Your vision dims as your face passes into the rock.  Time seems to slow down and almost stop...

Suddenly you see yourself pushing your hand against the rock wall and walking straight into it... something goes wrong, but...

Suddenly you see yourself pushing your hand against the rock wall and walking straight into it... something goes wrong, but...

Suddenly you see yourself pushing your hand against the rock wall and walking straight into it... something goes wrong, but...

After a moment, you feel a great sense of deja vu...

Suddenly you see yourself pushing your hand against the rock wall and walking straight into it... something goes wrong, but...

Your head begins to throb from all this.  After a moment your vision clears, and you see...

Third Person:

A faint shadow suddenly appears, then gradually solidifies into XXXXX.

Exit Messaging:

First Person:

You suddenly notice that the images of your past are catching up with you.  You take one more step, then you seem to fall down a hole, hard and fast so that time and space hurl past you.  An overwhelming sense of nausea and vertigo descend upon you, and you lose all sense of direction until you feel yourself slam against something... the ground?...

Third Person:

XXXXX wanders off into the star field and vanishes.

Old Ta'Faendryl

There are twelve exits within Old Ta'Faendryl. Ithzir when faded out (invisible) will follow you into the temporal rift.

Number	Room	Region	Hazards	Lich Number
1	[Old Ta'Faendryl, East Woods]	East Woods (north)	gremlocks, lesser constructs	11910
2	[East Woods, Tunnel]	East Woods (south)	gremlocks, lesser constructs	15570
3	[East Woods, Tunnel]	East Woods (south)	gremlocks, lesser constructs	15588
4	[Observatory Entrance]	Observatory	None	11992
5	[Forgotten Pool]	Observatory	stooped being, gremlock, festering taint	11995
6	[Aqueduct]	Observatory	stooped being, gremlock, festering taint	12003
7	[Aqueduct]	Basilica	stooped being, gremlock, festering taint	11883
8	[Basilica Platform, Third Level]	Basilica	Ithzir seer, Ithzir scout	12040
9	[Execution Square]	OTF East	Ithzir	11902
10	[Old Ta'Faendryl, Foothill Base]	OTF North	Ithzir	12046
11	[Old Ta'Faendryl, Foothill]	OTF West	war griffins, Ithzir	11990
12	[Ta'Faendryl Approach]	Entrance	Ithzir scout, lesser construct	11811

Rift Appearance:

Time and space seem to swirl around you.  You catch brief glimpses of events both past and future.  Beyond these strange and confusing visions extends a vast, ever-changing field of stars, pinpoints of light against unfathomable utter blackness.  It is very cold here.
Obvious paths: north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, up, down, out

Pinefar

There are twelve exits in the Pinefar region, some overlap with the Icemule region. Nightmare Gorge is the transition point, everything south of the rockslide (Lich #2795) counts as Icemule, if setting off a temporal rift. Everything north counts as Pinefar. This matches the Planar Shift (740) runes for demarcating the realms. It is possible to exit the Drake's Shrine this way, bypassing the swim and mountain.

Number	Room	Region	Hazards	Runes	Lich Number	Notes
1	[Top of the World, Aenatumgana]	Aenatumgana (north)	Polar bears, sabre-tooth tigers	spiraling icy blue "beq-noj-ch-op-aq" glyphs	2725	Pinefar Region; Fragment from 5117 Modern Era glaes meteor
2	[Top of the World, Aenatumgana]	Aenatumgana (south)	Sabre-tooth tigers	jagged icy blue "beq-noj-th-th-eks" sigils	2711	Pinefar Region
3	[Top of the World, Aenatumgana]	Aenatumgana (middle)	Ice elementals, lesser ice elementals, seekers	None	2695	Pinefar Region
4	[Top of the World, Frozen Tundra]	Frozen Tundra	Sabre-tooth tigers	broken icy blue "beq-noj-th-pu-so" symbols	2737	Pinefar Region
5	[Top of the World, Frozen Tundra]	Frozen Tundra	Sabre-tooth tigers	sinuous icy blue "beq-noj-th-pu-ty" glyphs	2740	Pinefar Region
6	[Arctic Tundra]	Arctic Tundra	Ice wraith, major glacei	spiraling icy blue "beq-hee-op-ka-noj" signs	2758	Pinefar Region
7	[Arctic Tundra]	Arctic Tundra	Wooly mammoth	circular icy blue "beq-hee-op-ka-th" glyphs	2749	Pinefar Region
8	[A Silent Path]	Voln (Pinefar)	None	None	2802	Pinefar Region
9	[Northern Mountains, Pine Forest]	Nightmare Gorge (south)	Grizzly bears, minor glacei	curving frosty white "beq-hee-op-op-gy" runes	2814	Icemule Region
10	[Northern Mountains, Dark Caves]	Nightmare Gorge (west)	Arctic wolverine	broken frosty white "beq-hee-es-mer-so"	2858	Icemule Region
11	[Northern Slopes, Rock Ledge]	Nightmare Gorge (east)	Grizzly bears, caribou	spiraling frosty white "beq-hee-op-op-aq" glyphs	2832	Icemule Region
12	[Atop an Immense Boulder]	Nightmare Gorge (west)	Arctic wolverines, snow leopards	curving frosty white "beq-hee-es-aq-ka" signs	2846	Icemule Region

