Tellurian Tales: Calendar

The Tellurian calendar (used by cheifly by humans, and so called Human Reckoning) is very simple and similar to our own. The year, consisting of 365.2422 days, is divided into 13 months (January through December, plus Advent) of 4 weeks each. Each week is 7 days long, starting with Sunday, which is usually a holiday/day of rest. Most groups consider the day to start at midnight, though some start the day at dawn and some fewer start the day at dusk.

There is one extra day, Yule, that is outside of any week, month, and (technically) year. (It is often assocated with the year before in record-keeping.) Yule is the day of greatest celebration. In leap years (every fourth year), there is a second day of Yule, called Leap Day or Yuletide. (This is skipped every 100th year, etc.) Because Yule is outside any week or month, the same date falls on the same day in every year.

The year consists of 4 seasons, each 13 weeks long. The solstices fall on Winter Day (01 Jan) and Summer Day (15 Jul). The equinoxes are celebrated on Spring Day and Summer Day.

In additions, there are a number of Fair Days, celebrated with a variety of celebrations, festivals, and large markets. Each area often has minor variations in how they celebrate a Fair Day. Fair Days always fall on a Sunday.

Notable holidays include:

01 Jan: Winter's Day (aka, New Year's Day) [~ to our 22 Dec]
01 Feb: Winter Fair
15 Mar: Wide Earth Fair
08 Apr: Spring's Day [~ to our 23 Mar]
01 May: Sowing Fair (aka, May Day, May Fair)
22 Jun: Mid-Year Fair
15 Jul: Summer's Day [~ to our 21 Jun]
08 Aug: Mid-Summer's Fair
01 Oct: Full Earth Fair
22 Oct: Autumn's Day [~ to our 22 Sept]
15 Nov: Reap Fair
08 Adv: Year's End Fair
Yule: Yule. (Possibly followed by Yuletide (aka, Leap Day))

In the Underdark, a True Lunar calendar is used (actually, based on tides). Certain surface groups, such as the sailing Kara Kuhm humans of the north, supplement Human Reckoning with a lunar calendar for marking certain events.