Post by Ashurr on May 13, 2011 0:42:59 GMT -5
These are taken from my Lore-Keepers Lounge column over on DDO-Daily.com.
Greetings! My name’s Leland, and I’ll be your Guide through the meandering, intrigue laden world that is Eberron. Not many players in the great game of Dungeons and Dragons Online know that the world in which their characters accrue fame, fortune, and a penchant for uttering ” ZERG’ing? bah! I always pay it foreward!” becomes a common turn of phrase has an actual STORYLINE!..and not just any storyline! Eberron possesses a very distinctive tone and attitude.
Eberron combines -
Traditional medieval high fantasy with dark heroic fantasy and pulp noir. Alignments are only relative gauges of a character or creature’s worldview and not absolute barometers of affiliation or intent. Put simply, sometimes good people do bad things and even confirmed villains might have a soft spot for
puppies. It is possible to encounter an evil metallic dragon or even a good vampire. Traditionally good-aligned creatures might wind up opposed to your heroes, while well-known adherents of darkness might provide timely assistance. In Eberron, nothing is as it seems.
But every storyline..has a beginning…..
The Galifar Calendar
The past shapes the present, setting the stage for the future that is to be born. On Eberron, a rich and often violent history has helped craft the current age. The peoples of the continent of Khorvaire mark the passage of time according to the standards developed by the dragonmarked houses (partially based on ancient draconic measurements) and sanctioned by the rulers of the unified
Kingdom of Galifar almost a thousand years ago.
Days on Eberron are twenty-four hours long, divided into day and night. Just as on our Earth, seven days make up a week, four weeks a month, and twelve months a year. The months correspond to the twelve moons that orbit Eberron, and each moon carries the name of the month in which its
orbit brings it closest to the planet. The moons and months are tied to the dragonmarks by tradition and legend, as indicated on the table below. A thirteenth mark, the Mark of Death, and a thirteenth moon, Crya, once existed.
The Mark of Death was a dark mark devoted to necromantic abilities concerned with death and the undead. Most consider the thirteenth mark to be nothing more than legend, but there are those who know better.
The stars are arranged into constellations that represent the eleven gods worshipped by the dragons as part of the religious faith they name Thir. This understanding was passed on in ancient times to humanity before that race spread from its original homelands on the continent of Sarlona to Khorvaire.
But after humanity’s exodus from the continent of its birth, these ancient teachings were adopted as part of human and Khorvairen culture. However, other cultures, such as that of the goblins of Khorvaire, may have very different names for the constellations and very different myths surrounding them.
While a particular culture may count the years dating from some significant event in its past, the common calendar of Khorvaire is called the Galifar Calendar. This reckoning of years was developed during the reign of King Galifar III “the Dark,” the third ruler to sit upon the throne of a united Galifar. The Galifar Calendar counts from the founding of that kingdom to the present day.
The dragonmarked houses adopted and use this calendar, as do the governments and peoples of Khorvaire’s nations. The present year is 998 YK (the 998th Year since the Kingdom of Galifar was founded). What follows are the chronicles of ages past. Events from the more distant past are shown as
a number of years before the establishment of the Kingdom of Galifar (–10,000,000 YK, for example). Below the basic calendar is a detailed synopsis of each age, and at certain points is an even more detailed
summary of those happenings for the truly dedicated scholars of the past.
The days of the week on Khorvaire are named as follows:
The First Day is Sul , the Second Day is Mol, the Third Day is Zol , the Fourth Day is Wir , the Fifth Day is Zor , the Sixth Day is Far and the Seventh Day is Sar
Month Season Associated Dragonmark
Zarantyr Mid-Winter Mark of Storm
Olarune Late Winter Mark of Sentinel
Therendor Early Spring Mark of Healing
Eyre Mid-Spring Mark of Making
Dravago Late Spring Handling
Nymm Early Summer Hospitality
Lharvion Mid-Summer Detection
Barrakas Late Summer Finding
Rhaan Early Autumn Scribing
Sypheros Mid-Autumn Shadow
Aryth Late Autumn Passage
Vult Early Winter Warding
Now that we’ve established how time is recorded, let us venture back into a time before time………the Age of Dragons….next time!
