The Thelean Calendar
Thelea’s calendar is a lunisolar calendar inspired by the cosmology and origins of the earth that tracks each day throughout the year based on the length of the day as compared to the length of the night. The year begins on what scholars have determined as the longest day of the year—the day containing the greatest amount of Bailiea’s life-giving light. The calendar tracks each day from sunrise to sunrise until reaching the longest day again, marking a year’s passing. There are twelve, six-week months throughout the year, with one extra week marking the end of the previous year and the dawn of the new. Throughout Bailiea’s year, scholars also keep track of the phases of Vallicast’s moon, and each month of the year features a “Moon Day” that marks when Vallicast’s eyes are open over the night skies. There are usually thirteen Moon Days throughout a calendar year. Finally, beginning in the Third Age, scholars add an extra day to the calendar, called “Thrennum’s Chase,” in order to keep up with Bailiea’s dawn properly. Without this extra day, the scholars have noticed that Bailiea’s Dawn will press ahead of the calendar’s count. The current calendar year in which characters enter their adventure is in the Third Age, Year 692.
Day, Week, and Month Conventions
Days are easy to keep track of from sunrise to sunrise, but counting the number of days throughout an entire year would become cumbersome. As such, scholars have devised a way to divide the days of the year into weeks and months.
There are twelve calendar months in the year, as follows:
| Month Name | Description |
| Bailiea’s Dawn | The first month, named for the long days full of Bailiea’s warm light |
| Star of the Morning | Mornings become earlier and the season becomes wetter, ready for planting to begin |
| Seed’s Rise | Crops begin to grow throughout the Empire, giving blessings to Kalmor |
| Dance of Etia | The blooming month, flowers abound, toward the end of the month northern leaves turn |
| Water’s Rise | Siadagal crops reach their largest, bees are busy preparing for the cold months |
| Vostiar’s Renewal | The variable harvests begin, often celebrated around Moon day of the month |
| The Warming Night | Nights are at their longest, and the Empire enters its winter colds and northern snows |
| Kalmor’s Bright Mist | The cold winter continues, in the south, cold winds make for mists and foggy days |
| Song of Ithera | The oceans begin to warm, and become more active marking Bailiea’s return near end of year |
| Water’s Fall | Rains return, especially in the south, replenishing rivers and trees |
| Star of the Evening | The nights are shorter now, but stars shine brightly and the skies see green and purple auroras |
| Thrennum’s Journey | The final month of the year, marking Thrennum’s guidance and the return of long days |
Each month contains six weeks, and each week contains five days, for a total of thirty days in each of the twelve standard months.
The days of the week are named as follows (in order):
| 1 | Rehan (also called Reast’s Day) |
| 2 | Thelehan (also called Thrennum’s Day) |
| 3 | Middhan (also called Midday or Crest’s Day) |
| 4 | Ledhan (also called Lak’riah’s Day) |
| 5 | Estahan (also called Etia’s Day) |
Counting each of the days of a month can also be cumbersome for most citizens of the Empire. As such, a convention has developed over time that allows the tracking of time by counting weeks of the month instead of days, and invoking the day of the week to note how far through each week time has progressed. For example, rather than stating that the new day is the 29th day of the 1st month, the Thelean convention would be to say, “dawn marks today as the last Ledhan of Bailiea’s Dawn.” New Year’s Day would be “the first Rehan of Bailiea’s dawn.” The year’s halfway point—Vallicast’s Day—would be “the first Middhan of The Warming Night.” Thus, people keep track of the calendar week to week in a month, but noting the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and last weeks of any month throughout the year.
Keeping track of Moon Day has kept scholars guessing over time, but in the Third Age the general convention has been to count from one full moon to the next. This has given an estimate of alternating days, allowing scholars to ascertain that on odd months, Vallicast’s bright eye will be full after 29 days, but on even months the count is 30 days to the next full moon. Every other month, then, alternates back and forth between 29 and 30 days passing from Moon Day to Moon Day.
Every year following Year’s End (the last Estahan of Thrennum’s Journey), there is an extra calendar week added, called “Dawn’s Edge,” that is a week-long celebration before the dawn of the next year. As it is only one week, Dawn’s Edge has no first or last weeks, and dates simply read, “Rehan of Dawn’s Edge,” and so on.