Noulaenic Calendar

The modern Noulaenic Calendar is a calendar system that was instituted during the First Noulaenic Empire which remains in widespread use throughout areas that were once in the Noulaenic sphere of influence. Unlike many other calendars, its months are based on the lunar cycle rather than the cycle of darkstar eclipses. This is a relic of the older Malaenic calendar system that was genuinely lunar in nature. The calendar counts from the year of the foundation of Noulian, calling this year the first year of the Noulaenic Era and the previous year the first year of the pre-Noulaenic era.

The ancient Malaenic calendar had a variable number of months and started the new year on the first new moon after the winter solstice. Because the lunar cycle was out of sync with the solar year, there could be either 10 or 11 months in the lunar year. The 11th month, known as Naseiscaes (after the god of death, Naseis) was considered highly inauspicious.

In 163 NE, Emperor Tharmathios III ordered the creation of a new calendar that would start the new year on the solstice, in order to better align with other calendars in use around Noulian, including the Kasranou calendar used by the influential Haraklina people who traded heavily with Noulian. Under the new system, there were ten months in every year plus an additional seven or eight days which were not in a month but were considered an independent week called Naseiscufal. This extra week was used for the winter festival and for feasts to the god Naseis.

The system has remained largely unmodified since its inception, aside from the introduction of and refinements to a formula for determining the number of days in the bonus week to maintain synchronization with the solstice. Prior to the introduction of the formula, an extra day was added to Naseiscufal in an ad-hoc manner whenever it was needed to place the first day of Murcaes on the solstice. Eight day bonus weeks are considered auspicious, as eight is a lucky number in Noulaenic culture.

The months are each 35 days long, in accordance with the approximate length of a lunar cycle, and are divided into five seven day weeks (cufal). The months are named according to Noulaenic numbers, with the word for moon (caes) appended to the number. The months are as follows:


 * Murcaes
 * Dulcaes
 * Nicaes
 * Sescaes
 * Cuscaes
 * Folcaes
 * Caelcaes
 * Salcaes
 * Emcaes
 * Ilcaes