The First Doctor's Metaplots

[The First Doctor]

What is this? Well, if you read the various things I've posted as the First Doctor, the Ninth Doctor, the Master, and the Meddler, you may have noticed that I'm building up a substantial little history of Gallifrey and the events leading up to the Time War.

Obviously, none of this is official. It's purely me, and my obsessive desire to link together narratives. But I thought I'd throw it up here, for the use of anybody that either wants to a) make use of it myself or b) understand what I'm going on about.

The material is derived from the Doctor Who TV show, stuff I've found on the internet, The Book of the War, and the depths of my own imagination. You are duly warned.

[The First Doctor]

The Time Lords

"We are the Lords of Time," he said in a rhythmic, ritualistic tone. "We hung the Framework of Causality and Anchored the Threads of History. We cast down the Great Vampires, and led the Fledgling Empires to victory over the Racnoss, the G'll sha v!a!r, and the Muon Raithe. Who shall deny our claim?"

He made a small laughing sound, but there was little humor in his eyes. "That's all true, incidentally. That's the first thing to know - you could use our pride and arrogance as an anvil to work neutronium. We're attuned to the flow of time. We can, with effort, speed it up or slow it down to small - but useful - degrees. Most of us are at least mildly telepathic and precognitive, and more elaborate psychic abilities are - although rare - not unknown."

He thought for another moment. "We don't die easily. I don't think anyone has ever learned what our natural lifespans are, but the oldest Time Lord I ever met had lived for more than five thousand years. We can tolerate much higher doses of radiation than humans and we heal rapidly from non-fatal injuries. A fatal injury throws us into a regenerative coma as our bodies rebuild themselves, repairing the damage and altering us to better cope with that type of trauma the next time - although that particular ability begins to break down somewhere between the 10th and 15th time we're forced to call on it."
-The Meddler,
Unexpected New Beginnings

"Long ago," he said, "We were. During the Dark Time - long before my time, let me add - we would capture beings from across the Spiral Politic and put them through gladiatorial survival games. Back in the days when we had first Anchored history, and behaved like petty gods."
-The Meddler,
Unexpected New Beginnings

The civilization of the Time Lords cannot truly be said to have an age, in any context that makes sense within the Spiral Politic. Whenever they evolved, whenever they mastered time travel, they were the first. Even if they weren't.

Rassilon led the Time Lords in an epic feat of temporal engineering, the Anchoring of the Threads of History. Using the early TARDISes, they selectively pruned and shaped time - much like a gardener would craft a bonsai - to ensure their own survival and supremacy. They did not create the universe, but they engineered it to suit themselves. And then they maintained it.

As a result, to the Time Lords, only Gallifrey has Time. Everywhere else simply has history, and exists only for their own benefit.

Time Lords are not biological creatures, not in the strictest sense. They evolved at some point in Time, certainly, from creatures that had the same instinctive understanding of the motion of time that creatures on Earth have of the movement of objects in space. But even before the Age of Rassilon, they had begun to modify themselves through genetic engineering. After the time of Rassilon and Omega, they had become a Kardashev IV posthuman civilization.

The majority of Time Lords are not born. They are Loomed in the Halls of Eileithyia, assembled out of virtual fundamental particles along patterns of biodata - threads of information that exist within the vortex - sampled from Time Lord donors and deliberately modified and often slightly randomized. They are raised in creches (or, more rarely, in a family cluster of some sort) until the age of eight, when they are sent to their Initiation. Those that pass are inducted into one of the Academies. Those that do not, and still survive, are taken to the Halls of Eileithyia. Their minds are healed, if possible, and the Keeper of the Halls decides their fate from there.

Time Lords consider biological reproduction to be, at best, inefficient. Biologically-born children are often considered inferior, and must overcome significant social stigma.

