Taboo Update
Commoner Ranks - Based on wealth and job
No set ranks
Calendar
· How is the day divided into smaller time units? What are they (Hour of the Lark, Sunrise Bell, Nones)? Are the names relevant to anything? Is the length of an hour fixed, or does it vary depending on changes in the length of the day as the seasons change?
o 16 hours in a day, 80 minutes in an hour, 80 seconds in an hour
· Fixed length, measured using water clocks and candle clocks that are carefully calibrated by Mages overseen by Nobles Chosen by Wiedii
o Counting of hours goes from 0 to 15, so midnight is the zero hour
· Zero hour is the hour of Pardis (the beginning)
· Fourth hour is the hour of Losa (rise of the sun, rise of life)
· Eighth hour is the hour of Pardus (sun's highest point, when the sky is filled with light)
· Twelfth hour is the hour of Panu (fall of the sun, fall of life)
· What are the names of months, and how many days are there in each? How many days in a week/week-like-period? Months in a year? Are there leap years? If so, who keeps track?
o General time -
· 11 months, 495 days in the year
· 6 Months of Losa (1 spring, 5 summer), 5 Months of Panu (1 fall, 4 winter)
· 5 weeks, 45 days in a month
· 9 days in a week
· Beginning of each week is signaled by a full moon
· Full moon days considered good luck, new moon days bad
· No leap years
o Seasons -
· Summer is longest season in Fellius thanks to being closer to the equator than the pole and having a warming current travel along the shoreline
· Which days are general holidays or festival times? What do they celebrate? Are there any that are only celebrated in particular countries, cities, or regions?
o New Year is the Spring Equinox, the 9th (sometimes 10th) day of the First Month of Losa, the first day of true spring and of the growing season
· At sundown of New Year's Eve, the Creation Story is told for the first time to seven-year-old kittens as a sign of coming of age
· Festival of Sevra, with prayers for a fertile and bountiful crop
· Also Festival of Rinar along the coast, with a celebration of the return of fish from the Alowyn Sea to spawn in the Bay of Beryl and at the mouth of the Vitas River
· Thanks are given to Panu for letting the world survive another winter and for releasing the world into the care of his sister once more, and to Batus for the food stockpiles that helped the world survive the winter
o Summer Solstice is 33rd (sometimes 32nd) day of the Third Month of Losa
· Festival of Losa, celebrating the life-giving summer
· Most popular day for weddings in Fellius
· Second only to the Winter Solstice in the number of conceptions
o Fall Equinox is 22nd (sometimes 23rd) day of the Sixth Month of Losa
· Festival of Batus, giving thanks for a harvest that will sustain throughout the upcoming lifeless winter, and praying for a successful hunting season that will provide enough meat for the next few months
· Thanks are given to Sevra for the bountiful crops and livestock, and to Losa for providing the summer needed to grow the crops
o Winter Solstice is 11th (sometimes 10th) day of the Third Month of Panu
· Festival of Panu, with prayers for the peace of the souls of loved ones who have died and beseeching him for the kindness to release the world from the long day of darkness
· More babies are conceived on this day than any other day in the year
o All of these holidays are celebrated by Fellius and its immediate neighbors. Nothing is known about the lands beyond those countries, and the nomads of the Woestijn Desert are pretty much a complete mystery outside of what they export.
· What event(s) do people use to date years? Is it a single occurrence (creation of the world, end of the Great War, etc.), or are events dated based on recurring things (12th year of Tiberius' reign, 300th year of the Han Dynasty)?
o The event used to date years is the exodus of the Gods from the mortal plane to the heavens. It has been 1,593 years since the Gods stripped their children of their pelts and left them.
· How do people tell what time it is? Are there clocks, watches, sundials, etc., or do people have to listen for the bells from the castle or church, or do they just eyeball the sun?
o Commoners depend on church bells to know when it is dawn, midmorning, midday, midafternoon, sunset, and midnight (or in the case of Catam, the palace bells, which are spelled so that their sound reaches just beyond the city walls without being overwhelmingly loud for the Noble's district since it is the one that surrounds the palace)
· Wealthier Commoners can afford candle clocks or, very rarely, a water clock to help keep more accurate time within the home
· Some craftsmen are sponsored by Aristocrats to create special decorative candle clocks and water clocks, and are allowed to keep or sell their inferior pieces to other Commoners
o Water clocks and candle clocks are used mostly by the Mages and Nobles, and some metalsmith-Mages make their living off of designing and creating decorative clocks that are spelled to play music or project a small illusion at specific intervals
o Mechanical clocks are currently in the process of being invented by science-minded Nobles, occasionally with the help of metalsmith-Mages who are exceptionally adept at measuring materials accurately
No set ranks
- No formal titles among Commoners since they are on the very bottom of the totem pole
- Pecking order is determined by wealth of the family, family or individual's occupation of choice, and connections with the Aristocrats
- Purebreds are given more respect than mixedbreds
- Highest social rank is held by those who work freely in or with Aristocratic houses or businesses
- Lowest social rank are cats who live homeless on the street, with slaves just barely above them
Calendar
· How is the day divided into smaller time units? What are they (Hour of the Lark, Sunrise Bell, Nones)? Are the names relevant to anything? Is the length of an hour fixed, or does it vary depending on changes in the length of the day as the seasons change?
