Leekley Bible

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Publisher's summary
The Leekly Bible

Subject matter
I AM CARDINAL BORUSA… TIME LORD OF GALLIFREY

This is my official insignia, and my personal glyph. Having transcended the confines of body, I exist now amidst the crystals of the Domed City of Gallifrey, which resonate with their beautiful sounds… much like the wind chimes of the Blue Planet… the place you call Earth.

I have decreed that my adventures with the Doctor and his flying ship, the TARDIS, in our quest to find his father Ulysses the Explorer, be written down by a scribe. I have instructed him to write these chronicles in the language of the Blue Planet, in long flowing script, because I believe that is the way the Doctor prefers it. Our own hieroglyphics of Gallifrey can’t capture the real adventure of it all, our glyphs are far too precise… they are meant to convey the logic of the law, and the science of time travel, which are two proud trademarks of Gallifrey. This odd elliptical language of the Blue Planet is far more appropriate to the Doctor, who seems to prefer humor over efficiency.

The Doctor wishes the people of the Blue Planet to know of our travels… to see for themselves that these worlds we have visited are not so distant after all. Those companions who travelled with us in our own adventures can attest this… if they are believed by humankind…

TIME TRAVEL

This is the supreme gift of Rassilon, the founder of our dynasty, who, millennia ago harnessed the power of a Black Hole. This fathomless power brought to the Time Lords mastery over the fourth and fifth dimensions. We found that we could travel back in time. The Time Lords of Gallifrey monitor and record the significant events on the planets in this Galaxy and beyond, throughout space and time. They are recorded in the Matrix… as well as all of the life experiences, feelings and memories of the Time Lords, themselves. The Matrix is our record of life in the Universe, contained in the Panopticon. This is our heritage and our duty.

Until the TARDIS ships were perfected, some of our early Time Lords were lost in time, and never returned. We have found a few, by accident… but many will be travelling for an eternity. Unable to get back home to the Domed City, that jewel under glass… or to the windswept mesas and bottomless canyons of Gallifrey.

The most legendary Time Explorer was Ulysses, a hero among the citizens of Gallifrey. His fate is unknown to the general populace… but not to me. Ulysses the Explorer was my son. And, in turn, Ulysses had a son… who, in later lives, was called the Master. The Master’s ruthless ambition was to wrap himself in the Sash of Rassilon… worn only by the President of the High Council… the Sash I had worn for so long. Rather than using our immense powers for the spread of enlightenment of all races, the Master wished only to conquer and rule.

IN THIS TIME OF DANGER AND TURMOIL

The Doctor and the Master were the two greatest minds to emerge in the millennia since Rassilon. It was strange that two such towering figures were born in the same era of time, as if somehow brought forward by nature… as if by the planet itself. And as the years went by, the Doctor grew in his powers… of intellect and telepathy. After seven regenerations, he seemed to us, the Time Lords, to be the only leader capable of standing up to the Master and his followers.

However, there were those that distrusted his exuberance. The Doctor was as irrepressible as when he was a youngster. Although the Doctor was by then 800 years old, he had the body of man 30 years old… and he was still rebellious and curious, usually beyond our patience.

He would often time travel to the Blue Planet Earth and, against our strict rules and traditions, would meddle with history… interfering with the affairs of other worlds…

• Entry remark… I am reminded by my scribe that there may be a confusion concerning our Gallifreyan ability to regenerate. In the terms of the Blue Planet, it is both a death and a rebirth. It is very sacred and profound to us… also agonizingly painful. Regenerations are triggered in several ways… old age… mortal accident… by decree of the Time Lord Council… or by will.

A regeneration produces a completely different body, chosen by the unconscious much like a dream is chosen… and it profoundly affects one’s personality and memory. I, for example, in and early regeneration, became a megalomaniac. Happily, it was a phase that passed…

HE WAS CALLED THE DOCTOR

There may be a confusion concerning the word ‘Doctor.’ On the Blue Planet, that word is used for medical advisors. The Doctor feels that medical practitioners are quite useful, like automobile mechanics, which are a group he very much admires. But on Gallifrey, a Doctor is one who has mastered all fields of knowledge.

The Doctor is also a tinker and a lover of inventions. For many years, he has escaped the clutches of intergalactic bounty hunters, monsters, and killing machines with his ingenuity and quick wits. But I am obliged to admit that the Doctor is also irascible, eccentric, and exasperating.

He is very secretive. One minute everything is going splendidly… and suddenly he will shut you out if he does not wish you to know the plan he is devising. He can be happy, even giddy, but can quickly turn dark and brooding if he has picked up some obscure hint of danger or deception. This is how a fugitive stays alive.

Notable features
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