Calendar dates
From EiWiki
There is no universal system of keeping time or calendar dates in Eishiya. However, there are several systems that are commonly used across large geographic areas, and these shall be described here.
The planet revolves around the sun in about 364.2 days, and its moon revolves around the planet every 32 days. As there is not a clean cyclical pattern of the moon in relation to the solar year, solar and stellar calendars are much more common than lunar ones.
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The West Continent
With a few exceptions, a solar calendar is used. Each year has four seasons based on the solstices and equinoxes, though their names vary depending on the local climate. Nearly all of them have a leap year every five years, although the exact years do not match.
South
Seasons and days
In the area south of the equator, the year typically starts with the winter solstice, which marks the start of the Birth season (muyemeno). The name refers to the sprouting of seeds and revitalization of plants that occurs in the later half of the season, even though most of the season is barren. The vernal equinox starts the Youth season (Rimeno), which lasts until the summer solstice, the start of the Maturity season (muyameno). Muyameno is the time of harvest and most agriculture-related festivals are during this season. The final season, lasting from the autumn equinox to the winter solstice, is the Decay (season. It is a time of preparation for the cold period.
Each season is further split into two sections, lower/first (toru) and upper/second (kuu), each lasting 45 and 46 days respectively. On a leap year, both sections are 46 days, but the season during which this happens varies by region. Typically, it is during the Birth season. Dates within a year are given as (part of season)(season) (day number), such as Kuumuyameno 38, the 38th day of the second half of Maturity.
Year numbering
Year numbers vary greatly, even within relatively small geographical areas. Those living in rural areas typically use the current time as a reference date, so everything happens "two years from now" or "ten years ago." This is sufficient due to the lack of long-term record-keeping. In such areas, it is also common to use one's age, or the age of a person being discussed at the specified time to refer to specific years in the past (ex. "In his 20th year"). In such cases, the age used is the age the person would be on their birthday during that year, so it is possible for a person to be 19 for most of their "20th" year.
In cities or other areas where records are typically kept, and in historical writing, years are typically numbered from the ascension of the ruler of the area. Usually, the first year is the year that the ruler begins already in office, so if a new ruler takes office on any day later than the first day of the year (Torumuyemeno 1), that year is counted as another year for the previous ruler. Dates are written as "The Era of (ruler) (number)," for example Yeshira 21.
When discussing long, historical periods, using each ruler's name becomes troublesome, especially when covering a larger geographical area that has multiple concurrent rulers. For this, ruling family names or names of significant non-political events are used. The most typical of these is the Yeshiden epoch. During the early days of Yeshiden, the Yeshi Empire, each ruler's name was used, but when the empire became clearly established, most territories began to number the years from the year that Yeshi, the first emperor, came to power. After the empire fell apart, the "Yeshira" nomenclature gave way to "Yeshidenra," the Era of the Yeshi Empire. It is used primarily in broad-scope historical and political analysis texts, but some areas, such as Garen, the former Imperial Seat, continue to use the Yeshiden Epoch for day-to-day year numbering.
North
Those living north of Kuuguon typically use a single epoch for all of their years, regardless of the political climate. There are two main epochs used - the Great Draught in the north-west, and the birth of the Eye of Heaven elsewhere. Both of these events have clear dates in calendars used south of Kuuguon, as well.
The North also splits its seasons according to the sun, but the names and subdivisions are different, as well as the actual date correspondence, since the north is above the equator while the south is below. The north is far less agricultural than the south, and its seasons are thus not named for the crop cycle. Instead, they are named for the most prominent celestial feature seen at night during those seasons: Eye of Heaven, Warrior, Mirror, and Naught, the season for which astronomers never found a notable-enough feature to observe. Each season is divided into six "weeks." Each week is 15 days long, except the first week of each season, which is 16 days long. Each week is given a name, but these names vary by region.
Kuuguon
This area, which includes the areas around the equator and the Kuuguon desert, are peopled primarily by nomads. There is a distinction between Wet and Dry seasons, but there is no clear definition of where one ends and the other begins.
Years are numbered either similarly to the nearest non-nomadic state, or from the ascent of the most recent king of the tribe. Tribes do not always have a king, as kings only arise in times of war or other matter that requires a single ruler for the tribe. Thus, it is common to have these king era years number far beyond the lifespan of a person.
The East Continent
Owing to its shape, the East continent does not have as much variability in terrain as the West continent, and the cultures that grew out of this environment are also similar in many ways even though many developed in isolation. In the heavily forested north, there are four seasons just like in the south of the West continent, but these have a wide array of local names, typically referring to the weather patterns or types of plants that are most abundant during that season. In the rocky desert south, only Dry and Wet seasons are named, even though there are unnamed times between them.
In rural areas and some cities, years are not counted. In most cities, a local event of significance is taken as the epoch, typically unchanged for hundreds of years.
The North Continent
The population of the North Land uses similar season names and year numbering structures to the north West Continent peoples. There is no indigenous population elsewhere on the continent, and explorers do not change calendars during their travels, even though "days" become increasingly irrelevant to the north.
The South Continent
The population of this continent is very small and primitive, they do not number their years. Those in the northern parts (particularly the islands) distinguish between Wet and Dry seasons, but do not concern themselves with exact dates. Those living inland, within the south solar circle, distinguish between three seasons with lengths that vary by latitude: Dark (when the sun dips below the horizon), Ascent (when the sun rises), and Descent (when the sun falls).
