Calendar of Runetalras

Much like common has become the most used language within Runetalras to facilitate trade, so to has the Unified Calendar become the most used throughout the known world.

The Ages

The history of Runetalras has been divided into Ages based upon incredibly important or infamous events that are considered to mark new epochs. The ages that have passed in the history of Runetalras are The Forgotten Ages, Age of the Titans, Serpentine Age Age of the Elder Races, Age of Contact, Age of Conquest, Age of Blood, and the current Age of Contempt.

The Year

The Unified Calendar is a solar calendar with 12 months of 28–31 days each.

Equinox and Solstice

On the day of an equinox, daytime and nighttime are of approximately equal duration. The Spring Equinox occurs on the 20 March, while the Autumnal Equinox occurs on the 23 September.
The day of a solstice has either the most sunlight of the year or the least sunlight of the year. The Summer Solstice occurs on 21 June and is the day Runetalras receives the most sunlight, while the Winter Solstice occurs on 21 December as is the day it receives the least sunlight.

Major Events

First Dawn - 1 January

The traditional start of the year. The First Dawn is a day of public celebrations, feasts, and as the day moves to night drinking and merriment. People share their hopes for the coming year, and leave behind their sadness in the previous year.

Spring Equinox - Early March

Spring Equinox is known by many names throughout Runetalras, and is associated with many deities. Broadly these festivals celebrate the coming of Spring, and the end of Winter, the ploughing and sowing of land and the birthing of livestock like lambs. It is celebrated as a time of life.

Day of Beauty - Late April

The Day of Beauty is known by many names throughout Runetalras, and is associated with many deities. Broadly these festivals celebrate love, passion, and fertility. Young couples adorning themselves with flowers in their hair and dancing and drinking to songs and music.

Summer Solstice (Midsummer) - 21 June

Summer Solstice is known by many names throughout Runetalras, and is associated with many deities. The sun in its greatest strength is greeted and celebrated on this holiday. While it is the time of greatest strength of the solar current, it also marks a turning point, for the sun also begins its time of decline as the wheel of the year turns. The Solstice is celebrated with families coming together and is a day of drinking.

Harvest Festivals - Late August to September

All societies hold festivals and celebrations around the time of their harvests. Some festivals occur before the harvests bring families together before the hard work, while others celebrate once the harvest ends, celebrating and rewarding peoples’ hard work. Regardless, they bring together families, and involve feasting and drinking. These festivals sometimes align with the Autumnal Equinox on the 23 September.

Witching Day - 31 October

The Witching Day is known by many names throughout Runetalras, and occurs on 31 October, the day that Runetalras’ second moon Anaria is at its brightest and closest to the world. The day is feared throughout Runetalras, foul magic is at its strongest and veil between planes it at its thinnest. It is on the Witching Day that Demons, Devils, Weave Aberrations, ghost, Elementals, and other extra planar creatures are best able to enter the Prime Material Plane. Most close their doors and windows, hide in the safety of others, and hope to survive to the next dawn. Others enact their foul rituals in hopes of summoning, binding, or making a pact with dark powers, while other less evil individuals use the weakening of the veil to contact the dead seeking forgiveness, atonement, or simply closure.

Winters Fest - December

As the days grow dark and the nights grow colder people are drawn to one another and festivals are had. Some focus upon warmth of fires while others focus on familial ties, regardless they are a time of feasting and drinking, and celebration in the face of the darkness and cold to come. There is a common practice of giving and receiving gifts as an act of love or comradery. Some festivals even involve a fair degree of romance or sexual release, where couples or strangers warm each other around fire and then warm their beds. Winters Fest is oft accosted with Midwinter and the Winter Solstice.