VoL002: A Mirrored Earth Pt. 1, The Calendar System in Lore Journal

Part 1: The Calendar System

Spoiler Level: None
Risk of Change: Extremely Low
Topic: Time

Quick ref: Years are called Cycles. 1000 years, or a millennium, is called a Great Cycle. The correct syntax for saying it is the year 4628 in this realm would be 628 4gc. The time in which my stories will take place (to begin with) is in the first half of 6gc, meaning early 6000s. Years have the same number of days as on Earth, and days have the same number of hours.

Years are made up of twelve months, just as the Gregorian calendar is, although which of our days these months start and end on are entirely different than ours. I know that is probably a boggling notion, so I will break it down.

The Gregorian calendar, the calendar that reads January through December, is based on precise mathematics and astronomy. The world in the realm of Drumlore is based on the planetary parameters of Earth as much as possible so that it is, unquestionably, a functioning planet. That being said, I imagine the math behind the year and seasonal system would be about the same as that of Earth’s, so as the cultures of the realm advanced enough to start keeping track of the stars and refining their timekeeping methods, they would end up with a pretty similar calendar pattern to ours.

The differences between the Gregorian calendar and the Novan-Gan calendar (as called by the Nokanese people only and is used here as a placeholder) are where the months begin and end and where the year itself begins and ends. Gregorian year begins with January 1st and ends with December 31st, which falls in middle of winter as far as the season goes. The Novan-Gan calender’s beginning and end point falls where we understand March 20th and 21st to be, in the spring.

Why? What significance does March 21st hold and why would the year begin there?

The months are based on our “pseudo science” astrology*, or the zodiac. Based on the pattern of the zodiac (at the time I designed this calendar, anyway), March 21st is the first day of the Aries zone, and Aries is the first in the twelve-step zodiac cycle. This would begin the month of Harskaelun in the realm, as the holy archon Harskael is the equivalent to our Aries. The year is based along this pattern, so that the months begin and end when each zodiac does. In the dominant religion of Drumlore, in its various cultural iterations, a child is born belonging to the archon that dominates that month, making it a driving variable to keep track of.

*It is presently undecided whether the twelve archons will have anything to do with star constellations, though. I’d rather them not, as these archons are manifested entities with their own symbolism and mythos.

The lunar cycle will run the same course as it does on Earth, and for simplicity’s sake, be recorded on the same corresponding days. For example, if the moon was full on the 21st of March for a year, it would be a full moon the 1st of Harskaelun in the realm. Same actual day, recorded as a different name/number. The same can be said for seasons.

The months are as followed, named after their corresponding holy Archon:
- Harskaelun (March 21st through April 19th)
- Urwalun (April 20th through May 20th)
- Bismodun (May 21st through June 21st)
- Sharmillun (June 22nd through July 22nd)
- Adinathun (July 23rd through August 22nd)
- Grothun (August 23rd through September 22nd)
- Erilun (September 23rd through October 23rd)
- Rubalkun (October 24th through November 21st)
- Jarnikun (November 22nd through December 21st)
- Cernikun (December 22nd through January 19th)
- Parkarun (January 20th through February 18th)
- Eudikun (February 19th through March 20th)

Last updated August 04, 2015