Part 2
Back on Gallifrey, Rassilon became ever more curious about the properties of the Eye of Harmony as it demonstrated properties beyond the science the Time Lords as they now called themselves. His scientific curiosity was to prove his downfall however. He was exposed to lethal amounts of radiation and collapsed apparently dying. As he lost consciousness his body began to glow. As the glow faded a new man lay in place of the old. Rassilon had regenerated. This ability was passed on to elite members of Gallifreyan society.
Following his regeneration Rassilon formed a new High Council of Time Lords. They were made up of Time Lords from Colleges – or Chapters as they were more commonly known. Each chapter had its own colours; the Prydonians wore scarlet and orange, the Arcalians wore green and the Patrexeans wore heliotrope. The Prydonian chapter had a reputation for being the most devious of the chapters, and produced the most renegades. The colleges of the Time Lord academy were led by the Cardinals. Ushers, who provided security and assistance at official Time Lord functions, could belong to any chapter, and wore all-gold uniforms. The two most powerful members of the High Council were the President and the Chancellor. While the President was a figure head in charge of ceremony and public appearances, it was the Chancellor who was concerned with the day to day running of Gallifrey.
There followed a period known as the Dark Times were lesser races were scooped up using a device known as a time scoop, and forced to compete in gladiatorial conflicts in the Game of Rassilon in what was known as “The Death Zone.” The winner was returned back to their own planet and time. This was seen as a great abuse of Time Lord powers and the scoop was hidden away never to be used again. Some say that Rassilon intervened to stop the use of the scoop but others say that it was Rassilon himself who used it for his own entertainment. Whatever the truth of the matter was, the scoop lay unused for centuries.
Following Rassilon’s regeneration, work continued apace on the time ships with the next breakthrough being the ship’s larger on the inside than on the out. In other words they were dimensionally transcendental. These ships allowed Time Lords to travel in almost complete safety as the external shell was just an illusion and therefore indestructible. Only access to the interior of the ship presented any form of danger and that was considered impossible.
The ships, now called T.A.R.D.I.S. (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space) by the granddaughter of one of the Time Lord engineers (nicknamed Theta Sigma but later known as Doctor) landed on the planet Minyos where events took place that were to have a permanent & profound effect on Time Lord society.
