The Despotat wasn’t born; it coalesced. From the heart of the Obsidian Scar, a rift in reality pulsing with raw, untamed chronal energy, arose a collective consciousness. Initially, it was a monstrous thing – a swirling vortex of fragmented memories, shattered empires, and the echoes of countless forgotten kings. It wasn't a single entity, but a *resonance*, a dark chord struck across the timelines. The first 'Scholars', as they came to be known, were not men, but distortions - echoes of brilliant strategists, ruthless conquerors, and tragically hopeful poets, all drawn into the resonance and twisted by its power.
The most prevalent theory posits that the Scar was created by a paradox – a king attempting to rewrite his own past, a ritual gone horribly wrong, or perhaps even the catastrophic death of an ancient, godlike being. Whatever the cause, the result was the Despotat’s genesis.
The Despotat doesn't rule through armies or laws. It manipulates time itself. Not in grand, sweeping gestures, but with insidious precision. A misplaced word, a forgotten moment, a subtly altered memory – these are the weapons of the Despotat. It weaves itself into the chronal tapestry, subtly shifting threads to create chaos and instability. Its influence spreads like a stain, corrupting timelines and creating branching realities. The Scholars are adept at utilizing chronal echoes, fragments of past events that linger like afterimages. They don't "travel" through time, but rather *access* it, pulling themselves into moments of past significance, often using these moments to influence the present.
“Time is not a river, but a shattered mirror. We are merely fragments reflecting its distorted image.” - Kaelen the Chronomaestro
The greatest threat isn't the Despotat’s power, but its *persistence*. It never truly dies; it merely retreats, dormant within the chronal flow, waiting for an opportunity to reassert itself. The Chronal Wardens, armed with ‘Temporal Anchors’ – devices designed to stabilize timelines – represent the last bastion of defense. But even the most potent Anchor can be weakened by the Despotat's insidious touch. Rumors persist of a growing resistance movement, composed of individuals who have learned to harness the Despotat’s power, seeking to either destroy it or, perhaps, to control it.
This chronicle is incomplete. The echoes of the Despotat are legion. The truth, like time itself, remains elusive.