Calendar of Erindal
Working canon. This page establishes the shared calendar used to date events across Erindal. The structure of the year, the nine-day week, the AHF/BHF eras and the present year are treated as canon. Dates marked as approximate may still move when national chronologies are completed.
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. The exact day and month are not yet established, and the year may move slightly when the full imperial succession is completed.
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 thirty-six days. Each month is divided into four complete weeks of nine days. The full year therefore contains 432 days and 48 weeks.
There are no days outside the months and no ordinary leap day. This keeps every month and every year aligned with the nine-day week:
- the first day of every month is the first day of a week;
- the last day of every month is the ninth day of a week;
- the first day of Frostwane always begins a new week;
- the same calendar layout can be reused every year.
The 432-day year is the civil and seasonal year recognised across Erindal. Future articles may establish lunar calendars or unusual astronomical cycles, but these should not change the Continental Reckoning unless the movement of the world itself is later changed in canon.
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 sometimes called a nineday. The Continental Reckoning numbers its days from the first to the ninth. This makes legal and historical dates understandable even when local cultures use different names.
| Position | International record | Common use |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Firstday | Beginning of the week; common day for opening courts, announcing laws and beginning long journeys. |
| 2 | Secondday | Ordinary working day. |
| 3 | Thirdday | Ordinary working day; many local markets choose this day. |
| 4 | Fourthday | Ordinary working day. |
| 5 | Fifthday | Middle of the nineday; commonly used for guild meetings and account keeping. |
| 6 | Sixthday | Ordinary working day. |
| 7 | Seventhday | Ordinary working day; some faiths begin their observances at sunset. |
| 8 | Eighthday | Common market, preparation or shortened working day in many regions. |
| 9 | Ninthday | Most common day of rest, worship and community gathering, although no universal law requires it. |
Firstday through Ninthday are translations used in international writing, not proof that every language gives the days numerical names. Kurn Daruhm, Alyren Shaeras and other nations may later receive their own traditional weekday names. A local name should be written beside its Continental equivalent the first time it appears in an article.
Months
| Number | Month | Days | Weeks | Season and meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frostwane | 36 | 4 | The month when the deep cold begins to wane and the first signs of thaw appear. It begins the new year. |
| 2 | Emberfall | 36 | 4 | The chill of winter continues to subside and the world feels the first dependable warmth of spring. |
| 3 | Blossomtide | 36 | 4 | Flowers emerge and nature awakens in full. Planting begins in many temperate regions. |
| 4 | Greentide | 36 | 4 | Verdant life is at its strongest, with plants and creatures flourishing in abundance. |
| 5 | Sunspire | 36 | 4 | The hottest month, when the sun stands high and summer reaches its height. |
| 6 | Skylume | 36 | 4 | A month of luminous skies and warm, peaceful days, when the light often appears almost magical. |
| 7 | Stormbreach | 36 | 4 | Tempests and heavy rains become common, bringing destruction, fresh water and renewed growth. |
| 8 | Amberhusk | 36 | 4 | The main harvest month, with fields full of golden crops ready to be gathered. |
| 9 | Duskleaf | 36 | 4 | Autumn deepens, leaves turn to dusk-like shades and the air becomes crisp and cool. |
| 10 | Veilshade | 36 | 4 | Early frosts and shorter days arrive as the land is gradually wrapped in cold and shadow. |
| 11 | Windscorn | 36 | 4 | Bitter winds and the first lasting snowfalls appear as winter tightens its grip. |
| 12 | Everdusk | 36 | 4 | The darkest and coldest month. Nights are long and much of the world is still beneath winter. |
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:
The weekday may be omitted when it is not important:
Approximate dates use c. before the year:
Dates before the fall count backwards from the epoch:
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.
Converting a day within a month
Because every month begins on Firstday, the weekday can be found without a separate calendar:
| Dates in each month | Weekday |
|---|---|
| 1, 10, 19, 28 | Firstday |
| 2, 11, 20, 29 | Secondday |
| 3, 12, 21, 30 | Thirdday |
| 4, 13, 22, 31 | Fourthday |
| 5, 14, 23, 32 | Fifthday |
| 6, 15, 24, 33 | Sixthday |
| 7, 16, 25, 34 | Seventhday |
| 8, 17, 26, 35 | Eighthday |
| 9, 18, 27, 36 | Ninthday |
Therefore 17 Amberhusk is always Eighthday. Complete dates should be checked against this table before being added to an article.
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.
Working chronology anchors
| Date | Event | Status |
|---|---|---|
| c. 6000 BHF or earlier | Earliest current limit of partly recoverable mortal history | Broad world anchor |
| c. 1600 BHF | Beginning of the great international age of the Keepers of Harmony | Working date |
| c. 400–300 BHF | Fall of Gorgorath and succession of Threnos as God of Death | Working range |
| c. 240 BHF onward | Open war with the Umbral Horde and final division between the Keepers and Conclave | Working 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 | Working date |
| 4318 AHF | Present year | Current setting date |
Rules for future 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.
- Every month has 36 days. A date such as 40 Sunspire is invalid.
- Every week has nine days. The day after Ninthday is Firstday.
- Every month begins on Firstday, and every year begins on Firstday, 1 Frostwane.
- 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.
Matters still open
The basic calendar no longer requires a leap-day decision. The following cultural details can be developed later without changing its structure:
- traditional weekday names in individual languages;
- national new-year festivals;
- lunar months and the number of moons;
- local holy days and market days;
- the name of the desert conflict used to define Harmony's Fall;
- whether distant continents use the Continental Reckoning directly or only convert their own dates into it.