Calendar

Marrishland uses three different calendars to measure the passage of time, depending largely on the region. All Mar calendars mark the beginning of the year with the spring equinox, which is unsurprising because Domin blots out the other three moons every six years on that night.

Many scholars, including those of Nightfire's Academy, mark time on the Imperial Calender, which begins nearly 8,000 years ago with the arrival of the Giens from beyond the Eastern Ocean — long before the Gien Empire itself, certainly. This calendar divides the year into nine 40-day months, plus the Anest, which is not part of any month. The Imperial Calendar does not divide time into weeks. Months have Gien names associated with major constellations, the three visible moons (Fraemauna, Niminth, and Sendala), and three broad categories of forest (coniferous, deciduous, and tropical). Each year is named for one of 18 archetypes, and each series of 18 years is named for one of 36 completely different archetypes — making for a naming cycle lasting 648 years. Naming cycles are numbered consecutively from the arrival of the Giens from beyond the sea.

The Duxy of Pidel has its own calendar, which divides the year into 12 months of 30 days, each of which corresponds with Fraemauna's lunar cycle. The Pidel Calendar uses 9-day weeks with names identical to those used by the Domus Calendar. However, while Anest is not considered part of any one month, the Pidel Calendar reckons it as falling on a day of the week. The result is a Pidel Cycle lasting 54 years, each month of which is named for a different hero.

Similarly to the Imperial Calendar, the Pidel Calender names its years rather than numbering them. Unlike it, however, the name of each year is determined by the Dux or Duxess of Pidel exactly one year after its end, on the following Anest. This is usually an adjective-noun phrase related to the most significant event of that year, but some years have received truly bizarre names. Years are usually described in relative terms — last year, three years ago, this year, six years from now, and so forth. Official texts, however, adhere to the Pidel naming conventions.

Some scholars believe that the Pidel Calendar's naming convention is rooted in a misunderstanding of the Gien naming conventions during the Gien Occupation. Since the Imperial Calendar takes centuries to complete its naming cycle, it is not inconceivable that the uninformed would believe the names were utterly random. Pidel has made no effort to find a logical explanation for this naming convention.

By far the most widespread calendar, however, is the Domus Calendar, which divides the year into eight 45-day months, each of which has five 9-day weeks. Days of the week are named for deities — Marrishday, Dinahday, Seruvday, Dominday, Herday, Senday, Nimday, Fraeday, and Wearday. Months are named for the eight constellations of noble heroes — Belnat (Rebel), Anwalnat (Advocate), Duxnat (General), Jaer (Hunter), Wainat (Orphan), Heldnat (Hero month), Weardnat (Guardian), and Gefgan (Slave). The years are numbered consecutively from the founding of Domus Palus. As with other Mar calendars, Anest falls in no month. Moreover, Anest does not even occupy any day of the week. The Domus Calendar is by far the simplest of Marrishland's calendars, which does much to explain its popularity.

The Domus Calendar marks time from the year in which Domus Palus is believed to have been built. Dates during and after this year are followed by the abbreviation I.D. — inans domteri, which translates as "in the year of the homeland." Dates preceding this are followed by the abbreviation A.C. — antus catplus, which translates as "before the ship's arrival."

(Contributed by Weard Gilda Kronas)

Copyright 2005-2007 Eric Zawadzki and Matthew Schick. All Rights Reserved.
This site has features best viewed in Mozilla Firefox. Download today!