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ÄRAM: Wake of Fallen Empire
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<blockquote data-quote="mikeg" data-source="post: 3823687" data-attributes="member: 39640"><p><strong>ÄRAM: Wake of Fallen Empire</strong></p><p></p><p> </p><p><strong>GEOGRAPHY</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Under the Heavens</strong></p><p></p><p>The skies above Äram are traversed by a yellow sun whose path lowers to the south at the onset of the coldest weeks, and reaches its zenith when the summer crops have broken through the earth. After 392 days, the people of Äram would celebrate and implore the sun to return.</p><p></p><p><em>Two of sevens of four of sevens </em></p><p><em>Sun returning to rule the heavens…</em></p><p></p><p>Today's children's rhyme illustrates the ancient calendar. The first line refers to the two seasons of seven months each. Each month consisted of four weeks of seven days each. Thus 2 x 7 x 4 x 7 = 392. After 392 days, most settlements began their celebration to urge the sun to return. Celebrations could last up to two weeks, at which point the settlement's religious or political leader would announce that the sun was beginning its return. Such a determination was based on the sun's position at sunrise or sunset in relation to holy landmarks (such as hilltops or sacred groves), and sometimes in relation to rows of stones placed by the inhabitants themselves. Many such stones have been removed through building or warfare, but well-preserved cairns still exist on the islands of Nerfyrda and Lephthra, between Alfaad and the mainland.</p><p></p><p>It has been known for centuries that the year is actually between 405 and 406 days long. The Empire of the Teulu Mawr established its calendar which is still used throughout the Continent. The calendar recognizes the ancient tradition of a winter solstice celebration by adding a two-week semi-month at the end of the year, which is supplanted by a ten-day festival every four years. For ten days, people feast and celebrate. Old debts are settled, new contracts are considered to have auspicious beginnings, and all social rank and obligations are ostensibly suspended until the new year begins.</p><p></p><p>The sun is followed by two other bodies, the fast white moon and its slower tempermental sister, the blue moon. All three bodies appear to be the same size from the ground, and most cultures have developed a cosmology or religion to see them as either siblings or consorts. The white moon, Monya, occludes both the sun and the blue moon on the rare occasion of alignment. It can be the brighter of the two when full, and displays a white surface with some slightly darker patches and very thin, dark fissures. Nearly 28 days pass between full moons and it is widely accepted to be the basis for the universal system of the seven-day week and four-week month.</p><p></p><p>Blarún is the darker moon. It has has a greenish-blue cast, and unlike Monya, the patterns of its face slowly change. A pattern on one day may have completely permutated within a week's time, and occasional bright spots shine from previously darker regions - especially when full. Its lunar cycle is much slower and lasts for 160 days - making tidal predictions a very complex affair. It has never been known to occlude the white moon, but it can occlude the sun. Such an eclipse is widely seen as a grim portent, for the ensuing darkness lasts the better part of a day. There is no record of both moons and the sun ever being in alignment, and most commoners believe that such an event would signify of the end of time.</p><p></p><p>While the moons are perceived by many cultures as feminine, they tend to illustrate a complex conception of duality in religion and folklore. Monya is permanent, fast, active (or obstinate, careless, and aggressive), while Blarún is malleable, slow and passive (or agreeable, deliberate, and welcoming). Due to differences in physiology, Monya is associated with humans, halflings and dwarves, while Blarún is associated with elvenkind. (It should be noted that among elves, their corollary to monthly pain is only a biannual slight discomfort. This distinction has led to a nearly universal turn of phrase among non-elven women when not in mixed company. For example, an infuriated mother may admonish her daughter, "Girl, you know to garden <em>comi alfa cognesc dul!</em>" Or in Ayrish: "Girl, you know to garden like an elfmaiden knows pain!")</p><p></p><p>Most bright stars have been catalogued by human and elven astronomers, including the five bright wandering stars who seem to move back and forth along the path of the sun. Some believe these are truly stars. Some feel they are leftover fragments expelled by the sun like sparks from a bonfire. Despite the disagreement, these wandering stars continue to possess strong religious associations and influence decisions for most commoners.</p><p></p><p>During the last centuries of the Teulan Empire, fierce debates raged regarding the nature of the earth itself. Some espoused the long-held notion of the earth as a disc inside a spinning spherical firmament. Most rejected this view as simplistic and contrary to observed experience. Ships sank below the horizon - they did not shrink to the point of invisibility. The many rolling isles of Alfaad visible from hilltops were always known to hide some of their valleys below the horizon when viewed from the shore. Teleporting at noon landed the caster in the afternoon to the east, and in the morning to the west. Conservative academics argued that such phenomena were either the products of a slightly concave surface, or simply visual distortions arising from heat, such as the mirages commonly seen in southern salt pans, or short time travel associated with the wild magic necessary for a teleportation. The debate was slowly brought to a close as records and measurements from observatories scattered around the Empire were painstakingly correlated by scribes and engineers. What was intended originally as an exercise to determine the height of the sun from the floor of the earth yielded results that pointed to only one possibility. The earth is a sphere.</p><p></p><p>By the close of the Empire, academics were convinced that Monya circled the earth, but that the pair was spinning in tandem with Blarún, and all three circled the sun. The normally inflexible Doma fully accepted the finding, for it reinforced the notion that the sun was the material manifestation of the Supreme Deity as revealed by Ben Duín.</p><p></p><p>Today, the invaluable library of astronomical records resides on Alfaad, where scribes and engineers wait years to for the chance to consult it. Current study is finding instances where the light from wandering stars seems to bend around the sun, or appear sooner when closer to earth, and philosophers are suggesting amongst themselves that light itself may travel with a constant speed. These findings are not widely shared on the Continent, and most commoners retain the view from older folk tales that the earth is flat.