Rift Appearance:

[Temporal Rift]
You are trapped in a time rift!  You catch brief glimpses of events both past and future.  Beyond these strange and confusing visions extends a vast, ever-changing field of stars, pinpoints of light against unfathomable utter blackness.  It is very cold here.
Obvious paths: north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, up, down

The Rift

There are twelve exit points in The Rift. Temporal rifts are an obscure method for randomly hopping between planes without having to climb threads. The primary hazard is that it can drop you onto Planes 4 and 5. The lower planes can be accessed this way from the Scatter. It is not possible to land in the Scatter using a temporal rift. Burrowed enormous rift crawlers will follow you into temporal rifts.

Number	Room	Region	Hazards	Lich Number
1	Ten Swords	Plane 1	Raving lunatic, seraceris, naisirc, Vvrael witch	2584
2	Antlered Man	Plane 1	Raving lunatic, seraceris, naisirc, Vvrael witch	2632
3	Many Stair	Plane 1	Raving lunatic, seraceris, naisirc, Vvrael witch	2604
4	Man in Storm Clouds	Plane 1	Raving lunatic, seraceris, naisirc, Vvrael witch	2613
5	Metal Rod Pit	Plane 2	Caedera, raving lunatic, csetairi, Vvrael warlock	12123
6	Giant On Poles	Plane 2	Caedera, raving lunatic, csetairi, Vvrael warlock	12104
7	Couple Sinking Boat	Plane 2	Caedera, raving lunatic, csetairi, Vvrael warlock	12089
8	Half-Angel Half-Demon	Plane 2	Caedera, raving lunatic, csetairi, Vvrael warlock	12109
9	Trolls Giants Sled	Plane 3	Aivren, n'ecare, Vvrael warlock, enormous rift crawler	20878
10	Blood Geyser	Plane 3	Aivren, n'ecare, Vvrael warlock, enormous rift crawler	12185
11	Boy vs. Six Men	Plane 4	Enormous rift crawler, fallen crusader, glistening cerebralite	12145
12	Worms Cover Walls & Floor	Plane 5	Vaespilon, lost soul, enormous rift crawler	12209

Rift Appearance:

[Temporal Rift]
You are trapped in a time rift!  You catch brief glimpses of events both past and future.  Beyond these strange and confusing visions extends a vast, ever-changing field of stars, pinpoints of light against unfathomable utter blackness.  It is very cold here.
Obvious paths: north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, up, down

River's Rest

There are a dozen exits around River's Rest. Most of them are in the Citadel, a few are next to the town. It seems to take longer than average to escape this rift.

