History of Grimthorn

The History of Grimthorn is measured using the calendar of Archemād the Great, a scientist and king of centuries past. Archemādrēan Reckoning divides the year into thirteen months of twenty-eight days, with the first day of each year falling on the first day of Spring. Dates are recorded in the order of day, month, and year, i.e., 3rd of Sēle, 7206 AR. The current year is 7247 AR, forty-one years following the The Fissure.

The world is circled by two moons, the Eye of Iridis and the Fey moon Lūnela. The phases of Iridis cycle every 28 days, with its fullest face occurring on the 14th of each month. It completes 13 cycles every year. This is the basis for the Archemādrēan Reckoning and most other world calendars. The second moon, Lūnela, has only one cycle of phases each year, reaching its fullest face toward the end of Ōfalamir in an event misleadingly labeled Feynight.

The Months

1. Clāastra (days 1-28)
2. Pān (days 29-56)
3. Beldōs (days 57-84)
4. Trēes (days 85-112)
5. Ōfalamir (days 113-140)
6. Felorn (days 141-168)
7. Veredin (days 169-196)
8. Sēle (days 197-224)
9. Serēth (days 225-252)
10. Ēer (days 253-280)
11. Zacrid Dān (days 281-308)
12. Avānin (days 309-336)
13. Mardāen (days 337-364)

Festivals and Holidays

Celestial Events

1. Spring Equinox 1st of Clāastra (day 1). New Year's Day is always a day for celebration throughout the Footholds of Grimthorn. Most of the day's festivities involve drinking and dancing. Feasts involve seafood, game, and mushrooms gathered from the surrounding hillsides as most food stores are spent after the long winter. In more brutish Footholds, e.g., Pipetown, Lowthorn, Shadowton, an old bearded man is volunteered to embody the past year, and is beaten with sticks as he runs naked through the town streets. For this reason, it is customary for sober men to shave their beards on the last day of the year. At the end of the old men's run they're given a scrap crown and free drinks for the day's remainder.
2. Summer Solstice 8th of Trēes (day 92).
3. Feynight 21st-27th of Ōfalamir (days 133-139). The Fey moon of Lūnela, for one week a year, bathes the world with a green glow. At all other times, the Fey moon appears as a dull gray body, pitted and riven with dark craters, dry seas, and deep fissures. During Feynights, the Material world's landscape changes, reverting to an ancient time when forests covered the lands, unmarred by roads and buildings. This quasi-illusory change allows the unwary (or adventurous) to enter the Elf realm. Those that remain inside (or underground) are immune to these changes, but those caught outside are drawn into the Fey for a week of days and nights. During this period, the moon is resplendent with dense green forests, sparkling rivers, waterfalls, and vast meadows of waving flowers. The only way to escape the Fey is through the stone portals which close at the event's end. Many are guarded and some only transport travelers deeper into the Fey. Dwarves caught within the Feynight are turned to stone.
4. Autumn Equinox 15th of Veredin (day 183).
5. Winter Solstice 22nd of Ēer (day 274).

State Holidays

• King Alzaril's Day 7th of Pān (day 35) Festival day in the Soul commemorating the coronation of King Alzaril Dār.
• Queen Valgura's Day 21st of Beldōs (day 77) Festival day in the Heart commemorating the coronation of Queen Valgura the Old. It has been decades since anyone celebrated this day.
• King Hessen's Day 28th of Trēes (day 112) Festival day in the Char and Grave commemorating the coronation of King Hessen Morgorēan.
• Queen Sēlatha's Day 14th of Serēth (day 210) Festival day in the Storm and Wail commemorating the coronation of Queen Sēlatha Maress.
• Death of Kāalva 10th of Zacrid Dān (day 290). On this winter day, most business is canceled and the City grows unnaturally quiet. Silence and reflection are enforced. Those making breaching the reverie can be lashed. Those screaming from the lash can be tortured or killed, depending on public sentiment. Taverns and restaurants remain open to ply cityfolk with drink, but markets do not convene and ships are barred from port. The only speaking permitted are the low chants and prayers of pilgrims winding their way through the eight Districts until they come to the Queen's Cairn. At nightfall the populace is permitted to join in singing mournful songs and ballads of Kāalva's heroic tales.
• King Lōth's Day 14th of Mardāen (day 350) Festival day in the Final commemorating the coronation of King Lōth. Though the day is not celebrated openly, it is tradition for all actors, musicians, artists, and students to raise a glass to the Hill King before the day ends.

Popular Holidays

• Dark Night Day 5th of Sēle (day 92). Usually a cold autumn day, the Dark Night Day celebration commemorates the end of the Dark Night, when The Fissure 'ended' and the stars returned. The afternoon and evenings are usually celebrated with drinking, dancing, and street performances throughout the City. People wear hats and coats decorated with stars. In recent years, the evening has become synonymous with organized boxing matches. When one of the bare-knuckled contenders gets knocked-out, he is lauded as the winner for he has "seen the stars!"
• Beggars' Bath 18th of Trēes (day 102). See Pipetown (South) Curiosities.
• Matchhead Man Festival 6th of Felorn (day 146). See Trisk Curiosities.
• Wee Revel 27th-28th of Serēth (days 251-252). See Halfton Curiosities.

Historic Events