Dancamortian Timekeeping

The Dancamortian timekeeping system is unique because of the city's near-total lack of sunlight. Instead, it relies an enormous bell affixed to the water wheel at the Dancamort Steelworks, which is turned by the River Styx.

Utility

First Bell begins the Dancamortian day, corresponding roughly with dawn on the surface for most of the year. The auxiliary system bells scattered throughout the city are typically enchanted to amplify this bell, so as to ensure that even deep sleepers hear it.
Second Bell, for middle- and upper-class Dancamortian citizens, marks the beginning of the working day. Laborers in the mines and quarries, in contrast, are expected to have already begun work by Second Bell; those who do not already have "tools in the hand and sweat on the brow," as the local idiom states, are often punished by overseers.
By Third Bell, most daytime workers are already well into their workday. In Dancamortian slang, a "thirder" or "trip" is a derogatory term for someone who is habitually late (i.e. arriving at or around Third Bell), particularly someone who gets away with this behavior due to privilege.
Fourth Bell typically signals a break for the midday meal. Cooks and waiters often refer to their busiest times as the "Four rush" and the "Six rush," since these are common meal breaks for other workers.
Fifth Bell is sometimes used as a midafternoon break, though having multiple proper breaks in the workday is considered a luxury by many. For those who work in casinos, nightclubs, dance halls, and similarly nocturnal industries (including the clergy of the Company of Hades), it is common to wake up at Fifth Bell and go to sleep sometime after Second Bell.
Sixth Bell marks the end of the workday for most middle-class Dancamortians. It also marks the beginning of the workday for most of the key staff in the entertainment and religious sectors.
Seventh Bell is the official start time for most major events at the Hall of the Daemon Ascendant, as well as for the largest service of the day at the Hadesian Basilica. (Most non-feast days also have a first-bell service, though this is more sparsely attended.)
Eighth Bell, Ninth Bell, and Tenth Bell are magically dampened within Crown Hollow and can hardly be heard. Conversely, they are often the only bells that can be heard clearly within the Grand Plutonia Casino, as the main entertainment acts of its dance halls and ampitheaters are typically scheduled to start shortly after each of these bells.

Never shirkin', never late,
But Boss keeps us workin' till Seven or Eight,
Gods save my soul from this goddamn mine,
Gods save the Boss if he keeps us till Nine.
—"Boss Can't Count," a Dancamortian work song

Access & Availability

Many establishments have "mirrors" of the Steelworks' timekeeping bell enchanted to ring at the exact same time as it does, allowing the time to be heard across Dancamort. Some of these mirrors have restrictions on them, such as dampening their volume on the nighttime bells to encourage better sleep among neighborhood residents.