Cultures and Races of Éran
From Eran
Calendars and Timereckoning in Éran
Languages of Éran
High Brenni
The dominant language in western Éran is High Brenni. This is archaic Brenni spoken by the nobility in Brennèl and the standard used for writing there. It spread to the rest of the west through Brennel's years of expansion and dominance where many will be able to speak different bastardizations of it. It is the commonly used trade language in the west. Many of the local languages throughout the west are themselves outgrowths of High Brenni or have taken many words on board over the centuries. Though not a common tongue in the east, it is a used trade language there due to it being the most spoken language in Éran. Educated demi-humans will usually learn Brenni as a first other-racial language for the same reason. The written language for Brenni is based on a batsardized version of the Isan alphabet and is also the standard for Erro.
Brenni
A modern bastardization of High Brenni, this is the common tongue used by ordinary people throughout the empire of Brennèl. It has enough similarities to to High Brenni to make them recognisable as closely related, but pronounciation and grammar has changed radically over the centuries to make it a language of its own. A speaker of Brenni will be able to understand a mere smattering of High Brenni. It is rarely used for writing as those educated enough to reaad and write are also educated enough to speak some High Brenni and there is little in the way of formal writing codes for it.
Erro
Though not as widespread as Brenni, Erro is the second most widespread language in western Éran. Though long a part of the empire of Brennèl, the province of Erro (later Errion) always retained an independent streak and preserved its own language though over the years, it grew quite close to Brenni and borrowed a large numbers of words and phrases from there due to the exposure and mix of people. When Erro broke away from Brennèl and formed Errion, the new rulers took great care to ensure that their ancestral tongue would also be the official tongue in the new empire which it remains to this day. It used the same alphabet as Brennèl.
Solmani
The dominant language spoken in the east, this common language is one of the few remnants from the destruction of the Solman Empire 800 years ago. The Solman written language differs from the elven standard for Brenni and Erro.
Surru
It remains an enigma how the Surru have managed to maintain such a coherent language over the centuries, due to the fractured state of this race. Nonetheless, they have kept their own language, virtually unchanged for more than 1000 years, which they continue to use among themselves as they did when they first came to Éran. It is usually not taught to non-Surrus.
Hjorni
The language spoken by the Hjornik clans of the north. They use a highly developed rune system that is kept secret from all non-Hjornis.
Nenn
The language of the barbarians of the Calmir region. Their written language is one of simple runes.
Isan
Spoken only in the Old Realms, this ancient language is still studied and learned in writing among scholars who desire to study the written remains of the foregone empire. Wizards are known to use it to communicate privately between them and so it is sometimes referred to as the language of magic, though it holds no mystical properties.
Elvish
Unlike the humans, all elves share a common tongue throughout Éran. This shared tongue is an archaic form of diplomatic elven. In the various realms, many variants are spoken, so few elves are actually 100% fluent in formal elvish, although all understand it. Since many ancient works are recorded in Elvish, many scholars familiarise themselves with Elvish, which is sometimes referred to as the mother tongue of learning.
Dwarven
As with the elves, all dwarves in Éran share a common tongue. It is rarely taught to non-dwarves and as the dwarves are generally natural linguists, they are almost all familiar with human tongues, thus eliminating the need for others than themselves to learn their language.
Gnomish
Also universally spoken among gnomes across Éran, unlike Elvish and Dwarven, Gnomish does not have its own scriptural system. They tend to borrow from Brenni whenever they need to put things in writing.
Calendars and Timereckoning in Éran
The solar/lunar calendar used across Éran measure a year in 52 weeks of seven days (one week being the time for Elir, the lesser moon, to come full cycle), for a total of 364 days in a year, the time it takes for the sun and moons to realign themselves in their positions in the sky. A month lasts 30 days (the time for Mir the greater moon to come full cycle) except the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th months which last 31 days to mark the seasonal solstices and equinoxes, where Mir stays full in the sky one day more than usual and coincides with Elir being in high sanction that day as well.
