The Center Cannot Hold: Calendars of Crux

I've never posted anything specific about the calendar in Crux yet.  My notes for my players has an exact framework, but even then... Calendars are a cultural maxim.  That is, they exist for specific cultures and tend to overlap in weird ways.  So, I guess these are the three major Calendars in play in Crux itself: the Ulstragorian, the Othebesian, and the Jade Imperial.

The Ulstragorian Calendar
The oldest known calendar system on Orphos, the Ulstragorian Calendar is a Ursyklon calendar.  It is

based on the Ursyklon's own native calendar when they first conquered Orphos.  Changed to suit their new world, the Ulstragorian still never was widely adopted by non-Ursyklon.  A lunisolar calendar, the Ulstragorian tracks the Moon as well as the Blacksun with its month structure.  Hence, every three years it adds a 13th leapmonth to the calendar.

Ulstragorian Months: Uz'Lupi, Vit'Lupi, Yar'Lupi, Mok'Lupi, Pak'Lupi, Alef'Lupi, Lupitok, Morrilupi, Caenalupi, Hakenlupi, Lupi-Tengri, Asenai
Leapmonth: Sekhalupis

The archdruid also names each year in the oldest of Ursyklon tongues.  Often they are named based on portents read from entrails and birdsong.  A year's name is a hard thing to translate to the trade languages like Tomish or Othish, but often Ursyklon will speak of a year's name like it were a third-person.  Hence, in Ursyklon languages there tends to be a pronoun for a year- a year's pronoun.

Ursyklons date their years starting with when they believe they first arrived on Orphos.  For them the current year is 10,021, or Tengri'Shalut-Tainen (very roughly, Year of the Wolf's Ghost).

The seven days of the Ulstragorian Calendar are (and the day in the Othebesian Calendar they correspond to): Och-Moki (Fireday), Och-Paku (Iceday), Och-Uz (Stormday), Och-Kai (Riverday), Och-Yoku (Dreamday), Och-Raeg (Twinday), and Och-Tengri (Strangeday).

Unlike the Othesbesian calendar, religious ceremonies of the Ursyklon aren't limited to a singular day.  Prominent holidays occur through the week, often with Och-Tengri timed to have the largest and grandest festival days.

The holiday festival known as the Festival of Howls occurs on the second Och-Tengri of the month of Asenai every year.  Because Asenai rotates seasonally, it often changes with each year.  Upon the full moon of Asenai the Festival begins its trek to old Ursyklon halls and citadels.

The Othebesian
Originating in Othebea, the Othebesian Calendar originates with Queen Jackara the Great, about seven centuries ago.  One of her greater reforms was the to completely overhaul and correct the Othebean calendar.  Her major changes (formalizing the months of Stormwatch, Witchsong and Ghostwalk, correcting for distortion and reforming discontinuities among different church records) were adopted and never needed to be replaced.

The Othebesian Calendar's beginning year is the year Othebes, Herald of the Twins, is said to have entered a slumber after guiding Othebea into its divine monarchy.  The exactness of when this happened during Othebes' time on Orphos is murky.  Precise divination of the period in question has never warranted the results to confirm an answer one way or another.

The current year in the Othebesian Calendar is 1783 AO (After Othebes).  Times prior to it are known as BH, or Before Herald.

There are twelve months in the Othebesian Calendar: Nightrose, Snowrose, Newblood, Stormwatch, Witchsong, Newrose, Firerose, Goldrose, Lastharvest, Ghostwalk, Feastwatch, Shadowrose.

Its seven Days of the Week (In Tomish) are: Twinday, Strangeday, Fireday, Iceday, Stormday, Riverday, Dreamday.

In the Othebesian Calendar, Twinday is the same day as services for the Church of the Twins.

Jade Imperial
The calendar of the Tengu are lunar, but the Tengu do not recognize the same kind of month as other calendars do.  Each season corresponds to one of the four Kaze, or divine winds.  A kaze's season lasts three moons, from full moon to full moon.

Each year also is recognized and dated according the age of the living Jade Emperor of Lhen.  Even though the same Tengu soul (or so it is believed) has always been the Jade Emperor lifetime after lifetime, there are still defined Eras.  Because each Era has its own dating system, there is no clear point where the calendar began.  This also makes finding corresponding dates in other calendar systems hard.

Jade Imperial Seasons: Maya, Fujin, Paja, Raijin.

Tengu also have a name for each day of the season- one for each of the ninety days in a season.  Tengu in Crux and Necruxa have largely adopted the concept of a week, but have no agreed names for them, often using the elements for names.

Tengu Days Are (and the days they correspond to in the Othebesian Calendar): Nichi (Twinday), Getsu (Strangeday), Ka (Fireday), Su (Iceday), Moku (Stormday), Kinu (Riverday), Dozu (Dreamday).

For the Tengu, each day is holy to each of the Kaze.  Each hour is dedicated to specific Kaze.  During a season, Tengu priests celebrate the god of that Season.  Their temples and even their homes carry the colors of that god.

True to the Tengu, they are apt to mix their own calendar with other systems.  This is on purpose with the Tengu Ninja of Crux: the better to confuse and confound outsiders.

The current year in Jade Imperial is the 270th Year of Emperor Ulan the Night-Tooth.


Definitions and the Like:
Ursyklons are a feral variant on Halflings in Crux.  Don't call an Ursyklon a Halfling if you value your throat.
The Tengu are a Raven-headed people, who come from a land on the other side of the world- the Jade Lands, where they are Immortal through their own reincarnated past lives.
Othebea is the Divine Empire of Othebea.  Once Ith was it's vassal, along with Crux.  It is a land ruled through the tenets of the Church of the Twins, also the dominant religion throughout much of Crux and Necruxa.
Necruxa is the continent Crux is located upon.
Kazism is the religion of Tengu.  There are five winds, but the Tengu only will speak of four.
The Festival of Howls is celebrated to honor the god of the Ursyklon, Lupa the Wolf-Mother.