Lore Post - The Avalonian Calendar

The Avalonian Calendar is a topic I’ve wanted to write about for some time, but one of the prerequisites was going through and being sure everything was consistent.

That’s something I’ve done now, complete with finishing naming. We’ll start out with days of the week. The style of this lore post is also going to be a little more conversational than usual, because there’s more I’d like to convey from a fully meta standpoint.

In general, the calendar used in the game is the Avalonian Calendar. It’s a solar calendar roughly analogous to our own, with seven days in a week and twelve months in a year. The Alivaens likely have a separate lunar calendar that Versalia used for a long time, and may still use in some places, but the benefits of standardization are hard to deny. In addition, I’m inclined to think that the lunar cycle is more precisely a month in the Avalonian Calendar, making it sort of both a solar and lunar calendar at the same time. Indeed, the dates of the major festivals as detailed below happens to be the same  across both calendars. Whether that’s coincidence, divine providence, or something else… Well, no comment. =P

We should also frame this discussion with the importance of calendars in the ancient world, which is mostly for religious purposes. Festivals and celebrations need to be held at the right time to avoid offending the gods. As ACOUP says: “No society, so far as I can tell, has ever believed there is enough gold or enough armies to save you if you have enraged the gods. There is simply no off-setting an angry divinity.” You don’t want to miss celebrating the Feast of Alcina or celebrate it on the wrong day. Indeed, when Julius Caesar invented the Julian Calendar, it was in his role as a priest at the time, and that was later refined by a pope. So, while valuable for administrative functions, keeping time is primarily a religious function. This holds true both in wider Velonia and in Versalia.

So, to begin, the Avalonian Calendar has seven days in a week, much like ours. I’ve had these named from the start and saw their use at the academy. However, it quickly became apparent to me that using them in story frequently would confuse me, much less readers. Still, I think they’re a good bit of flavor where they are used. The days of the week are:

-       Alciday (Alcina's day)

-       Vaeliday (Vaelian's Day)

-       Luciday (Luciaea's Day)

-       Alivday (Alivae's Day)

-       Caeloday (Caelon's Day)

-       Celresday (Celresth's Day)

-       Salisday (Salistrina's Day)

If I’ve had this since the beginning, what did I have to rework? Well, that was the months. There were originally a few references to months in the game, mostly to Wintertide and Springtide, but I never fully filled the calendar in. So, I’ve recently done that. The months now have more direct religious associations, and we have the full cycle.

When talking about the months, it’s important to note that the formal start and end of seasons on Velonia is an important feature of the calendar. This is because the eight High Holy Days fall on either the midpoint of a season or on the beginning/end of a season. The year starts on the Feast of Alcina, which marks the end of one year and the beginning of the next, but also, the midpoint of winter (specifically, the Feast of Alcina marks the beginning of the sun’s renewed ascension). As such, the year starts on the midpoint of a season. Since the Velonian seasons last three months each and the first starts on a midpoint, all the seasons start in the middle of a month (such as the upcoming Feast of Vaelian as of v0.16). Ironically, this means the midpoint of seasons always falls on the start of a month instead.

So, we have:

• (Feast of Alcina/Midwinter)

• Alciameth

• Vaelimeth (Feast of Caelon on the 15th; Winter -> Spring)

• Mariameth

• (Feast of Saerthys/Midspring)

• Luciaemeth

• Caelemeth (Feast of Vaelian; on the 15th; Spring -> Summer)

• Raethimeth

• (Feast of Alivae/Midsummer)

• Alivaemeth

• Celsremeth (Feast of Luciaea on the 15th; Summer -> Autumn)

• Kyriameth

• (Feast of Salistrina/Midautumn)

• Vestheriameth

• Saerthimeth (Feast of Celresth on the 15th; Autumn -> Winter)

• Salistrimeth

Obviously there is some messiness here. But what is a calendar if not a miserable pile of exceptions and weirdness?

So, with this, I thought it was worth adding a (not fully official but mostly official) timeline of events in the game so far. I’ve considered adding more indicators in game of the passage of time, but I’m not sure how would be best to do so (warning, spoilers through Chapter 15):

• Start before the new year (midwinter)

• 3 days to Hypernia

• Midwinter/start of new year

• 2 days to airship

• 7 days on airship

• 2ish weeks to Shadowreach

• 2-ish days to Kharos

• 2-ish days waiting for Veronica

• About a week in to/from/in Calistrae

• Week of waiting for the dukes

• Week 1 of groves (Roughly 2 weeks for business at the groves + travel)

• Formal start of spring (I added some lines about this in v0.16)

• Week 2 of groves

• About half a week interstitial

• About a week at Riversmeet

• About a week interstitial

• About 3 weeks total for Castle Salericos + travel

• A week interstitial

• Sartherion visit

• Half a week interstitial

• Half a week to Redstone

• Time in Redstone

• Arrive at Delphin pass on the middle of the last month of spring (per Lorelai letter)

• Return home about 6 days after (8 days left until the start of summer)

So, it's been about 4.5 months since Avalonia as of this update (v0.16).

Anyway, these are my thoughts on the calendar as of now, and I hope to integrate it into the game a bit more smoothly going forward.