On the day of the spring equinox, the two moons cross paths in the sky in high sanction which typically marks the New Year across Éran, which thus begins on the second day of the first month (Newspring).
Timekeeping
Éran has a twenty-four hour day. Most people don’t require precision that can measure those twenty-four hours. There are water clocks and similar mechanisms for those that need to, like alchemists, and those who think they need to, like wealthy merchants or noblemen, but most people are content with a more general view of the hours of the day. Listed below are the terms for the hours (both common and archaic) as well as the time they refer to.
Newday (Primus) - Early morning; from dawn until halfway between dawn and noon; roughly 6 AM to 9 AM.
Highmorn (Manum) - Late morning; from halfway between dawn and noon until noon; roughly 9 AM to 12 PM.
Sunhigh (Tercus) - Early afternoon; from noon until halfway between noon and dusk; roughly 12 PM to 3 PM.
Sunfade (Posmerum) - Late afternoon; from halfway between noon and dusk until dusk; roughly 3 PM to 6 PM.
Eventide (Vesperus) - Early evening; from dusk until halfway between dusk and midnight; roughly 6 PM to 9 PM.
Moonrise (Nessum) - Late evening; from halfway between dusk and midnight until midnight; roughly 9 PM to 12 AM.
Deepnight (Shadus) - Early night; from midnight until halfway between midnight and dawn; roughly 12 AM to 3 AM.
Nightfade (Noxum) - Late night; from halfway between midnight and dawn until dawn; roughly 3 AM to 6 AM.
The Brennae Calendar:
The standard calendar used in the west is the Calendar of Brennèl, which marks the crowning of the first king of Brennèl, Devon Bren I. It starts with the year 1 AC (After Crowning). Dates prior to this are listed as PC (Prior to or Pre- Crowning). The current year is 1397 AC.
Weeks
The weekdays in the Brennae Calendar of the west are named and dedicated as follows:
Sunday - Rest
Stoneday - Building and crafting
Waveday - Commerce and trade
Woodday - Nature
Flameday - Conflict
Windday - Knowledge and learning
Moonday - Reflection
Months
The months are named according to their seasonal features and are named:
Spring
Newspring (1st: Spring Equinox)
Midspring (16th: Greeningdawn)
Springsebb
Summer
Summersdawn (1st: Summer Solstice)
Highsummer (16th: Midsummer)
Summersend
Autumn
Autumnturn (1st: Autumn Equinox)
Autumncrest (16th: Grimnight)
Autumnfade
Winter
Winterdusk (1st: Winter Solstice)
Deepwinter (16th: Midwinter)
Wintersend
Other Calenders:
In the east, the Solman Reckoning (SR) is used to mark the establishment of the Council of Regency. The current year is 1055 SR.
The Dwarves use the Ore Measure (OM) that goes back to the founding of the Five Kingdoms. It is divided into Dwarven Years of five regular years (measured as seasons) which is the time it takes for a one foot wide living gold ore to grow one inch. The current year in this calendar is the 2nd season of the dwarven year 1900 OM, making the calendar 9502 years old.
The elves have a different calendar system, as they measure time in Generations of 400 years and Generations in Cycles of 12 Generations (4800 years), before restarting the calendar. According to the elves, a Cycle is the time it takes for the rotating stars in the sky to come full circle. The current year in the Elven Reckoning (ER) is the 43rd Year of the 9th Generation. The current cycle thus started 3243 years ago in the year 1846 PC. If the elves count the number of cycles that have passed since the inception of this calendar, they are keeping it to themselves.
Another calendar that is in little use today but is sometimes used to measure events prior to the founding of Brennèl (although some wizard guilds and Altahkir do use it for modern reckoning as well) is the Isan Calendar. Because of the uncertainty of the Age of Darkness there is doubt about the exact year in this calendar. Most believe it to be around the year 9267 IY (Isan Years) or 9254 IY.
The Jhorni clans to the north measure years in Hjurkans, the councils the clans hold every 60 years. It is currently the year 58 of the 157th Hjurkan making it 9298 years old, a number most scholars dismiss as nonsense.
