Almanac
Astrology
Our weeks are Squire, Knight, Prince, and King progressing from the first week of the month to the end of the month. Every week passes through the days of Starday, Sunday, Moonday, Earthday, Waterday, and Kingsday; though we all look forward to the restfulness of Kingsday you should remember that some cities have no Kingsday, and even mark the other days of the week by different names. Remember you that there are four weeks in a month, three months in a season, and four seasons in a year, a total of 288 days in a yearly cycle. Each new year starts with the spring months of Seeds, Clouds, Flowers; moving into the hot summer months of Stars, Golden, Contest; after which we all work hard toiling in the autumn months of Bells, Harvest, Crowns; and finally the winter months of Shields, Storms, and Silver.
Every ninety-eight years is the time of passing alternating between midsummer and midwinter. This is when a great darkness falls on Asmythe bringing with it a great shaking of the land, heaving of the seas and other great disasters. In the skies a great dark body growing ever bigger heralds the coming of these baneful times; it is The Destroyer. I have lived through one such time early in my life, when I was but a small child living with my master near the coast. It was a troubling time when the very sea itself rose up and attached the land. The high walls of the city protected most of us but many too poor to afford that safety were washed away. It was like the land itself was trying to throw us from her lap.
Astrologers mark the passing of three great lights that streak the sky at regular intervals over the years. There is one seen every 27 years that brings with it the passing of a great leader, one every 42 years that marks the birth of a great hero, and one seen only by a few every 150 years foretells the coming of the avatar of evil who will try to claim all of creation for itself. There are many other lights that pass through our skies that cannot be predicted; all bring with them an event of great significance.
