Calendar of Erindal

The Continental Reckoning is the calendar most commonly used in international trade, diplomacy and modern historical writing across Erindal. It is also called the Harmony Reckoning because its epoch is placed at the fall of the Keepers of Harmony. Individual nations maintain their own festivals, regnal years and religious calendars, but the Continental Reckoning allows dates from different cultures to be compared without rewriting the year for every document.

The Keepers did not create the calendar from nothing. They used the twelve common month names, a nine-day week and records shared between distant sanctuaries, temples and mage houses. This helped the same system spread between continents. After their fall, successor states continued using it because merchants, scholars and surviving institutions already understood it.

The division between Before Harmony's Fall and After Harmony's Fall was established later by historians. The fall had already become the only event remembered in records from almost every major region, which made it useful as the shared point around which older calendars could be compared.

Era names

Years after the epoch are written as AHF, meaning After Harmony's Fall. Years before it are written as BHF, meaning Before Harmony's Fall.

There is no formal year zero. The year 1 BHF is followed by the year 1 AHF. Scholars may call the final destruction of the Keepers year zero when speaking informally, but official dates do not use 0 AHF.

The fall was not one battle fought on one day. It was a long collapse involving internal radicalisation, the Conclave, the Umbral Horde and the final conflict in the desert. The calendar boundary represents the year in which later historians agreed that the Keepers ceased to exist as a world power. Isolated members, sanctuaries and surviving Conclave cells continued after it.

Different languages translate the era names. The year number remains the same. Kurn Daruhm commonly uses a dwarven phrase meaning the Reckoning After Broken Harmony, while elven records use a phrase closer to Years After the Sundering of Accord. Modern international documents shorten both to AHF.

Current date

The present year is 4318 AHF.

The Empire of Kurn Daruhm was founded around 2716 AHF, placing its foundation approximately 1,602 years before the present. No surviving record gives a reliable day or month, so the foundation is normally dated only by its reconstructed year.

Recoverable mortal history extends to at least c. 6000 BHF. Events such as the Shattering, the First Awakening and the War of Souls are older than the surviving calendar and should be placed in named mythic eras rather than given invented year numbers.

Structure of the year

The Continental Reckoning contains twelve months of different lengths. The full year contains 324 days, which is exactly 36 weeks of nine days. There are no days outside the months and no ordinary leap day.

Individual months do not begin on the same weekday. Their lengths preserve the older seasonal calendar rather than forcing every month into an equal number of weeks. Because the complete year contains exactly thirty-six weeks, the first day of Frostwane always falls on Eldaraen and the same calendar layout can be reused every year.

The 324-day year is the civil and seasonal year recognised across Erindal. Local lunar calendars and religious cycles may divide time differently, but international records convert their dates into the Continental Reckoning.

The new year begins on the first day of Frostwane, when the deep cold first begins to weaken in the temperate parts of Erindal. This does not mean that every land experiences the same climate. The month names describe the old seasonal cycle from which the common calendar developed.

The nine-day week

A nine-day week is commonly called a nineday. The formal names were spread by the Keepers of Harmony and remain in calendars, laws, temple records and historical writing. Their language of origin is disputed because several Keeper traditions claim them.

Most people use shorter Common Speech names in ordinary conversation. These names simply count through the week. Loraenith is called Lastday rather than Ninthday because it is normally treated as the end of the nineday.

Position	Formal name	Common name	Common use
1	Eldaraen	Firstday	Beginning of the week; common day for opening courts, announcing laws and beginning long journeys.
2	Luthilore	Secondday	Ordinary working day.
3	Feyndor	Thirdday	Ordinary working day; many local markets choose this day.
4	Sylvarin	Fourthday	Ordinary working day.
5	Torgarn	Fifthday	Middle of the nineday; commonly used for guild meetings and account keeping.
6	Durnath	Sixthday	Ordinary working day.
7	Grimnar	Seventhday	Ordinary working day; some faiths begin their observances at sunset.
8	Aranquel	Eighthday	Common market, preparation or shortened working day in many regions.
9	Loraenith	Lastday	Most common day of rest, worship and community gathering, although no universal law requires it.

Formal documents normally use Eldaraen through Loraenith. Firstday through Lastday are accepted alternatives and are easier for ordinary speech, game notes and dates which must be understood quickly. Individual nations also retain local translations and religious names, but these do not change the order of the nineday.

Months

Number	Month	Days	Begins on	Season and meaning
1	Frostwane	28	Eldaraen	The month when the deep cold begins to wane and the first signs of thaw appear. It begins the new year.
2	Emberfall	24	Luthilore	The chill of winter continues to subside and the world feels the first dependable warmth of spring.
3	Blossomtide	32	Aranquel	Flowers emerge and nature awakens in full. Planting begins in many temperate regions.
4	Greentide	29	Sylvarin	Verdant life is at its strongest, with plants and creatures flourishing in abundance.
5	Sunspire	21	Durnath	The hottest month, when the sun stands high and summer reaches its height.
6	Skylume	32	Loraenith	A month of luminous skies and warm, peaceful days, when the light often appears almost magical.
7	Stormbreach	25	Torgarn	Tempests and heavy rains become common, bringing destruction, fresh water and renewed growth.
8	Amberhusk	27	Feyndor	The main harvest month, with fields full of golden crops ready to be gathered.
9	Duskleaf	23	Feyndor	Autumn deepens, leaves turn to dusk-like shades and the air becomes crisp and cool.
10	Veilshade	26	Aranquel	Early frosts and shorter days arrive as the land is gradually wrapped in cold and shadow.
11	Windscorn	24	Grimnar	Bitter winds and the first lasting snowfalls appear as winter tightens its grip.
12	Everdusk	33	Sylvarin	The darkest and coldest month. Nights are long and much of the world is still beneath winter.

