Calendars of the Palladium World
The Palladium World has 365.25 days in a year, and 24 hours in a day the same as Earth. Both worlds also only have one moon, with very similar orbital patterns. There are a number of other similarities between the two worlds as well. The number of coincidences is so plentiful that it almost cannot be coincidence at all. This suggests higher powers may be at work.
During the Age of Chaos, the Gods of Light & Dark are known to have scoured the Megaverse looking for new allies and possible methods to defeat the dreaded Old Ones. Entire worlds are said to have been created and destroyed during this time. There's the possibility that they created Earth as a breeding ground for new warriors. When the Old Ones entered into their slumber after the Great Battle, the urgency for new warriors diminished and Earth forgotten, at least for a time.
Another possibility is that before the end of the Battle of the Gods, the Gods of Light & Dark rescued a group of humans from the devastation. Guilt over what they helped wrought, they searched the Megaverse for a new home for these refugees. The Gods of Light & Dark went through great effort to find a new home as similar as possible to the humans' native world. That new home was Earth.
Then again, the Megaverse is a large place with many different dimensions. Many of those dimensions have a version of Earth within it. Rifts, Splicers, After the Bomb, Heroes Unlimited, Nightbane, and so many others all have a version of Earth that differs from the other Earths in the Megaverse. The Palladium World could just be another Earth, though perhaps the most foreign. Whether this is simply a random dimensional difference or if it's the work of the Old Ones reshaping the land masses and other aspects of the world to suit their needs and whims remains unknown.
The Elven Calendar
Notes: Elven Calendar is very similar to Egyptian (at least as a starting base). The Elves worked very hard to please the elder races and gods (who are said to have guided them to the creation of this calendar). Three seasons (based largely on farming). 12 months with 3 weeks each and 10 days in a week. At the end of the year is a 5 day week (6 on Leap Year). Though no longer used by any of the major nations of the Palladium World, but continues to serve as the Almanac for the Church of Light & Dark and remains the basis for almost every other calendar of the Palladium World.
The Dwarven Calendar
Notes: Dwarves made the calendar based on four seasons (but follow a very similar pattern to the Elven calendar). 16 months, 5 days in a week, with 20 or 25 days in a month (4 weeks/20 days in the first and last month of the season, with 5 weeks/25 days in the middle two months of the season). This method helps to better keep track of equinoxes for increased ley line energies. Retain the 5 to 6 days at the end of the year. Still used by some subterranean cultures today.
The Western Empire Calendar
Notes: The Western Empire has aspects of both Elven and Dwarven calendars. 12 months in a year of 5 weeks each with 6 days in a week. Years are listed by Emperor and which year of power (e.g. The 22nd year of Itomas).
The Royal Timiro Calendar
Over one thousand years after the Timiro Kingdom rose to power, King Spatenrok the Great finally succeeded in driving out the old Elven dynasty and starting the "true" Timiro Kingdom. During his campaign against the Elven kings, one of Spatenrok's faithful followers designs the Royal Timiro Calendar. The final year of the insurrection is deemed as year 0, the first year on the calendar. The calendar year continues to count forward from the point of its founding, making this currently 1781 Y.R.
Unlike most other calendars of the Palladium World, the Royal Timiro Calendar uses a 7 week pattern. This means the way the days of the week line up with the months changes from year to year. Many use the five days at the end of the year of other calendars as a time to worship. With the Royal Timiro Calendar, the hope had been to do better. Instead of just one week of devote worship, every week would have the 7th day dedicated as a holy day. For this reason, most businesses are closed on this day.
The Royal Timiro Calendar is divided into 12 months, with four seasons each lasting three months. The twelve months are January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December. Spring begins the last week of March, summer begins the last week of June, fall starts the last week of September, and summer starts on the last week of December, the last week of the year.
To honor their Dwarven allies during the uprising, the first month on the Royal Timiro Calendar is January, the Dwarven word for "place of power." As the first month of the year it holds a great place of power and superstition tell that depending if the month of January goes well or badly determines the fate of the rest of the year.
Some people mistakenly believe there's a connection between the name of this month and the January Magic Tribe of the Wolfen, or think that the months are for the Wolfen Calendar instead of the Royal Timiro Calendar. However, the only connection is that both have a connection to Dwarves. Though the exact origins of the name for the Wolfen tribe remain unknown, it's believed by many to indicate a "super-nexus" or Place of Magic somewhere in their territory. Though many have looked, none have ever reported finding it. In the vastness of the Great Northern Wilderness though, it may continue to simply elude any who seek its power.
