The Cosmological Index

The sky above Aevrya is older than the empire. In Year 317 it still runs by the same clock it ran by before the first kingdom was built. Three moons share the heavens. They do not move together. Each one keeps its own pace.

The Three Moons

ASHEN, THE WARDEN. The largest and slowest of the three. Pale and grave. Folk call it the Judge. When Ashen rules the sky, omens turn toward duty, hard fates, and the day the levy notice arrives.

CINDRA, THE WATCHER. Silver, steady, mid-sized. The calendar runs by Cindra’s pace. One full circle equals one month. Folk call her the Seer. Omens tied to her are about memory, hidden truth, and seeing what was missed.

VEYRA, THE HUNTRESS. The smallest and fastest. Quick. Restless. Folk call her the Huntress. Omens tied to Veyra are about chance, change, and things you did not see coming.

Scholars in Orvallis call the moons by their formal names. Villagers call them Judge, Seer, and Huntress.

The Four Seasons

Spring, summer, autumn, winter. Each season runs three months. The year begins in spring and closes in winter.

The Twelve Months

SPRING. Risewake, Wardenveil, Rootwake.

SUMMER. Midfire, Highwatch, Longfield.

AUTUMN. Huntcall, Ashveil, Coldmarch.

WINTER. Watchmoon, Frostwane, Deephold.

Each month carries its own folk meaning. Wardenveil is the levy month, the dread month of spring, when conscription notices reach the villages. Huntcall is the month the hunting season opens and the harvest begins. Watchmoon is the month country folk say children born see what others miss.

John Weston was born in Wardenveil. James in Huntcall. Andrew in Watchmoon. Three brothers. Three months. Three moons in three positions on the morning each of them came into the world. Their mother knew the weight of those positions without ever using the word “omen.”

The Eight-Day Week

The week runs eight days. Each day has its own work:

RIVERCAST. Water, trade, journeys. The week begins with movement.

PLOWCAST. Planting and labour. The turning of earth.

MARKETCAST. Villages gather and trade. The social day of the week.

WATCHCAST. Moons are read. Magistrates sit. Judgments are cast.

HUNTCAST. Hunts, contests, soldier drills.

LOOMCAST. Crafts, weaving, guild work. The day of making.

ASHCAST. Remembrance of the dead. Warding rites. Named for Ashen the Judge.

RESTCAST. Fasting, family, reflection. The week closes inward.

The Starfall

The sky over Aevrya does not stay still. The three moons draw together at known intervals, and when they do, the heavens change. Country folk have watched the pattern for as long as there have been villages to keep watch from. Scholars in Orvallis keep the same records.

The pattern shows itself in three ways.

EVERY FIVE YEARS. The three moons draw close. Streaks of light fall across the sky in small clusters through the overlap. Folk call this the Lesser Pass. Magistrates mark the night. Children point. Most years it lasts a few turnings and ends without comment.

EVERY TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. The streaks come heavier and longer. The three moons crowd one another for three nights running. Country folk call it the Great Starfall. The air feels heavy in the days before. Villages light watchfires. Mothers keep their children inside.

A FULL ALIGNMENT. Rarer than either of the others. The three moons lock together in the same point of the sky. It has happened before. It has not happened in living memory. The Orvallis calendar still records the dates it has fallen on.

The empire treats Starfall as superstition. The country does not.