Calendar

Calendar Year, Seasons, and Eras

Timekeeping

On Mirielle, a year is 365 days, with 24-hour days. There are 4 main seasons: winter, spring, summer, and autumn.

The current year is 3229, in the 4th Age since the Divine Trials.

Calendar Year

The calendar is composed of 15 months. Each week has 6 days and each month has 4 weeks, making the months 24 days long. This totals up to 360 days, leaving 5 leftover days. These extra days are designated as a special (short week) which is included at the end of the year.

The calendar year begins in the most demanding season — winter. The harvest has been stored, hunting has been completed, and livestock has been culled, with the best animals kept for the coming year and the rest butchered to supplement the meat supply. People put aside their differences and work together as communities to survive until spring and plan for the new year. During this time, individuals will often reflect on the past year and consider aspirations and milestones for the coming year. And those granted sanctuary assimilate into their new community.

Days and Weeks

Each week is 6 days, with the exception of the last week — Sanctuary Week, which is 5 days. Five days of the week are working days, and their names derive from the 5 largest pantheons — light, dark, water, earth, and sky. The last day of the week is Market Day and is set aside for commerce, recreation, religious devotion, and other non “work” activities.

Sanctuary Week is a special week added to the end of the year. It is 5 days long — there is no Market Day. During this week, people may seek and be granted sanctuary from any place that offers it, if they can get there. Once someone has received sanctuary, others must accept this — grievances, retribution, judgement, etc. are all set aside.

The names of the days are:

• Solisday — honoring the Light
• Lunasday — honoring the Dark
• Rivasday — honoring the Waters
• Versday — honoring the Earth
• Helisday — honoring the Sky
• Market Day — a neutral day

Months and Seasons

Festivals are celebrated at the solstices and equinoxes. The festivals last for 3 days — the day before, the day of, and the day after. This allows for consistency from year to year, but allows for minor shifts in the timing of the actual event, which are approximately 91 days apart.

The beginning of the seasonal festivals are:

• Winter Festival at the winter solstice around the 20th of Deepwinter
• Spring Festival at the spring equinox around the 15th of Newleaf
• Summer Festival at the summer solstice around the 10th of Midsummer
• Autumn Festival at the autumn equinox around the 5th of Amberfall

The months of the year align with the seasons as follows:

• Winter
  • Snowbound
  • Deepwinter
  • Stormwake
• Transition from Winter to Spring
  • Thawing
• Spring
  • Blossom
  • Newleaf
  • Rainfall
• Transition from Spring to Summer
  • Greendawn
• Summer
  • Sunbloom
  • Midsummer
  • Goldenend
• Transition from Summer to Autumn
  • Harvest
• Autumn
  • Leafturn
  • Amberfall
  • Frostmoon

Eras

The peoples of Mirielle were brought to this world by several different pantheons of major and minor deities. Different groups of people, placed in different locations. They brought their skills, tools, and possessions with them, but lost their memories. They knew their names and relationships, even childhood events, but only vagues memories of where they came from or why they'd been chosen.

The Divine Trials

Shortly after they arrived, the Divine Trials began. During years, decades, and in some cases, centuries, the peoples endured a series of tests and challenges — to determine if they were worthy and suitable for populating Mirielle, the pantheons' new playground.

The deities were highly involved in the trials, whether it be testing the people they had chosen or supported, or intefering with peoples sponsored by other deities. Once the rivalry started to threaten the existence of even the best of the peoples, the major pantheons called for a grand convocation to determine their intent and direction for the poeples of Mirielle.

The Pact of the Divine Courts

Nearly all the divine courts were represented at the convocation. In fact, it is thought that every major and minor deity attended. After much bickering, discussion, and arguments, the five most powerful pantheons — the Light, the Dark, the Waters, the Earth, and the Sky — asserted themselves and brokered a pact.

The Pact of the Divine Courts established specific rules and guidelines for the deities in their interactions with Mirielle and its peoples. All surviving peoples were considered under the protection of the Divine Pact. While the deities could still intervene — since Mirielle was intended to be their playground — the Pact ensured that they would not destroy it.

Leaders and individuals who followed the main pantheons and requested safety from their deities were informed of the Pact. This provided them with a clear understanding of the actions required not only to survive but also to thrive. They went on to reorganize existing communities or establish new ones, forming sustainable governments, states, temples, and other types of institutions. They implemented protocols and rituals to appease the deities while strengthening their own power bases.

After some encouragement from the main pantheons, the most powerful leaders of the communities called for their own convocation. They divided the main lands into five realms, setup diplomatic protocols, and developed a common calendar, using the Pact of the Divine Courts as their epoch event. The time before the Pact is simply referred to as Before Pact (BP) and the time after is After Pact (AP).

The Ages

This system worked reasonably for a thousand years, and then the escalating feuds of deities and minor pantheons overstepped the bounds of the Pact. Chaos and strife ensued for a few decades until the main pantheons stepped in and settled the conflicts. After another thousand years, the feuding once again escalated (although with different deities and minor pantheons). Another 1000 years, another deity war — although this time, a new pantheon, the Shadows, threatened two of the most powerful pantheons, the Light and the Dark.

This last war, over 200 years ago, was deadly and not completely settled. For the Queen of Shadows was too powerful to be destroyed or exiled to the Void. Instead, she was imprisoned in the Shadow Lands and remains a danger.

Before the Divine Pact (BP)
The pantheons bring various peoples to Mirielle and put them through the Divine Trials.

Divine Pact (Epoch)
All surviving peoples in Mirielle are placed under the protection of the Pact of the Divine Courts.

1-1000 AP, First Age
This age begins and lasts for a thousand years, ending when the primary pantheons force an end to the escalating deity wars.

1001-2000 AP, Second Age
This age manages to last another thousand years before the feuding secondary patheons provoke the primary panthons into banishing the worst offenders to the Void.

2001-3000 AP, Third Age
Near the end of the this age, a new and powerful pantheon, The Shadows, challenges the pantheons of Light and Dark, threatening to upset the delicate balance in the Divine court.

circa 3000 AP, end of the Third Age
The primary pantheons join together, confining the Queen of Shadows within the Shadow Lands and banishing her court, the Shadow Nexus, to the Void.

3001-3229 AP, Fourth Age
The Divine Court worries about the increasing hostility within the Divine Court and between the secondary pantheons, overlooking the growing power of the Queen of Shadows.

Note

Although there are 5 main pantheons and 5 realms, realms do not adhere to separate pantheons. In fact, all 5 pantheons are well established, with respectable numbers of followers, in each of the realms.

Contents

Calendar Names

Days of the Week

• Solisday
• Lunasday
• Rivasday
• Versday
• Helisday
• Market Day

Months and Seasons

• Snowbound (Winter)
• Deepwinter (Winter)
  Winter Solistice on the 20th
• Stormwake (Winter)
• Thawing (Winter to Spring)
• Blossom (Spring)
• Newleaf (Spring)
  Spring Equinox on the 15th
• Rainfall (Spring)
• Greendawn (Spring to Summer)
• Sunbloom (Summer)
• Midsummer (Summer)
  Summer Solstice on the 10th
• Goldenend (Summer)
• Harvest (Summer to Autumn)
• Leafturn (Autumn)
• Amberfall (Autumn)
  Autumn Equinox on the 5th
• Frostmoon (Autumn)

Current Calendar Year