Making Time Work In Expedition Demeter
Time Does Fly
The Time Chart For Expedition Demeter
- 4 Months
- Dawn/Spring
- Day/Summer
- Dusk/Autumn
- Night/Winter
Approximately 89 Days Per Month
DOV= Degree of Vertigo
| Nation/Region | DOV in Minuets | DOV in Hours | DOV in Days | DOV in Months | DOV in Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estoya | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mhirriah | 0 | (+3) | (+3) | 0 | 0 |
| Cordais | (-7) | (-5) | (8) | (-3) | (-6) |
| Vanheim | (-34) | (-10) | 0 | (-9) | 0 |
| Espada | (-5) | (-6) | (-15) | 0 | (-2) |
| Lartasia | 0 | 0 | (+65) | (+3) | (+8) |
| Aelusia | 0 | (+8) | (+17) | (+2) | (+3) |
| Central Freeholds | 0 | (-4) | (-6) | 0 | 0 |
| The Black March | (+1) | (+5) | (+1) | (+3) | 0 |
| Dis | (+16) | (7) | (+3) | 0 | (+3) |
| Weir Lands | Null | Null | Null | Null | Null |
| The Infernum/Ozlith | (+3) | (+20) | (+4) | (+1) | (+7) |
The Date of Expedition Demeter's Departure
15th of Dawn, 1780
In a world with Universal Vertigo bending time and space, the measurement of time is nearly impossible. it is difficult to determine how far ahead or behind you are in relation to another. The Freeholds have the most difficulty, as trade is heavily impacted by minute changes between freeholds. One merchant who happened to leave before you may have solved a demand problem months ahead of you, and you now have a shipment full of product you have to sell at a loss.
It was Francis Le Georm that solved this problem and established two measurements of time that allow one to know how relative time changes by comparing It to a universal constant.
The Stargazer
Le Georm was born in The Freehold of Cordais and worked in the
Cordasian Observatories for much of his adult life with little success. He then became obsessed with determining how Vertigo worked after another Stargazer discovered that the sun is responsible for the seasons based on the planets rotation around it and its tilt toward it.
Le Georm hypothesized that different areas effected by Vertigo will always be affected to the same degree throughout the area affected. After testing the hypothesis using a device designed to count the amount of pebbles falling into a pan each minuet, he determined the hypothesis was halfway correct.
Placing one of these devices in each of the three main freehold's and recording the amount of time that passed over a single span of 24 hours in Cordaisian time revealed that there we're no variances in the dilation of time. Le Georm contacted associates watching each device at the same time each day, and eventually allowed them to contact him at the same time each day and found that there was no difference in the time that they contacted him vs. When he contacted them.
The Next Step, according to him, was to see if different parts of each freehold was affected the same way. This is where his hypothesis began to fall apart. While most of each region was affected in the exact same way leading to the exact same results, there were several specific pockets of vertigo that affected time differently sometimes varying by minutes and other times varying in hours. These pockets are well known to most individuals who are aware of Universal Maladies. These pockets are fairly impermanent, usually very small and isolated, easy to identify, and easy to avoid. He then decided to reconfigure his hypothesis to consider these pockets and determined that it was virtually impossible to create a measurement of relative time without having some constant of universal time.
He asked his associates to begin paying attention to the celestial bodies in the sky at the times they recorded their data. While the amount of time that passed was different, the sun, moon, and stars always ended up in the same position for each individual in each place where time was measured. This was the first major find on Le Georm's resume.
Le Georm hypothesized that different areas effected by Vertigo will always be affected to the same degree throughout the area affected. After testing the hypothesis using a device designed to count the amount of pebbles falling into a pan each minuet, he determined the hypothesis was halfway correct.
Placing one of these devices in each of the three main freehold's and recording the amount of time that passed over a single span of 24 hours in Cordaisian time revealed that there we're no variances in the dilation of time. Le Georm contacted associates watching each device at the same time each day, and eventually allowed them to contact him at the same time each day and found that there was no difference in the time that they contacted him vs. When he contacted them.
The Next Step, according to him, was to see if different parts of each freehold was affected the same way. This is where his hypothesis began to fall apart. While most of each region was affected in the exact same way leading to the exact same results, there were several specific pockets of vertigo that affected time differently sometimes varying by minutes and other times varying in hours. These pockets are well known to most individuals who are aware of Universal Maladies. These pockets are fairly impermanent, usually very small and isolated, easy to identify, and easy to avoid. He then decided to reconfigure his hypothesis to consider these pockets and determined that it was virtually impossible to create a measurement of relative time without having some constant of universal time.
