Overview
Horol’Khai is the temporal god of Skarnheim and the god bound to Sigurd / Sigvariel through the Hourglass Shard. Arcanis works on the strange hourglass prototype, and Michael / Eltaru later reshapes it with his own essence and essence taken from temporal mages. Sigvariel takes the shard after his old god core begins to fail, and Horol’Khai sustains Varnhallow with Michael and Sigvariel, keeping the temporal anomaly outside linear temporal flow.
While Varnhallow holds, Horol’Khai manifests through Sigvariel's hourglass mark and Michael's blue crystal necklace, which keeps one version of her inside the anomaly. She experiences time as a single field, gives warnings through The Eleven Stories of Old, and marks Oktlix with a name-triggered stasis spell after the void entity interferes with Varnhallow.
After Varnhallow breaks, Horol’Khai returns to Sigurd with little essence left. She joins Thalena, Deylin, Lunorax, Silas, and Sigurd in the void to complete the timerift loop that sends selected people into Varnhallow and the past. She spends her remaining power guiding the casts, ensures the displaced travelers reach their destinations, and dissolves after a final embrace with Sigurd.
Appearance and Nature
Horol’Khai manifests as a hollow blue humanoid made from flowing particles, luminous tendrils, and hourglass-like forms. Her head and body hold shifting points of light within hollow features. Her form blurs, splits, freezes, and phases out of perception as her power weakens.
Her speech is fragmented because she experiences events outside linear order. In Varnhallow, her blue temporal forms are visible and audible only to people with temporal magic. Her warnings are accurate, but they often arrive through incomplete phrases, jumps across events, or book-based spellwork.
Hourglass Shard
The hourglass shard begins as a small hourglass-shaped artifact modified by Michael / Eltaru from Arcanis's prototype. After Sigvariel takes it, the artifact rests in his palm as an hourglass outline or burning hourglass sigil; after Horol'Khai spends her remaining power in the void and dissolves, Sigurd's palm is empty.
History
Michael modifies Arcanis's existing hourglass prototype into the hourglass-shaped shard and feeds it with his own essence and temporal-mage essence. He tampers with the artifact so it will answer to another temporal mage, and Sigvariel takes it in Malverand's vault after his previous core nears depletion. The hourglass absorbs into Sigvariel's hand, destroys his old core, and binds Horol’Khai to Sigvariel's new hourglass mark.
Michael, Sigvariel, and Horol’Khai later build and maintain the Varnhallow anomaly to prepare an army against Malverand's surviving guardian threats. Horol’Khai receives The Eleven Stories of Old from Hrzai, treasures it, and has Sigvariel carry it to Rimvold's vaults. She alters chapter eleven into a warning for Thalena and ties spellwork to the name Oktlix.
When Eira, Kaelion, and Jin live inside Varnhallow, their temporal histories include Thalena, Earth, and later events. Sigvariel has already reached Rimvold with the book by then. Horol’Khai blocks Eira from leaving through the same exit as Kaelion and Jin, and pushes Eira into the distant past because of her temporal perception.
After Varnhallow's collapse, Horol’Khai returns to Sigurd but is already near her end. In the void, she follows Thalena's plan, guides Lunorax through repeated timerift casts, and guides Deylin and Sigurd as they send the required people into Varnhallow. After the Varnhallow return, Thalion's displaced force reaches Rimvold, where Thalion declares independence from Malverand and names Rimvold the capital of Skarnheim. Lunorax is Horol’Khai's ejected copy, and he fulfills Horol’Khai's promised gift for Thalena.
Relationships
- Sigurd / Sigvariel: Horol’Khai's wielder and closest bond. She returns to him after Varnhallow breaks and embraces him before dissolving.
- Michael / Eltaru: The guardian who reshapes the hourglass prototype into Horol’Khai's shard, seals her in the blue crystal during Varnhallow, and sustains the anomaly with her and Sigvariel.
- Hrzai: The god who gives Horol’Khai The Eleven Stories of Old.
- Thalena: The intended recipient of Horol’Khai's chapter-eleven warning and the architect of the void loop that Horol’Khai completes with Thalena's group.
- Lunorax: Horol’Khai's ejected copy and her promised gift for Thalena.
- Eira: Horol’Khai blocks Eira's planned exit from Varnhallow and sends her into the distant past.
- Oktlix: Horol’Khai marks the void entity with a name-triggered stasis spell after it interferes with Varnhallow.