Candlekeep Forum
Candlekeep Forum
Home | Profile | Register | Active Topics | Active Polls | Members | Private Messages | Search | FAQ
Username:
Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

 All Forums
 Forgotten Realms Journals
 General Forgotten Realms Chat
 Why isn't there a current and official deity of...
 New Topic  New Poll New Poll
 Reply to Topic
 Printer Friendly
Next Page
Author Previous Topic Topic Next Topic
Page: of 3

Dennis
Great Reader

9933 Posts

Posted - 06 Aug 2012 :  06:53:23  Show Profile Send Dennis a Private Message  Reply with Quote  Delete Topic

Time? It's one of the most important facets of life, of existence. And nearly all facets have been covered by so many deities, lesser and greater alike. So why not Time? Or is Mystra the sort of unofficial bearer of this? Or Amaunator? If so, why not make it official then?

Perhaps Ao deems Time so important to the preservation of Balance that he's keeping it himself? ...so that if or when his crystal sphere teeters on the edge of Imbalance, he can readily manipulate Time and reset the whole CS to an era of relative balance, thereby sparing him enough time to prevent the future cataclysm that would threaten his own creation?

Every beginning has an end.

Quale
Master of Realmslore

1757 Posts

Posted - 06 Aug 2012 :  07:53:25  Show Profile Send Quale a Private Message  Reply with Quote
There could be more gods in the Realms, compare with other mythologies, hundreds, it's difficult to fit them all in a sourcebook, you can't expect this level of detail

or the list of portfolios is too long, few years ago I added dozens to the the official ones, why not Space, Force, Energy, Entropy etc.?

Go to Top of Page

The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31799 Posts

Posted - 06 Aug 2012 :  07:57:42  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
The Faerūnian pantheon does not have a specific deity of time any more. Mystryl was the Netherese deity of time, even though Amaunator believed he was actually the deity of time [see Amaunator's entry in F&A].

The absense of any Time portfolio among any pantheons [excluding that held by Labelas] indicates that there is currently no true emphasis of the Time portfolio on Toril at this point. I'm content to believe that the Time portfolio is currently unclaimed in the human pantheons... it's largely supported by the lore and we've seen nothing to suggest otherwise at this point. Eric may have other ideas for the portfolio itself... something that couldn't be explored properly in the material for F&P or LEoF and so held back on it until it could be treated completely:-

"I agree, it's pretty unclear at the moment, and I'm not sure I'd want to be definitive about it until some future project (I have nothing in mind) called for it. (In other words, leave room for further development.)

--Eric"

For myself, I'd say it should probably be given to Jergal.

Candlekeep Forums Moderator

Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com
-- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct

Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)

"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood

Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage

Edited by - The Sage on 06 Aug 2012 07:59:45
Go to Top of Page

The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31799 Posts

Posted - 06 Aug 2012 :  07:59:06  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
There's also Chronos -- who is [was] an alias of Labelas.

Interestingly, I've also thought about the possibility that the Time portfolio may have ended up in the hands of Labelas...

To which, Eric added:- "...depending on whether you see the human kingdom of Orva being a Netherese survivor state."

Orva's status as a human kingdom is probable [see the 'Orva' details in the second paragraph of Labelas's entry], according to Eric, who said:- "I add the [probable] qualifier because I had to insert a little bit of Realmslore in Demihuman Deities in the write-up of Labelas Enoreth. (Look at the alias list.) This was to patch up the lack of a time portfolio among any human Realms god and because the only gods left to detail at the time were nonhuman gods.

--Eric"

Candlekeep Forums Moderator

Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com
-- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct

Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)

"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood

Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage
Go to Top of Page

Dennis
Great Reader

9933 Posts

Posted - 06 Aug 2012 :  08:19:41  Show Profile Send Dennis a Private Message  Reply with Quote

Yes, likely candidates are Mystra, Amaunator, and...Selune. Perhaps Time is a "shared" portfolio---controlled equally by these three?

