Intercalary Days

[player-characters, look to the bottom for effects on downtime during this period (ending 4 February with the Solar New Year)]

As the solar year winds down toward its end, the intercalary period approaches, a time "inserted" into this lunar year (Urodas-Bayzadis 1) in order to "stretch it out" to fit three lunar years into one solar year. These days are traditionally a time of rest or of tying up loose ends or finishing projects left unfinished in the last years. It is a little unusual that such a time occurs so quickly after one of the stretches of Long Times (wake, peace, or march), but because of the way the intercalary is inserted, it will actually rotate through the solar year, essentially advancing one month every three lunar years.

Every lunar year is of course 360 days, divided into 12 months of 30 days each. The solar calendar, unfortunately, is not 1080 days, but about 1103.02, leaving 23 days unaccounted for (plus an odd day every few years). Some calendars append the extra days to the lunar months piecemeal (e.g. months of varying length, from 29 to 33 days); or ignore lunar years altogether; but the Ten Cities follow a calendar that blocked all the intercalary days into one length of time at the end of each solar year.

Lunar-Annual vs. Solar-Annual Events

This approximately three week period will be represented for us by the month of January, and the normal lunar year will continue in February (along with the beginning of the Solar New Year at the same time!). This means that in the future, events tied to the lunar calendar in the next three years will occur one month later than they have for us in the past few years (e.g. the Long Wake and Coreguyi Games will occur next January, not this December).

Solar-annual events, on the other hand, will continue to occur during their solar month, so for example the next Masquerade of the Immortal Dead will occur in late March/early April of 2024 (Urodas-Bayzadis 2)

A Time for Rest or Focus

The approximate three weeks of the Intercalary are considered a time for rest or for focusing on doing what one has left undone, i.e. finishing projects. It is considered bad luck to begin any new undertaking, though there is no official taboo against it.

To represent this, there are certain modifiers to be applied to various downtime activities during this time (ending 4 February):

• Characters attempting to build an institution during this time roll at -2 on the dice, representing the unwillingness of Cothoni and Gadeedi to help with new projects during this time
• Similarly, player-characters beginning a new "clock" with any downtime roll at -1 on the dice during this time; e.g. starting martial lessons for a new technique will be rolled at -1, or attempting to develop a new potion through alchemy likewise
• However, player-characters continuing work on an already established "clock" may roll at +1 on the dice for their downtime; for instance, if one had previously begun learning a martial technique, even last month, they will roll at +1 during this time when attempting to perfect the technique for themselves, &c.