Chronos

Chronos, the Eternal Hourglass, is the Overdeity of Time, and the first breath of ordered existence. Before fate was woven, before light or darkness knew boundaries, there was Chronos—an ancient constant, the axis upon which all moments turned. He did not create time; he is time, and through him, the multiverse learned to march forward instead of spiraling in endless chaos.

For untold eons, Chronos watched the rise and fall of gods, worlds, and civilizations, unmoved by emotion, judgment, or desire. His essence flowed through ticking gears of divine mechanisms and in the heartbeat of every living being. Time itself—linear, recursive, or fractured—was merely an extension of his will.

Though he was not cruel, he was distant—a god not of mortals, but of inevitability. He did not grant favor easily. The few champions he empowered were never human or elf, nor any creature bound to a single lifetime. Instead, Chronos chose entities that existed beyond time’s reach: eternal guardians, living paradoxes, immortal constructs, or echoes of what-might-have-been. These champions did not serve him in the traditional sense; they were instruments to maintain the integrity of the temporal web.

Most deities regard Chronos with a mixture of reverence and caution. Few seek his blessing, not out of disdain, but because his power eclipses the ambitions of lesser gods. To gain his favor is to be bound by purpose, not privilege. While there have been a handful of champions over the epochs, all of which have either been deities in their own right, or became one simply by receiving his attention.

It was Chronos who was present at the time of the great Rotanian time loop, or at least at its conception.

And then—he vanished.

No celestial trumpet, no apocalypse, no declaration. One cycle, Chronos was present; the next, his divine essence could no longer be felt. Temporissa, his daughter and divine steward, stepped forward to preserve the passage of time in his absence. Though capable and deeply devoted, she does not wield his full power. She is the timekeeper; he was the source.

The disappearance of Chronos has become one of the most whispered mysteries among deities and scholars alike. Some believe he fractured himself across moments, becoming one with every second. Others think he moved into a timeline yet to exist. A few fear something—or someone—powerful enough to halt the march of Chronos may be awakening.

His realm, The Nowhen Citadel, still exists, suspended at the edge of all timelines. Its hourglass towers continue to rotate, and his throne of stillclock brass remains untouched, eternally waiting. No one knows what will happen if—or when—he returns.

Miracles once associated with Chronos included the reversal of events, time-loops bound to divine justice, or the preservation of ancient knowledge beyond entropy. Some mortals still claim to receive visions from him, often caught between dream and memory, but whether these are echoes or omens remains unknown.