Every beginning has an end.
Go to Top of Page

Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36910 Posts

Posted - 06 Aug 2012 :  10:56:45  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I think it's not how important something is, but rather how much importance mortals attach to it. A lot of deific positions would be shuffled around if based on overall import -- particularly the elemental deities, such as Akadi.

Candlekeep Forums Moderator

Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com
-- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct

I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!
Go to Top of Page

sfdragon
Great Reader

2285 Posts

Posted - 06 Aug 2012 :  17:31:52  Show Profile Send sfdragon a Private Message  Reply with Quote
dnt forget that Oghma and Mystra both watched the time stream.....

why is being a wizard like being a drow? both are likely to find a dagger in the back from a rival or one looking to further his own goals, fame and power


My FR fan fiction
Magister's GAmbit
http://steelfiredragon.deviantart.com/gallery/33539234
Go to Top of Page

Dalor Darden
Great Reader

USA
4215 Posts

Posted - 06 Aug 2012 :  18:05:28  Show Profile Send Dalor Darden a Private Message  Reply with Quote
After a bit of personal study into the whole time theory, I've decided that there will be no "Time" god in my own fantasy games (even the Forgotten Realms) from now on.

To have one being essentially capable of existing in all points at all times is, to me, a being far too powerful.

Gaming aside, the theory of Time is worn out on me. Time is a human invented concept to simply track mortality (of humanity as well as stellar bodies). Time doesn't exist as far as science has been able to prove so far...NOW simply is what it is, and once today is "yesterday" it simply doesn't exist any longer.

EDIT: what I'm saying is that Time is nothing more than Inches or Meters as far as I'm concerned...and even less so really as it is an abstract and not a true THING that can be seen or truly measured.

The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me!

Edited by - Dalor Darden on 06 Aug 2012 18:07:14
Go to Top of Page

Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36910 Posts

Posted - 06 Aug 2012 :  18:17:21  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Dalor Darden

After a bit of personal study into the whole time theory, I've decided that there will be no "Time" god in my own fantasy games (even the Forgotten Realms) from now on.

To have one being essentially capable of existing in all points at all times is, to me, a being far too powerful.

Gaming aside, the theory of Time is worn out on me. Time is a human invented concept to simply track mortality (of humanity as well as stellar bodies). Time doesn't exist as far as science has been able to prove so far...NOW simply is what it is, and once today is "yesterday" it simply doesn't exist any longer.

EDIT: what I'm saying is that Time is nothing more than Inches or Meters as far as I'm concerned...and even less so really as it is an abstract and not a true THING that can be seen or truly measured.



A lot of things that can't be seen or measured have deities. Magic, love, tyranny, nobility, strife, etc.

That said, with very little in the line of accurate timekeeping in the Realms, and with little need for it, I don't think there's enough thought given to time for it to need divine coverage. People are simply aware of it, and don't give it much thought beyond that.

Candlekeep Forums Moderator

Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com
-- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct

I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!
Go to Top of Page

Dalor Darden
Great Reader

USA
4215 Posts

Posted - 06 Aug 2012 :  19:02:07  Show Profile Send Dalor Darden a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

quote:
Originally posted by Dalor Darden

After a bit of personal study into the whole time theory, I've decided that there will be no "Time" god in my own fantasy games (even the Forgotten Realms) from now on.

To have one being essentially capable of existing in all points at all times is, to me, a being far too powerful.

Gaming aside, the theory of Time is worn out on me. Time is a human invented concept to simply track mortality (of humanity as well as stellar bodies). Time doesn't exist as far as science has been able to prove so far...NOW simply is what it is, and once today is "yesterday" it simply doesn't exist any longer.

EDIT: what I'm saying is that Time is nothing more than Inches or Meters as far as I'm concerned...and even less so really as it is an abstract and not a true THING that can be seen or truly measured.



A lot of things that can't be seen or measured have deities. Magic, love, tyranny, nobility, strife, etc.