Number	Room	Region	Hazards	Lich Number
1	[Sea Tunnels]	River's Rest (north)	pale crab, giant rat	11128
2	[Sea Caves]	River's Rest (northeast)	krolvin mercenary, krolvin warrior	11080
3	[Under the Ship's Shadow]	River's Rest (northeast)	krolvin warrior, krolvin warfarer	11122
4	[Krol Ship, Officer's Cabins]	River's Rest (northeast)	krolvin warrior, krolvin warfarer	11103
5	[Citadel, Gardens]	Citadel (east)	None (Aeia's Shrine)	11336
6	[Alchemist, Cage Room]	Citadel (east)	mongrel kobold	11321
7	[Zoo, Wolverine Cage]	Citadel (center)	monkey, crocodile	11285
8	[Armory, Armorer Stores]	Citadel (north)	greater orc, large ogre	11212
9	[Hidden Vale, Hill Wall]	Citadel (southeast)	cave troll, mountain troll, hill troll	11410
10	[Troll Lair, Pet's Room]	Citadel (south)	mountain troll, cave bear, troll chieftain	11422
11	[Garrison, Latrine]	Citadel (north)	spectral warriors	11186
12	[Council Library]	Citadel (west)	ethereal mage apprentice, putrified Citadel herald	11373

Rift Appearance:

[Temporal Rift]
You are trapped in a time rift!  You catch brief glimpses of events both past and future.  Beyond these strange and confusing visions extends a vast, ever-changing field of stars, pinpoints of light against unfathomable utter blackness.  It is very cold here.
Obvious paths: north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, up, down

Sanctum of Scales

There are no special exit rooms for the Sanctum of Scales. It is separate from the Solhaven region.

Shadow Valley

There are twelve exit points within Shadow Valley. It is separate from the Landing region.

Number	Room	Region	Hazards	Lich Number
1	[Dark Enclosure] (Odd Markings)	Dark Shaft (west)	Ghostly pookas	4559
2	[Dark Tunnel]	Dark Shaft (middle)	Ghostly pookas	4551
3	[Dark Enclosure] (Cold Air)	Dark Shaft (west)	Ghostly pookas	4557
4	[Mine Tunnels] (Scatted Clay)	Mine Tunnels (near entrance)	Spectral miners	7428
5	[Mine Tunnels] (Black Mud Cakes)	Mine Tunnels (southeast)	Spectral miners	7432
6	[Mine Tunnels] (Dragon)	Mine Tunnels	Spectral miners	7423
7	[Shadow Valley]	Next to Ledge	Shadow steeds, shadow mares	7367
8	[Shadow Valley, Dark Pasture] (Grass Clumps)	Dark Pasture (northeast)	Shadow steeds, shadow mares	7337
9	[Shadow Valley, Dark Pasture] (Deep Cracks)	Dark Pasture (middle)	Shadow steeds, shadow mares	7373
10	[Shadow Plain, Black Hills]	Shadow Plain (northeast)	Night mares	7357
11	[Shadow Plain] (Long Twisting Shadows)	Shadow Plain (southeast)	Shadow mares	7367
12	[Shadow Plain] (Ravine)	Shadow Plain (southwest)	Shadow steeds	7387

Rift Appearance:

[Temporal Rift]
You are trapped in a time rift!  You catch brief glimpses of events both past and future.  Beyond these strange and confusing visions extends a vast, ever-changing field of stars, pinpoints of light against unfathomable utter blackness.  It is very cold here.
Obvious paths: north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, up, down

Solhaven

There are twelve exits around Solhaven. The most dangerous exit is inside Bonespear Tower.

Number	Room	Region	Hazards	Lich Number
1	[Vornavian Coast, North Beach]	Vornavian Coast (north)	fire guardians, firephantoms, fire salamanders	5187
2	[Vornavian Coast, Coastal Cliffs]	Vornavian Cost (northeast)	puma, manticore, great boar	5158
3	[Vornavian Coast, Beached Hulk]	Vornavian Coast	death dirges, greater ghouls	5244
4	[Vornavian Coast, Caverns]	Vornavian Coast (west)	cave trolls, greater spiders, spectres	5139
5	[Vornavian Coast, South Beach]	Vornavian Coast (south)	whiptails	5230
6	[Warrens]	Foggy Valley (west)	fenghai	5669
7	[Vornavian Coast, The Hills]	Foggy Valley (west)	thunder trolls, wind witches	5286
8	[Deep Woods, Overgrowth]	Foggy Valley (north)	vesperti	5708
9	[Bonespear Tower, Lever Room]	Foggy Valley (southeast)	eidolon, waern, dybbuk	13030
10	[Vornavis, Peasant Holdings]	Marshtown (east)	black-winged daggerbeak	5456
11	[Vornavis, The Bog]	Marshtown (center)	shelfae chieftain	5632
12	[Noman's Land, Cave]	Marshtown (west)	cyclops	5378

Rift Appearance:

[Temporal Rift]
You are trapped in a time rift!  You catch brief glimpses of events both past and future.  Beyond these strange and confusing visions extends a vast, ever-changing field of stars, pinpoints of light against unfathomable utter blackness.  It is very cold here.
Obvious paths: north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, up, down
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.

