The Tatharian Calendar (TC) is the civil calendar of the Tatharian Empire and the dominant system of timekeeping across western Rolara. It was standardized by Icaghor, founder of Tatharia Regnum, as a unification of the various religious and regional calendars used by the component cultures of the Tathar valley. The calendar’s epoch, Year 1 TC, marks the formal act of calendrical standardization (the “Year of Law”), not the founding of the Regnum itself, which predates the calendar by several centuries.
Epoch and Conversion
Year 1 TC corresponds to approximately 1124 PE (Post-Extinguishment) in the Ordo Stellae Potentiae. The canonical conversion is:
PE - 1123 = TC
Year 400 TC corresponds to 1523 PE, and Year 409 TC (the current year) corresponds to 1532 PE. The Tatharian Calendar postdates both the founding of Tatharia Regnum (c. 400 PE, when Icaghor accepted the crown) and the inaugural Bellatorius Ferox Torneamentum (525 PE). Events predating the calendar’s standardization are retroactively assigned TC dates using the conversion above, producing negative TC values for the earliest periods of Tathar history.
Structure
Year
A standard year contains 360 days across twelve regular months of 30 days each, plus one intercalary month (Bellatorius) that appears only in leap years.
Months
| Ordinal | Name | Abbreviation | Days | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dracones | Dra | 30 | |
| 2 | Aranea | Ara | 30 | |
| 3 | Orcus | Orc | 30 | |
| 4 | Lotus Primus | Pri | 30 | |
| 5 | Transgressus Gladios | Gla | 30 | |
| 6 | Venatio | Ven | 30 | |
| 7 | Bellatorius | Bel | 0 (4 in leap years) | Intercalary |
| 8 | Nautae Vae | NaV | 30 | |
| 9 | Rotam | Rot | 30 | |
| 10 | Imperiatrix Quietem | Imp | 30 | |
| 11 | Lotus Secundus | Sec | 30 | |
| 12 | Horarium | Hor | 30 | |
| 13 | Spiritus | Spi | 30 |
Bellatorius is an intercalary month inserted between Venatio and Nautae Vae. In non-leap years it has zero days and is effectively absent from the calendar. In leap years (every four years, beginning from Year 0), it contains four days. The month is named for the Bellatorius Ferox Torneamentum, the empire’s gladiatorial tradition.
Weeks
The Tatharian week consists of ten days, dividing each 30-day month into exactly three weeks. The days are:
| Ordinal | Name | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alesud | Ale. |
| 2 | Elud | Elu. |
| 3 | Banorud | Ban. |
| 4 | Ketenud | Ket. |
| 5 | Zixud | Zix. |
| 6 | Akkud | Akk. |
| 7 | Keraud | Ker. |
| 8 | Sardud | Sar. |
| 9 | Tiamud | Tia. |
| 10 | Bahamud | Bah. |
Several day names derive from deities in the Pantheobule: Ketenud from Ketenem, Tiamud from Tiamat, and Bahamud from Bahamut.
Seasons
| Season | Start | End |
|---|---|---|
| Winter | Horarium (month 12) | Orcus (month 3) |
| Spring | Orcus (month 3) | Venatio (month 6) |
| Summer | Venatio (month 6) | Rotam (month 9) |
| Autumn | Rotam (month 9) | Horarium (month 12) |
Timekeeping
The day is divided into 24 hours, each hour into 60 minutes, and each minute into 60 seconds.
Celestial Bodies
Three celestial bodies are tracked against the Tatharian Calendar.
Luna completes a 29-day cycle through eight phases (New Moon, Waxing Crescent, First Quarter, Waxing Gibbous, Full Moon, Waning Gibbous, Last Quarter, Waning Crescent). The single-day phases (New, First Quarter, Full, Last Quarter) each last one day; the transitional phases last seven days each. Luna and Moonwilde share a new moon anchor on Venatio 5, 409 TC.
Moonwilde follows a rapid 13-day cycle through the same eight phases, with transitional phases lasting three days each instead of seven.
The dark moon visible since 409 TC follows an annual cycle of 360 days, with transitional phases lasting 90 days each. Its first new moon in the current era occurred on Horarium 1, 409 TC.
Historical Context
The standardization of the Tatharian Calendar was one of Icaghor’s acts of political consolidation. Before its adoption, the diverse kingdoms and tribes of the Tathar valley maintained their own calendars, many tied to the religious observances of the faiths that would later be organized under the Pantheobule. The new calendar merged these systems into a single civil framework, facilitating trade, governance, and record-keeping across the growing Regnum.
For a narrative account of the calendar’s creation and cultural significance, see the in-world document Tatharian Calendar.
Date Format
Dates are conventionally written as: [Weekday], [Day] [Month], [Year] TC
Example: Ketenud, 2 Lotus Secundus, 409 TC.