That said, with very little in the line of accurate timekeeping in the Realms, and with little need for it, I don't think there's enough thought given to time for it to need divine coverage. People are simply aware of it, and don't give it much thought beyond that.



Magic can be seen...and measured in spell levels.
Love manifests in physical and emotional states.
Tyranny manifests in individuals causing it to exist.
Nobility...well, the people kinda are there.
Strife: guild wars, armies clashing, couples argue...

Just had to throw in a rib there.

The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me!
Go to Top of Page

LastStand
Learned Scribe

130 Posts

Posted - 06 Aug 2012 :  19:19:56  Show Profile Send LastStand a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Time feels very much to me like a portfolio Selune should hold. The passage of Selune and her 'tears' has been prominent aspect in the Realms and, furthermore, one of the Moonmaiden's domains is change - two things that could be associated with time?
I might just be bias as well =)

"Don't. The battlegrounds that you and I have returned from alive are too different."

~ Claymore ch106
Go to Top of Page

LastStand
Learned Scribe

130 Posts

Posted - 06 Aug 2012 :  19:20:38  Show Profile Send LastStand a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Time feels very much to me like a portfolio Selune should hold. The passage of Selune and her 'tears' has been prominent aspect in the Realms and, furthermore, one of the Moonmaiden's domains is change - two things that could be associated with time?
I might just be bias as well =)

"Don't. The battlegrounds that you and I have returned from alive are too different."

~ Claymore ch106
Go to Top of Page

sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
12091 Posts

Posted - 06 Aug 2012 :  19:31:57  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

quote:
Originally posted by Dalor Darden

After a bit of personal study into the whole time theory, I've decided that there will be no "Time" god in my own fantasy games (even the Forgotten Realms) from now on.

To have one being essentially capable of existing in all points at all times is, to me, a being far too powerful.

Gaming aside, the theory of Time is worn out on me. Time is a human invented concept to simply track mortality (of humanity as well as stellar bodies). Time doesn't exist as far as science has been able to prove so far...NOW simply is what it is, and once today is "yesterday" it simply doesn't exist any longer.

EDIT: what I'm saying is that Time is nothing more than Inches or Meters as far as I'm concerned...and even less so really as it is an abstract and not a true THING that can be seen or truly measured.



A lot of things that can't be seen or measured have deities. Magic, love, tyranny, nobility, strife, etc.

That said, with very little in the line of accurate timekeeping in the Realms, and with little need for it, I don't think there's enough thought given to time for it to need divine coverage. People are simply aware of it, and don't give it much thought beyond that.



LOL, I can see a lot of female adherents of a time deity.... "Oh great timekeeper, don't make me too old to have another baby".... "Oh great timekeeper, please don't make my face wrinkle like my mom's"..... "Oh great timekeeper, please see me through this time that my child has no bowel control".... "Oh great timekeeper, please give me boobs like my sister had at my age"...

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
Go to Top of Page

Razz
Senior Scribe

USA
749 Posts

Posted - 06 Aug 2012 :  20:19:07  Show Profile Send Razz a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I am now wondering why thre is no go of Chaos, Madness, Law (though Amaunator does have that one), and Life (Horus-Re is the only one but he is in the Mulhorandi Pantheon).
Go to Top of Page

Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36910 Posts

Posted - 06 Aug 2012 :  20:47:54  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Dalor Darden

quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

quote:
Originally posted by Dalor Darden

After a bit of personal study into the whole time theory, I've decided that there will be no "Time" god in my own fantasy games (even the Forgotten Realms) from now on.

To have one being essentially capable of existing in all points at all times is, to me, a being far too powerful.

Gaming aside, the theory of Time is worn out on me. Time is a human invented concept to simply track mortality (of humanity as well as stellar bodies). Time doesn't exist as far as science has been able to prove so far...NOW simply is what it is, and once today is "yesterday" it simply doesn't exist any longer.

