Caldera

The caldera was a location on the Homeworld that acted as a node point where all lines of historical influence converged and one could stare directly into the heart of time. It was created during the initial invasion of the Yssgaroth during the anchoring of the thread. (PROSE: The Book of the War)

According to The Thousand and Second Night, the "cauldron of creation" was made when the world of the djinn was destroyed, and Allah placed within it "an infinite blackness". At the end of days, the tale said that Allah would dissolve the world in the cauldron and create the new world. However, Iblis, the leader of the djinn, wanted the cauldron so he could have Allah's power, so he convinced the djinn to help him steal the cauldron from Jannat and bring it to Jahannam. Allah sent his angels to defend the cauldron, and many were killed by the djinn.

However, there was a person who was neither an angel nor a djinn, whose name was known only to Allah. He advised Allah to hide the cauldron from the djinn and protect it from them, so Allah formed the Earth around the cauldron and placed Man on Earth to guard it. Now unable to reach the cauldron, the djinn mixed with human women and created the Mal'akh, who lay in wait until the angels returned to take the cauldron back to Jannat.

The Shift hinted that it used to be the person with the unknown name, and that the person it was speaking to wasn't really Allah. (PROSE: Head of State)

President Umbaste went into a coma after staring into the caldera. (PROSE: The Book of the War)

In tapestries on the Homeworld, the caldera was depicted as a black disk with Yssgaroth swarming out. (PROSE: Against Nature)

Behind the scenes

 * The caldera's description and function is similar to how the Eye of Harmony is presented in non-televised media, specifically The Adventuress of Henrietta Street. The audio story Neverland asserted that the Eye of Harmony was the "hitching post" of chronology, the central point from where the Web of Time was anchored.
 * The caldera is also very similar to the Untempered Schism, later seen in several Tenth Doctor television stories and comics.