Time

Since the time of the Daer'lin, one day in the world of Altin has been measured as one full cycle of the twin suns.

These days, have been divided into 24 equal periods, known as "hours". These hours are further divided into 60 equal divisions, known as minutes. These minutes are further divided into 60 equal divisions, called seconds.

The Godswar's toll on the world was a terrible one, and the centuries- long battle all but destroyed the concept of time for most individuals and settlements in the realm.

As such, when the Allied Races met for the Final Time before the Time of Isolation, humanity presented the modern calendar, tossing away all of the old concepts, and beginning "time" anew. It was decide that this new time would begin as the Second Year after the Godswar (or 2, War's End).

[Obviously, a year had passed since the war to allow them to observe the flows of time once more, as well as the defeat of the Goblins.]

Despite the objections of the longer-lived races such as the Elves and Dwarves, noone really knew when it was anymore, (save the Dragons, as their complex calendar survived even the Godswar unscathed). As such, even though it was a point of heated debate, and some bad blood amongst the races the modern calendar was adopted by the Allied Races. (At this time it was believed that the Reni, the race of historians, had been completely destroyed with all their accumulated knowledge and as such, it was 'close enough', or rather, as close as they could hope to get to get to fact.)

When the 200-year old Tholmic Republic (the decendants of the same humans who created the calendar) turned into Empire (during the Great Debate), it began counting the years since the founding of the Empire, expressed as "Imperial Year". Otherwise, the calendar has remain unchanged.

The year in Altin is now 360 days long (the Dragons claim that it was longer prior to the Godswar), which has been divided into 12 30-day months. Each year begins with the Summer Solstice (the longest day of the year and beginning of summer), in the month of the Phoenix, and ends with the last day of Spring, in the Month of Blossoms. The months, in order are as follows:

the month of the Phoenix [New Year, Start of Summer]

the month of the Dragon

the month of the Chimera

the month of the Twilight [Beginning of Autumn]

the month of Prairiefire

the month of Wildfire

the month of Midnight [Beginning of Winter]

the month of the Icedrake

the month of Chrysalis

the month of Dawn [Beginning of Spring]

the month of Torrents

the month of Blossoms

Due to something that no mortal truly understands, once every four years, there is a thirteenth month added to the year by the Gods. This month is a mere 20 days (rather than the standard thirty), and is known as the Month of Daemons.

During the Month of Daemons, the seasons do not progress, and the gods themselves walk the earth in a festival of delight and merriment. (One of the reasons theorized for this is that this coincides with the time required to make Ambrosia, the nectar of the Gods). At the end of this time, Aalynor and Tilnar restore all to the way that it was prior to the Festival. The dragons claim that this is due to the "magical energies" left behind when the year was shortened, and that this "nowhere time" is actually the manifestation of those lost days.

In addition to months, the Modern and Imperial Calendar are divided into 9-day weeks. The days of the week, in order, are Panur, Maaur, Ruvur, Dilur, Malkur, Arsur, Andur, Aalur, Tilur. The first three days of the week are "work" days, in which business is done. The fourth day, Dilur, sacred to Dilanis, is one of rest and family... The work week is resumed on Malkur, Arsur, Andur, with Aalur and Tilur being days of rest dedicated to the true gods...

Days of the month are expressed infomally as the name and day. [For example: It is Ruvur, Chrysalis 22nd, 1347 WE/IY 934.]. In legal documents or other formal cirumstances, the date is expressed in its whole form, which is the day of the week, the day of the month, the month and the year. [For example: It is Aalur, and the sixth day of the month of the Dragon, in the 1347th year since the Godswar and the 934th year of the Empire.]