DGR Calendar Information ...
ime in the land of Aradath follows a strange course of recording. The Usilians of the White Forest, considered knowledgeable and learned on the topics of history and all things astrological and metaphysical, have developed a system of time keeping that differs slightly from the astrological day in the lands of Aradath. This was done for the sake of the common folk of the land who lack the advanced knowledge of the general concepts of orbits and time. It is argued by some Human scholars that the Elves conceived the calendar in an attempt to make their lives look even longer in comparison to that of a Humans. Generally folk in the world of Aradath live by this simpler "Elven" time to avoid the confusion of trying to distinguish between rapidly passing days and times that revolve around the worlds orbiting twice in a period of an Elven day that effectively creates two periods of light and two periods of dark.
A typical Elven Day ...
In the first Elven section of the year:
1 Elven Time (AM), or the first hour of the day begins the first period of the planet's revolution which comes to an end at 1, or the first hour of the second half of the day (pm). The second revolution then begins; this revolution ends at 12:59 as the final hours of day draw to a close. The Elven day encompasses these two astrological revolution days and encompasses them within the period of a single Elven, 24 hour day, that goes from 1 in the morning until 12:59:59 at night as time as recorded by the Elven scholars. In summary, a day of Elven time is represented below vs. the astrological time of the world of Aradath not commonly used to record events. While two "years" historically typically pass in the span of one Elven year, the peoples of Aradath are generally unaware of this and celebrate only the coming of a New Year every 2 astrological years, or one Elven year.
Elven Time
Astrological Time
Following the Rollback period, as marked by Usilian scholars to deal with the cost of additional oil burning in lanterns and lights caused by the rotation of the planet leading to longer dark periods during the typical business hours, day and night period in Aradath is moved:
12 Elven time (AM) becomes the first hour of an Elven day, and 11:59:59 (pm) takes over and becomes the ending point of the Elven day. Two Astrological days continue to pass within that span, the first coming to a close at 11:59:59 (am) Elven time, and the second as the true Elven day comes to an end.
Elven Time
Astrological Time
Trends Developed in Time Use ...
Curiously enough, Elven scholars specializing in the study of time have found that most people of the lands of Aradath find their sleep during the first astrological day; generally from the period of when it first gets dark until the period when the light has passed almost entirely from the world again during that day. The common folk, the exception being those who sleep generally in the periods of light only and wake only during those of dark, tend to spend the end of the first astrological day through the entire second astrological day awake in the land. They often spend the time at the end of the first day feasting the first meal of the day, and using the dark periods of the second astrological period to feast in the second widely used eating period of the day. The first period is generally referred to as brunch, and the second eating period as dinner, by those within the major cities of Aradath.
Yearly Calendar Information ...
As mentioned previously, in the world of Aradath by the astrological calendar (available by using the TIME command) a year passes twice in the period of an Elven calendar. For the most part the people of Aradath continue their lives very unaware of this phenomenon, comfortable with the calendar developed by the Usilian scholars from the White Forest. When the people of the land speak of the year, it usually jumps 2 years each "new year" period at the end of an Elven year, while not totally understanding why this occurs, the people of the world generally simply accept this as the way things are done. Of the population of the world, only the oldest of Dragons and those recording historical dates give much care at all to the astrological calendar or time. Historians use it only to catalog occurrences within a timeline and almost never for any other real use. Even then, only the year is of great importance to the Usilians, as Elven life spans generally make time like months and days seem of relative unimportance.
Months within the Elven calendar make up a period of approximately 61 days (two real life months, approx. 120 astrological days), each month being named after and dedicated to the celebration of one of the 6 major Gods of the pantheon, during the course of one Elven month four astrological months come to pass. It is generally believed that a Gods power is at its highest point during the month of time named for them, though no solid proof has been found to back this theory other than the followers of those Gods are known to be more active during that month. The order of the months and their names occurs as follows: Tanei (Taath), Daleth (Elindale), Majus (Sa), Odeth (Odarous), Mateth (Set), Rina (Rinanni). Of course, the followers of the Unknown can be found preaching on the streets, in the taverns, or performing strange religious ceremonies at all times of the year just about any place someone will listen.
Real Life Month
Elven Calendar
Special Events/Holidays
The Month of Mateth (Set)
The Month of Odeth (Odarous)
The Month of Daleth (Elindale)
The Month of Majus (Sa)
The Month of Tanei (Taath)
The Month of Rina (Rinanni)
A final OOC note on IC use of times & dates ...
Because we're still trying to interpret the time code in Dragon's Gate Reborn, use of the TIME command in game will only give the specific real life time of day, and the astrological time, neither of which are quite correct for use in Dragon's Gate Reborn based on the above, though they provide the basic outline required for easy understanding. Events and dates discussed in game follow the Elven (eastern) time and calendar for ease of use, if confused a player need only look at the above information for reference. (An example might be, an event could be scheduled for the 11th day of the 4th month, or the month of Tanei by name, at 9 Elven time, this simply means the event is scheduled for 9 pm eastern time, on May 28th, it's that simple!
Questions, concerns, comments and calculations can be directed to the lead GM.