Cavedude;
This will put a generic "time watcher" NPC in ever zone, unspawned;
http://www.nahunta.org/~angelox/files/TimerNPC.zip
345 in all, and since there is no *999 npc, it inserts with no errors -
The idea is to have one PL in /quests/templates for time only, would be named ##_6804.pl (i used the number/character mix to ensure it stays genuine).
All you have to do now is spawn this npc in any zone you use and want to keep time straight. You can use the PEQ Editor, and just spawn it to coords 0,0,0 (doesn't matter where, since you can't see, feel, or track him).
I already tested it with a few zones, and works fine.