This is the primary method used to keep track of the years on the continent, it was invented by
The Eshen Dray, and spread across the world.
Lunaris
in the old Yavinian faith, that the Drayech adhered to, the moon was especially important, and therefore, the lunar cycles have special importance in their culture.
the average lunar cycle is 29.5 days, but since having half days is inconvenient, these calendar months alternate between being 29 and 30 days long, they are called moons, and each moon starts with the reappearance of the moon.
A year in the world of Yanu is 401 days long, so there are 13 full moons in a year, leaving 18 extra days over, this means that usually, the new year starts partially through a moon.
Moons are divided into weeks each lasting 7 days, meaning a month is made up of four weeks and one or two new moon days, at the end of the moon.
Cycles
Years are further grouped into cycles, which are 30 years long, such cycles are named after important rulers of those times. However, this is only really done in westingham, and its tributaries, as the other nations got tired of most of them being named after Western monarchs, especially the elves felt disadvantaged, because they live a lot longer, and therefore have much fewer cycles named after them.
most countries simply count the years, and ignore cycles.
Cycles are often just named after whatever monarch rules supreme on the Yavinian plain at the time, this didn't used to be as straightforward as it is now, as there were once many smaller nations there, if the previous cycle was already ruled after that monarch, it is often named after some other important ruled, such as the king of Rendia, or Isich.
Some of the earlier cycles were also named after Yenoan and elvish monarchs, reminiscent of the time before they stopped participating in the system.
There are also cycles of cycles, called clusters, made up of thirty cycles, or 900 years, this used to have great cultural importance, as this number was religiously important, but with the change of religion, these clusters are no longer really celebrated.
Dates
Because months are not named, or constant, the number of the day is more important than the number of the month, so when writing a date, it will be done as follows.
Day-Year-Cycle in westingham, naming the number of the year within the cycle, and the name of the current cycle.
Day-year in the rest of the world, naming the year since the start of the calendar.
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