Aegic
Icesus is no more than a small valley like territory hugging a larger world, which in turn is only the second world of six orbiting a central sun, which is capsulated in a construct of godly proportions within swirling chaos, which in turn is only one in myriad dimensions. But for all races of Icesus, for the elves and dwarves and humans, it has another name: Home.
Aegic is the name of the orb that the valley Icesus is set upon, just as Earth is the orb that Eurasia is set upon. This old name is derived from aegis, meaning protection. As mentioned, Aegic is just one of six orbs that wander their regular paths around the sun against the starry sky. The other five orbs are the dusky yellow Infernus, dark red Aythzilla, tangerine Lhundaer, grayish-white Sorcerus and purplish black Chto.
The stars are distant, forever, and form patterns and constellations that each culture names according to its own desires.
In the year 476 after the Creation, right after the Interplanar War and roughly seven hundred years before the Ice covered Aegic, the grey elves and the gnomes created a new calendar. It was meant as universal, to be used by all races. As the war just fought had left the people of all races more unified than ever before, it was hoped this would help towards keeping is so. It didn't; before long, new and lesser squabbles and wars broke out. The calendar still became the universal standard, used by all races as a common measurement of time. Several races still had their own calendars, but those were only used amongst themselves.
Each year was given a name after one of the races and of the elements. The cycle of 35 years thus created was divided into 7 smaller sections, septets, named after the element whose year was in that septet. It was decided to start the cycle from the Septet of Magic, with the year of the Gnome being the first year.
The count of years:
year | Septet of Magic | year | Septet of Water | year | Septet of Air | year | Septet of Earth | year | Septet of Fire |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Year of the Gnome | 8 | Year of the Grey Elf | 15 | Year of the Sylph | 22 | Year of the Dwarf | 29 | Year of the Firbolg |
2 | Year of Magic | 9 | Year of Water | 16 | Year of Air | 23 | Year of Earth | 30 | Year of Fire |
3 | Year of the Snakeman | 10 | Year of the Dark Elf | 17 | Year of the Chitine | 24 | Year of the Derro | 31 | Year of the Cancun |
4 | Year of the Dabus | 11 | Year of the Sprite | 18 | Year of the Mold Man | 25 | Year of the Marut | 32 | Year of the Human |
5 | Year of the Swanmay | 12 | Year of the Brownie | 19 | Year of the Halfling | 26 | Year of the Elf | 33 | Year of the Deva |
6 | Year of the Shadowperson | 13 | Year of the Leprechaun | 20 | Year of the Thri-kreen | 27 | Year of the B'rogh | 34 | Year of the Spellweaver |
7 | Year of the Vampire | 14 | Year of the Paka | 21 | Year of the Orc | 28 | Year of the Troll | 35 | Year of the Rakhasa |
Each year was 300 days long, and divided into 10 month, each 30 days long. The length of the month was based on the time it took the bigger of the moons, Lhundaer, to orbit Aegic. The smaller moon, Aythzilla, orbited Aegic in 23 days.
The count of months:
month | name | month | name |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Month of Melting | 6 | Month of Harvest |
2 | Month of Birth | 7 | Month of Withering |
3 | Month of Warmth | 8 | Month of Chill |
4 | Month of Growth | 9 | Month of Snow |
5 | Month of Heat | 10 | Month of Cold |
The year was also divided into four seasons:
season | name | months |
---|---|---|
1 | Season of Waking | Month of Melting, Month of Birth |
2 | Season of Living | Month of Warmth, Month of Growth, Month of Heat |
3 | Season of Waning | Month of Harvest, Month of Withering |
4 | Season of Sleeping | Month of Chill, Month of Snow, Month of Cold |
Each month was divided into 5 weeks consisting of 6 days:
order | week name |
---|---|
1 | Week of the Sun |
2 | Week of Lhundaer |
3 | Week of Aythzilla |
4 | Week of the Stars |
5 | Week of Aegic |
The days of the weeks were named thus:
order | day name |
---|---|
1 | Day of Fire |
2 | Day of Earth |
3 | Day of Air |
4 | Day of Water |
5 | Day of Magic |
6 | Day of the Creation |
Each day had 24 hours. Not every hour was named separately, rather pairs of hours were most often used.
The count of hours:
period | duration | period | duration |
---|---|---|---|
deepnight | 2 hours | afternoon | 2 hours |
murk | 2 hours | evening | 2 hours |
dawn | 1 hour | sunset | 1 hour |
sunrise | 1 hour | twilight | 1 hour |
morning | 2 hours | dusk | 2 hours |
forenoon | 2 hours | forenight | 2 hours |
highsun | 2 hours | midnight | 2 hours |
After the Ice that threatened to cover Aegic was finally stopped just before it ran over everything, the survivors decided to start the counting of years anew, as it indeed could be said to be the start of a new age or era. So, as the year changed a few weeks thereafter and the Year of the Halfling started, that year was counted as year 1. The city of Vaerlon's first phase was finished year 139 (Year of the Chitine) in the Month of Warmth. The dark elf- & orc-army was defeated outside Vaerlon in the year 144 (Year of the Dwarf), in the Month of Growth. This was counted as the start of the nation of Valkor.