[The First Doctor]

Prophecies of War

"Well, we cannot stay in power if we do not make sure that certain Time Lords maintain their ruling positions. Consider it an investment. I have in my possession a possible future prophecy of Gallifrey. It is of course not necessarily Gallifrey's future -- but this prophecy carried much fear. Why not make sure that this fear is...instilled in certain children? With them rendered useless due to fear, our control over Gallifrey can be certain. I will not allow Gallifrey to fall into the hands of weaker families. If it does, the future that was in the prophecy could become a reality."
-Emmehujidat,
The Initiation Ceremony

"Ten shall rise, and all shall fall. Ten shall doom, and save us all."
"An Enemy rises, from deeds of our own. Implacable hatred for the Child of the Throne."
"Gallifrey's dawn shall be its death."
"A single moment will be its last breath."
"Ten face the end at the setting of the sun. Ten face the night, 'till all are one."
"And the lonely god will preside over the end of days."
-Prophecy of the Pythian Sisterhood
Time is the Father of Truth

"The prophecy states that there are dark times for Gallifrey ahead -- very dark times -- and the possible destruction of Gallifrey. Creatures from another world will engage in war with Gallifrey -- creatures that hate....HATE...us. There is no time given for this prophecy, nor is it necessarily assured that it will happen. It is simply a possible future. The shocking thing about it was that it is Gallifreyans that will be responsible for the destruction -- ones that are not loyal to Gallifrey or to the High Council....or so the prophecy says. That is why we must seek to stop this from happening at any cost. We must stay in power so that we do not let anyone unworthy of leadership enter our ranks."
-Emmehujidat,
The Initiation Ceremony

[The First Doctor]

The Deca Group

"The Council," he said, angrily. "Part o' 'em, anyhow. Emmehujidat an' his lick-spittles Apollonilisaimistiri an' Jestelavistisimiril fer certain. Mebbe Xandavier as well."

He almost spat, then stopped as he remembered where he was. "An' what happened?" His fists clenched. "Oi dunno, not fer certain. Some kinda meme. Supposed to make us afraid. Afraid o', o', o' the unknown. O' the alien, the different."

The Meddler took a few deep breaths. "It worked, too. On most o' 'em. But there were ten o' us, ten what had different reactions to what they did."

"Ten o' us," he agreed. "Like yeh said, the Doctor an' the Master. The Rani. The Timekeeper an' the Mystic - the two what the Celestial Toymaker killed. The War Chief. The Watcher an' the Architect. An' the Artificer." He paused, and swallowed hard. "An' me."

He looked away. "Ten o' us. Oi dunno what we coulda been, but they made monsters outa us." He looked back at her, eyes hard. "Ten kids, hand-crafted by the Council into the worst criminals Gallifrey's ever known." His fists clenched, again. "An' Oi wanna know why, an' Oi want all Gallifrey to know. An then Oi want 'em to pay."
-The Meddler,
Time is the Father of Truth

"Don't fret none on that," he assured her. "We had one. We took it, or tried, an' it failed. An' we were able to hide fer a bit, 'cause the only ones they knew were in it were the Master an' the War Chief, an' both o' them ran...." He shuddered, remembering the Master's last acts of vengeance as he ran. "An' then, when we could, we did the same."

A tight smile. "World o' good. Made us what we are."
-The Meddler
Time is the Father of Truth

The Time Lords are intimately connected to time, and they knew the Last Great Time War was coming. They did not know what it was, exactly, but they knew it would spell the end of their civilization. And so, the High Council decided to act. They selected ten children, based on auguries and responses to the meme virus unleashed by Emmehujidat, and attempted to forge them into weapons. Weapons that would destroy Gallifrey's enemies and invalidate the prophecies.

These ten children came to be known first as the Deca Group, and later as the Deca. Intended as saviors, they became Gallifrey's worst nightmares.

And one of them set in motion the chain of events that would fulfill the prophecy.

[The First Doctor]

The Doctor Flees Gallifrey

Kos grinned. "You and me buddy. We're going to be famous. All of Gallifrey will know our names, someday."
-The Master
I Like Smoke and Lightning...

"The Royal quarter?" he echoed in surprise. "Oi ain't been there fer, well, since we was plottin' again' the Council. The Doctor's idea it was, meetin' there. Said it only made sense."

It was a casual statement, but it triggered a flood of memories. The Master and the Watcher debating which of the Deca were the most qualified for a specific task. The Architect, his devices tied into the noosphere, watching for danger. The War Chief, moving icons of their followers about a holosculpt of the Panopticon, while the Rani and the Artificer debated the merits of specific strategies.

And the Doctor. The heart and soul of the Deca, reminding them why.