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="mikeg, post: 3823687, member: 39640"] [b]ÄRAM: Wake of Fallen Empire[/b] [B] [/B] [B]GEOGRAPHY[/B] [B]Under the Heavens[/B] The skies above Äram are traversed by a yellow sun whose path lowers to the south at the onset of the coldest weeks, and reaches its zenith when the summer crops have broken through the earth. After 392 days, the people of Äram would celebrate and implore the sun to return. [I]Two of sevens of four of sevens Sun returning to rule the heavens…[/I] Today's children's rhyme illustrates the ancient calendar. The first line refers to the two seasons of seven months each. Each month consisted of four weeks of seven days each. Thus 2 x 7 x 4 x 7 = 392. After 392 days, most settlements began their celebration to urge the sun to return. Celebrations could last up to two weeks, at which point the settlement's religious or political leader would announce that the sun was beginning its return. Such a determination was based on the sun's position at sunrise or sunset in relation to holy landmarks (such as hilltops or sacred groves), and sometimes in relation to rows of stones placed by the inhabitants themselves. Many such stones have been removed through building or warfare, but well-preserved cairns still exist on the islands of Nerfyrda and Lephthra, between Alfaad and the mainland. It has been known for centuries that the year is actually between 405 and 406 days long. The Empire of the Teulu Mawr established its calendar which is still used throughout the Continent. The calendar recognizes the ancient tradition of a winter solstice celebration by adding a two-week semi-month at the end of the year, which is supplanted by a ten-day festival every four years. For ten days, people feast and celebrate. Old debts are settled, new contracts are considered to have auspicious beginnings, and all social rank and obligations are ostensibly suspended until the new year begins. The sun is followed by two other bodies, the fast white moon and its slower tempermental sister, the blue moon. All three bodies appear to be the same size from the ground, and most cultures have developed a cosmology or religion to see them as either siblings or consorts. The white moon, Monya, occludes both the sun and the blue moon on the rare occasion of alignment. It can be the brighter of the two when full, and displays a white surface with some slightly darker patches and very thin, dark fissures. Nearly 28 days pass between full moons and it is widely accepted to be the basis for the universal system of the seven-day week and four-week month. Blarún is the darker moon. It has has a greenish-blue cast, and unlike Monya, the patterns of its face slowly change. A pattern on one day may have completely permutated within a week's time, and occasional bright spots shine from previously darker regions - especially when full. Its lunar cycle is much slower and lasts for 160 days - making tidal predictions a very complex affair. It has never been known to occlude the white moon, but it can occlude the sun. Such an eclipse is widely seen as a grim portent, for the ensuing darkness lasts the better part of a day. There is no record of both moons and the sun ever being in alignment, and most commoners believe that such an event would signify of the end of time. While the moons are perceived by many cultures as feminine, they tend to illustrate a complex conception of duality in religion and folklore. Monya is permanent, fast, active (or obstinate, careless, and aggressive), while Blarún is malleable, slow and passive (or agreeable, deliberate, and welcoming). Due to differences in physiology, Monya is associated with humans, halflings and dwarves, while Blarún is associated with elvenkind. (It should be noted that among elves, their corollary to monthly pain is only a biannual slight discomfort. This distinction has led to a nearly universal turn of phrase among non-elven women when not in mixed company. For example, an infuriated mother may admonish her daughter, "Girl, you know to garden [I]comi alfa cognesc dul![/I]" Or in Ayrish: "Girl, you know to garden like an elfmaiden knows pain!") Most bright stars have been catalogued by human and elven astronomers, including the five bright wandering stars who seem to move back and forth along the path of the sun. Some believe these are truly stars. Some feel they are leftover fragments expelled by the sun like sparks from a bonfire. Despite the disagreement, these wandering stars continue to possess strong religious associations and influence decisions for most commoners. During the last centuries of the Teulan Empire, fierce debates raged regarding the nature of the earth itself. Some espoused the long-held notion of the earth as a disc inside a spinning spherical firmament. Most rejected this view as simplistic and contrary to observed experience. Ships sank below the horizon - they did not shrink to the point of invisibility. The many rolling isles of Alfaad visible from hilltops were always known to hide some of their valleys below the horizon when viewed from the shore. Teleporting at noon landed the caster in the afternoon to the east, and in the morning to the west. Conservative academics argued that such phenomena were either the products of a slightly concave surface, or simply visual distortions arising from heat, such as the mirages commonly seen in southern salt pans, or short time travel associated with the wild magic necessary for a teleportation. The debate was slowly brought to a close as records and measurements from observatories scattered around the Empire were painstakingly correlated by scribes and engineers. What was intended originally as an exercise to determine the height of the sun from the floor of the earth yielded results that pointed to only one possibility. The earth is a sphere. By the close of the Empire, academics were convinced that Monya circled the earth, but that the pair was spinning in tandem with Blarún, and all three circled the sun. The normally inflexible Doma fully accepted the finding, for it reinforced the notion that the sun was the material manifestation of the Supreme Deity as revealed by Ben Duín. Today, the invaluable library of astronomical records resides on Alfaad, where scribes and engineers wait years to for the chance to consult it. Current study is finding instances where the light from wandering stars seems to bend around the sun, or appear sooner when closer to earth, and philosophers are suggesting amongst themselves that light itself may travel with a constant speed. These findings are not widely shared on the Continent, and most commoners retain the view from older folk tales that the earth is flat. [/QUOTE]
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