Where to run a KUP game #1 - The calendar (part 1)

A quick foreword for this new series: like ‘How to run a KUP game’ which has been used to complete the VIII·XII·XX Expanded Rules (coming up soon!), this new series of posts is going to collect all the most relevant pieces of information for the setting of my campaign. This is very tied to the rules, in particular the magic system and morality (needless to say!), so many blurred details in the core rules will be unveiled with these posts! I don’t know exactly how long it lasts since I am still working on my notes… in any case this first post along with all the other belonging to this series will end up in the setting ‘Imago Mundi’! Enjoy!

PS if you wonder why I decided to start with this topic, you’re right! This is not the usual start for the description of a setting: I needed to fix it for the upcoming adventure which is strictly tied to the calendar!

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A year has a non-constant duration, with each season having a variable number of days, although it can be stated that the variability is not significant (always between +/-10%). The year concludes when a cycle of two seasons is completed.

Time is measured in days (each day being very close to 24 hours in length). A week consists of 5 days and is called ‘lustrus’. The names of the days are merely following Latin numbering:

1. Primus dies

2. Secundus dies

3. Tertio dies

4. Quartus dies

5. Quintus dies

A month comprises 6 weeks, and a season ends after 6 months, thus a year is approx 360 days, 60 weeks, 12 months. The latter have the following names:

1. Ianuarius (month of the door)

2. Florius (month of the flower)

3. Opesia (month of resources)

4. Laborius (month of the work)

5. Benevitia (month of well-living)

6. Oblatiarius (month of the offer)

7. Memoratius (month of the memory)

8. Idealitius (month of virtues)

9. Umorius (month of the water)

10. Terrafirma (month of the earth)

11. Ignitius (month of the fire)

12. Iterius (month of the path)

There are two seasons: a hot and dry season called ‘the earth awakens’, from Ianuarius up to Oblatiarius, and a cold and wet season called ‘the earth slumbers’, from Memoratius until the end of the year.

The seasons change with the color variation of the ‘Earthen flowers’: these are artifacts scattered across the land without a precise order (or at least, none that is known). They feature a central menhir made of a quartz-like mineral, standing between four and six meters tall, surrounded by a circle of 8 smaller menhirs approximately two meters tall, made of a white marble-like stone. These structures are not natural, but their origin is unknown: it is known that they have been present since the dawn of mankind and that they dictate the changing of the seasons. When the season is hot and dry, the central menhir is dark yellow; when the season is cold and wet, the central menhir is dark gray (the smaller menhirs do not change color).

The color change of an Earthen flower coincides with the end of one season and the beginning of the next: the transition from the earth awakening to the earth slumbering is known as Slumberdusk; the transition from the earth slumbering to the earth awakening is called Earthspring. These events are traditionally celebrated by the population of the ancient empire of Roburia as very important festivals, with specific rituals to honor them appropriately.

The variability in the duration of the two seasons reflects an aspect that permeates the entire setting: in an eschatological perspective, the variability represents an eternal conflict between the primordial forces of the universe, which resolves into a cosmic equilibrium. The rule to define the end of the season is applicable to both Earthspring and Slumberdusk as follows (where 0 corresponds to the 180th day of the season):

1. The result of a 1d12 roll defines the span of the early or late change in season. With a result of 12 the outcome offsets the advance or delay of the previous season (i.e. a full year counts exactly 360 days).

2. Once the span is defined, the GM rolls 2 dice: the first to define either advance or delay (thus -/+ in the below table is defined by even/odd result of a roll of any die), the second to determine the number of days (1d10, see column Roll above).

The same logic applies to the length of the days. Only a few scholars, capable of measuring time with sophisticated instruments and complex calculations, have determined that the alternation between light and darkness is neither constant nor follows mathematical rules: it appears to be permeated by chaos or an entropy that no one can comprehend.

(continues in part 2)