Some Thoughts on the Calendar and Its Mysteries

Ar’Zein Kali Vidar, astronomer at the capital astronomical observatory of the Velas’Tir Empire, 1 Stillearth 210

Before setting down the matters that trouble my mind, I, as a rigorous scholar, must present the facts which, though known to all and seemingly containing nothing new, through their combination reveal a picture that is beautiful in its mathematics and at the same time frightening in its precision.

Thus, we all know that a year on Qai`Rhoz consists of 400 days. No more and no less.

In turn, the year is divided into 10 months of 40 days each.

Each month is divided into 5 weeks of 8 days.

On the other hand, the months are grouped into seasons according to their nature. There are 5 seasons in all, each containing 2 months.

Let us recall the beautiful and somewhat mystical names borne by these months. Each deserves a detailed description, but, so as not to burden the reader, I shall present this as a small table in which I indicate the full official name, the calendar name, and a brief characterization.

Season of Water

1. Month of High Water — Highwater — flooding, awakening, the flow swells
2. Month of Low Water — Lowwater — receding waters, purification, stabilization

Season of Fire

3. Month of Rising Flame — Riseflame — warmth, action, flourishing strength
4. Month of Fading Flame — Fadeflame — exhaustion, calm after the heat

Season of Earth

5. Month of Fertile Earth — Fertearth — harvest, fullness, abundance
6. Month of Still Earth — Stillearth — declining activity, preservation

Season of Shadow

7. Month of Growing Shadow — Growshadow — eclipses, distortions, anomalies
8. Month of Waning Shadow — Waneshadow — dissipation of anomalies, return of equilibrium

Season of Wind

9. Month of Wandering Winds — Wandwind — storms, journeys, change
10. Month of Sleeping Winds — Sleepwind — cold, stillness, preparation for the new year

And if we are to speak of names, the names of the days of the week are also worth mentioning. They are much simpler:

1. Red Day — Redday (Red)
2. Orange Day — Orangeday (Org)
3. Yellow Day — Yellowday (Yel)
4. Green Day — Greenday (Grn)
5. Blue Day — Blueday (Blu)
6. Indigo Day — Indigoday (Ind)
7. Violet Day — Violetday (Vio)
8. White Day — Whiteday (Wht)

An inquisitive mind will immediately notice the difference between the elaborate names of the months and the rather simple names of the days of the week. And therein lies one of the first mysteries that have long troubled me. As we know, the names of the months, seasons, and days of the week came down to us from the Ancient Era. They calmly survived the great unification of the peoples during the Age of Mysteries and continue to live on today, in the Age of the Three Great Empires.

Some learned men claim that behind the apparent simplicity of the names of the days of the week lies their dedication to the gods of the Great Pantheon. And indeed, each of the seven gods of the Great Pantheon has their own color, while the eighth day is a day of reverence for them all. I have no desire whatsoever to dispute this view, especially since my path is astronomy, yet I would remind you that the names came to us from the Ancient Era, while the Great Pantheon was established at the beginning of the Age of Mysteries.

Yet the peculiarities of these names do not end there. Simply recall the names of territories, regions, and cities that came down to us from that same Ancient Era. They are all in the Ancient Language. And that language is ancient indeed — so ancient that we know the meanings of far from all its words, and are uncertain even of those we do know. Why, then, are such important words as the names of the months and the days of the week in an entirely different language? Another mystery without an answer.

Let us return to the year. Exactly 400 days. Not an instant more, not an instant less. Astronomers of the Age of Mysteries recorded that they possessed calculations left from the Ancient Era. Even then, such extraordinary precision raised questions. Over the centuries separating us from the earliest calculations, hundreds, if not thousands, of attempts have been made to determine the length of the year. And every time, the result was the same — exactly 400 days. And if the records of the Age of Mysteries, which refer to works from the Ancient Era, are to be believed, such calendar precision is not found in other worlds. Regrettably, we cannot verify or refute the reliability of the information presented therein.

Let us consider the seasons. They form beautiful pairs. The Season of Water and the Season of Earth complete the cycle of cultivation and harvest. The Season of Fire and the Season of Wind are in a sense opposites, being the hottest and the coldest seasons. And then, among them all, the Season of Shadow creeps in. A season with no counterpart. And utterly unique at that. It is during the Season of Shadow that great magical storms occur and various anomalies arise in different parts of the world. The weather during this season is also worth mentioning. In the course of a single day, deep snow may fall, then heat may scorch everything, only for water to flood it all thereafter. Moreover, the greatest storms occur exactly at the midpoint of the Season of Shadow.

The moons, Qai and Rhoz, introduce an even greater mystery. Interestingly, their names not only coincide with what we call our world, but are also among the few words whose meanings are approximately known to us:

Qai — fate, an opportune moment in time

Rhoz — path, source (of power).

How their names ought properly to be combined in the word Qai`Rhoz is a question for other scholars. I, however, wish to emphasize certain peculiarities of theirs. Qai has a period of exactly 40 days; Rhoz, 50 days. And once again, not merely exact, but exact to the instant. Moreover, the phases of Qai align with the calendar. Qai’s new moon falls exactly on the first day of every calendar month. If the simplest explanation is that the beginnings of the months were deliberately aligned with the cycles of Qai, then another coincidence raises a question: why do the greatest magical storms, as I have already said, fall exactly at the midpoint of the Season of Shadow?

Qai and Rhoz meet in their cycles twice a year: on the first day of the first and sixth months of the year. And it is on these very days that a particular feature of Rhoz’s cycle manifests itself. What is called the “Black Moon” appears, when Rhoz is not merely invisible, but seems to be replaced by an enormous black blot that draws in the light.

All these chance coincidences make my hands tremble whenever I merely attempt to imagine the precision with which our world must have been created. This is not merely painstaking work. It is something that must have some purpose of its own. Yet we mere mortals can only speculate. Every attempt known to me to ask the gods about all this through their priests has ended with no answer.