Greetings! My name’s Leland, and I’ll be your Guide through the meandering, intrigue laden world that is Eberron. Not many players in the great game of Dungeons and Dragons Online know that the world in which their characters accrue fame, fortune, and a penchant for uttering ” ZERG’ing? bah! I always pay it foreward!” becomes a common turn of phrase has an actual STORYLINE!..and not just any storyline! Eberron possesses a very distinctive tone and attitude.
Eberron combines -
Traditional medieval high fantasy with dark heroic fantasy and pulp noir. Alignments are only relative gauges of a character or creature’s worldview and not absolute barometers of affiliation or intent. Put simply, sometimes good people do bad things and even confirmed villains might have a soft spot for
puppies. It is possible to encounter an evil metallic dragon or even a good vampire. Traditionally good-aligned creatures might wind up opposed to your heroes, while well-known adherents of darkness might provide timely assistance. In Eberron, nothing is as it seems.
But every storyline..has a beginning…..
The Galifar Calendar
The past shapes the present, setting the stage for the future that is to be born. On Eberron, a rich and often violent history has helped craft the current age. The peoples of the continent of Khorvaire mark the passage of time according to the standards developed by the dragonmarked houses (partially based on ancient draconic measurements) and sanctioned by the rulers of the unified
Kingdom of Galifar almost a thousand years ago.
Days on Eberron are twenty-four hours long, divided into day and night. Just as on our Earth, seven days make up a week, four weeks a month, and twelve months a year. The months correspond to the twelve moons that orbit Eberron, and each moon carries the name of the month in which its
orbit brings it closest to the planet. The moons and months are tied to the dragonmarks by tradition and legend, as indicated on the table below. A thirteenth mark, the Mark of Death, and a thirteenth moon, Crya, once existed.
The Mark of Death was a dark mark devoted to necromantic abilities concerned with death and the undead. Most consider the thirteenth mark to be nothing more than legend, but there are those who know better.
The stars are arranged into constellations that represent the eleven gods worshipped by the dragons as part of the religious faith they name Thir. This understanding was passed on in ancient times to humanity before that race spread from its original homelands on the continent of Sarlona to Khorvaire.
But after humanity’s exodus from the continent of its birth, these ancient teachings were adopted as part of human and Khorvairen culture. However, other cultures, such as that of the goblins of Khorvaire, may have very different names for the constellations and very different myths surrounding them.
While a particular culture may count the years dating from some significant event in its past, the common calendar of Khorvaire is called the Galifar Calendar. This reckoning of years was developed during the reign of King Galifar III “the Dark,” the third ruler to sit upon the throne of a united Galifar. The Galifar Calendar counts from the founding of that kingdom to the present day.
The dragonmarked houses adopted and use this calendar, as do the governments and peoples of Khorvaire’s nations. The present year is 998 YK (the 998th Year since the Kingdom of Galifar was founded). What follows are the chronicles of ages past. Events from the more distant past are shown as
a number of years before the establishment of the Kingdom of Galifar (–10,000,000 YK, for example). Below the basic calendar is a detailed synopsis of each age, and at certain points is an even more detailed
summary of those happenings for the truly dedicated scholars of the past.
The days of the week on Khorvaire are named as follows:
The First Day is Sul , the Second Day is Mol, the Third Day is Zol , the Fourth Day is Wir , the Fifth Day is Zor , the Sixth Day is Far and the Seventh Day is Sar
Month Season Associated Dragonmark
Zarantyr Mid-Winter Mark of Storm
Olarune Late Winter Mark of Sentinel
Therendor Early Spring Mark of Healing
Eyre Mid-Spring Mark of Making
Dravago Late Spring Handling
Nymm Early Summer Hospitality
Lharvion Mid-Summer Detection
Barrakas Late Summer Finding
Rhaan Early Autumn Scribing
Sypheros Mid-Autumn Shadow
Aryth Late Autumn Passage
Vult Early Winter Warding
Now that we’ve established how time is recorded, let us venture back into a time before time………the Age of Dragons….next time!