Ta'Illistim

There are no special exit rooms for the Ta'Illistim region.

Ta'Vaalor

There are twelve exits around Ta'Vaalor.

Number	Room	Region	Hazards	Lich Number
1	[Briar Thicket]	Briar Thicket	Kobolds	10284
2	[Riverside, Boat Dock]	Ravelin	None	13923
3	[Plains of Bone, Ruins]	Plains of Bone	Arch wights, ghoul masters, dark shamblers	10748
4	[Yander's Farm, Tool Storage]	Yander's Farm	Black rolton, Brown gak	6015
5	[Neartofar Forest, Stockade]	Neartofar Forest	Ogre warrior	10667
6	[Lunule Weald, Zelia's Shrine]	Lunule Weald	None; frenzied monks, tree spirits nearby	10596
7	[Fethayl Bog, Underground Crypt]	Fethayl Bog	None; bog wight, bog spectre, warrior shade nearby	10156
8	[Catacombs, Sewers]	Catacombs	Giant rats	5936
9	[Ta'Vaalor, Magical Supply]	Ta'Vaalor	None	10364
10	[Rambling Meadows, Shrine] (Imaera's)	Rambling Meadows	Striped relnak, spotted leaper, thyril	6011
11	[Rambling Meadows, Tool Shed]	Rambling Meadows	Striped relnak, spotted leaper, thyril	10479
12	[Latticework Building]	Wildflower Field	Agresh troll warrior	10268

Teras Isle

There are twelve exit points on Teras Isle.

Number	Room	Region	Hazards	Lich Number
1	[Fhorian Village, Storage Shed]	Fhorian Village	Wasp nests	12632
2	[Fhorian Village, Storage Shed]	Fhorian Village (east)	siren lizard, firethorn shoot	12661
3	[Small House, Bedroom]	Fhorian Village	Wasp nests	12655
4	[Fish Plant, Office]	Fhorian Village	Wasp nests	2098
5	[Mausoleum, Catacombs]	Fhorian Village	Banshees	2292
6	[Depths of V'Tull, Lower Eye]	Eye of V'Tull	Fire elemental, fire mage, lava golem	12788
7	[Glaes Vein]	Glaes Cavern	Fire sprite, red tsark	2234
8	[Lava Flows, Greening]	Lava Flows	Massive pyrothags, cinder wasps, skayl	2145
9	[Lava Flows, Molten Stream]	Lava Flows (west)	Cinder wasps, massive pyrothags, skayl	2126
10	[Glade]	Near Kharam Dzu	None	12567
11	[Abandoned Mine, Scaffolding]	Abandoned Mine	Kiramon workers	12546
12	[Wind Tunnel]	Luukos Temple	Wind wraith	12596

Rift Appearance:

[Temporal Rift]
You are trapped in a time rift!  You catch brief glimpses of events both past and future.  Beyond these strange and confusing visions extends a vast, ever-changing field of stars, pinpoints of light against unfathomable utter blackness.  It is very cold here.
Obvious paths: north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, up, down, out

Wehnimer's Landing

There are twelve exit points for the Landing, which are places of power with subtle histories. These are shrines, magical workshops, and greater essence focii.