EDIT: what I'm saying is that Time is nothing more than Inches or Meters as far as I'm concerned...and even less so really as it is an abstract and not a true THING that can be seen or truly measured.



A lot of things that can't be seen or measured have deities. Magic, love, tyranny, nobility, strife, etc.

That said, with very little in the line of accurate timekeeping in the Realms, and with little need for it, I don't think there's enough thought given to time for it to need divine coverage. People are simply aware of it, and don't give it much thought beyond that.



Magic can be seen...and measured in spell levels.
Love manifests in physical and emotional states.
Tyranny manifests in individuals causing it to exist.
Nobility...well, the people kinda are there.
Strife: guild wars, armies clashing, couples argue...

Just had to throw in a rib there.



Well, if you want to play it that way, time can be measured in the movement of the sun, in the positions of the stars, in specially marked candles, by waterclocks, the fact that people age, etc...

On a more serious note, who in the Realms speaks of spell levels? Feeling the effects of love or strife isn't the same as measuring or seeing it. You can see the effects of tyranny, but you can't measure it (please, just a little tyranny? ). And nobility doesn't just refer to people born in the right family, it refers as well to the feudal structure and how nobles treat others.

Candlekeep Forums Moderator

Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com
-- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct

I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!
Go to Top of Page

Dennis
Great Reader

9933 Posts

Posted - 06 Aug 2012 :  22:28:17  Show Profile Send Dennis a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas

LOL, I can see a lot of female adherents of a time deity.... "Oh great timekeeper, don't make me too old to have another baby".... "Oh great timekeeper, please don't make my face wrinkle like my mom's"..... "Oh great timekeeper, please see me through this time that my child has no bowel control".... "Oh great timekeeper, please give me boobs like my sister had at my age"...


Same could be said about men, except the boobs part.

---

In nearly all fantasy novels where gods exist, these three are constant: Life, Death, and Magic. And Time seems rather rare. Could it be that it's way too powerful to be possessed by one deity? If he puts his mind into it, all the God of Time has to do to rid of other gods is reset the timeline into an era where gods don't exist yet (past), or no longer exist (future).

Every beginning has an end.

Edited by - Dennis on 06 Aug 2012 22:29:21
Go to Top of Page

Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36910 Posts

Posted - 07 Aug 2012 :  00:17:26  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis

quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas

LOL, I can see a lot of female adherents of a time deity.... "Oh great timekeeper, don't make me too old to have another baby".... "Oh great timekeeper, please don't make my face wrinkle like my mom's"..... "Oh great timekeeper, please see me through this time that my child has no bowel control".... "Oh great timekeeper, please give me boobs like my sister had at my age"...


Same could be said about men, except the boobs part.

---

In nearly all fantasy novels where gods exist, these three are constant: Life, Death, and Magic. And Time seems rather rare. Could it be that it's way too powerful to be possessed by one deity? If he puts his mind into it, all the God of Time has to do to rid of other gods is reset the timeline into an era where gods don't exist yet (past), or no longer exist (future).



It could be that it's too powerful... But since gods usually cover that which people actually consider important, then I stand by my assertion that people in the Realms and in fantasy in general simply don't pay enough attention to time for there to be a deity of it. In the majority of the books I've read, the only references to character awareness of time are either "give me a few minutes and then do this" or (for older characters) they're aware that they're getting closer to dying -- and the latter is more an awareness of impending death, as opposed to dwindling time.

Candlekeep Forums Moderator

Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com
-- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct

I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!
Go to Top of Page

Dennis
Great Reader

9933 Posts

Posted - 07 Aug 2012 :  00:35:36  Show Profile Send Dennis a Private Message  Reply with Quote

I was thinking the God of Time is independent of mortal worship, that he emerged right after Ao created his Crystal Sphere.

Every beginning has an end.

