Calendar of Kor Sirok

The Calendar of Kor Sirok is the most widely used system for recording dates on Kor Sirok. Its basic structure descends from a calendar developed during the Dawn Era by the Qhalleess Empire, although the names, religious associations, and methods used to identify historical eras have changed over the thousands of years since its creation.

The calendar is organized around a three-year cycle designed to remain aligned with Kor Sirok’s approximately 408-day orbital period. Most years contain eleven months of thirty-six days, producing a 396-day calendar year. Every third year contains an additional thirty-six-day intercalary month, Kuaver, producing a 432-day year. Across the complete three-year cycle this totals 1,224 days, exactly three 408-day orbital years.

Astronomical Basis

The structure and terminology of the Calendar of Kor Sirok preserve a strong connection to the astronomy of the ancient Qhalleess Empire. Kor Sirok is the third of ten known planets orbiting Kua, and most of the modern month names developed from the names of the planets, moons, or Kua itself. Several of the modern planetary names are altered forms of the older Qhalleessean names, reflecting thousands of years of linguistic change while retaining the basic organization of the original calendar.

The names Amundala, Phaethos, and Kua are unchanged from their Qhalleessean forms. The calendar’s modern month names therefore preserve both altered planetary names and several celestial names that have remained essentially unchanged since the Dawn Era.

This astronomical relationship helped the calendar survive the civilization that created it. Although its terminology has changed substantially since the Qhalleessean period, the underlying cycle remains practical enough that later cultures had little reason to replace it with an entirely different system.

Months

Every regular month contains 36 days. The first eleven months occur every year, while Kuaver is added after Garver every third year.

A normal year therefore lasts 396 days, while every third year lasts 432 days. The intercalary cycle keeps the long-term calendar synchronized with the astronomical year without requiring individual leap days.

Kuaver

Kuaver is the intercalary month added at the end of every third year. It is traditionally associated with Kua and is widely treated as a period of celebration, reflection, and renewal. Customs differ among cultures, but festivals involving communal meals, ceremonial fires, and religious observances dedicated to the sun are common in regions where worship of Kua is prominent.

Kuaver falls at the end of the final winter in the three-year calendar cycle. Its conclusion is traditionally associated with the return of spring and the beginning of a new cycle with Phaever.

Weeks

The calendar uses a nine-day week. Because every month contains exactly thirty-six days, each month consists of exactly four weeks.

The regularity of the calendar means that the weekday associated with a numbered date never changes from month to month or year to year. For example, the 5th, 14th, 23rd, and 32nd of every month are always Oghven. The intercalary month does not disturb this pattern because Kuaver is also exactly four weeks long.

This makes dates particularly easy to express in full. A typical formal date might be written:

Oghven, 14th of Yilaver, 8793 SE

In less formal contexts the weekday is often omitted when it is unnecessary.

Lunar Cycle

Amundala, the brighter and nearer of Kor Sirok’s two moons, has a 36-day cycle in the commonly used calendar, matching the length of a calendar month. This relationship has contributed to the longstanding association between the calendar, lunar observation, and traditions surrounding Amundala.

Phaethos is more distant and is not used in the same way to define the standard month. Both moons remain culturally and magically important because of their relationships with The Confluence, but the civil calendar does not require their cycles to remain synchronized with one another.

Eras

Recorded history is divided into three major calendar eras. Year numbers are ordinarily given together with the appropriate era abbreviation, particularly when there is any possibility of ambiguity.

Dawn Era

The Dawn Era is the earliest era preserved in the common calendar. It encompasses the rise and dominance of the ancient Qhalleess Empire and ends with the Twilight War, when Tarrasha and the remnants of the empire defeated the immediate incursion from beyond Creation and established the Twilight Veil. Dawn Era dates are commonly abbreviated DE.

Records from the Dawn Era are incomplete, and the calendar itself is one of the many institutions whose modern form descends from Qhalleess practice.

Mythic Era

The Mythic Era followed the Twilight War and was eventually dominated by the rise of the Huraz Confederation. This era saw the flourishing of powerful divine magic, extensive planar contact, and great works that later civilizations have often been unable to reproduce. Mythic Era dates are commonly abbreviated ME.

The Mythic Era ended with the Sundering, whose consequences dramatically restricted planar travel and divine influence within Kor Sirok’s physical universe.

Shattered Era

The Shattered Era began after the Sundering and is the current era. Modern dates are commonly abbreviated SE.

The Harrowing occurred from the 31st through the 34th of Yilaver, 8753 SE. The modern setting is approximately sixty years later, around 8813 SE.

Use Across Kor Sirok

The calendar is sufficiently old and widespread that it functions as a common dating system even among cultures with their own religious festivals, seasonal observances, regnal calendars, or traditional methods of recording history. Some states historically numbered years according to rulers or local events before adopting the common era system for international use.

Local calendars therefore continue to exist, but the Calendar of Kor Sirok is generally used when scholars, merchants, governments, travelers, and chroniclers need dates that can be understood across national and cultural boundaries. Its Qhalleess origin is widely known among historians even though most modern users treat the calendar simply as an ordinary part of life rather than as an inheritance from an ancient empire.