Number	Room	Region	Hazards	Notes	Lich Number
1	[Spider Temple, Central Chamber]	Spider Temple	Arachne priests, acolytes, mammoth arachnids	Arachne Shrine	8349
2	[Shrine]	Glatoph (southeast)	None; frost giants, arctic titans nearby	Ice dragon statue; Great Drake Shrine	7866
3	[Glatoph, Arch]	Glatoph (Volcano)	None; fire guardians, firephantoms nearby		7902
4	[Lysierian Hills, A Small Shrine]	Lysierian Hills (Lake Marliese)	None; pumas, black bears nearby	Imaera's Shrine	6460
5	[Colossus, Crown]	Near Abandoned Inn	None; hill trolls nearby	Koar's Shrine	6853
6	[Alchemist's House, Laboratory]	Wehnimer's Landing (northeast)	None	Greater essence node symptoms	23246
7	[Thanatoph, Vine Covered Shrine]	Thanatoph (west)	None; red bears, mountain lions nearby	Meyno's Shrine; greater essence node symptoms	3575
8	[Mountain Path]	Upper Trollfang (south)	None; near forest trolls	Ye Oddity Workshop; greater essence node symptoms	8546
9	[Abandoned Inn, Ruined Workshop]	Near Danjirland	None; near hill trolls	AI Crystal	6882
10	[Under Crypt, Ice Room]	The Graveyard	None; near arch wights	Bandur Etrevion Shrine; greater essence node symptoms	7229
11	[Gorge, Intersection]	Darkstone Castle (entrance)	Velnalin	Greater essence node symptoms	6955
12	[Cave, Rimstone Dam]	Danjirland	Cave trolls		7799

Rift Appearance:

[Temporal Rift]
Time and space seem to swirl around you.  You catch brief glimpses of events both past and future.  Beyond these strange and confusing visions extends a vast, ever-changing field of stars, pinpoints of light against unfathomable utter blackness.  It is very cold here.
Obvious paths: north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, up, down

Zul Logoth

There are twelve exits around Zul Logoth. They are all fairly close to Zul Logoth itself.

Number	Room	Region	Hazards	Lich Number
1	[Zaerthu Tunnels, Chimney]	Zaerthu Tunnels	Grutik savage, grutik shaman, roa'ter wormling	5793
2	[Zaerthu Tunnels, Nexus]	Zaerthu Tunnels	Grutik savage, grutik shaman, roa'ter wormling	5797
3	[Zaerthu Tunnels, Wide Tunnel]	Zaerthu Tunnels	Grutik savage, grutik shaman, roa'ter wormling	5822
4	[Zul Logoth, Excavaton]	Zul Logoth (jail)	None	9404
5	[Zul Logoth, Marcasite Tunnel]	Zul Logoth (east)	None	994
6	[Zul Logoth, Marcasite Tunnel]	Zul Logoth	None	9440
7	[Zul Logoth, A Damp Hole]	Zul Logoth	None	9403
8	[Zul Logoth, Mine Extension]	Zul Logoth	None	9509
9	[Czeroth Caverns, Dark Niche]	Czeroth Caverns (south)	Cave lizard, giant veaba	9575
10	[Mraent Cavern, Entrance Tunnel]	Mraent Cavern	Krynch, giant albino scorpion	5752
11	[Stonecutters' Lodge, Reception]	Mraent Cavern	Krynch, giant albino scorpion	5765
12	[Troll Burial Grounds]	Troll Burial Grounds	Troll wraith, rock troll zombie, undertaker bat	9514

Rift Appearance:

[Temporal Rift]
Time and space seem to swirl around you.  You catch brief glimpses of events both past and future.  Beyond these strange and confusing visions extends a vast, ever-changing field of stars, pinpoints of light against unfathomable utter blackness.  It is very cold here.
Obvious paths: north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, up, down
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.

Incidents

There have been times where temporal rifting has occurred as an accidental phenomenon, sweeping people up into them involuntarily. There have been some intentional cases as well.

• Melgorehn's Reach sometimes does it when it is storming.
• It happened during the time of the Schism of Dreams in the Ride of the Red Dreamer story.
• It (may have) happened during the approach of the Elemental Confluence to Elanthia.
• Malluch abducted Cruxophim into the time rift with a glyphed box.
• Malaphor opened one with Familiar Gate (930) for his apprentice Tindal and the elven babe form of Daephron Illian.

Analysis

This section is interpretive analysis. It is only as good as the available information. There is no implication at all that the geometric interpretations below were actually intentional. They are rationalizations.

Space-Time Properties

The temporal rift is coterminous with a region of a given plane of existence in the sense that it may be accessed through a glyph spell from any point in that region. These would be the "flow pattern" realms of 740. This will even work in anti-magical rooms. Glyph traps when set off inside the temporal rift bring you to the same temporal rift for the same corresponding region. The temporal rift manifestly has very little spatial extent. When the rift is entered from anywhere in the corresponding region, the people will appear standing next to other people who were already present. It is unknown how many people it holds.

