The primary calendar of use in Aernoch was the Calendar of Raseen. It marked the beginning of the first human city in Aethos as the central historical event. The Elves recognized the humans, having developed and grown from their primitive beginnings awarded by Aero, as an ally in the future of Aernoch. They, along with the Dwarves, forged a concordance with the Humans to ensure the safety & prosperity of the lands and its children. The Elves agreed to allow the humans to begin official settlements on the continent of Aethos, beginning with Availin.   To commemorate the agreement, together they erected a great monument made of marble, moonstone, & mithril depicting unity between the three races. It had a large three-sided base that raised 20 feet and had inscribed in Elvish, Dwarvish, and Common the terms of the treaty along with runes that magically maintained its torches to remain lit and protected the monument from vandalism. Atop its base stood three towering, stoic figures - a female elf, male dwarf, and male human. Each rose to an equal height of 125 feet. To ensure the equal height, the dwarf was positioned as if standing on a pedestal. On the front of the pedestal was carved a shield, sword, axe, and bow. This monument remained at the heart of Availin as it grew over time.   To quantify time by this event, the year is stated in reference to the Availin Summation. If it is a year prior to the concord, it is called “Before Availin” or BA. For times after, simply stated as “Availin Summation” or AS.  

Calendar of Raseen

  Each year that passes in the Availin Summation Standard follows the calendar design of the wizard Raseen, who was an avid astrologer. A single orbit around Aernoch’s sun consisted of 364.1 days. Therefore, Raseen divided the year into 12 months, each filled with three ten day weeks, each called a “tenday”, to total 30 days per month. Days of the week were unnamed. Instead, the days are simply attributed the chronological day.   Each solstice and equinox have their own day interjected within the calendar. Example, the autumn equinox (called Ivanni) took place the day following 2^nd of Separin; therefore, the sequence of dates would be 2^nd Separin, Ivanni, then 3^rd Separin. To keep the calendar correct, an additional day is added the day following the autumn equinox every ten years.   Aur Iqua depicts the first day of the new year and is the spring equinox. Raseen chose to base the timing off of the furthest points of Aernoch’s orbit as it was more precise dealing with marginal precession timing than the seasonal change, which was at the mercy of climate shifts.  

Yearly Sequence

  The names of the months were ascribed and evolved from ancient calendars that predate the Raseen Calendar. Raseen incorporated these to make the calendar more universal for the races that span Aernoch. This helped to ensure the ease of acceptance of the calendar. Their meanings are derived from ancient times. No one can verify their translation as the root language came from a civilization that was destroyed at the early arrival & rise of the dragons, with exception of the equinoxes, solstices, & leap day, which all five are derived from Elvish.    

Date Conventions

  In detailing the date, the numeric day of the month is listed first, followed by the month. Various styles are commonly acceptable as such – 12 Ontung, 12th Ontung, or 12th of Ontung. The meanings could also be used in the month name’s stead for informal reference or poetic appeal as such – the 5th of Life’s Slumber. When listed, the year is presented following the month, as such - 12 Ontung 1249. The mentioning of the tenday is rarely used, often reserved for formal invitations or declarations, as such - “the Second Tenday Twelfth of Ontung within Twelve Forty-Nine.”  

Other Calendars

 

Elvish Calendar – As the Elves were the oldest civilization on modern Aernoch, one would expect that they would have the dominate calendar; however, the Elves view time in a different perspective as creatures of reincarnation. Their calendar did track years, but the days had a very fluid structure that was based on the eb and flow of the Weave and the seasons. A year might have a different number of days in it than the previous year. Once the Calendar of Raseen was introduced, the Elves decided to adopt it. In their previous historical records, they retained their previous calendar, but backdated important events to account for the Raseen Standard.

 

Dwarvish Calendar – The Dwarves adopted the Raseen Standard upon its arrival to their cities. While tracking the seasons weren’t a high priority while underground, they found it important in case circumstances required them to surface. Their previous calendar was based on the amount of time a king ruled. They backdated their records to incorporate the Raseen Standard, but also retained their previous accounts and continued to mark dates according to their old ways.

 

Underdark – It is believed the Drow still operate on the old Elven Standard, but this is unverified. There is no knowledge of any other marking of time as presented by other beings that live below surface.

 

Orthaumanus Almanac – This is an ancient calendar that was used by a civilization that was destroyed by the dragons. The dragons in their arrival frequented this calendar as a means of understanding Aernoch’s progression of time and to better evaluate the migration of its inhabitants. It consisted of 8 primary months and two additional smaller periods that varied in length, which may have cycled with lunar phases. Most recovered ancient accounts reference this calendar. It is denoted as OA and is the origin of most of the months used in Raseen’s Standard as humans retained the names over the centuries.

 

Rragvarix Registry – This is a draconic calendar of sorts brought by the Dragon Empire. It is denoted as RR. Periods of time were chronicled according to a ruling dragon’s time of dominance or for the length of a greater world event as recognized as by the Dragon Tribunal. This is the primary source for the few records between the Orthaumanus Almanac and the arrival of the Elves from the Feywild.

 

Argmothuhm Almanac – This is another ancient calendar that existed at the same time as the OA, but wasn’t as prevalent in the world. Oddly, some of the ancient Dwarven records recognized this calendar and used it between periods that saw them without a king. No one knows how this came into knowledge of the Dwarves. It is denoted as AA, and very few records have been found using this calendar. It is believed that the use of this calendar began to decline before the arrival of the dragons, then faded out of existence. This calendar featured only 4 seasonally based months, whose names were incorporated into Raseen’s Standard.