Saturday, April 17, 2010

Hammersong's Legacy: Calendar of Cameria...

Good Morning, All:

Here's another little tidbit from the Hammersong's Legacy Campaign Setting, the world's calendar. I admit that here, I took the easy way out. I chose 360 as the number of days in the year, because it is easily divisible by twelve months of thirty days each. I selected these basic values because these are common assumptions for most players, having grown up with the Gregorian calendar or some close proximity. The names of the months derive from the major gods of the setting, and the names of the days of the week come from the classic four Western elements and the average man's duties to god and liege. The eight holidays mentioned below derive from solar observations and the midpoints between each, giving a period of forty-five days between each major celebration. Assuming that the average adventure takes 2-3 weeks, you can use a different holiday every two adventures to help the players identify the passage of time and the changing of the seasons.

Calendar of Cameria
The world of Terantha possesses only a single moon, named Selena in the common parlance, which goes through her cycle from new moon to full and back again over the course of thirty days. This divides the Teranthan year of 360 days neatly into twelve months. The middle day of a new moon marks the first day of each month, and thus Selena is full from the 15th through the 17th of each month, although some powerful lycanthropes transform on the 14th and 18th as well. Although different cultures make reference to the months by different names, the following are the most frequently used in northern Cameria.

Table: Camerian Months
MonthSeasonImportant Days
SheranethWinterMidwinter (16th)
CelestethLate Winter 
VaelerethEarly SpringOathday (1st)
HereathSpringSpring Equinox (16th)
OceanethLate Spring 
VerdantethEarly SummerBondday (1st)
SolerethSummerMidsummer (16th)
CerberethLate Summer 
EntropethEarly AutumnFirst Harvest (1st)
TeranethAutumnAutumnal Equinox (16th)
LorathLate Autumn 
SandamethEarly WinterLast Harvest (1st)

Camerians, in general, denote the passing of a day by counting from one sunrise to the next. Given that there are thirty days in a month, the people of Cameria are given to dividing each month into five weeks, which in turn are comprised of six days apiece. The days of the week bear the following common names:

Table: Camerian Days of the Week
DayCommon Activities
AltardayWorship, rest
EarthdayWork, gardening
WindsdayWork, visiting elders
LordsdayWork, pay taxes, market
FiredayWork, cleaning
WaterdayWork, bathing

Enjoy,
Flynn

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