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[Urist McDwarfFortress]

The smallest allowed increment of time travel is 15 minutes. So you'd need to stand perfectly still for fifteen minutes, then travel back in time fifteen minutes to scratch yourself on the back. Still want to try it?

Thats not true. We'd just need to stand somewhere for a few seconds, then wait around anywhere for 15 mins, and then go back in time 15 mins to when we were standing around.

[LordBucket]

Yes, no need to stand still or not move for 15 minutes. Sure, by all means have a seat and watch to see if we materialize and have a conversation with ourselves if we do.

I was mostly trying to keep the test simple. And setting up for a possible later joke about having invented the best backscratcher ever.

[Theodolus]

Ah, gotcha. Yeah that would work as well. I'll need to get it written up but it probably won't be until tomorrow. On my phone now and that's just a pain to write with. Maybe though. Also does anyone know how to change the title of the thread?

[Fniff]

Go to the first page and edit your first post, changing the title. That'll permanently change it.

[Theodolus]

You decide to try a couple more experiments and retrieve the watch from its sunning location. It seems to have regained another bit of charge. Making a small X on the ground, along with a slightly larger X to the side of it you slip the watch in to the radio with the back facing out and adjust the Y setting to -67.563630. You then increment the time by 15 minutes and depress the top of the pocket watch. The familiar vertigo comes over you and then washes away. You look around and find yourself standing immediately next to a tree. The X marks are a few feet away, and the larger one has a long, shallow gouge through the middle of it. If you were to hazard a guess you'd say a rather large snake came through here at some point in the last fifteen minutes.

One more experiment. You loiter around for about 12 minutes and then set the watch to go back 15 minutes. You jump back, noting that the X is disturbed already so you don't need to keep an eye out for dangerously large snakes, and observe the area where you materialized from a hidden location. 3 minutes pass and nothing happens. You wait another 2 minutes just to make sure. Nothing happens. It seems like when you jump you cease to exist at other points in time.

All this stuff about time travel seems very familiar, but you can't concentrate because of an irritating itch between your shoulder blades. You find a branch and use it as a back scratcher. Your natural instincts come over you and you start purring, a deep rumble from the bottom of your throat. Much better.

Suddenly the radio bursts to life with the hiss of static. The display changes and shows "Incoming Call: Inverness" followed by "MilXX35Y9924M02". As quickly as it starts the static stops and the display goes dark.

[Urist McDwarfFortress]

"You Are A Scottish Time-Travelling Khajiit"
Yay! 

Suddenly the radio bursts to life with the hiss of static. The display changes and shows "Incoming Call: Inverness" followed by "MilXX35Y9924M02".

Call date:  Mil:XX35 Y:9924 M:02
Current date:  Mil:XX28 Y:1432 M:12
Oh... wow. Thats quite a long time from now! I have no idea what the "Mil" display shows, but apparently somebody from year 9924 is calling us in year 1432. That's 8492 years in the future! Or maybe more, depending on what "Mil" means... Millennium? That wouldn't make much sense, since the millennium is displayed in the year. And whats with the "XX?" Puzzling...

I guess we could try to change the Mil value and see what happens. I say we try to change Mil to "XX29" and see what that does.

[Fniff]

Don't! If it means millenium, then we might be encased in rock if we do that! We should probably see if we can answer the call by pressing buttons and adjusting dials on the radio carefully.

[Urist McDwarfFortress]

Don't! If it means millenium, then we might be encased in rock if we do that!

Hmm... maybe you're right. I don't think the topography would change that much in 1000 years. I would guess that without a stream nearby, the elevation wouldn't change by more than 10 feet or so in either direction. We might be buried, or more likely have the ground suddenly a few feet below what we were standing on but we probably would not be encased in rock. A tree having grown in the middle of us could be a serious problem, though. Also, if there are humans, or Khajiit, or someone modifying the surroundings, anything could happen in 1000 years.

Of course "Mil" could just as easily mean "million," then we'd be super screwed. In a million years, pretty much anything could happen.

New possibility! We could head towards the stream. Follow the stream to an ocean or large lake. Swim out to sea a ways. Then we should be able to experiment with larger time jumps. If the sea level changes, we'll either find ourselves underwater, and we could just swim up to the surface, or we'll find ourselves above the surface of the water, and we'll fall safely into the sea, where the water should break our fall. "Mil" being a million years would still be a problem, though.

Also, experiment if we can take anything with us. Grab a rock. Go forward in time 15 mins. See if we are still holding the rock.

[LordBucket]

Answer the call.

Be polite. It's probably us.

[Terra162]

Did this get eaten?

[Theodolus]

Oh wow, totally forgot about this. Well, let's start by saying that yes, Mil was supposed to mean Millenium, because I spaced on the whole 1000=1Mil conversion bit. So it's going to end up meaning some sort of fanciful unit of time. Probably 1Mil =10,000, which would put you at the year 281,432. Which is obvious, of course, what with you being a time traveler. Everyone knows those old time units went out of style a few hundred thousand years ago. In all reality, that was one of the reasons why this stopped being updated. I couldn't think up a valid excuse and retconning the time travel device would have been stupid. So 'culture change' will be the answer I suppose. But enough of that: Onward, to honor and glory. And hopefully getting home.
You grab the radio and try to reply, however nothing happens. It seems the call has already dropped. Deciding to do one final test you pick up a rock and jump forward in time 15 minutes. As you materialize you see that the rock is still in your hand. However you also see a rather muscular, if small human being staggering back in shock at your appearance. He starts babbling in a language you don't understand. You attempt to placate him, offering him the universal symbol of peace (an open hand/palm/tentacle/whatever), but he just screams and runs away in the direction of the black obelisk.

[Hubris Incalculable]

jump back in time 14 minutes and hide behind something to watch the human arrive. Jump forward once more to the time at which you were discovered by the human, but move to the obelisk instead, and stealthily follow it back to wherever it was going.

[Theodolus]

You jump back in time and climb up in to the trees. Your cat instincts alert you to the presence of the man just before he arrives. He goes around the clearing, picking through the underbrush and vines. Eventually he pulls up a chunk of metal, appearing to be very excited about it. He heads back in the direction of the obelisk and you follow along the tree tops. Arriving at the obelisk you see that it appears to be made out of a single massive stone, chiseled and polished to a dark gleam. The native places the piece of metal in front of the obelisk and begins speaking in a very loud voice. You still don't know what he's saying, but suddenly a light surrounds the metal and it's pulled in to the stone, seeming to phase through the rock. The native shouts loudly, laughs and walks off.

[Urist McDwarfFortress]

Hey! Thats ours! ...I think.

Once the man leaves, approach the obelisk. Try to phase into it, like the metal did.

[Terra162]

Hey! Thats ours! ...I think.

Once the man leaves, approach the obelisk. Try to phase into it, like the metal did.

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