What Does a Month Look Like?

The calendar of Haylene (specifically the Rhysonian Calendar) is a bit tricky to describe... it does not directly relate to our Julian Calendar where every years has the same number of days.  A Rhysonian Calendar consists of two years with 351 days, and every third year having 390 days.  This is done so that the months of the calendar always align with the lunar cycles of Io and Titania, which is more important to the Rhysonian Mysteries than the growing season (farmers don't check calendars, but priests do).

However, the months are fairly typical, being locked into the cycles of Titania.  All of them start and end with three Market Days, and have three Festival Days precisely in the middle.  In addition to these 9 special days, there are three 10 days.  

Fekre, which celebrates the Winter Solstice, is different... the Festival of the New Year always begins the day before the solstice.  As such, the tendays (which are used primarily by the guilds) are interrupted in a different place every month.  Market days are displaced in the same manner as days of the week.


25

Weeks and Months

Common Names of Months and Days

The Rhysonian Calendar uses the following names for months and days of the weeks as well as the special days at the beginning and end of the month. Each month also has a three day festival, associated with a different order of the Rhysonian Mysteries.

The months of the Rhysonian Calendar are:

• Fekre (Early Winter) - This month is unusual in that it contains the Winter Solstice, and as such the New Year. The New Year was holy to the defunct violet priests of the Order of Grand Initiates. Unlike other months, the holy days do not interrupt the second tenday, but rather begin the day before the solstice, and are called the Feast of the New Year.
• Hala (Mid Winter) - This month is holy to the Order of Saint Joene, commonly referred to as the Whites. It’s holiday is the Feast of the Martyr, which celebrates Arim’s sacrifice to see the Kingdom of Rhys.
• Sykane (Late Winter) - Belonging to the blacks, also called the Order of the Ebon Truth, the holy days of this month are dubbed “The Remembrance” and used to commemorate the dead.
• Tarak (Early Spring) - This month contains the Spring Equinox, and is holy to the Order of the Fallen Angel. Swordmeet, which is traditionally a time of treaties and meetings amongst nobles, falls during this month.
• Drizlash (Late Spring) - The golds, officially called the Order of the Exalted Voice claim this month of the liturgical calendar, which contains the feast of Saint Lilyan the Beautiful… traditionally a time of music and feasting.
• Zantas (Early Summer) - The Order of Saint Imbram, a warrior order who serve as generals and warlords, control this month. Naturally their holiday is the Charge of Saint Imbram, which is a military holiday of parades that usually precede wars.
• Enandin (occurs every 3 to 4 years, always as Midsummer): Enandin is an elven word, and the concept of such a month is closely tied to elven astrology. The month of Enandin occurs regularly over a 13 year cycle, happening on the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 13th years (this keeps the Winter Solstice during the month of Fekre).
• Yagra (Late Summer) - The silvers, known only as the Mystery of Mysteries, claim this month.  Their holy days are known as The Silence, and not celebrated by the laity. 
• Norgana (Early Fall) - The greens, also called the Order of the Primeval Woods, hold dominion over the Fall Equinox. Their holiday is the Bountiful Harvest of Arim, which is a feasting holiday held after the crops have been reaped.
• Seriach (Late Fall) - The gray, whose name is the Most Honorable Order of Humble Servants (although that name is almost never used), celebrate a holiday of both friendship and trickery, known for all sorts of pranks and scams, called Humbleseve.  

A tenday begins on the 4th, 14th, and 26th days of the month (with the exception of Fekre, when the holy festival shifts).  The holy days are always the 19th through the 21st of the month (again, with the exception of Fekre).  The first and last three days of the month are called the Market Days, and numbered (beginning with the 37th day of the month, so that the first day of any given month is the 4th Market Day). The days of the week are:

• Crownday
• Dosday
• Tosday
• Reday
• Marceday
• Malenday
• Rhysday
• Elinsday
• Lovesday
• Sacreday