Standards - Times/ Weight/ Distance

[MoonHunter]

Calender / Time

Year

The year on Arth (in the Known World) is 216 days long, with six months of six weeks, with six days each week.

Month
Each month is approximately a season long
Month 1 Lumos: Spring -- Cool Bright
Month 2 Storos: Storm -- Windy/ Rainy
Month 3 Thermos: Summer -- Hot
Month 4 Geos: Harvest -- Indian Summer/ Cold snaps
Month 5 Lemos: Fall -- Cold/ lt snow
Month 6 Fremos: Winter -- Cold and Snow.

Each season's weather starts +/-2 days from the begining of the month. Transition weather starts 1-6 days before that.

Week / Days
Each day of the week has an elemental and social association
Day 1 Ibis: Magic/ Darkness
Day 2 Arbol: Nature/ Fire
...      Unofficial 1/2 day in good weather
Day 3 Tredos: Craft/ Earth
...      Half work day, except for merchants/ trades
Day 4 Creedos: Faith/ Light
...      Half day for most people, allowing worship
Day 5 Armos: Art/Love/ Water
...      Half day for non merchants/ tradesmen
Day 6 Mesch: Knowledge/ Air

Yes there is no "weekend" but everyone except priests get two half days off together.

Each of the six weeks start when the primary moon reaches a given state
Week 1 Full Moon
Week 2 Old Gibbon
Week 3 Old Crescent
Week 4 New Moon
Week 5 New Crescent
Week 6 New Gibbon

Hours and smaller measures
Each 24 hour day is divided into two cycles of the six elements, one for day, one for night. Dawn (6 am) starts the first cycle. It usually ends at approximately sunset (6pm). Noon occurs at the begining of the 4th cycle. Most people call each part of the cycle either a candlemark, or one hour (which is two Modern/ European hours).

So by local reckoning, Noon is not 12'oclock, but 4th Hour or Fire Hour.

Each Hour is broken down into six Sets (2o minutes each).
The next smallest unit is a mark (approximaley 12 seconds), with 100 slashes to a Set. This unit was created by magic users, based upon the flow of magic and the duration of magical knots. A fivemark is a commonly used unit of measure.

In Antioch, the archaic unit of beat is also used. There are 12 beats to a mark. It is said that each imperial heartbeat is one beat long. But in actuallity, it is an Elventi magical tool, as one beat is one increment of action. The fighting arts still use this measure to be fancy. It is coming back into vogue is because certain impressor tools need consistant percision and the beat is a good measure for timing.

So to sum up
1 Day is 12 Hours (two sets of six) or 72 sets or 7200 Marks (1440 FiveMarks), or 86400 beats.

Light, Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Darkness, is the elemental day cycle
Darkness, Water, Earth, Air, Fire, Light, is the elemental night cycle.


Time and Mysticism
The measurement of time was important to the Humanti study of magic. Elventi have an innate feel for these periods, so never codified them. The measurements of time is directly related to the cosmic forces of magic.  If you want to learn a bit about the mysticism and magic of Arth, check out the ebb and flow of elemental forces through the day, week, and months.

[MoonHunter]

The measurements on Arth center around The Emperor and the Imperium. The Imperium imposes certain standards upon its subjects to make communication and trade between areas easier. Some of the most important was how much each coin was worth (and its basic size), the common language (imperial-low and high), and a system of measures.

Since the Emperor is immortal, his body is used as the standard for measurements. In each Regions city center, there is a hall of standards, where you can receive a true measurement of something.


Lengths/ distance
An Imperial Stride (1 Meter or a fraction less, a Yard and a bit more).
An Imperial Span is the most common width for a public hallway, being two strides wide.
An Imperial Foot (less than 1/3 of a Meter or more than a foot). Since the two do not conviently line up, most people measure larger things in Strides.
An Imperial Coin is
An Imperial Walk (50 Miles or 80 KM). The distance the Emperor can conviently walk in a day. It is also the distance the Imperial Army expects its forces to cover in a day.

Many people still measure distances in Cubits (length from elbow to finger tips) and handspans (six to nine inches from thumb to 4th finger fully extended.  


Weights
An Imperial Weight, sometimes called A weight, is the main measure. (approximately one pound or .45 Kgs).  Some areas call it a stone, as each weight stone weighs one Imperial Weight.  It comes from the weight of one stone that conviently fits in the Emperor's palm.

There are sixth weights (2.6 oz or 73 grams) and thirtysixth weights (.43 oz or 12 g) as well,  

An Imperial Ton is 6000 Stones, or three Imperial Loads (2000 stones each).  