When walking into the distance the people arrive again with a roundtime of a few seconds. There is not enough information to determine the shape of the rift's geometry. It does not tell you which directions the people are arriving from, such as the opposite way or the same way flipped in mirror translation. There is also no messaging about being able to see copies of yourself or others in multiple directions.

Topological Possibilities:

Most temporal rifts are locally manifolds with three-dimensional spatial extent. Some of the temporal rifts have four spatial dimensions. There is apparently local gravity, and therefore orientation, except people may move up and down with no indication of how that looks or works. Obvious candidates for its global geometry are higher dimensional spheres, such as S3 as a surface around S4, and the varieties of toroidal surfaces that are closed spaces. If the temporal rift is instead a non-orientable geometry, the latter could be forms of the Klein bottle, the higher dimensional version of the Moebius strip.

The universal existence of either only one or twelve exit points from the rift might be rationalized geometrically. They could reflect the eight cardinal directions and equal divisions of a plane along with up/down and in/out directions. It may be interpreted as a Poincare or stellated dodecahedron as a covering on the Riemann sphere by a surface with four holes and branch points at the center of pentagrams. The Poincare dodecahedron is essentially formed by gluing together all the unique rotations of a d20 die, and the only non-sphere that has a finite set (120) of equivalent loops back to a starting point.

It is similarly possible that the temporal rift is fundamentally a topological space with no meaningful distance metric, or a metric that is highly non-uniform and/or curves through another dimension to return the traveler to the origin. The messaging is explicit that time and space are fluctuating. Time undergoes accelerations, space folds on itself, and space collapses which stuns and knocks you down. The expansion of the volume may cause the sudden temperature drops through adiabatic cooling. There is very little in the way of heat sources. There could also be a boundary and discontinuous return to the center.

Time Properties:

Whether the game setting has our real world physics concerning relativistic effects is not explicitly defined, but it does have temporal fluctuations and variations in its rates and so on. In the preceding context regarding geometry, there is a related way of gluing together the faces of a dodecahedron to form instead a hyperbolic geometry, known as a Seifert-Weber manifold. The mathematics of special relativity are naturally expressed in hyperboloid equations, so there is a fairly minor leap to connecting the dodecahedral rationalizations of the temporal rift's 12 exits with the relativity of local time and simultaneity in the rift. The synchrony with Elanthia in spite of the fluctuations would be saying the person in the rift maintains the same length of "proper time" in both spaces regardless of frames of reference in the rift.

In the past there were speed variations from Haste and Slow that changed the round time when moving. These are local variations within the rift. In terms of its global space, the temporal rift remains in synchrony with the associated planes. This might not always be true for NPCs, such as the apprentice of Malaphor, and Daephron Illian with his reverse and rapid aging. The messaging implies the timelines of the people foreign to the plane manifest in images. It is possible to see one's own past and future events in the rift, which has been done in storylines to a player character on at least one occasion.

Historical Context

The Familiar Gate (930) spell was released at approximately the same time as the very beginning of the Vvrael quest. The apprentice of Malaphor, a surviving royal mage of House Ashrim in exile on Ruin Creek, fled a black knight through a time rift using the spell. The black knight was killed by adventurers in the Elven Village near Danjirland. The apprentice brought an elven babe that had emerged from a rift in the enruned box that was present. This turned out to be Daephron Illian --- an ancient Faendryl sorcerer from the time of the Undead War who was responsible for opening the rift that allowed the Vvrael to enter --- whose life force was tied up in keeping the rift sealed. He rapidly aged and told his story until finally dying of old age over a period of some minutes. The box became unimportant after that event.

The Rift itself is not obviously temporal in nature, but most of its rooms correspond to Tarot. The Vvrael quest had a number of prophecy subtexts. These will be analyzed separately on Research:The Rift (planes) and Research:The Vvrael Quest. The temporal rift allowed magic and did not have violent area effect mechanics. This was changed some time before the year 2000. Their anti-magical and draining flavors strongly suggest this was a consequence of the Vvrael. It was formerly possible to bypass the nebulous sphere with rifts to evade the spirit draining. The Cavern of Ages now qualifies as Pinefar.