1. Astronomical Remarks
The sky of Laent has three moons: Chariot, Horseman, and Trumpeter (in descending order of size).
The year has 375 days. The months are marked by the rising or setting of the second moon, Horseman. So that, if Horseman sets on the first day of Bayring, the penultimate month, it rises again on the first of Borderer, the last month. It sets after sunset on the first day of Cymbals, the first month of the new year. All three moons set simultaneously on this occasion. The number of months are uneven—15—so that Horseman rises or sets on the first morning of the year in alternating years. Years where Horseman sets on the first day of the Cymbals are, idiomatically, “bright years”; those where Horseman sets with Trumpeter and Chariot on 1 Cymbals are known as “dark years.”
The period of Chariot (the largest moon, whose rising and setting marks the seasons) is 187.5 days. (So: a season is 93.75 days.)
The period of Horseman is 50 days.
The period of Trumpeter is 15 days. A half-cycle of Trumpeter is a “call.” Calls are either “bright” or “dark” depending on whether Trumpeter is aloft or not. (Usage: “He doesn’t expect to be back until next bright call.”)
The seasons are not irregular, as on Earth. But the moons’ motion is not uniform through the sky: motion is faster near the horizons, slowest at zenith. Astronomical objects are brighter in the west, dimmer in the east.
The three moons and the sun rise in the west and set in the east. The stars have a different motion entirely, rotating NWSE around a celestial pole. The pole points at a different constellation among a group of seven (the polar constellations) each year. (Hence, a different group of nonpolar constellations is visible near the horizons each year.) This seven-year cycle (the Ring) is the basis for dating, with individual years within it named for their particular polar constellations.
The polar constellations are the Reaper, the Ship, the Hunter, the Door, the Kneeling Man, the River, the Wolf.
There is an intrapolar constellation, the Hands, within the space inscribed by the motion of the pole.
In the Wardlands, years are dated from the founding of New Moorhope, the center of learning. According to Professor Gabriel McNally, the “year of fire,” when the Guile of Masters invaded the Wardlands, was New Moorhope 2748, Year of the Hunter, in Ring 394—a “bright year.” The year following was N.M. 2749, Year of the Door, Ring 394, a “dark year.” The conflict between the Two Powers and the Ambrosii are harder to date specifically, but Dr. McNally tentatively concludes it was a “dark” year, late in Ring 394.
The reader should know that Dr. McNally’s views have been disputed, especially by Julian Emrys, grandson of the eminent Ambrosian scholar H. N. Emrys. Julian Emrys’ own early reputation as a scholar was gradually obliterated by his bizarre claims to be one of “those-who-know” and (in his own words) “the last descendant of the ancient Ambrosian kings on Earth.” But, as Dr. McNally conceded, in his fair-minded if blistering review of Emrys’ New Evidence of the Old Ambrosians, “the fact that Mr. Emrys is crazy does not necessarily imply he is in error.”
In any case, settling on a definite date for these events is a little like trying to decide in what year young Sigurd slew his dragon or old Beowulf faced his.
2. A “bright year” and a “dark year”
Bright:
1. Cymbals.
New Year. Winter begins.
1st: Chariot & Trumpeter set. Horseman rises.
8th & 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
2. Jaric.
1st: Horseman sets. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
3. Brenting.
1st: Horseman rises. 3rd & 18th: Trumpeter rises.
4. Drums.
1st: Horseman sets. 8th & 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
Midnight of 94th day of the year (19 Drums):
Chariot rises. Spring begins.
5. Rain.
1st: Horseman rises. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
6. Marrying.
1st: Horseman sets. 3rd & 18th: Trumpeter rises.
7. Ambrose.
1st: Horseman rises. 8th and 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
8. Harps.
1st: Horseman sets. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
Evening of the 188th day of year (19 Harps):
Chariot sets; Midyear—Summer begins.
9. Tohrt.
1st: Horseman rises. 3rd & 18th: Trumpeter rises.
10. Remembering.
1st: Horseman sets. 8th & 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
11. Victory.
1st: Horseman rises. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
12. Harvesting.
1st: Horseman sets. 3rd & 18th: Trumpeter rises.
6th: Chariot rises, noon of 281st day of year. Fall begins.
13. Mother and Maiden.
1st: Horseman rises. 8th & 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
14. Bayring.
1st: Horseman sets. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
15. Borderer.
1st: Horseman rises. 3rd & 18th: Trumpeter rises.
Dark:
1. Cymbals.
New Year. Winter begins.
1st: Chariot, Horseman, & Trumpeter all set.
8th & 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
2. Jaric.
1st: Horseman rises. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
3. Brenting.
1st: Horseman sets. 3rd & 18th: Trumpeter rises.
4. Drums.
1st: Horseman rises. 8th & 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
Midnight of 94th day of the year (19 Drums):
Chariot rises. Spring begins.
5. Rain.
1st: Horseman sets. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
6. Marrying.
1st: Horseman rises. 3rd & 18th: Trumpeter rises.
7. Ambrose.
1st: Horseman sets. 8th and 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
8. Harps.
1st: Horseman rises. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
Evening of the 188th day of year (19 Harps):
Chariot sets; Midyear—Summer begins.
9. Tohrt.
1st: Horseman sets. 3rd & 18th: Trumpeter rises.
10. Remembering.
1st: Horseman rises. 8th & 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
11. Victory.
1st: Horseman sets. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
12. Harvesting.
1st: Horseman rises. 3rd & 18th: Trumpeter rises.
6th: Chariot rises, noon of 281st day of year. Fall begins.
13. Mother and Maiden.
1st: Horseman sets. 8th & 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
14. Bayring.
1st: Horseman rises. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
15. Borderer.
1st: Horseman sets. 3rd & 18th: Trumpeter rises.