o 16 hours in a day, 80 minutes in an hour, 80 seconds in an hour
· Fixed length, measured using water clocks and candle clocks that are carefully calibrated by Mages overseen by Nobles Chosen by Wiedii
o Counting of hours goes from 0 to 15, so midnight is the zero hour
· Zero hour is the hour of Pardis (the beginning)
· Fourth hour is the hour of Losa (rise of the sun, rise of life)
· Eighth hour is the hour of Pardus (sun's highest point, when the sky is filled with light)
· Twelfth hour is the hour of Panu (fall of the sun, fall of life)
· What are the names of months, and how many days are there in each? How many days in a week/week-like-period? Months in a year? Are there leap years? If so, who keeps track?
o General time -
· 11 months, 495 days in the year
· 6 Months of Losa (1 spring, 5 summer), 5 Months of Panu (1 fall, 4 winter)
· 5 weeks, 45 days in a month
· 9 days in a week
· Beginning of each week is signaled by a full moon
· Full moon days considered good luck, new moon days bad
· No leap years
o Seasons -
· Summer is longest season in Fellius thanks to being closer to the equator than the pole and having a warming current travel along the shoreline
· Which days are general holidays or festival times? What do they celebrate? Are there any that are only celebrated in particular countries, cities, or regions?
o New Year is the Spring Equinox, the 9th (sometimes 10th) day of the First Month of Losa, the first day of true spring and of the growing season
· At sundown of New Year's Eve, the Creation Story is told for the first time to seven-year-old kittens as a sign of coming of age
· Festival of Sevra, with prayers for a fertile and bountiful crop
· Also Festival of Rinar along the coast, with a celebration of the return of fish from the Alowyn Sea to spawn in the Bay of Beryl and at the mouth of the Vitas River
· Thanks are given to Panu for letting the world survive another winter and for releasing the world into the care of his sister once more, and to Batus for the food stockpiles that helped the world survive the winter
o Summer Solstice is 33rd (sometimes 32nd) day of the Third Month of Losa
· Festival of Losa, celebrating the life-giving summer
· Most popular day for weddings in Fellius
· Second only to the Winter Solstice in the number of conceptions
o Fall Equinox is 22nd (sometimes 23rd) day of the Sixth Month of Losa
· Festival of Batus, giving thanks for a harvest that will sustain throughout the upcoming lifeless winter, and praying for a successful hunting season that will provide enough meat for the next few months
· Thanks are given to Sevra for the bountiful crops and livestock, and to Losa for providing the summer needed to grow the crops
o Winter Solstice is 11th (sometimes 10th) day of the Third Month of Panu
· Festival of Panu, with prayers for the peace of the souls of loved ones who have died and beseeching him for the kindness to release the world from the long day of darkness
· More babies are conceived on this day than any other day in the year
o All of these holidays are celebrated by Fellius and its immediate neighbors. Nothing is known about the lands beyond those countries, and the nomads of the Woestijn Desert are pretty much a complete mystery outside of what they export.
· What event(s) do people use to date years? Is it a single occurrence (creation of the world, end of the Great War, etc.), or are events dated based on recurring things (12th year of Tiberius' reign, 300th year of the Han Dynasty)?
o The event used to date years is the exodus of the Gods from the mortal plane to the heavens. It has been 1,593 years since the Gods stripped their children of their pelts and left them.
· How do people tell what time it is? Are there clocks, watches, sundials, etc., or do people have to listen for the bells from the castle or church, or do they just eyeball the sun?
o Commoners depend on church bells to know when it is dawn, midmorning, midday, midafternoon, sunset, and midnight (or in the case of Catam, the palace bells, which are spelled so that their sound reaches just beyond the city walls without being overwhelmingly loud for the Noble's district since it is the one that surrounds the palace)
· Wealthier Commoners can afford candle clocks or, very rarely, a water clock to help keep more accurate time within the home
· Some craftsmen are sponsored by Aristocrats to create special decorative candle clocks and water clocks, and are allowed to keep or sell their inferior pieces to other Commoners
o Water clocks and candle clocks are used mostly by the Mages and Nobles, and some metalsmith-Mages make their living off of designing and creating decorative clocks that are spelled to play music or project a small illusion at specific intervals
o Mechanical clocks are currently in the process of being invented by science-minded Nobles, occasionally with the help of metalsmith-Mages who are exceptionally adept at measuring materials accurately