Calendar
From Mizahar Lore
To keep things simple, Mizahar's Calendar runs equivalent with our own real world one. We have four timechanges throughout the year, corresponding with the season changes, and we do not keep track of months. Instead we have 91 days a season, except for winter which has 92 to equal 365 days a year. Because of the harshness of life on Mizahar, keeping track of the months would be fairly difficult. Instead, people simply rely on the Watchtower flares to note the changing of seasons. Those are described more in detail below.
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The Mizaharian Calendar
As the devastation of the Valterrian swept over the land reforming Mizahar completely, much knowledge was lost completely. Many cultures ceased to exist in a single powerful expulsion of Divine Djed, while others came into being. Timekeeping became an immediate problem while most cultures struggled to survive. Ancient highly advanced structures scattered throughout the old world were destroyed almost instantly, though in places some remained. Most notable of these surviving structures were The Watchtowers. Once, they were located in every city and throughout every region. Now, sadly, there are only a scattered few, with less than two or three per region. These enormous structures can be seen for miles and are shaped like a lowercase h. Historically The Watchtowers served two purposes. They were timepieces to keep everyone on the same calendar throughout Mizahar. They also served as a gate system, that allowed for singular rapid long-distance travel throughout the known world from Watchtower to Watchtower. Now, however, that particular magic is unstable and risky when it is indeed operational.
Prior to the Valterrian, The Watchtowers were primarily used as a system of travel with their timekeeping as a secondary feature. Now, however, with the instability of their primary features, the Watchtowers have become very important in keeping track of time in Mizahar. They work very simply. The towers stretch skyward and end with a Watchstone, an enormous clear gem that has the ability to change color. The gemstones flare brilliantly at midnight (it can be seen for miles and miles) at the season changes. They then change color for the entirety of the season. Blue (Winter), Red (Fall), Green (Spring), and Yellow (Summer) are their primary colors. For this reason, many Mizaharian Cultures simply divide the year into four seasons. Each season lasts 91 days except for Winter which lasts 92 days for a total of 365 days a year. A day has 24 hours, which are sometimes called Bells. There are 60 minutes in an hour which are sometimes called Chimes. The Sun rises around hour 7 and sets around hour 19 depending upon the season. If someone wants to meet you somewhere 45 chimes after the 10th bell, they want to meet you at 10:45. :)
Timekeeping
Timekeeping in Mizahar is simple as well. All years are kept from the date of the Valterrian prior (BV - Before Valterrian) and after the Valterrian (AV - After Valterrian). The current year is 512 AV, in the season of Spring (Day 1 through 91). All threads are required to be noted with the Mizaharian Date so that both players and moderators can keep track of the chronological order of the events in their lives.
Please Timestamp each thread you begin and use those chronological dates to keep track of your characters whereabouts and doings throughout the year. A typical timestamp looks like this:
Season of Spring, Day 24, 513 AV
There are four seasons (winter, spring, summer, fall), 91 days (92 in winter), and we're always on the same year gamewise as we are in real life. So in 2011 AD (real world), we'll be at 511 AV (Mizaharian Time) as of March 1st since the new year begins in Spring. Mizahar does not keep track of weeks nor days of the week. Instead, simply place what day it is in what season of what year, and your timekeeping is complete. Please see Timestamping for more details.
The Breakdown
- Spring - March April May - Green Watchstone
- Summer - June July August - Yellow Watchstone
- Fall - Sept Oct Nov - Red Watchstone
- Winter - Dec Jan Feb - Blue Watchstone
The year change happens on March 1 of Real Life. So March 1st, 2010 would equate to Spring 1 of 510... and The New Year on Mizahar. The Valterrian is often celebrated/mourned on this date as well.
Holidays
Holidays are incredibly cultural and thus there are no uniform Holidays throughout Mizahar... other than the flaring of The Watchtowers. Various regions, however, do regularly celebrate certain events. Almost every culture celebrates The Valterrian as a new year holiday of sadness and victory. People are sad due to the incredible losses the world suffered, but the victory is in the survival and reemergence of culture after the storms were gone.