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RAMBLE for the Week of November 17, 1997 | |
| A few weeks ago, I posted a calendar system used
on the Serpent Isle. As it turns out, there is also a calendar
system used by Pagan, and I'm surprisednobody has mentioned it
before. Though it's possible for any Avatar to tell the approximate
time of day on Pagan just by looking at the nearest
clock,Theurgists can also tell the day, month, and year by using
the Divination spell. Most of you are probably familiar with the clock system used on Pagan - sincethey can't tell daylight from nighttime, a day is simply divided into six equal periods of time. These are called Bloodwatch, Firstebb, Daytide,Threemoons, Lastebb, and Eventide. The time is also sometimes reported as "very late", but I don't think that's significant. Essentially, there are six times in a day. The days of the week are: Guarday, Earthday, Waterday, Airday, Fireday, and Blackday. Notice that there are six days in a week. And finally, the months on Pagan are: Stonemark, Skyrock, Windbreak, Stormpeak, Firefall, and Darkflame. Six months in a year. Six, six, and six.Coincidence? Heh.. of course not. Pagan is a dark and highly symbolic game, after all, and this is hardly the only occurrence of "six six six". Anyway, that is the complete calendar structure as I know it. Now, what I do *not* know is the following, because I haven't been able to run through Pagan again lately. I'd like someone to investigate and answer thesequestions: 1. What is the date the Avatar arrives in Pagan? 2. What event represents "year 0" on the Pagan calendar? I think we can presume it was the "battle" between the Titans and the Guardian, though once I know the answer to number one, I'll be able to compare that to the timeline I'm setting up and see. 3. How many days/weeks are there in a month? If there is a way to "cheat" and obtain a sextant (Divination) focus right at the beginning of the game, then it should be easy to answer these questions. One other funny thing I noticed. Divination can also report your location, depending on where you are in the world. One of the locations it can reportis that you are "at Programmer's Playland!". Does anyone know where Programmer's Playland is supposed to be? Sounds like something that might be fun to find. Another observation is that one of the times is named Threemoons. Does this imply that Pagan actually has three moons? There isn't much corollary evidence one way or the other. One reference makes me think that under the Titans' rule, they can only sense the light of one moon, but it might be thattheir perpetual twilight blocks the light from the other two, just as itblocks light of the sun's progression across the sky. Three moons would make sense: there were originally three powerful forces on Pagan: Apathos, Amoras,and Odion. Actually though, before this, the Zealans had worshipped six gods, so maybe that's an inaccurate comparison. Still, I think the idea of Pagan having three moons is an appealing one. |
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