Tirialle - Miscellaneous

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Years - Counting and Naming

Just as there are countless cultures embodied in Tirialle, so are there numerous local ways of measuring time.  Under the Dreamfounding, a universal system of counting years was developed to help ensure smooth communications.  Its years are measured from the year of the Dreamfounding, and is designated by a YD, or Year of the Dreamer.   This is the year 505 YD by the Standard Tiriallean Calendar.  Dates before the Dreamfounding are counted backwards, as Years Before, or YB.
Shortly after its incorporation, a number of delegates objected to the "sterility" of a simple number count for years.  After all, in many of the local calendars, each year has a name - element, animal, mineral or vegetable.  With that in mind, the system was soon modified to allow for symbolic representitives.  The Dreamfounding senate appointed one hundred specialists with the task of deciding what creatures would be honored in the Tirieallean calander.  In the year 12 YD, the Council of Years was formed.
Based in the prestigious Orion Astrological University of  Starcross in the East Realm, the Council of Years started their gathering by sending messengers to all Tiriallean nations, informing them of their duties to "add life to the standard calendar" and asking for their suggestions.  It was a decision the council came to regret, as did the university and the surrounding settlement of Starcross.  The formerly quiet township was rapidly flooded with representitives from almost every being, sentient or not, in the known world.  Many of the creatures themselves lobbied hard for inclusion (or exclusion).  Long speeches were given, explaining why each animal or being deserved a year.  The vagueness of the Council's job description - to "find such beings as represent the innate qualities of the Elements" - made matters worse.  Some thought each year should have its own creature, never to be reused until all other life forms were exhausted.  Others said that only royalty (of their homelands, of course) were worthy of such immortality.  One dragon representative even suggested that they name all years for dragon subspecies, at which point she and a winged panther advocate came to blows.
The Starcross gathering inspired numerous books, poems, and songs with its drama and occasional humor (as when an anonymous delegate decided that years should also have nicknames, like Bob, to "keep 'em from gettin' swelled heads.") It lasted for two and a half years.  Eventually, all delegates agreed to "let the Fates decide," and a drawing was held for the finalists.  This, of course, led to various debates over the best random method to choose, the most tamper-proof by mundane or magical means.  At last, under very strict conditions and with more than fifty designated observers to prevent even the hint of cheating, the drawing took place.  Ten names were selected.  These are, in order: Dragon, Wolf, Griffin, Dolphin, Unicorn, Firebird, Lion, Butterfly, Otter, and Eagle. (Actually, the Year of the Unicorn was to be called the Year of the Crystacorn, after Tirialle's native unicorn-like creature.  However, since they are considered extinct, with no sightings reported for nearly a thousand years, it was decided to substitute Unicorns, as Unicorns were known to exist in other parts of the world.  It was much later that Unicorns officially immigrated to Tirialle, and later still that scattered reports of surviving populations of Crystacorns reached official ears.)
To appease the many cultures who named yearly cycles for nonliving creatures, and to provide some "color and variety" to the calendar, a secondary set of names was established, also with much haggling (though not as much as the living names, as the stones had no lobbyists present.) They came up with nine minerals, in order: Silver, Ruby, Obsidian, Gold, Emerald, Sapphire, Diamond, Amethyst, and Opal.  The disparity with the number of animal names was to prevent one from being inextricably locked with the other: i.e, so the Year of the Dragon isn't always the Year of Silver also.  This way, the associations are rotated.
As soon as the final name was drawn, the Council of Years declared its work finished and disbanded, preventing what was sure to be a lengthy process of appeals and arguments by those left out.  As it was, it took several years to synch up the new naming system across Tirialle.  The year 508 YD is the Year of the Ruby Otter by Standard Tiriallean Calendar reckoning.

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Months

Again, as many races and histories as there are in this land, so are there many ways of dividing up the year into months.  When the Dreamfounding was accepted, however, a standardized system was put into place, based loosely on the calendar of the Master Dreamer's homeland.

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Days of the Week

There are seven days in the Standard Tiriallean Calendar week:  Soulday, Moonday, Earthday, Waterday, Skyday, Fireday, and Starday.  Five are dedicated to the five mythic elements (soul/spirit, earth, water, sky, and fire.)