He asked his associates to begin paying attention to the celestial bodies in the sky at the times they recorded their data. While the amount of time that passed was different, the sun, moon, and stars always ended up in the same position for each individual in each place where time was measured. This was the first major find on Le Georm's resume.
The Universal Constant Measurement of Time
Le Georm discovered that Universal Vertigo does not influence celestial bodies and only the surrounding area of one's relative position.
He used this to create a universal system of measurement that would serve as the basis for a reliable and constant measurement of time.
Due to the fact that the Sun causes the seasons and these seasons are present regardless of climate, he divided a single year into four parts based on each of the four seasons. This is somewhat of a problem as different regions report and experience seasons differently.
While it is an effective way of measuring time in a single year it is important to recognize that it is the position of the sun and where it is in the sky as the world travels and tilts around it that indicate the season, not the weather or culture.
At this point, he hit a snag. He had no way of measuring the amount of years that had passed before and had no way of labeling and Counting years. Single solar cycles would indicate a year but there are some regions who are years ahead of others, a fact he would discover after sending numerous associates across the world to measure time. He needed a way of measuring years individually to determine what year it was in any given place. This problem came when he would contact his associates again, hours to minutes after being contacted before. He determined that years are also factored into relative time and began working out the solution.
Again he turned to celestial bodies, in this case the Stars. Certain constellations in different zodiacs are heavily prominent depending on what year one was in in any given decade. Since the celestial bodies are unaffected by the dilation of time, he created a universal constant that measures years in sequences of 10, each year given the name of the most prominent constellation in that year. This way no matter where one was in the world, they could determine the correct year just by looking at the sky. This use of decades came from the fact that no region effected by constant vertigo differs in relative time by a degree higher than ten after the breakdown of vertigo between Estoya and Mhirriah, which initially dilated time by centuries.
News began to spread about a nation unhindered by the perils of Universal Vertigo. Estoya and its Pathfinders stabilized time in the nation, and as such, created a perfectly aligned example of the universal constant time with relative time. Le Georm moved his entire operation, his data, and equipment to Estoya, and reset his initial calculations to Estoyan time. He found that he had been correct on most of his calculations and began to perfect his system of time.
Now that a universal constant could be measured for time, Le Georm went to work creating a method of measuring relative time. Numerous recalculations and failed experiments would follow, as the concept of relative time was still fairly new and very difficult to calculate and study. The main problem with relative time is that unlike universal constant time, where there is only one single correct answer to what time it is no matter where you are, relative time, no matter how different it may be depending on your relative location, is always correct. It is difficult to take an accurate measurement of time when traveling to the next region over gives you an entirely different measurement that is just as accurate. He determined that the easiest way of doing this is by combining the universal standard with measurements of time based on relative location.
Since Estoya is a stable Nation, all data he collected from other regions and nations were compared to the relative time within Estoyan Borders.
While it is an effective way of measuring time in a single year it is important to recognize that it is the position of the sun and where it is in the sky as the world travels and tilts around it that indicate the season, not the weather or culture.
At this point, he hit a snag. He had no way of measuring the amount of years that had passed before and had no way of labeling and Counting years. Single solar cycles would indicate a year but there are some regions who are years ahead of others, a fact he would discover after sending numerous associates across the world to measure time. He needed a way of measuring years individually to determine what year it was in any given place. This problem came when he would contact his associates again, hours to minutes after being contacted before. He determined that years are also factored into relative time and began working out the solution.
Again he turned to celestial bodies, in this case the Stars. Certain constellations in different zodiacs are heavily prominent depending on what year one was in in any given decade. Since the celestial bodies are unaffected by the dilation of time, he created a universal constant that measures years in sequences of 10, each year given the name of the most prominent constellation in that year. This way no matter where one was in the world, they could determine the correct year just by looking at the sky. This use of decades came from the fact that no region effected by constant vertigo differs in relative time by a degree higher than ten after the breakdown of vertigo between Estoya and Mhirriah, which initially dilated time by centuries.
News began to spread about a nation unhindered by the perils of Universal Vertigo. Estoya and its Pathfinders stabilized time in the nation, and as such, created a perfectly aligned example of the universal constant time with relative time. Le Georm moved his entire operation, his data, and equipment to Estoya, and reset his initial calculations to Estoyan time. He found that he had been correct on most of his calculations and began to perfect his system of time.