He shook his head. "Oi... Oi just don't get it. Why'd he turn on us, right at the end?"
The Meddler
Time is the Father of Truth

He sat, and brooded. "I would have reunited you," he said, lost in memories, talking more to himself than to Sarah. "I would have have burned the Panopticon to light the celebration, Doctor, and given you the throne as a wedding gift."
-The Master
Something Evil this way comes

"Didn't fight?" The Meddler sounded shocked. "Why would he 'ave? She left him, was the way Oi 'eared it. Broke 'is heart, it did."

He shook his head, sadly. "Never did find someone else. Borusa tried to push 'im towards the Rani, an' they even tried it out fer a bit. But it didn't work out. His kids, they were Loomed."

"That's what started all, all this," he said, sweeping his hand around. In his mind, he could see the eight of them, planning their coup. "Or, it made his mind up fer him, anyhow. Smash the system, burn it down, build something better in its place. An' then he turned on us, he did."

He shook his head, vaguely angry still. And then a thought struck him. "Mebbe... mebbe she's why he didn't do it," he said, slowly. "What would've she thought, if he'd showed up ta give her the Lord President's head and a burning Panopticon as an engagement gift?"
The Meddler
Time is the Father of Truth

Running...

How had things gone so wrong. He'd wanted to make a better world. He hadn't wanted this.

What have you done, Koschei? What have I done?

A tiny figure shivered against his chest, whimpering.

"Shh," he whispered, "Brave heart, Susan. Brave heart."
-The Doctor
Strangers among Friends

[The First Doctor]

Susan

There were... other reasons, as well. Reasons he kept sealed away in the deep recesses of his mind, unwilling and unable to confront them.

Smoke.

Koschei's mad laughter.

Screaming.

An infant, whimpering against his chest as he ran, ran for her life even more than his own.

He shook his head and, with an effort of will, forced the memories away. Enough of this, he decided. I must go and find Susan.
-The Doctor
Deadly Games

"Ah, there you are, my child," the Doctor said, trying to put on a stern face. Inwardly, he was relieved. Safe. She was safe.
-The Doctor
Deadly Games

"Did I, now?" he answered with a twinkle in his eye. "And have I told you that I cheat, quite routinely, when I play games?" He snorted at Susan's quickly-suppressed burst of laughter. "It's true, I'm afraid. Any game we play rapidly devolves into a meta-game in which victory is achieved by cheating the most egregiously without being caught."

A smile. "I'm afraid I'm a terrible influence on my granddaughter. Has she settled down by the time you meet me? Perhaps provided me with great-grandchildren?"
-The Doctor
Deadly Games

With a sigh, he turned and sat before her, crossing his legs. "All right," he said sadly. "What story would you like to hear? One about an angry young man who made a terrible decision, and fled his home with all that remained of his life bundled in his arms? Or maybe you'd like to hear about the bitter old man, who realized that he was raising all that was left of his family to be just like him. Oooh!" he said, his voice filled with mock excitement, "That one even has a sequel: he tries to keep his granddaughter from becoming the same sort of vicious old nomad that he's become, so he decides not to let her back into their ship. Instead, the last time he sees her, he's the same manipulative old b*****d that he always is, and makes her decision for her."

His shoulder slumped. "But there's third part to that story as well. When I - he - finally got his ship under control, when the Time Lords finally gave him back his memories of how to steer that ship, he went back to the minute after he left his granddaughter. He was going to make things right, even if he was three regenerations older."

His voice turned bitter. "And you know what he found? That the Daleks, trying to prevent their own destruction, had changed time. That Earth had never been invaded in 2150, and that his granddaughter was lost." He looked away, unable to bear her gaze. "And he spent a century and a half looking. He even snuck back to Gallifrey, trying to find her."
-The Doctor
Catalysts Don't Show Mercy

He looked back at Susan. "I'm not sure what else to say. I'm an emotionally crippled old man with a millennial-long track record of driving away people I love, burning bridges behind me, and running so I don't have to face my problems. I did it to the Archivist instead of fighting for her, and I did it to you and justified it to myself by telling myself I was looking out for you."

He sighed. "I cheat, constantly. I manipulate. I'm trying not to right now, and I don't know if it's working. If you hate me, I've given you reason, and I'd apologize if I thought I could sound sincere and if I thought it would matter."

"So, instead of apologizing, catch." He reached into his coat pocket, produced a chain, and tossed it to Susan. "It's your turn. Take her. Leave me behind, and go travel."

On the chain was a key. Her key, from all those centuries ago.

"It's all I can offer."
-The Doctor
Catalysts Don't Show Mercy

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