Sarveki Calendar

The Heretic's world is not our own. It's close to ours - maybe the one right next door - and it shares many similarities. Time is one of these similarities. The Heretic's world takes 365.25 days to revolve around its sun. It takes 24 hours to rotate once about its axis.

Most people in the Sarveki Empire don't know that. The vast majority of the population must use their fingers to count to ten. There are very, very few paper or parchment calendars in the empire, but people have devised a workable system for telling time.

The Barriers are charged with tracking time accurately. Their astronomers can use mathematics, constellations and planetary motions to accurately track time, map lunar phases, calculate length of days, and predict solar/lunar eclipses. At the beginning of every new year, they release information concerning the seasons and time periods of the new year. This information is disseminated across the empire for all to use.

Years

One year is sometimes called a year, but may also be called a gyre, due to the circular chain design of the Barrier calendar.

Seasons

One year spans four seasons:

• Spring is called Planting. The first day of the season is also the Sarveki New Year.
• Summer is called Fire-seed.
• Fall is called Reaping.
• Winter is called Ice-seed.

While the seasons technically start on equinoxes and solstices, the Barriers usually move them to the nearest full, new, or half moon to make it easier for people to keep track.

Months

A year spans twelve months. Months are are named for the Emperor, the First City, and the ten holy cities:

• March: Emperor
• April: Mountain (First City)
• May: Crib (Carthos’ Landing)
• June: Drake (Blood Cape)
• July: Gulf (Winstram)
• August: Comb (Stone Pike)
• September:Guardian (Elmek)
• October: Smoke (Fire Well)
• November: Star (Star Sky)
• December: Scar (South Gap)
• January: Sea (Kelbarn)
• February: Thunder (North Reach)

A month always starts on a new moon.

Weeks

Weeks are marked by moon phases. Some people refer to the different weeks by number. Some refer to them by old slang for the moon phases. Some use the moon phases interchangeably as the name of the weeks:

• Ghost Moon/First (or New)
• Waxing Moon/Second (or Up)
• Full Moon/Third (or Top)
• Waning Moon/Fourth (or Down)

This method results in some weeks being longer than others, since the moon phases can span six to eight days. In general, when not referenced to a moon phase, a week is widely considered to be seven days. For instance, if someone said "We'll meet here two days past the Guardian's second week," they mean a specific day that's two days past the first half-moon in the Guardian's month.

Suppose someone said "We'll meet back here in two weeks." If it happens to be on the exact day of a moon phase (new moon, for example,) the speaker probably means to meet again on the day of the full moon, even if it's 14,15, or 16 days away. However, if they were a few days into a week with no exact moon phase to reference, and someone said, "meet me here in two weeks," they would probably mean fourteen days.

The Rest

The Barriers have clockworks that can tell accurate time down to the nearest tenth of a second, but most common people use the sun to mark the passing of the day (morning, mid-morning, midday, evening, etc.)

To mark time at night, most folks watch a constellation known as the Dancer. It's a group of stars that appear to revolve around a central star named the Tower. The Tower is analogous to the North Star in our world.

The Chain Calendar

A Barrier calendar is a great chain with 365 black links, connected end-to-end to form a continuous circle. Thirteen chains radiate from the center of the circle. Twelve of these are painted red. One is painted gold. The twelve red chains are bolted to a link along the circle that corresponds to the first day of an arc. The "noon" position always indicates the beginning of the Emperor's Arc. The gold chain is bolted from the center to the link corresponding to the current day. Silver and black plates indicating moon phases are bolted to links to indicate the different spans in an arc. Other Important days may likewise have markers in thier respective links.

These calendars are found in Barrier vaults and Sanctuary temples throughout the empire. Well-to-do merchants and shop keepers may have them as well.

Speaking the Time

If someone asks for the date, a common response might sound like this: "We're three days past top week." This response assumes the person who asked the question knows the current month. A more complete answer would be, "We're three days past Thunder's top week." If it's closer to the upcoming moon phase, it's common practice to reference it instead: "We're two days 'fore Comb's third week."