Edited by - Dennis on 07 Aug 2012 00:36:20
Go to Top of Page

Erik Scott de Bie
Forgotten Realms Author

USA
4598 Posts

Posted - 07 Aug 2012 :  00:54:21  Show Profile  Visit Erik Scott de Bie's Homepage Send Erik Scott de Bie a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I think the right of it has been struck: time doesn't engender the same reverence in the Realms as love, magic, tyranny, etc, because they just don't consider it quite as significant. It's not like our own world where more often than not, time is a KEY consideration of everything we do. If you suggest to a native of Faerun that they ought to have a deity of time, he might shrug and say "well, we ought to have a deity of left hands, strawberries, or gnats, but who'd worship him?"

Which is not to dismiss the question--it's a very valid one, and I think the emergence of a deity of time could be very cool. Or maybe there IS such a deity right now, and we just don't know it?

Cheers

Erik Scott de Bie

'Tis easier to destroy than to create.

Author of a number of Realms novels (GHOSTWALKER, DEPTHS OF MADNESS, and the SHADOWBANE series), contributor to the NEVERWINTER CAMPAIGN GUIDE and SHADOWFELL: GLOOMWROUGHT AND BEYOND, Twitch DM of the Dungeon Scrawlers, currently playing "The Westgate Irregulars"
Go to Top of Page

Dalor Darden
Great Reader

USA
4215 Posts

Posted - 07 Aug 2012 :  01:47:02  Show Profile Send Dalor Darden a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert


Well, if you want to play it that way, time can be measured in the movement of the sun, in the positions of the stars, in specially marked candles, by waterclocks, the fact that people age, etc...




Time isn't measured by the movement of the sun...time MEASURES the "movement" of the sun...time is a unit of measure...not an actual THING.

An inch isn't an actual thing...it is only how we measure space between two points.

Long ago somehow time started being thought of as a tangible component in the universe...but it just isn't there really...and thus why time travel isn't possible. You can't place years in a basket and take out which one you want to take part in like you can a basket of apples.

People don't actually age folks, they start dying...age is only a measure of our life from point A to point B...it isn't actually what determines if we live or die...there will never be a vaccination for time; although they may eventually prolong our life with medicine or figure out how to stop the degeneration of our DNA strands...

Time isn't real...it is an abstract without dimensions at all. Any math that uses time as anything other than a unit of measure has eventually been found to be flawed...

Imagine it this way: to travel "back" in time you would have to have enough energy to actually not only recreate that entire moment (as well as all moments you would then engage in from that point forward), but you would also need to find some way to erase your own energy from the present...and so far nobody has been able to find a way to erase and make non-existent energy. Dilute it and spread it out yes...get rid of it, a resounding no.

More on topic, magic is an awesome thing...because it allows all of time to exist all at the same time since there are infinite elemental resources to draw on...now if only we here in the "real" world could find a way to prove that Membranes exist, we might actually be able to then prove that time travel is possible because all points in time might actually exist at the same time!

The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me!
Go to Top of Page

Dennis
Great Reader

9933 Posts

Posted - 07 Aug 2012 :  02:09:47  Show Profile Send Dennis a Private Message  Reply with Quote

Tezzeret, a brilliant artificer and planeswalker in the world of Magic: The Gathering, presented an excellent postulation (in Test of Metal by Matthew Stover) of how time, in a world awash with magic, is both relative and constant at the same, that the point of reference from which one can measure and manipulate it does not depend on some powerful being, nor on some cosmic power or abstract idea, nor on the beginning of creation, nor on the advent of chaos (Blind Eternities). What it depends on, instead, is the very person who thinks of it, who believes in all its potentials, and who is equipped to manipulate it in any way possible. [If I have time, I'll check the book later and post his exact words here.]

Every beginning has an end.

