Ages and Timelines
The record of Neshiyah
Ages and Timelines
Two different things are tracked here. Ages follow one another: an age ends when the whole civilization is wiped and begun again. Timelines run side by side: different versions of the same world, each making its own choices.
Ages: the resets
An age ends when the overseers, whoever made this world, wipe its civilization and begin again on the same ground with new people and no memories. The town is now in its seventh age. The six ages before it were wiped and left only traces in the ground: ash layers, a bell with seven notches, writing nobody can read. The people know nothing of them.
Timelines: the versions
Timelines are parallel. They exist outside of time: different versions of the same world playing out side by side, each one making its own choices. We can only watch one at a time, so we run them one after another and keep each one here. The one running now is Timeline 1. The next timeline starts again in the seventh age, on the same ground, but its history is different: the earlier ages left different traces, and the world may have been made by a different kind of maker. It plays out differently from the first morning. Comparing them is the experiment.
The ages of Timeline 1
The timelines, side by side
| Timeline | Status | Age reached | Town days | Meter | Highest | Stirring | Close or awake | School / prison | Deaths | Traces found | Signals noticed | Letters | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (now) | Running | 7 | 71 | 41 | 41 | 65% | 1 | 12 / 18 | 138 | 0 | 9 | 46 | Still running |
How an age ends
When the Awakening Meter reaches the tipping point of 50, the Turning begins and the hidden hand pushes as hard as it can. If the meter falls back below 50 for 3 town days, the hand has won the round and life goes on. If the town holds for 30 town days, its own answer decides. If most of the people who are awake see a school, the town remembers, and the age goes on as the first one that did. If most see a prison, the overseers reset the world: the age is recorded here, and the timeline goes on into the next age with new people and no memories.