The Keepers of the Fractured Hour are temporal scholars and arcane theorists within the Ordo Noctis, dedicated to the observation, manipulation, and safeguarding of time’s delicate threads. Rather than attempt to travel time outright, they study dilation, causality loops, and memory distortion - exploring how time feels, how it bends, and how it can be subtly rewritten without alerting reality itself. They navigate moments where events could have unfolded differently, carefully threading action through unstable seconds, altered memories, and incomplete outcomes. Some speak of their presence in two places at once, or of their voices echoing before they speak.
This pursuit is not idle curiosity - it is refinement. The Keepers believe that by carefully balancing the paradoxes they encounter, they enhance their magical clarity and insight. Every loop corrected, every memory precisely rewritten, serves as a ritual act sharpening their perception of reality’s weave. They do not walk linearly; they spiral, retracing fractured hours in search of the perfect moment to act. Where others see time as a river, the Keepers see it as a hall of mirrors - each reflection a potential truth waiting to be collapsed or made real.
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Temporal Density Detection: You recognize moments thick with unresolved possibility - where past choices and future echoes all meet and where decisions and actions might carry the greatest force.
Absolute Internal Clock: You always know the precise time, down to the second, regardless of environment, magical interference, or dimensional distortion.
You May Not Act Without a Map: You are forbidden from engaging in critical actions unless you’ve constructed at least one possible causal path leading to success. Improvisation is considered temporal arrogance.
You Must Carry at Least One Unsolved Paradox: All Keepers must live with a paradox they do not understand. This reminds them that not all things can—or should—be resolved.