There's a rumor though that long ago, Dwarven masters of arcane magic managed to seal the Place of Magic using the Wolfen. Now, every member of the January Magic Tribe holds a small piece of it within. If someone could ever kill every last member of the tribe, the Place of Magic would return! Other conspiracy theories include the Dwarves there still use dark and forbidden magic, or that they've taught the secrets of rune magic to the January Magic Tribe.
The Wolfen Imperial Calendar
In the old days, each tribe had its own calendar. Each of these calendars used the phases of the moon to determine month lengths. This meant only about 29 to 30 days on average in a month, and only 354 to 355 days in a year. A new month could not begin unless the proper moon phase could be visually verified by multiple trusted sources. As a result, clouds and other weather could affect exactly when a new month started. Along with several other variations from tribe to tribe, this resulted in the calendars of each tribe varying as well as months wandering through the years and seasons. This method encouraged the populace to study the moon and stars, providing Wolfen with a +5% bonus to Astronomy & Navigation.
While such a system worked fine for individual and warring tribes, with the formation of the Wolfen Empire something more unified was required. Selecting one tribe's calendar as the official Wolfen calendar would've led to more fighting, so it was decided to create a new calendar. After discussion among astronomers from all the clans, they designed the Wolfen Imperial Calendar. Though still a lunar calendar at heart, this one uses a more mathematical method for predicting moon phases. This allows for a consistent calendar across the entire empire, without need for visual confirmation.
Days start at sunset. The typical year is divided into 12 months, one for each tribe. Odd numbered months have 30 days while even numbered months have 29 days. Months start at the full moon. On the 7th or 8th of each month is the waning quarter moon. The 15th or 16th of the month is the dark moon (new moon). Then on the 22nd or 23rd is typically the waxing quarter moon. Each of these lunar phases marks the start of a new week, which can vary depending on the month.
To help keep the months aligned with the solar year, the Wolfen have implemented a 13th month every 2 to 3 years in a 19 year cycle. These long years are 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19 in the cycle. This 13th month also serves as a constant reminder of the Algor Range Huntsmen tribe lost to senseless war. Though the long year cycle also helps predict eclipses and keep the months aligned with the year, there is an error. Approximately every 200 years the calendar will drift from the solar calendar by approximately one day. This is not likely to become evident to the Wolfen for quite some time, but if the empire lasts that long they may need to make further adjustments if they wish to keep the years aligned.
The Scholars' Calendar
The Palladium World is a big place with several nations, many using their own calendar system and detailing the year. While most have some similarities and a common base, this can make it difficult to keep track for recorded history. Each calendar has its idiosyncrasies and every time one needs to be converted to a different system, there risks the chances for mistakes. Sometimes information can only be guessed, and this leads to a potentially unreliable history.
4,000 years ago, a group of scholars gathered to discuss the situation. They decided to make a calendar that could be tracked accurately regardless of nation and politics. After a great deal of deliberation, they decided on 18 months with 20 days in each, and a 19th month with only 5 days. To keep the math accurate, they decided to not account for leap year. While this would slowly cause their calendar to drift from a solar calendar, the math was unambiguous and reliable. At any point in history, someone could look at the date and determine exact date and how many days had passed.
The months and days don't have any names, only numbers. They are always written from left to right, currently with a five decimal system. First is the day of the month, followed by the month, and then the year. For every vicennial (20 years), the years reset to 0 and a vicennial is added. After 20 vicennial (400 years), the vicennial counter is reset and the fifth decimal used. Example: "0.10.19.16.14" indicates it is the 14th day of the 16th month (314 days of the year), and the 19th year after the 10th vicennial (219 years). Since each year is exactly 365 days, we know it's been 80,249 days since this calendar began.
Originally this system was set up with only four decimals, but could only accurately keep track of 400 years. Instead of making the number system longer than it needed to be, the founders decided that for every time the number was reached, the counter would reset and another decimal added (with the exception of the months and days, as those determine the 365 day period of a year). After 400 years the fifth decimal was added, and if it survives to over 8,000 years a sixth decimal will be added. This formula can also be used when mentioning a date in the future that has not yet come to pass.
Though parts of history remain spotty, this calendar system is what has helped scholars keep a far more reliable record of history than all the ages that came before. Though scholars had hoped to also better detail dates in the past such as the Age of Elves, the creators of this calendar decided that dates of the era were too unreliable, and attempting to convert them to the Scholars' Calendar would cause its accuracy to fall into question. So they decided to focus on maintaining accuracy for their descendants instead of fixing the follies of their ancestors. Since it has been exactly 4,000 years since its foundation, the current date of the Scholar's Calendar is 10.0.0.x.x, with the month and day depending on the exact time of year.
Ippotomi, Apis and Amon I'm not even going to talk to you about if you want them on your swimsuit calendar.