Everdusk ends on Loraenith. The following day is Eldaraen, 1 Frostwane, beginning both a new nineday and a new year.

Seasonal divisions

For administration and trade, the year is divided into four parts of three months each:

• The Thaw: Frostwane, Emberfall and Blossomtide.
• The Growing: Greentide, Sunspire and Skylume.
• The Storm and Harvest: Stormbreach, Amberhusk and Duskleaf.
• The Darkening: Veilshade, Windscorn and Everdusk.

Climate does not follow the same pattern everywhere. Herm Tharim does not experience Everdusk in the same way as the mountains of Kurn Daruhm, and southern regions may use seasonal names which fit their own weather. The months remain useful because they describe the position of the year rather than promising the same climate in every land.

Writing a date

A complete date is written from the smallest division to the largest:

Eldaraen, 17 Amberhusk, 4318 AHF

The Common Speech version is also correct:

Firstday, 17 Amberhusk, 4318 AHF

The weekday may be omitted when it is not important:

17 Amberhusk, 4318 AHF

Approximate dates use c. before the year:

c. 2716 AHF — approximate founding of Kurn Daruhm.

Dates before the fall count backwards from the epoch:

c. 240 BHF — approximately 240 years before the conventional fall of the Keepers of Harmony.

When only a broad period is known, articles should use a century or named age rather than inventing a year. The year 2716 AHF belongs to the 28th century AHF. The year 240 BHF belongs to the 3rd century BHF. Very ancient events should use the named ages found in Chronology of Erindal.

Finding the weekday

The Months table gives the weekday on which each month begins. Count forward from that day, returning from Loraenith to Eldaraen after every ninth day. Amberhusk begins on Feyndor. Sixteen days after its beginning, 17 Amberhusk therefore falls on Eldaraen.

Because the full year contains exactly 324 days, dates fall on the same weekdays every year. No separate weekday calculation is needed for different AHF or BHF years.

Local use

The Continental Reckoning does not remove local calendars. Nations use it differently depending on their history and government.

Kurn Daruhm

Imperial records use AHF dates for laws, treaties and foreign correspondence. Regnal years are also common. A decree may be dated both to 4318 AHF and to a year in the reign of Drogan Ironheart III. Temples keep additional religious dates connected to holy days, ascensions and the dedication of sacred works.

Older clan records may count years from the founding of a hold, the opening of a mine or the reign of a local ruler. Historians convert these dates into AHF when possible, but early dates are often approximate.

Other nations

The Holy Kingdom of Alyren Shaeras preserves its own religious and dynastic eras. Merchants and diplomats add the AHF equivalent when dealing with other nations. The Grand Duchy of Swanvein uses the Continental Reckoning in administration because it is already understood by both its human population and the imperial government of Kurn Daruhm.

The Krugmurd Horde and many smaller peoples rely more heavily on reigns, generations, migrations or memorable natural events. Their histories should not be treated as undated simply because they were not originally written in AHF years.

Chronology anchors

Date	Event	Certainty
c. 6000 BHF or earlier	Earliest current limit of partly recoverable mortal history	Broad limit of recoverable history
c. 1600 BHF	Beginning of the great international age of the Keepers of Harmony	Reconstructed approximate date
c. 400–300 BHF	Fall of Gorgorath and succession of Threnos as God of Death	Reconstructed range
c. 240 BHF onward	Open war with the Umbral Horde and final division between the Keepers and Conclave	Reconstructed period
1 BHF / 1 AHF	Conventional fall of the Keepers after the desert conflict	Calendar boundary
c. 2716 AHF	Foundation of the Empire of Kurn Daruhm by Durgadd Fireblessed and Doramin	Reconstructed approximate date
4318 AHF	Present year	Accepted present date

Rules for dating articles

• Use AHF and BHF when a year is known or can be reasonably reconstructed.
• Use c. for uncertain dates.
• Do not give the Celestial Disarray, Shattering, First Awakening, War of Souls or Divine Pact of Souls an exact numbered year.
• Do not use a year zero in complete dates.
• Month lengths follow the Months table. A date such as 22 Sunspire or 34 Everdusk is invalid.
• Every week has nine days. The day after Loraenith, or Lastday, is Eldaraen, or Firstday.
• Every year begins on Eldaraen, 1 Frostwane. Individual months begin on the weekdays shown in the Months table.
• Local weekday, festival and era names may be added, but the Continental equivalent should be given when possible.
• A ruler's regnal year does not replace the AHF year in an international article.

See also

• Chronology of Erindal
• Keepers of Harmony
• Divine Pact of Souls
• History of Kurn Daruhm