CoinWeights  
Imperial coins must be of a certain weight and approximate size.  They are made of the material they are traded for. Gold coins are only 12 carat or 50% gold with a standard mix of waste elements. Silver is kept pure, as is copper.

Each local government is responsible for making coins in their areas.  

There are 100 coins per pound, with each one being approximately 25mm or 1 inch in diameter. (Quarter sized for those in the US and Canada)

Coins are used as weights for many things.  

The penalty for debasing a coin is Death by Imperial Means. This is seldom quick or painless, after all the death must be of a meaningful length for an Immortal Elventi.

[MoonHunter]

Holidays

Lumos 1 (Day of the Dead) Unofficial holiday. People rest if they can.
Lumos 7-12 Spring Festivals: Community Parties/ Carnivals


Storos 22 Prayer Day: Praying for the end of the storms. It is an outdated holiday, but the only real holiday in Storos.

Thermos 1-6 Holy Week: Days of General Piousness, Subdued festivals, vows, ceremonies, etc.

Thermos 20 Prayer day: Prayer for relief from the heat. Like Storos 22, it is outdated.

Geos 14-20 Harvest days (usually)
Geos 21-27 Harvest Day Festivals - Big Markets everywhere. The biggest are usually on the 27th.

Lemos 16 Day of Spirits/ Masters - Thanksgiving for luck and departed ones.
Lemos 19 Day of Deamons (Halloween/ Masquarades)

Fremos 34: Day of Gods- Holy Day of worship and family gatherings
Fremos 35: Day of the People: Day for friendships, family, loved ones. Token gifts are sometimes given.
Fremos 36: Day of the NewYear: PARTY like you were a Dwarventi! Gift giving.

Unofficial Holidays/ Antioch Holidays
Storos 30 Short Day- Today everyone is a Dwarventi. Work super hard for half a day and party... well Drink the rest of the day. Practiced in SecondLand and Thirdland.

Lumos 14 GreenDay: Today everyone is a friendly Elventi, even the Dwarventi. It is time to be seemingly frivolous in nature. Play in the park, minor pranks, forgive enemies, renew friends. (also known unflatteringly as ELF DAY). Practiced in SecondLand and Thirdland.

Lumos 17 Heart's Day: Today is the day when romantic energies flow most freely through Arth. Today is the day to be in love, try to be in love, or pretend to be in love. Practiced in Firstland, SecondLand, and Thirdland.

Thermos 13 Greble: A combination of April's Fools day and Halloween. Dress up strangely. Try on a different personality or even sex for today. Be different. It is known as HumanDay by the Elventi and Dwarventi, as this is how they think humans are every day. Practiced in FirstLand and Thirdland, with some people adopting it in SecondLand and Maskland.

Lemos 2: Anniversary of the Last Hobgoblin invasion. (Antioch only)
Two hundred and seventy six years ago, the city of Antioch managed to stop "The Great Goblin Horde". Before that time, the Goblin Horde would sweep down every 12 to 24 years, usually sacking or nearly sacking the city and looting everything between The Northern Mountains and Antioch.

Two hundred and seventy six years ago, while the horde managed to breach the city and destroy a good part of it, the militia managed to hold them off from reaching the plyon in the central plaza and killed their leader. The goblins broke rank and left. They have not been back since.

The city has been completely rebuilt since then along "magikal/ scientific" lines. Antioch is the most modern city in all the Eleven Imperium. It has inner walls for defense, a well laid out civic plan, waterways/ sewers, and many other features that other people marvel at.

Every year since then, there is a parade of current and retired militia and guard (the last Elventi vetran is the grand marshall of the parade in his wheeled chair). The last battle is re-ennacted. The goblins are ex-guardsmen in paper mache goblin masks.

There is a street fair (since the central plaza is being used for the re-creation). Those who are goblins, get to "disturb the peace" in the fair, while they are in costume. Most of it is clowning around, but there are mock fights (and a few non-mock fights), chases, and some less savory activity. This is usually done between late morning and the late afternoon recreation. Being a goblin is supposed to be good luck, so many vie for the chance.

note: The real reason the Goblins have not attacked since then is that a temple of monks was blue misted into the pass the Goblins need to boil through to get to Antioch (and Avalon and all parts south). These Shaolin monks defeat these little scourges every few seasons they come down. Otherwise they would of been back 12-24 years later.

Lemos 7-12 Election Week: Guild leaders are elected this week. In Antioch, this is a big deal, as it determines who is on the guild council.

Lemos 15 Last Major Outdoor/ Open air markets.

Fremos 31 Traditional Graduation day for apprentices.

Fremost 33: Largest Market day of Fremos, and some say all year.