Now that a universal constant could be measured for time, Le Georm went to work creating a method of measuring relative time. Numerous recalculations and failed experiments would follow, as the concept of relative time was still fairly new and very difficult to calculate and study. The main problem with relative time is that unlike universal constant time, where there is only one single correct answer to what time it is no matter where you are, relative time, no matter how different it may be depending on your relative location, is always correct. It is difficult to take an accurate measurement of time when traveling to the next region over gives you an entirely different measurement that is just as accurate. He determined that the easiest way of doing this is by combining the universal standard with measurements of time based on relative location.
Since Estoya is a stable Nation, all data he collected from other regions and nations were compared to the relative time within Estoyan Borders.
Relative Time
He did this by using "degrees of Vertigo" to increase or decrease the universal constant based on relative position. He then sent out as many individuals as he could, from his associates, to Wardens he hired who recorded time in the various regions they traveled to.While many never returned to give a full report on all the data they had collected, so many have been sent out to collect said data that enough information have been retained to create an effective means of measuring both constant time and relative time.
Using the universal constant as a Baseline, relative time is measured in the form of degrees usually a positive or negative modifier to constant time
Using the universal constant as a Baseline, relative time is measured in the form of degrees usually a positive or negative modifier to constant time
Fun Fact
Stargazers in observatories offer many Rewards for the lost equipment and data, as well as any new data collected in one's travels.
5th of Dawn, the year of Mhirriah +1
While the most prominent constellation in the sky is the same, there is a full years difference between the universal standard and the relative time of the location. This is why the star constellation remains in the title. This was not the best way of measuring years, however, and it soon became apparent that a numerical system would be best.
The next step was determining how to measure the distance between events in the past and the future. Since Universal Vertigo became a widespread problem, the closest approximation individuals could use to determine the amount of time from distant events to the present we're far from accurate. In fact, the method of determining exactly what year universal constant time would acknowledge as the beginning or the starting point almost didn't happen. Measurements of time rarely occurred in historical documents usually replaced by broad statements and approximations. However, the early Mhirrian church officials began utilizing the Ozlithian calendar to give rough estimates as to when future events will be held.
This method was documented only a handful of times before Vertigo set in. The only surviving record is centered around the establishment of a holiday that celebrates the anniversary of the nation's founding referred to it as Mhirriah's crossing.
A document between the leader of the church and low level priestesses, labeled the specific year that Ozlith fell. This allowed Le Georm to abandon the usage of zodiacs and focus on numerical values using the date of Ozlith's fall as a starting point where all that happened before would be represented as a negative number and all the happened after would be represented as a positive number and degrees of Vertigo would be represented in parenthesis beside its modified value.
The next step was determining how to measure the distance between events in the past and the future. Since Universal Vertigo became a widespread problem, the closest approximation individuals could use to determine the amount of time from distant events to the present we're far from accurate. In fact, the method of determining exactly what year universal constant time would acknowledge as the beginning or the starting point almost didn't happen. Measurements of time rarely occurred in historical documents usually replaced by broad statements and approximations. However, the early Mhirrian church officials began utilizing the Ozlithian calendar to give rough estimates as to when future events will be held.
This method was documented only a handful of times before Vertigo set in. The only surviving record is centered around the establishment of a holiday that celebrates the anniversary of the nation's founding referred to it as Mhirriah's crossing.
A document between the leader of the church and low level priestesses, labeled the specific year that Ozlith fell. This allowed Le Georm to abandon the usage of zodiacs and focus on numerical values using the date of Ozlith's fall as a starting point where all that happened before would be represented as a negative number and all the happened after would be represented as a positive number and degrees of Vertigo would be represented in parenthesis beside its modified value.
65th of Night, 1577(+3)
The Details of Time
By using the universal constant measurement of time one can multiply the amount of time variation on a small scale in order to convert it to a larger scale. For example if a region is a full year ahead then the time dilation would reflect this in a small scale. For every set amount on the counter, one can multiply by the amount of intervals one would be checking to retrieve the data.
One can determine the difference in time by utilizing a milestone such as a day, a year a month, whichever one is most likely to be the amount of variance.
There are 24 hours in a single day and it takes 365 days approximately for a full year to pass. If there are 60 minutes to an hour that means there are 60 minuets to an hour. This equals approximately 525600 minutes in a single year. These minute measurements led to the first ever implementation of Le Georm's system. He would measure out every minute by counting the pebbles as they fell into the pan. After an hour, he used a telepathic link as he did before to contact his associates. They exchanged their data and then used it to determine how much variance existed between locations.
