Tales of Time
Picture by Immo Wegmann
Find more details on Time here
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Thinking Long Term
Shala’s presence had made something wonderful possible for Esperia: thinking long term. Does that sound insignificant? The Espers were not creatures naturally inclined to think across long periods of time, spanning decades or even centuries. But one thing was clear to the Seven Shapes: if they were finally going to create a civilization united in…
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Flowers Bloom and Fade
The Chaos War had at least revealed one thing: the fleeting nature of life.The impact of this war on the planet had been unprecedented. For the use of magic consumed the planet’s life source, known as Aether… And magic, while it could create things and improve living conditions, could also be used for far less…
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Time Passes Quickly
The notion of time passing is difficult to perceive, even for the Espers, who were now gifted with the ability to use magic. Though it had made life easier for everyone, it had not changed their relationship with the flow of time. Projecting oneself into the future is not an easy thing, especially when that…
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Feeling the Impermanence of Time
If there was one thing the Espers were not made for, it was to feel the impermanence of time. Whether it concerned the past or the future, everything that is not the present or close to it quickly becomes abstract, taking shape through stories. These stories are then shaped by their experience, lived or learned,…
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Through Daily Efforts
Hearing someone repeat the same things day after day is an experience familiar to everyone. As children, it was often the repeated words of our parents, telling us to do our homework or hurry up and get dressed so we would not be late for school. On television, it is the striking messages of advertisements…
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Preventing Future Problems
Despite their ability to use magic by consuming the Aether of their planet, the Espers had great difficulty perceiving the world on timescales beyond their own. Indeed, their senses did not naturally allow them to grasp such realities; the present moment or a much nearer future would then dominate their thoughts and lead them to…
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One Good Deed a Day
Shala, the Shape of Time, had seen many civilizations bloom and disappear across time and universes. The planet Esperia and its Espers was one of these civilizations among many others, but it had something particular: at the end of the Chaos War, the Espers had realized the existence of their StarDust. A civilization is made…
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Life is Ephemeral
The recognition of this principle had allowed Esperia to be rebuilt on fairer foundations for all. Remembering daily the presence of Shala, the Shape of Time, was a way for the Espers to remind themselves that life was ephemeral, allowing them to appreciate not only their own existence more intensely, but also the lives of…
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A Critical Situation
The discovery of Aether, the precious life source of the planet Esperia, had led the Espers of the entire world to a realization: until then, without knowing it, they had lived in a way that had placed Esperia in a critical situation. The countless conflicts between the Five elements were gradually consuming this Aether. Indeed,…
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For Eternity?
The question of mortality had been debated for thousands of years on Esperia.Like many civilizations, the fear of the unknown had led different beings to create reasons for their existence and to find interpretations for the signs given by nature. “The question of time and existence is truly complicated,” worried Vati, the Shape of Wisdom.“Atma,…