Whenever Elona’s scholars write about history, they use their own conventions for writing about time. Different countries use different systems: Tyrians use the Mouvelian calendar, while Canthans have their own Canthan calendar. When dealing with outsiders, Elonians have little difficulty converting their dates to one of these other calendars. On the continent of Tyria, all history is relative to the year the gods left the world, an event known as the Exodus. Elonians begin their calendar two hundred years earlier, when the first of the Primeval Kings began their rule over Elona. All years in Elonian history include the letters “DR,” measuring years after the Dynastic Reckoning.
Months and Seasons
Like the Mouvelian calendar, the Elonians divide a 360-day year into four seasons aligned with the elements. Each season is ninety days long.
| Season of the... | Guardian Deity |
|---|---|
| Zephyr (Air aligned) days 1—90, spring | Dwayna and Lyssa |
| Phoenix (Fire aligned) days 91—180, summer | Balthazar |
| Scion (Earth aligned) days 181—270, fall | Melandru |
| Colossus (Water aligned) days 271—360, winter | Grenth |
Priests proclaim that each season is sacred to a different god or goddess. Merchants have their own names for the seasons, passed on from the Tyrians with whom they trade. Mages believe each season corresponds to an element.
Some Elonian festivals mark the passage of one season to another with tributes to the gods.
- Dwayna, the Goddess of Air, is featured in many spring rituals, since that season is Air-aligned.
- Lyssa also features prominently in many spring rituals, particularly events dealing with courtship and matrimony.
- Many of the greatest sacrifices to Balthazar occur during the summer, since it is typically the best time of the year for raiding.
- Practical Elonians know that fall is the best time for harvests. They thank Melandru for her bounty with Earth-aligned rituals at that time of year. Tyrians, on the other hand, think of fall as a Water-aligned season, perhaps
because of the many ships that set sail at that time of year.
- Elonians speak of winter as the season of water, the element associated with cold. Though their country does not have ice or snow, priests perform their most elaborate rituals to Grenth during the coolest and darkest time of the year.