History of the Midlands

This is a subset of the History of the World, based on events in the Midlands since the The Reelcana River Flood. In order to keep myself real to the development of civilization, my History of the Midlands timeline uses both BCE/CE per the real world calendar and BRR/RR for the made up one. (Click the timeline link or scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Timeline" for the events laid out without all the exposition.)

Multiple Calendars in Use

In the novel, there are different groups using different calendars. Some agree on things like months and days, while others do not. For the most part, the months will sync up well; only the years and new year choices will not.

Midlands Calendar, by River Reckoning (RR or Before RR/BRR)

Universal Timeline Date (UTD) starts at 0 to match this calendar.
Starting from the Reelcana River Flood as year zero (3900 BCE/4601 DR). Counts moons (each of the revolutions of the primary moon, Tiansen) and weeks based on the lunar cycle, which is a thirty-day, five-week cycle, of which there are twelve each year. (Mazzetwili, the second moon, moves offset, but there aren't holidays based on "the Child" moon.) They follow the seasons, and while the druidic Wheel of the Year is convenient to keep in mind, the celebrations in the Midlands are more secular than religious. Their first month begins with the vernal equinox, which becomes part of their new year celebrations. Over time, their names for the moons have superseded other naming systems, so their moon names are used by most people. (Beginning with the first day of Spring: Sprouting Grass Moon, Flower Moon, Strawberry Moon, Buck Moon, Sturgeon Moon, Harvest Moon, Hunter's Moon, Beaver Moon, Cold Moon, Ice Moon, Snow Moon, Sap Moon.)

• 0 BRR / 3900 BCE: The Reelcana River Flood was a major natural disaster that allied clans formerly ill at ease in salvage and repair efforts after everything they had in the Reelcana Valley that was swept away. It is one of the few mutual points in history, and makes a great year zero, especially as it is the year that the Midland clans settled into locations that they now rule over. (Chigroden, Chailara, and Chaecrya were each founded in 1 RR.)


• 3607 RR / 293 BCE: The Discovery of Arcanum Crystal and how it could be used to fuel arcane magitech completely changed the Iron Age and the possibilities in most arenas. It kicked off a technological revolution that continues well through the time period of the story.


• 3721 RR / 179 BCE: Ria's Story will begin a couple weeks before Longnight.

Druidic Calendar, by Druid Reckoning (DR or Before DR/BDR)

As the druids came from off-continent, their histories date back to a different set of seasons, different milestones, and so forth. Their months are offset the Midlands Calendar, but the druids count moons and weeks based on the lunar cycle just as the native people of the continent do. The druid new year is Longnight, the shortest night of the year, when the sun begins its return. Their year is divided by the Wheel of the Year celebrations, eight equidistant solar celebrations, and twelve named moons. Over time their naming system for the moons grew to match the Eikeo peoples’, as their former names of moons referred to seasons which Eikeozoa does not have. (Beginning with the first day of Winter: Ice Moon, Snow Moon, Sap Moon, Sprouting Grass Moon, Flower Moon, Strawberry Moon, Buck Moon, Sturgeon Moon, Harvest Moon, Hunter's Moon, Beaver Moon, Cold Moon.)
The earliest date relevant to the story is 4600 BRR/8500 BCE, when the druids arrived on this continent. This is year one by Druid Reckoning (1 DR), which the druids refer to as “the first year upon the soil of Eikeozoa”. Since theirs is primarily an oral history, they don’t really use any sort of notation, the “DR” is generally used by others so they can match dates.
See the History of the Druids for more information.