Edited by - Dennis on 07 Aug 2012 02:11:45
Go to Top of Page

The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31799 Posts

Posted - 07 Aug 2012 :  03:41:46  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Dalor Darden

To have one being essentially capable of existing in all points at all times is, to me, a being far too powerful.
It doesn't necessarily have to be that way, though. Time is, essentially, transitory. So a successive lot of deities who each come to hold the portfolio -- in their own time -- could be Ao's way of ensuring that no one deity grows too powerful with the ultimate control of the temporal continuum.

Candlekeep Forums Moderator

Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com
-- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct

Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)

"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood

Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage
Go to Top of Page

Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader

USA
2717 Posts

Posted - 07 Aug 2012 :  06:16:44  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I do like the idea of Ao being in charge of Time. It's like he/it/whatever is in charge of the engine of reality. You know, it kind of makes sense: Ao as Time. That way he can have the kind of power that he does.

Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver).
Go to Top of Page

Quale
Master of Realmslore

1757 Posts

Posted - 07 Aug 2012 :  06:49:00  Show Profile Send Quale a Private Message  Reply with Quote
You're giving way to much power to the gods, having a portfolio of something doesn't enable complete mastery, omniscience, and control over it. A god of time could not break any more rules than other gods.

quote:
Originally posted by Dalor Darden


Long ago somehow time started being thought of as a tangible component in the universe...but it just isn't there really...and thus why time travel isn't possible.



Time travel into the past is difficult cause of the paradoxes, but not into the future. It's possible that the god is there. If you want to go with ''time is an illusion'' you could say that was Leira. Tough the Temporal Energy Plane is a real place in D&D.

Edited by - Quale on 07 Aug 2012 07:28:29
Go to Top of Page

Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader

USA
2717 Posts

Posted - 07 Aug 2012 :  07:05:46  Show Profile Send Jeremy Grenemyer a Private Message  Reply with Quote
For paradoxes, I've decided Mystra (in my game) has the power to sort of knot time, so a paradox is compartmentalized without splitting the time stream. The more people learn about the paradox (that is, of history and how history was supposedly changed, but not) the more likely her knot will unravel.

There's just such a paradox in Cormyr in my game, that's been added (thanks to my players) to the pile of secrets that numerous generations of priest and faithful of Helm have guarded for over seven centuries.

I suppose Ao could have done a better job of minding the time stream, but then it wouldn't be as fun to play with in a D&D game.

Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver).
Go to Top of Page

Quale
Master of Realmslore

1757 Posts

Posted - 07 Aug 2012 :  09:15:17  Show Profile Send Quale a Private Message  Reply with Quote
True, that's a good idea. I once changed Cyric into CN rebellious, anarchist god, he had the paradoxes portfolio to use against the pantheon system.
Go to Top of Page

Razz
Senior Scribe

USA
749 Posts

Posted - 07 Aug 2012 :  15:20:45  Show Profile Send Razz a Private Message  Reply with Quote
What of the ones I mentioned? Chaos, Law, Balance, Life, Madness, and Healing? For the Faerunian Pantheon I mean.
Go to Top of Page

Irennan
Great Reader

Italy
3813 Posts

Posted - 07 Aug 2012 :  16:02:51  Show Profile Send Irennan a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Dalor Darden

quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert


Well, if you want to play it that way, time can be measured in the movement of the sun, in the positions of the stars, in specially marked candles, by waterclocks, the fact that people age, etc...




Time isn't measured by the movement of the sun...time MEASURES the "movement" of the sun...time is a unit of measure...not an actual THING.

An inch isn't an actual thing...it is only how we measure space between two points.




You can't compare time to inches. The correct comparison would be seconds vs inches, or something...

Time could be defined as the flowing of events. Imagine to hypothetically split a process, like something moving from A to B or people aging (yes, people age. Call it ''starting dying'' if you wish, but it's the same thing), etc... in various parts and label them with numbers in an ordinate sequence. Time could be described as the ordinate succession that leads to the completion of the process. Now you could make this division continuous instead of discrete, and extend this treatment to all the processes that happen in the Universe (or in the part of it that you are observing) and you would get something concrete that can be used as definition of time (this is not only a measure, but a concept: the happening itself of the processes, since each ''label'' corresponds to one and only one set of parts of the processes that are happening and that you are considering, and for this reason they can be interchanged).

