Tarien's Calendar
A Lunar Calendar
For the most part, the populace of Tarien uses a simple calendar. Adapted from the ancient Soulmeliti system of following Verdun, the common, or DuMare calendar intended to balance the cycles of the moons and the passing of the seasons, the common calendar is based upon several simple concepts.
- Each passing of the seasons is called a Year
- Each year contains nine divisions, called Moons
- Each Moon contains four divisions, called Denaries
- Each denary contains ten Days
Each Moon was named by DuMare. While he attempted to name each Moon in a manner that described the season, history has altered several moon names so that their original significance is lost to all but scholars. Denaries and days, however, are numbered sequentially. The first denary of a moon is Firstden, the second is Secondden, and so on. The numbering of days is similar, beginning with Firstday and ending with Ninthday. The tenth day, however, is traditionally a day without labors. The practice began in Galencia after King Sedrick the Great completed the construction of the Cathedral of Arimathica. As a reward for their labors, imperial contractors in Geyla were given every Tenthday off, as a day of celebration. The practice spread, and soon every Tenthday became a day of rest, known as Kingsday.
Dates are written as a function of Moons, Denaries, and Days. Thus, a date might be Fouthday, Thirdden, Harvest Moon. Festival Days are noted in the Moon in which they occur, below (Note that Beltane can occur in either Wolf Moon or Planting Moon). They belong to neither a Moon or a Denary.
Verdun, Full
Festival Days
Each of the five festival days is a time celebration for the people of Tarien. From small, village gatherings to palatial parties in Karradone and New Solarin, everyone gathers with friends, family, and neighbors celebrate the seasons. Several Festival Days occur in the calendar to round out the days in a season. Festival Days do not affect the passage of Denaries or Days. For example, if Midsummer’s Eve falls on the day after the Fifthday, the next day would be the Festival, and the following day would be Sixthday. The festivals, which fall on the Equinoxes and Solstices, are Beltane (Spring Equinox), Midsummer’s Eve (Summer Solstice), the Harvest Festival, (the Vernal Equinox and the following day), and Yuletide (the Winter Solstice).
Farmers had long followed the moons and originally ignored the flawed calendar. Later, however, they happily participate in the five days of feasting decreed by the Emperor to correct the flaw.
| Moon | Modern Equivalent |
|---|---|
| Frost Moon | Jan 01 - Feb 09 |
| Wolf Moon | Feb 10 - Mar 21 |
| Planting Moon | Mar 22 - Apr 30 |
| Water Moon | May 02 - Jun 10 |
| Sun Moon | Jun 11 - Jul 20 |
| Uthar Moon | Jul 22 - Aug 30 |
| Harvest Moon | Aug 31 - Oct 09 |
| Crimson Moon | Oct 11 - Nov 19 |
| Dark Moon | Nov 20 - Dec 31 |
The DuMare Calendar
Named after its creator, the Eldorian Imperial Astronomer Federieche DuMare. The Common Calendar was commissioned by Emperor Kern d’Uthar II, who relied heavily on celestial movements to make important Imperial decisions. DuMare attempted to account for the cycles of Tarien’s twin moons as the seasons pass. By following the moon Verdin from new to full, and watching the over lap of the moon Mora, DuMare determined that 360 days made a perfect celestial year. He divided the year into nine Moons, based upon lunar cycles.
Although Emperor sanctioned the calendar as official in 48 AC, it quickly became evident that DuMare’s math was inaccurate. In 57 AC , the equinoxes simply did not occur as scheduled by DuMare’s calendar. Kern II’s son, Therick I, in an effort to maintain a calendar that was simple and in accordance with both the stars and the seasons, rectified the problem by adding five festival days. In order to preserve imperial Records (and to avoid paying for them to be re-calculated and re-written, the feast days were added without including altering the numbering of the days or naming of the Moons. The system has standardized throughout Tarien, with Festival Days observed in grand fashion throughout the civilized world.
It is important to note that DuMare was not the first to make this mistake. The Soulmeliti, working on a straight lunar cycle (based on Mora), had a twenty-month calendar with eighteen days to a Moon. This of course, means that the Soulmeliti year had 360 days, not 365. Their system of reckoning has been inaccurate for over four thousand years, “misplacing” almost fifty years of history. The problem has yet to be addressed by Soulmeliti scholars.