There is no universal way to keep track of years, and each time and place determines theirs based on how many years it has been since an important event (e.g. Bale Reckoning, Dawn Age, etc)

Date formatting is written as such: abbreviated month(X)-Y/Z epoch

X is the day of the month, Y is the number of years, and Z is the number of arcs (1 arc = 26 years).

 

The Entr'acte

A period of time at the end of the solar year, after autumn. For between 2 and 9 days, the moons do not rise. There is no pattern or explanation for this and it is regarded as one of those things that "just is." It is also called the Days of Apprehension and, for Eladrin purposes, is treated as a fifth season with its primary emotion being fear.

The last day of Apprehension is called the darkest night of the year, and it is also new year's eve. The day the moons rise again is the winter solstice and the start of a new solar year.

 

Solar Year

There are 428 days in the solar year, plus the Entr'acte, making for an average of 431. Arcs and years are counted by solar year, but it is up to local cultures to decide whether to celebrate a birthday or anniversary on the lunar date (adhering to the day of the month) or solar date (adhering to the time of year).

 

Lunar Year

Since the orbit of Kosmima and the solar year are not in perfect resonance, these months slowly drift through the year. As they do so, the last syllable of each month changes depending on which season it starts in: ‘-ôse’ for winter, ‘-al’ for spring, ‘-idor’ for summer, and ‘-arie’ for autumn. Should a new month start during the Entr’acte, an inauspicious omen, it is given the suffix ‘-orum’.

A lunar year starts in Foín-, and from there moves through Arách-, Kít-, Psár-, Fíd-, Gíg-, Drák-, Amón-, and finally Dry-, before starting a new lunar year with Foín- again. These names are drawn from the constellations Kosmima passes through during the year, though the months rarely line up with Kosmima’s location in the sky.

Should the fourth month ‘Psár-’ dawn in autumn, it is referred to as Psárie instead of the mouthful Psárarie.

There are 46 days in each of the 8 months, making for 368 days in a lunar year.

Far to the west in the mighty Engheim Mountains, snowmelt and rainfall flows off the peaks to form the Fume Beck, which plunges downhill across the continent of Vekora, becoming first the Tarth stream, then the Misty River, before emptying into the Haar Sea. At the mouth of Misty River lies one of the thirteen remaining Seats of Power on the Long Route, the great port city of Mistfall. Travelers, trade vessels, and pirates from across The Turquoise Ocean come to its ports seeking their fortune one way or another, however all must first pass through the Ancord Strait.

Connecting the open ocean and the Haar by sea through the Twin Spires of Drefdunahk, the Ancord is a wide but treacherous channel. Just as the chilled winds blowing off the Engheim Mountains, and warm waters of the Haar Bay and beyond combine to regularly cloak Mistfall and the surrounding area in thick banks of fog, a comparable interplay in the water and geography of the strait creates strong tidal currents and tall waves, forcing captains to pay close attention to their vessel, even in broad daylight, or else drift into the rocks of the Twin Spires.

Overlooking the strait from the summit of the southern spire is the Huldrom Fortress and the rest of the University city of Cragcliff; countered to the north by the Tidebreaker Towers of Ancord. From the sheer quantity of vessels, to the perilous weather and currents, to the cannons and tidebreakers defending it all, the Ancord Strait has scuttled more vessels than almost anywhere else in world. Those few off-course ships and overboard travelers lucky enough to evade a tragic end stuck on the high seas or dashed against the unforgiving rocks of the Twin Spires often find themselves washed to the docks and shores of Novas Arule.