Calendar StudyMaroth completes an orbit once every 365 days, each orbit called a 'year'. During this time, Gaeleth makes 13 orbits around Maroth, each orbit called a 'month'. One leap-day is added every twenty-five years.Maroth, the second planet in the Ekiras system, and a gas giant, plays a significant part in Gaeleth's calendar system. The gas giant takes up fully a quarter of the sky. Its roiling, stormy surface glows faintly orange, and can be seen even during the day. When Maroth is up at night, lightning flashes can be seen. Maroth has a few, temporary spots, but few last longer than a year. No gods are associated with Maroth, though it is portrayed as a mother figure to Gaeleth and Gaeleth's sister moons. There is little seasonal variation on Gaeleth -- no Autumn, Summer, or Winter. The weather and temperature varies, as based upon Maroth's eclipse of Ekiras, the sun. For 2 days of each month, the sun does not rise on Gaeleth -- only Maroth rises. The rest of the time, Ekiras and Maroth rise at different times, at different times of the month. The weather and temperature also varies depending on the time of the month. The warmer part of the month is just after the time when Maroth rises as the sun sets. This warmer time is called 'the Burne'. The colder part of the month is the time just after the darkness of Maroth's eclipsing the sun. This time is called 'the Freeze'. Just before the Freeze is when the plants store up a bit more sugars and starches than normal, and is usually a time of relative monthly harvest. The timing of the months begins with the portion of the Freeze in which Gaeleth first sees the sun again, after the time known simply as 'the Darkness'. During the Darkness are the stars the brightest. Rather than having the sun rise in the East, Maroth rises during the Darkness, with its own faint orange luminescence. Each month ends just before the first rising of the sun after a Darkness. The 27th and the 28th of each calendar month are spend in the Darkness. The months are named after the numbers in an older, nearly forgotten language. Their names are: Lan, Dalan, Trilan, Vor, Davor, Trivor, Cal, Dacal, Trical, Sad, Dasad, Trisad, and Gril. The time of the Lans (Lan, Dalan, and Trilan), is often referred to for game-sake as Spring. The time of the Vors (Vor, Davor, and Trivor) is referred to as Summer. The Cals are Autumn, and the Sads are Winter. Gril is Gril, but is sometimes lumped in with both Winter and Spring. The seasonal attitudes harken back to the time Gaeleth spent inside the Oddity, and behind the Shield -- when there truly were seasons. (Mnemonic acronym for remembering the months is 'love-casing', for LVCSG -- Lan, Vor, Cal, Sad, and Gril.) Generally, on the 1st of any month, Maroth rises first, and then just as Maroth clears the horizon, the sun clears the horizon. The 1st of the month is also the first time Gaeleth has seen light in two days. The 7th of the month sees Maroth rising six marks (hours) ahead of the sun. Maroth would be directly overhead as the sun rises; at noon, when Ekiras is directly overhead, Maroth begins to set. By the 14th of the month, Maroth rises just as the sun sets, and just as the sun sets, Maroth rises. By the 21st, Maroth rises six marks (hours) behind the sun's rising. As the sun sets, Maroth is directly overhead. As seen from above the Gaelethic pole, and the plane of the Ekiras system, Gaeleth spins clockwise, while it moves about Maroth in a counter-clockwise orbit. The tides of Gaeleth follow Maroth, and are not delayed by more than half a mark. Thus, high tide on the 1st would come at near dawn, and near dusk. Low tide on the 1st would come at noon and midnight. High tide and low tide would be the same for the 14th of the month, as well. Maroth exerts a strong influence on the tides, and differences of two and three hundred yards between the high and low tide marks are not uncommon. In some places, the tide can vary by as much as two-hundred feet vertically, but is usually much more conservative. Because of these extremes in tides, sailors are far more apt to pay attention to them (and Maroth's position) when sailing. Caution when Maroth is low on the horizon would be common. Time over much of Gaeleth is measured not in hours, but in 'marks'. Specially designed candles with marks set in them burn down; when the candle burns down to a mark, it is the 'level of the mark', known on other planes as 'the top of the hour'. Since Gaeleth moves and spins about Maroth in precision order, staying in time is relatively easy for most people. Certain deitific and magical spells can also assure an accurate time. Many of the more advanced cities have water-clocks that precisely measure the marks to the nearest grosseth (1/144th). There are twenty-four marks in a day; much of Gaeleth's primary civilization is near the middle lattitudes, where there are twelve hours of light, and twelve hours of darkness.
HolidaysIt is onto the last day in Gril that the leap-day is added, once each twenty-five years. The leap-day is a time for large celebrations over most of Gaeleth.Note: If you have difficulty seeing all of this table, try hitting 'refresh' from your browser menu, and see if that doesn't help.
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