Overview
Anomalies are localized breakdowns of temporal and elemental stability. They manifest as spaces where causality frays, physics distorts, or memory and matter refuse to agree on a single outcome.
Narrative role
They signal places of unresolved consequence: remnants of the Great Eclipse, failed corrections, or willful resistance to fate. Anomalies drive quests, gate travel, and surface forgotten lore.
Known facts
- Signatures include distorted physics/causality, repeating events or frozen moments, and altered creature behavior.
- They are symptoms of deeper imbalance; often adjacent to time rifts but not identical.
- Resolution comes from stabilization, understanding, or ritual—not brute destruction.
Mechanics impact
- Encounters: anomalous zones can change combat rules, AI behavior, or elemental interactions.
- Exploration: loops or freezes local time; requires observation and pattern-breaking to exit.
- Systems hooks: ties to temporal/elemental meters; resolving an anomaly can restore safe travel or unlock routes.
Relationships
- Time Rifts are the visible ruptures; anomalies are the systemic consequences around them.
- Factions may exploit or quarantine anomalies (e.g., Crimson Dynasty, Mycomind Covenant).
- World state: anomaly density often rises near major events (see Great Eclipse and Calendar BE/AE).
Sources
- docbase/kb/anomalies.md
- docbase/kb/time_anomalies_and_loops.md
- docbase/kb/cosmology_and_epochs.md