The calendar is based on the helical rise of new constellations over the horizon every six days. Twelve major constellations, larger and brighter than the others, rise roughly every thirty days. Four minor constellations, well defined but still smaller and dimmer, then rise approximately six days apart, until a new major constellation rises again. Roughly three days after a new constellation rises, one old constellation that had been visible for half the year to that point dips back below the horizon. The procession of these sixty constellations over the course of the year marks the passage of time, and forms the astrological zodiac.
Seasons
Between every month, including at the very beginning of the year before the first month, there is a Synod, a special six day week. The first synod of the year, and every two synods thereafter, marks the end of one of the six seasons and the start of the next. These seasons also have elements which are traditionally associated to them, and are called Emergence (Earth), Spring (Wood), Monsoon (Water), Summer (Fire), Autumn (Wind), and Winter (Ice).
Each synod is associated with one of the twelve major or "great" constellations, each of which is in turn associated to one of the gods. The exception is the unlucky seventh synod of the constellation Chimera preceding the month of Arkesteon, marking the departure of the monsoons and the start of the dry summer season when when poleis go to war, which is shared by the Three Faces of War - Stratia, Nykos, and Embrys.
Months
Each actual month is then comprised of four civil weeks of six days each. Each month is associated to the gods whose synods bookend either side of the month, and each deity is thus associated to two months. A deity's power in the world is said to wax through the first month, until it hits its peak during their synod between the two months, before then waning through the second month until it returns to normal.
The Moons
Before the assassin
Ember's murder of Polemares, the former God of War and the Moon and King of the Gods, Iroa had one platinum moon. Known as Palatene, it became full exactly every 60 days, in accordance with the synodic seasons. Polemares's undoing not only resulted in the rise of the Three Faces of War in his place, but also marked the separation of that singular moon into three. These new celestial companions to Iroa, only a century old, travel amid the shimmering new planetary Ring of Mares - an ethereal ring around the planet, visible day and night.
These moons, in slightly decreasing order of size, are Aismene, the far silver moon associated to
Stratia; Krysene, the middle golden moon of
Nykos; and Xalkene, the close copper moon of
Embrys.
Aismene, Krysene, and Xalkene have periods of 40, 32, and 24 days respectively. Each has effects on the tides and on creatures bound to lunar influence, especially those of lawful, neutral and chaotic tendencies in turn. Each also has supernatural influences, with the most notable being that for the two days Xalki is full, all magic worldwide is
Wild Magic.
Every 4320 days, exactly upon the night between the end of every twelfth year and the beginning of the next year, all three moons come into conjunction simultaneously. This event is dubbed the Night of the Eye due to the uncanny appearance of the alignment, with the contrarian copper moon being in its new moon phase and appearing as a black pupil against the full gold moon's iris and full silver moon's sclera.
Numerology
These handy and plentiful numerical coincidences have led to the peoples of the Known World adopting a base 12 counting system long ago. With knuckle counting, any Iroan of even middling (6-8) intelligence and illiteracy can easily and quickly do math up to 12 on one hand, with those of even average intelligence (9-11) easily managing 144 in the same time using both hands. This is also why currency tiers are multiples of 12 rather than 10.
All of 12's factors are culturally important however, especially "lucky" numbers 6 and 4. Six of course is the number of the seasons, and of the days of the week, and shows up in so many other aspects of daily life that it is considered a mark of order. Six is also emphasized in dactylic hexameter, the poetic form of the great tragedies and heroic epics of Iroan storytelling, drama and legendarium. Four is the number of fingers or toes on each hand or foot of most of Iroa's inhabitants, the count of the directions, and the number of "acts" of most longform Iroan stories. It is also a recurring theme or pattern in many Iroan myths and fables, such as the Four Lucky Sisters.
The number 7, by contrast to our world, is actually an "imperfect" and "unlucky" number in most Iroan cultures, not least due to its association with war as noted before. 13, meanwhile, is somehow more intensely unlucky than it is in our own culture - even when Polemares split into several new gods, the total number of gods jumped from 12 to 14 and skipped 13, and that absolutely did not escape general notice and commentary.
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