Welcome to the Temporal Conflux, welcome to Cocytus. Spoken of mostly in myths and legends by the denizens of the Universe Cocytus is a world that rests atop a great rift in the fabric of space and time. The planet is constantly ravaged by ever changing waves of temporal energy and bombarded by radiation and constant climate change. Nothing is predictable on Cocytus and even the strongest fear to tread here. In the most persistent of legends it is whispered that the Time Siphons never really left their world and to go there is to plunge oneself into the most predatory culture in the whole of reality.
Time Siphons spread far across the universe during their rise to power and many ruled as Lords or Tyrants. Few held power for long, for the hunger of the Time Siphon is eternal and the need for chaos never ending. Those that rise to power often cast themselves down to see whole societies burn in the fire of chaos, such is the amusement of a Time Siphon.
None knows if Cocytus came into being in our universe or another, only that it should not exist at all. The constant stress of the ever changing environment and fluctuating temporal energy should have torn the planet to pieces many tens of thousands of years ago, yet here it rests, one side a raging inferno and the other a never ending field of ice. The land between changes daily and sometimes even by the hour. It is said by those with knowledge of such things that the ice half of the planet is not truly ice, but a planet touched by the End of Time when all stars have grown cold and life has left the universe. These same scholars also claim the fire side is nothing but a planet touched by the Beginning of Time, when all was fire and chaos.
The Time Siphons call the exact center of the planet The Temporal Conflux, the location where past and present collide and where all time swirls in an unending violence. This Conflux is where they have received much of their knowledge and philosophy. When one grows up seeing the power of time and the collision of realities, chaos seems the only way of life. Thus it is that order is like a disease to Time Siphons, law a pathogen that threatens the true and natural state of reality. Chaos is the ultimate purity, the way life was meant to be lived.
If one is bold enough to travel to Cocytus they will find approaching the planet difficult. Most forms of interstellar travel begin to break down as you grow closer to the hellish nightmare of the Conflux. Once a ship is in orbit it will be trapped until it is able to travel to the edge of the Cocytus system where its interstellar drives will function properly again. As a ship nears it is also buffeted by waves of time, small at first and ever larger until they form vast stellar tsunamis of temporal energy. These temporal waves are more frightening in appearance than effect, for the waves are short and the hulls of any reasonably constructed vessel will survive the bombardment but it does make for an unpleasant ride. Any crew foolish enough to attempt the use of Interstellar drives while inside one of these waves will be cast through time, perhaps lost forever on the sea of eternity.
The cold side of the planet is survivable to species that enjoy or ignore such temperatures but for everyone else it is best to travel their in an environmental suit of some form. The hot side will atomize such suits and only the most powerful or resistant of beings can travel here successfully. The Time Siphons have constructed numerous buildings on the cold side, entire cities and great towers that reach miles into the sky, each covered in sheets of white ice. Though many Time Siphons are said to live in the less stable middle portions of the planet, the ever changing conditions here have prevented them from constructing anything of value. It is also said that even Time Siphons born off world are drawn to Cocytus and will make a pilgrimage at some point in their life time. Whether the Time Siphons still live here or not the planet is the host of vast knowledge collected over tens of thousands of years. Here is stored the remnants of entire civilizations wiped out by the predatory nature of the Siphon.
Travel here if you dare, the experience might be greatly rewarding, who knows what knowledge could lie at your finger tips...but the universe may also never hear from you again...another victim of a temporal vampire.
Locations:
Castle Raeyn:
A towering monstrosity Castle Raeyn is the ancient home of the First Time Siphon. Built over the ruins of the previous civilization this castle is not half as useless as it appears. Castle Raeyn is a vast fortress built into a mountain. Its upper reaches are constructed of Temporal Stone, stone reinforced and coated with the temporal strands of the universe itself. Like Temporal Armor Castle Raeyn is self repairing and semi-sentient. The most fortified portions of the castle are built deep into the root of the mountain itself and from here one could command the defense of a vast empire. A tremendous array of computers and strange Temporal technology form a series of control rooms and other vital functions. Beyond these rooms are a labyrinth of tunnels, bunkers and vaults. The vaults are temporally locked so only someone capable of manipulating time can operate the locking device. Traveling through this castle is to travel through temporal anarchy, each room and tunnel appears to be from a different period of time, as if the castle were not assembled all at once but over centuries and its builder had no intention of matching one style of room with the next.
As the seat of power for the old Time Siphon Empire, this is where Raeyn held court. The throne room is comfortably large but has been overrun by plant life in the many thousands of years since the fall of the empire.
Rules:
All the usual stuff, plus don't break things without asking =).
If you do decide to travel here I'll be happy to interact with you, or you can interact with others and do as you see fit =). Consider it something of a play ground, but it can be dangerous, very dangerous.
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