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Holidays

The following continent-wide holidays are celebrated by most, but not all, residents of Tirialle.  Naturally, there are innumerable local celebrations, variations, and such.  Variable dates are written in italics.
Alphon 1 - New Year's Day.  Often marked by parades.
Spring Equinox - Waking Day.  This is the day the world "awakens" from winter, usually with festive gatherings, leaves and blooms of paper or cloth, and ceremonies intended to banish the last cold snaps of winter.
Summer Solstice - Midsummer Festivals.  These are generally lively, full of masquerades and pageantry.
Autumn Equinox - Harvest Day.  After the crops come in, kegs of cider are tapped as everyone celebrates the bounty and prepares for the long, hard days of cold ahead.  In warmer climates, it is more of a token festival, though Tirialleans rarely need much of an excuse for a celebration.
Novon 25 - Dreamfounding Day, the day when, after nearly ten months of deliberations and modifications, the landmark Dreamfounding documents were officially accepted as the ruling principles of a united Tirialle.  It is more of a "bank" holiday, marked by patriotic parades and speeches.
Kapron 31 - Shadow's Eve.  This holiday bears a distinct resemblance to Halloween in the Bright Dreamer's world (only the odds are significantly greater of having a real monster knock on the door).  Children and neighbors go door-to-door gathering treats or threatening tricks.  In outlying areas, the tricks can get downright nasty, all the moreso if a foolish homeowner denies the request of a real goblin or demon.  Faeries especially love this holiday as an excuse to create all manner of mischief under the cover of darkness.
Vembron 1 - Light's Dawn, conceived as a balance to Shadow's Eve.  People dress in bright clothes and masks, wear bells, and go door-to-door singing thanks or giving small trinkets or coins to those who handed out treats the night before.
Winter Solstice - Sleeping Day.  Various dreams are celebrated and the world "goes to sleep" for the winter.
Dodecon 31 - Year's End Day.  This is a time when old arguments and troubles are "cast out" along with the old year, and new resolutions and hopes are drawn up for the coming one.  It is also common for figures representing the old year's animal and mineral (the Opal Lion for 506 YD, for instance) to be sent out of town with a parade and ceremony: these are either puppets, models, dressed-up beings, or an actual creature.  They usually carry away with them, symbolically, the troubles the community wishes to be rid of in the coming year.  Communities that celebrate the Year End Processional also celebrate the New Year Processional, when a figure representing the new year's animal and mineral comes into town as part of a parade, bearing candles, flowers, and other symbols of renewal and hope.
Neverday - Every five years, between Dodecon 31 and Alphon 1, is Neverday, added to the calendar to keep up with irregularities in Tirialle's orbit.  On this day, it is against tradition to conduct business or accomplish anything major - it is a "nonexistent" day, of no year and on no calendar.  Things said and deeds done on a Neverday "don't count" in the rest of the year, and over the centuries it has become traditional to spend the day reviewing one's life, what they do and do not wish to carry on with them into the new year, what decisions have been made and directions taken that could use rethinking or reinforcing.  It is also a traditional day to write "Neverday notes," in which, anonymously, people can tell each other how they feel.  Delivering Neverday notes, however, is considered risky and unlucky, and keeping any Neverday note beyond sunrise on Alphon 1 is the height of deceitfulness and sure to bring bad fortune.  It is also considered bad luck to be born on Neverday.

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Coinage

With such a diversity of cultures and beings, keeping on top of local exchange rates is an exceptionally tricky task.  Thus, the barter system still dominates for much interrealm trade.  Each Realm technically has its own "official" coinage, but locals tend to stick to their own systems, sometimes to the exclusion of all others.  Generally, copper coins are the least denomination, followed by silver, gold, and platinum.  The following are the official coinage systems (named after their "tail" side image; "heads" tend to be historical figures of minimal interest to offworlders) of the major realms of Tirialle, with their relative worths.  In general, a copper will buy a small meal, while a silver will pay for a night at a modest inn.  A gold can purchase a fair pack animal, and a platinum will buy a sturdy wagon and team to go with it.  These are just the "base unit" coins: typically, there are intermediate coin denominations (the 5-scale coin of the Midrealm, for instance, equal to five copper scales), though typically they are marked similarly - like playing cards, they usually repeat the basic image - with a different "head" image.
Midrealm Coinage - Copper scales, silver rams, gold eagles, platinum helms.  Fifty scales equal one ram; twenty-five rams equal one eagle; twelve eagles equal one helm.
North Realm Coinage - Copper acorns, silver hares, gold wolves, platinum crowns.  Forty acorns equal one hare; twenty hares equal one wolf; ten wolves equal one crown.
East Realm Coinage - Copper quills, silver horses, gold tigers, platinum orbs.  Fifty quills equal one horse; fifteen horses equal one tiger; ten tigers equal one orb.
West Realm Coinage - Copper arrows, silver salmon, gold bears, platinum spires.  Thirty arrows equal one salmon; twenty salmon equal one bear; five bears equal one spire.
South Realm Coinage - Copper clovers, silver martens, gold cougars, platinum scepters.  Ten clovers equal one marten; ten martens equal one cougar; ten cougars equal one scepter. (Note how the "trader kings" of the South Realm adopted the most readily-understood coin conversion rates.)

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