Calendar

The Aurean (Solar) Calendar

On the world of Udara, the year is 364 days long, usually counted as 52 weeks of 7 days each. Each of the four seasons is 91 days (13 weeks) long. The four corners of the year--the two solstices and two equinoxes--are not counted as part of any month; instead, three 30-day months follow each corner day before the next season begins. Many cultures and religions consider the four corner days to be holy days, and conduct ceremonies to mark the passing of the seasons. The new year starts with the Winter Solstice, when the Sun (Aureas) turns back towards the world.

Each month also corresponds to one of the twelve constellations of the Zodiac. Astrologers treat each corner day as being its own unique time, separate from the Zodiac signs, but also sharing in the properties of the signs immediately before and after it.

The names of the months and their Zodiac signs in the Common tongue are given below, as are commonly-known holy days.

WINTER

* Winter Solstice (New Year's Day): Holy day for Asmolon (Javanian Pantheon), Maridor (Faerie Sovereigns), and most druids.

1. Darkmonth (Scales)

23 Darkmonth: Shield Day: Founding of Virtanen's Shield, start of the Fourth Age (PY 802).

2. Coldblight (Sword)

15 Coldblight: Midwinter's Day.

3. Galemonth (Giant)

20 Galemonth: Landfall: Traditional date of the end of the Prothonian Exodus, upon the first landing in Iath, and start of the Third Age (PY 313). Holy day for Prothonian Pantheon, especially Domezia and Kanatos.

SPRING

* Vernal Equinox: Holy day for Nalanimil (Faerie Sovereigns), Panterron (Prothonian Pantheon), and most druids.

4. Quickening (Maiden)

5. Greening (Ram)

6. Blooming (Crown)

SUMMER

* Summer Solstice: Holy day for Talitar (Javanian Pantheon), Vanatar (Faerie Sovereigns), Panterron (Prothonian Pantheon), and most druids.

7. Highsuntide (Unicorn)

18 Highsuntide: Praetor's Birthday: Birthday of Daia Thaleria Spatha, Praetor of Thovalas.

8. Heatblight (Eagle)

15 Heatblight: Midsummer's Day.

9. Harvestmonth (Spider)

AUTUMN

* Autumnal Equinox: Holy day for Basaran (Faerie Sovereigns), Panterron (Prothonian Pantheon), and most druids.

10. Leaffall (Centaur/Archer)

27 Leaffall: Feast of Broken Swords: Holy day of Bellonika (Prothonian Pantheon).

11. Browning (Wolf)

12. Yearwane (Dragon)

6 Yearwane: Sultan's Birthday: Birthday of Messerach II, Sultan of Asasor.

30 Yearwane: Year's End.

The Astraean (Lunar) Calendar

Astraeas (the Moon) completes its cycle in exactly 28 days (4 weeks), so there are 13 lunar months in each year. In the calendar below, * denotes a new moon and @ a full moon. Note that the winter solstice always falls on a new moon, the summer solstice on a full moon, and the equinoxes on half moons.

In the Javanian Religion, new moons are holy days for Jorilin, full moons for Yaziel.

Lands of the Sun

In the Lands of the Sun campaign, the climate of southern Hemut is subtropical to tropical, so does not follow the same cycle of seasons as in temperate regions. For simplicity's sake, however, the calendars above will be used. 

Warm deserts in Hemut are coldest in Yearwane and Darkmonth (12th and 1st months), and hottest in Blooming to Harvestmonth (6th-9th months). These regions are dry from mid-spring to autumn (Greening to Yearwane, 5th-12th months), with most precipitation occurring during the winter and early spring (Darkmonth-Quickening, 1st-4th months). The primary growing season lasts from roughly mid-winter to mid-spring, with the use of irrigation allowing a second crop to be grown in the autumn, after the hottest months pass.