Manannan's Clock is a mysterious time keeping device kept in inside of his house in Llewdor.
Background[]
The wizard kept a magical device in his house that recorded the passing of time. The time it kept was different from the time normally recognized in Daventry. Time apparently runs differently in that universe, slower than it flows in the Other World. Manannan's clock may be some sort of clock from the Other World. It is wondered how he obtained it. It may be connected to the mystery of the Eye Between the Worlds; which was apparently Manannan's computer. There seems to be much truth in the Daventry saying that "Any magic, sufficiently advanced, is indistinguishable from technology."[1][2][3]
There are patterns in the wizard's comings and goings. Gwydion used the mysterious clock to time the wizard's comings and goings. He found that wizard would remain "home" for five minutes (or a bit longer if he had a chore to do). He was 'gone' for 25 minutes giving Gwydion plenty of time to explore.[4] If he slept he'd also sleep for twenty-five minutes of the clock's time. Gwydion understood if he didn't finish a chore within three minutes of being assigned he would be punished by Manannan.
Whenthe ship showed up in Llewdor it was only there for thirty minutes of the strange clock's time.[5]
Behind the scenes[]
This is a reference to the timer in KQ3. The clock does not appear in the Apple 2E/2C version (but does appear on the Apple II/GS) of the game because of memory limitations. Time is suspended while one is checking inventory or pausing the game in any way. As long as Gwydion is moving or doing something, time passes; time stops while the game is paused, you're checking your inventory, or typing commands. A minute of game time is usually much longer than a minute of real time (though this is dependent on the speed of the computer).[6]
In KQ4 the game is also timed with 24 hours in game time equaling six hours of real time.
References[]
- ↑ KQC, 2nd Edition, 485, 486
- ↑ KQC2E, pg 122: "My master was a man of extremely fixed and regular habits. He would rise at exactly the same time each day. Likewise he would retire to bed each night at the same time, accompanied by the same three fingers of the same awful brandy that his taste favored. When Manannan slept, it was for precisely the same period of time, and when he traveled, he always returned at the same time. It was as if he were a clockwork person with gears that repeated himself eternally. Manannan kept in his house a magical clock unlike any I have ever read about. It was similar to an hourglass in that it would measure a certain short period of time and then begin again, then again and again and again, for as many times as you might count. The sorcerer kept the device, he would say, as a curiosity, for it measured the passing of time in an interval unknown to our kind. He told me once-why, I do not know-that it was created by another race, one that came before the human, or after-he was not sure which. Over time I came to see the strange clock as a way to measure the man himself. His bath always took two measures of the odd time, his studies eighteen, and his sleep twenty-five-the same as his travels. It was because I knew this of Manannan that I wasn't worried that he would return just then. I knew that if I could keep track of time, as measured by the unhuman device, then my master could not catch me unawares.
- ↑ TOBOKQ1E, pg 74: "Manannan is a busy guy. He is also very punctual. Take note of how long he stays away. It’s always the same length of time. Twenty-five minutes comes to mind. Or is it fifteen? Ten, maybe?"
- ↑ KQ2HB, pg 9
- ↑ KQC2E, pg 369
- ↑ KQC3E, 362