It can be measured through the ticking of a clock, or through some other device that somehow changes periodically and can record its changes (going by what I said above, divide the processes you are considering in parts dictated by the each single periodical change of your ''clock'', and label them with 1,2,3... Each label would correspond to one and only one set of parts of processes -the whole ''ticking'' of your ''clock'' included- and the succession of those parts -i.e. the happening itself of the processes- would be time, and the number on the labels would be the measure). This would work even in a place where everything is constant (i.e. where what i said above would be difficult to apply), since the changing of your device would be what defines time in that case (being it the only non constant thing around). The measure could vary accordingly to the observer and how it moves, still I hope you get my point...

Now, surely time is something very slippery and is defined in regards to who measures it, but this fact is true for many things. For example, length is an abstract and slippery concept too, if you don't measure it. However this idea of time is intuitive and as concrete as measuring the length of something -IMO-

Just my 2 cents.

Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things.

Edited by - Irennan on 07 Aug 2012 17:04:53
Go to Top of Page

Dalor Darden
Great Reader

USA
4215 Posts

Posted - 07 Aug 2012 :  17:35:24  Show Profile Send Dalor Darden a Private Message  Reply with Quote
If you want to prove to me that Time is "real" then pick it up and interact with it.

Just like you can't pick up an inch, a yard, a bushel...you can't actually interact with ANY form of measurement. Sure, you can touch what you have measured, or even the tool you use to measure with. You can even define the space around something you are measuring...but the tool of measurement itself is abstract and not real.

There isn't a scientest in the world that can prove time as anything other than an abstract measuring tool.

The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me!
Go to Top of Page

Irennan
Great Reader

Italy
3813 Posts

Posted - 07 Aug 2012 :  18:00:40  Show Profile Send Irennan a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Dalor Darden

If you want to prove to me that Time is "real" then pick it up and interact with it.

Just like you can't pick up an inch, a yard, a bushel...you can't actually interact with ANY form of measurement. Sure, you can touch what you have measured, or even the tool you use to measure with. You can even define the space around something you are measuring...but the tool of measurement itself is abstract and not real.

There isn't a scientest in the world that can prove time as anything other than an abstract measuring tool.



Then, according to your reasoning, not even length, or weight are real. Try to pick up ''length'' and interact with it...

I don't pretend to ''prove'' anything. I'm just telling that time is a concept and not just ''nothing''. It's like length, surface, volume etc.... Things occupy space and those concepts represent this. Measuring them tells us how much. Time can be more slippery, but things happen, change etc... time can be said to be the development itself of those happenings, changes... The succession of events (the labels I was talking in my other post) that compose the processes can be said to be time. The measure of time tells us how ''long'' this succession is. It's not much different from length, in this sense.

Time is not its unit of measure. That would be the second. So you can compare a second to a meter, but time should be ''compared'' to length/weight etc... if anything. Just like a meter is what you are going to compare your object with in order to get a measure of its length, the second is what you are going to compare your process to in order to get a measure of its duration, how much time it lasts.

Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things.

Edited by - Irennan on 07 Aug 2012 18:01:27
Go to Top of Page

Jorkens
Great Reader

Norway
2950 Posts

Posted - 07 Aug 2012 :  18:28:37  Show Profile Send Jorkens a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I actually don't like the idea of a god of time; there are plenty of hints that time is not linear and may include cyclic elements that mortals don't understand.

No Canon, more stories, more Realms.
Go to Top of Page
Page: of 3 Previous Topic Topic Next Topic  
Next Page
 New Topic  New Poll New Poll
 Reply to Topic
 Printer Friendly
Jump To:
Candlekeep Forum © 1999-2025 Candlekeep.com Go To Top Of Page
Snitz Forums 2000