The Yearly Calendar

Each year starts on the day of the first crescent moon after the Winter Solstice. In 32 days, Akhaventh the Moon circles the Aarth, passing through her eight phases. The calendar year is usually made of twelve of these months, or 384 days.

The months are named for the twelve Signs of the Ecliptic, the constellations marking the symbolic stations of society. A month begins on the first sliver of the moon.

• I’amondrix, the Soldier
• Milrynth, the Healer
• Khordrak, the Priest
• Dulthila, the Singer
• Thelkhastix, the Judge
• Crelmynth, the Seer
• Calextix, the Farmer
• Kialmanth, the Baker
• Faxenthak, the Trader
• Iukha’ila, the Queen
• Vela’ak, the Sailor
• Do’eshila, the Sage

Each month is broken into four weeks, matching the quarters of the moon. Each week can be divided into two phases. The effects of each moon phase last for its entire four-day span; this has been established empirically, through the observation of creatures such as lycanthropes.

The fourth day of each week is called Midweek, and is a market day. The last day of each week is called Endweek, and is a festival day. The other days have no names, and are referred to by number when necessary. Most weeks, the Endweek festival is quite modest, little more than an afternoon religious service followed by a long dinner with friends; but the monthly culmination of the full moon is usually a real event that brings communities together. The other days of the week are not named, and are referred to by number when necessary.

The solar year is about 390½ days long. This means the solstices and equinoxes move forward 6½ days every year. These quarters of the year occur on the 9th, 16th, 22nd, 29th, and 3rd, beginning with years that end with 0, before repeating. On years ending with 3 and 8, an embolismic month is appended to the calendar, known as the Witch’s Moon. On every even-numbered year, an intercalary leap day is added between the old year and the new.

Ssovatethix himself waxes and wanes over about a decade, with his influence modulating accordingly. Raneurynth herself revolves slowly in the heavens, changing which month begins the year about every 2,000 years.

Major holidays

Rethga’er. 14th I’amondrix. An adopted elven holiday, with obscure theological origins involving transit from the moon. Most celebrate it with paper decorations of moons and snow rabbits. It night is one of ill omen, and travellers seek shelter well before dark.

Nightrede. 13th Milrynth. A holiday encouraging study and the advancement of knowledge. Reading, writing, and board games are held indoors, especially in regions that experience wet or cold winters. This is also a time when the illiterate travel to towns or cities to have official documents, such as wills, scribed and notarized.

Springing of the Year. Calendar week after the Vernal Equinox. Traditionally a celebration of the end, and rest from the constant work, of lambing season, it also aligns in many places with the golden period after the weather warms but before the onset of mud season. It is thus often celebrated simply by going outside: footraces, archery, and other athletic competitions are common. With the early foraging season and the beginning of sugaring, fresh food begins appearing on tables again. In cities, the meteorological elements of the festival are deemphasized, and it takes on a more martial bent. The athletic competitions are considered military readiness, and in warmer parts of the Empire, where planting is already done, mustering begins for the spring campaigning season.

Sheepshear. 25th-26th Dulthila. A working festival held for thousands of years in the region of Godobald’s home village, he made the two days a minor holiday the Empire wide.

Godobald’s Birthday. 27th Thelkhastix. A minor holiday on which morning services are held in honor of the founder’s life.

Sunsdays. Half-week of the Estival Solstice. A festival of gratitude, first to the sun and then to others. Fire is taboo for the days and nights, with a feast mostly consisting of fresh green vegetables from the spring harvest; but convention holds that smoldering coals don’t count as fire, so there is usually a barbecued centerpiece. The days are celebrated by decorating homes with yellow or golden images of the sun. It is considered auspicious to enter buildings from the east side, with many going so far as to climb through windows if no east-facing door is available.

Fortune’s Games. 14th Calextix. Games of chance form the centerpiece of a summer fair, with circuses and other outdoor entertainment.

The Deed of Wenceslaus. 25th-27th Kialmanth. This holiday commemorates the three days Wenceslaus III spent facing utter darkness in the Tower of Zagdranus.

Festival of the Reunion. Last half-week of Iukha’ila and first half-week of Vela’ak. The harvest festival and greatest of the year, the Reunion is also a time of communion between the living and the dead. The actual work of harvesting having been completed earlier in the month, the days of the Festival are filled with canning, smoking, and pickling, while the nights are full of feasts. Places are always set for the dead, though festivalgoers wear masks to disguise themselves from malevolent spirits. Traditionally, one travels to one’s family to celebrate the festival; as the Empire has urbanized in the past hundred years, the center of gravity for the reunions has in part shifted from home villages to cities, which is a culture shock for families whose younger members have moved to the city for the first time.

Empire Day. 18th Faxenthak. Although Godobald was not crowned until the day of the Hibernal Solstice, the founding of the Empire is backdated to this day, on which he seized the necromancer fortress on the future site of Dastrux City and raised his flag above it. The day is reserved for contests of strength; the night is celebrated with fireworks, bonfires, and the burning of effigies of necromancers.

Nights of Illumination. Half-week in which the Hibernal Solstice falls. Candles and lanterns, where they can be afforded, are lit through each night to banish every shadow. Villages usually burn a single central bonfire instead. People try to stay up through all three nights, sleeping during the day. One is supposed to spend the time in contemplation, but the robed chanters and outdoor meditation circles must endure rowdy revelers shouting and singing; the holiday is celebrated more with drink than with food.

Fortune’s News. For two days on the eve of the new year, people gather to blow off the frustrations of the old however they see fit. The second day is also auspicious for divination.