Poyian Calendar
The dominate Calendar (though not the only one) was agreed upon during the Convocation of the Gods. Here it was agreed that the appearance of the Star of Iridium some fifty years hence would be the start of the new calendar.
To mark time throughout the year, the three moons of Poy would be used. The New Year starts when Elara is a New Moon following the Spring Equinox. Every month would be seven weeks long, just long enough for a moon to complete a full cycle and the next to reach Full. As fate or destiny would have it, this happens in six even months, except for every three years when an extra day is added as a feast day.
The six months (and their Full Moon) are:
- Luna (Elara)
- Io (Tethys)
- Castillio (Umbriel)
- Pandora (Elara)
- Cordilia (Tethys)
- Bianca (Umbriel)
Each week is seven days long. A moon takes six of these weeks to complete one full cycle.
A day is twenty-four hours long. Each hour is 60 minutes. There may be time sliced even finer, but even merchants rarely quibble about minutes.
Other terms:
Moonwalk: Any three (not six) week period where a Moon goes from First Quarter to Last Quarter. For example, on Castillio 4 Tethys has just become half visible and is in it's First Quarter. Three weeks later it will have passed Full Moon and become only half visible, reaching Last Quarter. These 21 days are a Moonwalk.
The term
can refer to any 21 day period, but
formally refer to a specific moon and it's Quarters while visible.
Light Night: Refers to the Fifty-Second day of every month when Elara, the brightest moon, is just past full. At this point, Umbriel is still visible and Tethys is coming into view. The three moons combined make the night the lightest it will be all month.
Dark Night: On less interesting worlds with only one moon, this would be when it's in a New Moon. On Poy, with three moons, even the darkest night is only about 12% dimmer than normal. This happens on the Twenty-Fourth day of the month, shortly after Elara is New. With the brightest moon between Poy and the Sun, and Tethys and Umbriel both only partialy visible, the night sky is the darkest it will ever be without clouds.
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