The Le Georm Counter
The first device was the initial prototype for measuring time. The official Le Georm Counter used clockwork mechanisms that were designed to count in intervals of 60 based on each degree of its rotation. It's rotation featured 60 distinctive positions meaning 60 seconds per minute and every minuet is one full rotation. Every time it reached a full rotation it would tick a slot. On the device, their are 25 slots, each featuring a ring of small stone plates with numbers between 0 and 9 inscribed on its face.
Every time it ticks, a slot will go up in number, counting the number of minutes that go by.
The device is wound every 7 hours and every time it is wound it will continue to count for a full 10 hours. The reason is wound every 7 is due to the fact that no one wants to miss count due to unforeseen damage or complications with the machine. The first prototypes were made of wood and iron and were rather large usually requiring a cart to move. Later models were smaller in size and usually made entirely out of some metal either being purely iron or copper. The smallest models are made of steel and fit in the palm of your hand. This change was made to make wardens more willing to take them into the Wilds.
The counters themselves usually come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and compositions. These counters also lead to the creation of timekeeping devices. While exceptionally expensive, clocks are popular among aristocratic households. These clocks, while ornate, highly complex, and more than capable of telling the time, usually have a margin of error that always has to be accounted for and corrected if it gets skewed too far off range. This is primarily due to the fact that milliseconds are impossible to measure accurately with the resources and Technology available in the world.
This became the official method of establishing relative time but it is not incredibly accurate and requires a lot of effort to determine the amount of days then backtracking to determine the amount of hours and minutes ahead in relative time it is. Le Georm did produce a finished counter before his death. This version of the counter calculates intervals in real time, cycling between minutes which triggers a slot on hours at 60, which then cycles to days at 24, which cycles to years at 365. While one still has to make the calculation to determine the time difference between relative and constant time, it is much easier as one simply needs to take each value and subtract it by the corresponding value on the other counter.
The device is wound every 7 hours and every time it is wound it will continue to count for a full 10 hours. The reason is wound every 7 is due to the fact that no one wants to miss count due to unforeseen damage or complications with the machine. The first prototypes were made of wood and iron and were rather large usually requiring a cart to move. Later models were smaller in size and usually made entirely out of some metal either being purely iron or copper. The smallest models are made of steel and fit in the palm of your hand. This change was made to make wardens more willing to take them into the Wilds.
The counters themselves usually come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and compositions. These counters also lead to the creation of timekeeping devices. While exceptionally expensive, clocks are popular among aristocratic households. These clocks, while ornate, highly complex, and more than capable of telling the time, usually have a margin of error that always has to be accounted for and corrected if it gets skewed too far off range. This is primarily due to the fact that milliseconds are impossible to measure accurately with the resources and Technology available in the world.
Determining the data collected was based on the following mathematical formula.
If one takes the universal constant time and subtracts it from the measurement taken in relative time at a different location, then simplify the solution based on hours, days, or years, they receive the variance in time.
If universal time measured in at 1440 (24hrs) and relative time measured at 17000, you find the difference between the two.
17000-1440=16560.
That is how many minutes ahead the relative time is vs constant. Simplify it...
16560/60 for hours = 276 hours ahead
276/ 24 to determine days= 11.5 days ahead.
this is less then 365 therefore one does not have to calculate for the amount of years ahead relative time is. In order to write this in an official date and time he would simply add a + 11 or + 12 beside the day when writing the date.
16560/60 for hours = 276 hours ahead
276/ 24 to determine days= 11.5 days ahead.
this is less then 365 therefore one does not have to calculate for the amount of years ahead relative time is. In order to write this in an official date and time he would simply add a + 11 or + 12 beside the day when writing the date.
This became the official method of establishing relative time but it is not incredibly accurate and requires a lot of effort to determine the amount of days then backtracking to determine the amount of hours and minutes ahead in relative time it is. Le Georm did produce a finished counter before his death. This version of the counter calculates intervals in real time, cycling between minutes which triggers a slot on hours at 60, which then cycles to days at 24, which cycles to years at 365. While one still has to make the calculation to determine the time difference between relative and constant time, it is much easier as one simply needs to take each value and subtract it by the corresponding value on the other counter.
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Great addition with the formatting and 'fun fact'. It reads like a professional textbook and gives a feeling of authority and knowledge to the article. I found myself taking notes while reading. A great primer.
Thank you my friend. I was afraid it would be far too dull lol.
I think the way you cut it up really helps the flow. An option could be to also include a vintage picture of a pocketwatch or the inside of a clock near the middle. You certainly don't need it...the article is fine on its own. Just a thought.
Well thanks. I'm glad it works! That isn't a bad idea actually. easy to find creative commons images on that. thanks!