The Divisions of the Year
The gods of Arcadayn created the heavens as an aid to timekeeping, and have ordained very simple, regular movements for the celestial bodies. The sun Uralos completes one revolution every 360 days, which is divided into four seasons of three months each. Each solar month corresponds to one of the twelve Zodiac constellations along the ecliptic. One week is six days long; this is the time required for the companion sun Rashil to orbit Uralos. Therefore, each month is five weeks, or 30 days, and one year is sixty weeks.
The lunar calendar follows the movements of Doshonos, the primary moon. (The orbits of the four secondary moons around Doshonos vary from 2-24 days.) The lunar year is the same length as the solar year, but is composed of fifteen four-week months (with six days for each of the four phases). New moons begin on 24 Darkmonth, 18 Coldblight, 12 Galemonth, 6 & 30 Quickening, 24 Greening, 18 Blooming, 12 Highsuntide, 6 & 30 Heatblight, 24 Harvestmonth, 18 Leaffall, 12 Browning and 6 & 30 Yearwane.
Because of the regularity of the solar and lunar cycles, eclipses are easy to predict. Solar eclipses occur (in some latitudes) every five new moons: 30 Quickening (partial), 30 Heatblight (partial), and 30 Yearwane (total--Year's End). Lunar eclipses occur every five full moons: 18 Quickening (partial), 18 Heatblight (total--Blood Moon), and 18 Yearwane (partial).
The days of the week are most commonly known as Sunday, Moonday, Starday, Earthday, Fireday and Godsday. The first five are working days. Godsday, the day on which Rashil reappears from behind Uralos, is set aside for rest and worship. The moon enters a new phase (new, waxing half, full, waning half) every Godsday.
The seasons and months of the (solar) year, with important dates, are listed below. The corresponding Zodiac sign is given in parentheses after each month's name. The names of the months and the Zodiac were standardized by St. Theodon (first Paragon of the Celestian Church in Krith), and have been adopted by most other nations in Arcadayn.
WINTER
SPRING
SUMMER
AUTUMN
The Reckoning of Years
In Krith and Visala, the years are counted from the founding of the respective kingdoms. By these reckonings, the current year is either 994 KC (Krithian Calendar) or VY 517 (Visalan Year). Kurbesim and some of the Desert Men use KC; Riversmidst uses VY. Haldinibar reckons years in terms of the reigns of its monarchs (who tend to be long-lived); it is currently the 23rd year in the reign of Queen Lothwen II. Junrazzak uses Dwarven Years (DY), which equals the current KC year +520.
See the "Timeline of Arcadayn History" for selected events since Krith's founding (1 KC; DY 521).
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This page last updated 11/8/2003 by Timothy E. Emrick. | Copyright 1998-2003 Timothy E. Emrick.