Life (Memory Fading)
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There are certain constants when it comes to the lives of those living on Alsa Eru and Ord. Here are a few of them.
Contents |
Calendar
Ancient sirish scholars and astronomers discovered millennia ago that the planet Ord circles around a large star, called by many "Mother Sun." Ord makes it around the sun once every 370 days. This makes a year. The scholars divided the year into twelve months of 30 days each, leaving two sets of five days to be added at the beginning and middle of the year as "monthless" days. The weeks each have six days, and there are five weeks per month. The months have many different names in different cultures, but the sirish seem to be the most common throughout the majority of Alsa Eru.
Months of the Year
The most prominent moon in the sky, Thorsh, circles Ord once every thirty days, and set the original calendars all across the planet. Because of the two one-week festivals that don't fall within months, the months do not coincide exactly with Thorsh's passing. Here are the names that the Arudorans, Gaardans, sirish, and sul use for the months of the year.
(Winter's Heart) - five days of celebration for the new year
- 1. Graysky
- 2. Iceclaw
- 3. Saltgale
- 4. Firstbloom
- 5. Cornsew
- 6. Brightsky
(Summer's Soul) - five days of celebration for the mid-year
- 7. Scorchwinds
- 8. Midharvest
- 9. Goldgrass
- 10. Leafall
- 11. Frostwind
- 12. Silversnow
Days of the Week
The months were divided into 5 weeks of 6 days each, and were given names as well. However, the sirish names didn't really hold very well, and instead, the Laon names have caught hold on the majority of the continent.
- 1. Sum - Day of Ceremonies
- 2. Mar - Farmer's Day
- 3. Tek - King's Day
- 4. Wel - Day of Wellness
- 5. Fon - Day of Drinking
- 6. Stal - Last day
Each day is divided into twenty-four hours. Because of the tilt of the planet, certain parts of the world see more sunlight or night than other parts. For instance, the Chulgeth sees 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night pretty much year-round. Up north, Riddesgaard or higher in latitude, winter days are generally only about 6 hours long, and summer days can be as long as 18 hours. Most of the human lands use clocks, which the sirish have been using for several centuries.
Currency
Emperor Haenos of ancient Tlek set up mints in Oban Col and Vren Cas to create a new currency for ease of trade in foreign countries. The currency caught on pretty well, and for several centuries, the currency was used across the lands. With the fall of Tlek, the currency fell out of use a bit, but Jaerom Arudor reinstated the currency in Arudor and since then, it has been gaining more use around the continent again.
- 1 penny = 1 c.p.
- 10 pennies = 1 mark (1 s.p.)
- 10 marks = 1 eagle (1 g.p.)
- 10 eagles = 1 crown (1 p.p.)
On average, the common working man in an agricultural region, working from sunrise to sundown, makes half a penny a day. They are at the lowest level of society (other than servants and beggars, obviously). The next step up, which includes craftsmen, traders, and merchants makes an average of half a mark a day. This also includes work from sunrise to sundown. Obviously, after this level of work, pay becomes different; politicians, nobles, adventurers, sages, and artists all make pay at both a different level and a different schedule.
In the poorest communities, - or the most remote communities - bartering often becomes the main currency. In the Shaernlands, there are no mints, and there is no money (other than what adventurers bring in). They barter in chickens, goats, produce, and rare sculptures. In Duarmenstor, trakloks mine for rubies, starlets, sapphires, emeralds, amethysts, and garnets in the mountains of their kingdom. When their traders travel south to Arudor, Laon, or west to Gaardan, they have to exchange their currency. Sirish in the Chulgeth generally use small disks of ivory with tiny holes in them. The value of the disk is dependent on the weight of the disk; therefore, the most valuable disk has no hole in it. In 1539 BI, Khandia and Laon also took up this currency, and a mint was set up in Mrinil, and now, Khandia, the sirish, and the Confederacy of Laon all use these disks instead of the metals pieces used in Arudor, Riddesgaard, and Old Tlek. In Nalimoseo (and other sydhi regions around the planet), when bartering and trading is need, bright and colorful shells are used; they tend to be extremely rare shells from the very bottom of the ocean, brought up by magicks.
