Calendar & Timekeeping

Calendar

Year: A Year consists of 425 days.

Seasons: The year in Creation consists of five seasons, beginning with the Season of Air and concluding with Calibration following the Season of Fire, in the order: Air, Water, Earth, Wood, Fire. The coldest time is Water, the warmest Fire, the optimal planting season is Earth and optimal harvest is Wood.

Months: Each Season is divided into 3 Months of 4 Weeks (28 days). The months are titled Ascending, Resplendent, and Descending. In the constantly temperate climes of the Blessed Isle, each season contains one agricultural cycle: planting on Ascending and harvest on Descending. The months follow a complete circle of Luna’s faces: the 15th of each month is a full moon, the 8th and 22nd of each month are half moons, the 2nd and 28th of the month are the thinnest crescent moon.

Weeks: A week consists of 7 days, proceeding in constant order: Sunday, Moonday, Marsday, Mercuryday, Jupiterday, Venusday, and Saturnday. The weeks of a month see the complete progress of one of Luna’s faces: the first week of a Month occurs under the Half Moon, followed by Waxing, full, and Waning. During the normal year, the mon remains visible every night, though at the start of Waxing or end of Waning, it may be but a sliver. For five days of the year, on Calibration, there is no moon whatsoever to be seen in the sky.

Calibration: Not a season, not a month, not even a week: An odd set of five days that fit nowhere in the Calendar, and within which scary things happen… yadayadayada and all that. During Calibration, the celestial bodies of the Incarna cannot be found in the sky, nor can the stars.

Terms: Slightly off-set from the seasons are the 'terms' of the year, periods of similar weather and ecology. On the Blessed Isle, these have no practical existence, and are mostly important for poetic imagery amongst witty Dynasts.

-- Ascending Earth to Ascending Wood are the 'spring' term, where plants begin to sprout.

-- Resplendent Wood to Resplendent Fire are the 'summer' term. Resplendent Fire is typically the hottest month of the year.

-- Descending Fire, Ascending Air and Resplendent Air are the 'autumn' or 'fall' term.

-- Descending Air to Descending Water are the 'winter' term. Ascending Water is usually the coldest month of the year.

Timekeeping

Day: Each day consists of a full cycle of day and night, about 1500 Earth-minutes. A day begins with dawn's first glow, and ends in the moment before that glow breaches the horizon... the Unconquered Sun is precise in his appearance, so there is no dissonance between days measured in this manner. There are eleven hours of daylight, two of twilight, and ten of night... the Unconquered Sun would never accept equal time with darkness after all.

Watches: Each day is divided into 5 ‘watches’, corresponding roughly to 300 Earth-minutes. These are Air, Earth, Fire, Wood, Water. Each watch is divided into five ‘hours’. Temple bells typically sound the watch during daylight hours to mark the five daily prayers to the Unconquered Sun. Water-based clocks commonly sound out the watches of day.

Hours: Five hours, approximately 60 Earth-minutes, occur in a watch. These are named using complex animal imagery based on the watch they occur in, each hour in the day having a specific name. They are nominally subdivided into ‘segments’. Hours are often measured using hourglasses or other sand-shifting devices.

Segments: Each hour is divided into three segments of approximately 20 Earth-minutes: Ascending, Resplendent, Descending. These are further divided into ‘minutes’.

Minutes: Each segment is split into three ‘minutes’ (approx 6.6 minutes Earth-time). These are titled Rising, Proceeding, and Falling. Minute measurement is a matter for clockwork and artifacts.

More Precise Measurements: Once upon a time, in the First Age, time was measured with incredible precision. Now, such is the purview only of elder Sidereals and sorcerers fortunate enough to stumble upon First-Age devices capable of timekeeping.

Earth Watch

Hour of the Boar (Dawn)

Hour of the Bull

Hour of the Spider

Hour of the Bear

Hour of the Snake

Fire Watch

Hour of the Mouse

Hour of the Phoenix *

Hour of the Dragon * (Zenith)

Hour of the Salamander

Hour of the Basilisc

Wood Watch

Hour of the Mantis

Hour of the Cat

Hour of the Wolf

Hour of the Wolverine

Hour of the Rat (Twilight)

Water Watch

Hour of the Carp

Hour of the Serpent

Hour of the Dolphin

Hour of the Siaka

Hour of the Squid

Air Watch

Hour of the Mospid

Hour of the Hawk

Hour of the Hybroc

Hour of the Eagle

Hour of the Raiton

[*Ancient records often show the positions of the Dragon and Phoenix hours reversed]

Specific Occurrences:

-- Sunrise: The Proceeding Minute of the Hour of the Boar Resplendent.

-- High Noon: The Resplendent Segment of the Hour of the Dragon.

-- Sunset: The Proceeding Minute of the Hour of the Rat Resplendent.

-- Midnight: The Falling Minute of the Hour of the Squid Descending and the Rising Minute of the Hour of the Mospid Ascending. Some say that, between those two minutes, exists a nearly-imperceptible fraction of a minute which is not part of any day, but most scoff at such crackpot theories.

Legion Calendar & Time

A Legion march invariably begins at the start of the Hour of the Bear, and construction of camp at the beginning of the Hour of the Basilisk. Rather than the Elemental Watches of civil timekeeping, Legions divide the night into three Guard Watches, which are named by number: First Watch contains the Rat, Carp, Serpent, and Dolphin hours; Second Watch contains the Siaka, Squid, Mospid & Hawk hours; and Third Watch contains the Hybroc, Eagle, Raiton, and Boar hours.

Solar, Lunar, and Astrological Calendars

The Calendar of the Realm is based upon none of these, unlike Earth-based equivalents. The Sun is an abstract representation of a divinity which passes directly overhead of any observer. The stars display not constant points but the twists of fate, and the constellations do not have positions or movements of any consistency. The Moon is steady enough to measure months and cycles according to a Lunar Calendar, but this is useful only in broad strokes rather than timekeeping minutiae. For measuring time, or even navigation, the celestial spheres are worthless to all but those with the most specialized of artifacts.