When am I?

This may seem like a lot of trivial details, but I had to come up with something to help sort out the material in DCC#35.  There is enough background there to comfortably support about 90,000 years of history.  It is separated into 2 broad categories:

1. modern: fall of the Khonsurian Empire to Jan. 1, 3200= nearly 4000 years of recorded history.


2. everything else...

When I give out old documents and tomes to the players they need to be able to place that info within its context in order to extract the clues for the story.  I don't like to just "hand things out..." I like to see a bit of "brain squeezing" in my players.  :D

I also have an Excel work sheet that tracks it all quite well.  I use it like a "daily planner/organizer" for my bard NPC's to chronicle the game(s)

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION SUPPLANTS ALL OTHER TIME KEEPING REFERENCES FOUND WITHIN THE ÁERETH WORLD GUIDES.

Time on Áereth is kept according to 4 different calendars. 

The simplest way to tell time on Áereth is to simply look at the sky: if the Phoenix Lord has risen [Vernal Equinox], and the “Road to Heaven” [Ring of Valdreth] is fading then it is spring, & time to plant the early crops.  When the “Road to Heaven” starts getting brighter then Autumn is coming to bring the doom of the Phoenix Lord [Autumnal Equinox].  It’s fairly obvious when it’s Winter… ;)

For most folks, this is as fine a detail as they ever need.

For the Civilized lands of Bankers, Empires, & Lords…

The calendar that the players need to be most familiar with is the Emperian Calender [EC or DrK] devised by the God Valdreth, given to the Druid Kings [DrK], and passed on to the world through the descendants of the Nimorian and Kothian Empires.  In modern usage the letters [dc] are used to denote “druidic calendar.”

The Druidic Calender [dc]

In the world of Áereth there are 13 months of 28 days (4; 7-day weeks) there are 364 days in a year {because the Lord Valdreth hates leap year}.  This is the Calendar used in throughout the northern hemisphere within the "civilized lands".  The first day of every year is January 1^st; then February, March, …etc, December, & the 28^th of Winterheart is the last day of the year as well as the Winter Solstice.  The New Moon marks the 1^st of each month and the Full Moon is always on the 14^th; & there are 2 lunar & Solar Eclipses every year.

The Naga Calendar [NC or SpC] is used in Xulmec, Ssorlang, and Old Imperial Naga lands on the southern continent and is based on the orbital cycles of the Spectral Moon and has 12 months consisting of 30 days with alternating 7- and 8-day weeks.  The 4-day period at the end of the 12^th month is known as “the time of demons,” the last day of which coincides with the 28^th of Winterheart on the Druidic Calendar.  This completes the cycle of a “small year,” but a Great Year = 95 small years + the 5 years of “the Shedding”.  100 cycles of the Great Year = 1 year of the Gods… so from that vantage point the world has only existed for just over 9 years.

The Solar Calendar [SC or KhC] created by the Sphinxes of the Khonsurian Empire is made up of 10 solar months of 35 days each: the days are simply numbered 1 to 35 without the demarcation of weeks.  The resulting 14-day “Half-Month” at the end of the 10^th month is known as “the time of reckoning” and is a legacy of the pre-Dragon Age when only the Sphinxes ruled.  This is the period of time each year which was set aside to do the “Gods Work” of cleansing the world of those creations which had become onerous, burdensome, or just plain undesirable.  The 14^th Day of Reckoning each year coincides with the 28^th of Winterheart.