The Common Reckoning
A lunar-solar calendar for the Heartlands and surrounding human settlements
On the Reckoning of Days and Seasons
From the Great House Trade Treaty, distributed to factors and agents across the Empire. Year 753 of the Common Reckoning.
A merchant who cannot name the season has no business calling himself a Great House. We record this not to instruct the learned, but because experience has shown that agents arriving from the western territories - and on occasion from among our Visari partners, who track time by altogether different customs - may benefit from a plain account of the calendar as it is observed within the Empire.
The Common Reckoning holds twelve moons to a year. This is the number the Empire counts, the number the taxmen write into their ledgers, and the number by which the Great Houses schedule contracts. The year 753 CR begins, as all years do, with the cold.
Each season turns on its midpoint. The deep of winter, the height of summer, the precise balance of spring and autumn - these are not the beginnings of their seasons but the pivots. A farmer in the Heartlands does not need a scholar to tell him when winter starts; he knows it when the ground freezes and his breath fogs. The equinoxes and solstices mark the turning of the wheel, not its first spoke.
This is worth understanding for practical reasons. A contract specifying delivery before the solstice means before the peak of summer, not before summer begins. Agents who confuse pivot for threshold have cost this house money. We note it plainly.
The Twelve Moons
| Season | Moon | Notes for Factors |
|---|---|---|
| Winter | Coldset | Cold arrives and locks. River traffic slows; mountain passes close. No overland contracts should be written expecting delivery through the Spine. |
| Hearthkeep | Winter Solstice falls here - the darkest point. Deep cold. Indoor trades preferred. Roads become difficult in hard years, some become impassible. Stock your wayhouses before this moon or not at all. | |
| Frostbreak | Cold persists but daylight returns. Roads remain treacherous. Patience. | |
| Spring | Meltwater | Snowmelt and flood-risk. The river tributaries run high. Barge schedules are unreliable until this moon passes. Do not promise eastern deliveries. |
| Furrowdeep | Spring Equinox falls here. Ground workable. Plowing and lambing. Road traffic resumes in earnest. First viable window for overland contracts since Coldset. | |
| First Seed | Grain sown. Last frost risk. Optimistic, but weather holds mostly. Our busiest contracting moon - the Empire is moving again. | |
| Summer | High Sun | Long days, first hay cut. Grain growing. River traffic at its peak. |
| Grainhead | Summer Solstice falls here - the height of summer. Grain heaviest in the field. Drought risk in dry years; wells run low in some areas. Schedule water-dependent shipments before this moon. | |
| Scythefall | Heat breaks. Second hay cut. Harvest approaching. A window of urgency - what is not moved now waits until after Reaping. | |
| Autumn | Reaping | Grain harvest. The most consequential moon of the year. Farms should expect to be working without rest. All grain contracts settle this moon or void. |
| Plumcrush | Autumn Equinox falls here. Plum spirit pressed, oil barreled, wine sealed. The Empire drinks. A reliable secondary trade window - spirits ship well and keep. | |
| Nightfold | Days shortening fast. First frosts returning. Livestock slaughtered and smoked. Close your outstanding accounts before this moon ends; what is owed in Nightfold is rarely paid until spring. |
A Note on Our Visari Partners
The Visari do not count years. This is not ignorance; it is their custom. They observe the seasons with a precision that would humble most imperial surveyors, but they have no use for the year and will not recognize it. When coordinating with Visari suppliers - the wild rice and honey being the most common case - speak in seasons and moons, not in CR dates. “Before the equinox” they understand. “By the fifteenth of Plumcrush” they do not care about.
A Note on Timekeeping
For detailed timekeeping, Great Houses rely on Khuldinai-made hourglasses. This is not ceremonial. The Khuldinai build hourglasses because they believe time spent imprecisely is time wasted. We do not share their philosophy entirely, but we share their conclusion. An agent who cannot tell a captain what hour the tide turns is a liability.
The Year Count
The Common Reckoning counts from the founding of the Empire. The current year is 753 CR. Common folk rarely use the year count - another year will come, and the grain does not care what number the taxmen have written. For Great House purposes, all contracts, ledgers, and correspondence are dated in full: moon, season, year. Ambiguity in dating is the enemy of enforcement.
This taxonomy is issued to agents of Great Houses and is not for general distribution. Errors in dating or seasonal classification should be reported to the Chief Merchant’s office in Timbur Deep.