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  1. HYPERBOREA (orig by C. A. Smith) [R18+]
  3. Lore

1. CALENDAR

A Hyperborean day is about 24 hours long (23:50), and a single revolution around Helios (the Sun) equals about 13 Old Earth years. Long have the sages measured weeks in 7-day periods, months in 28-day periods, and years in 364-day (13-month) periods—though a “true” year is 4,732 days.

DAYS of the WEEK:

The Hyperborean standard week is catalogued by the following days; in most civilized societies, typical activity is Sun-Worship; Earth-Work; Sea-Work; Moon-Work; Star-Work; Sky-Work; Saturn-Rest.

In regions where barbarism prevails, hardship demands a life of little respite; typically no day of rest is recognized, and worship is oft observed on Moon Day, which is when Phobos is full each week.

MONTHS of the YEAR:

Each year of the 13-year cycle is likewise divided into 13 months, each comprising 28 days. The phases of each moon are noted hereafter, as well as the festival weeks observed by most cultures and races.

Moon Phase Notes:

Due to the speed of its seven-day orbit, Phobos transitions quickly; it displays each phase four times per month, but totality is brief. Selene is slower, with a 45½-day orbit, presenting but two or three of its phases each month. Too, the phases are slower to transition; Selene appears full for a day before and a day after its actual date of totality. As each moon is an irregularly shaped ellipsoid, neither shews a perfect crescent or “sickle-shape” associated with the round moon of Old Earth. When both moons are full (every 91 days), festivals are observed.

Due to the elliptical orbits of the moons and the tilt of Hyperborea, some phases are not visible depending on the season, simply because they occur below the horizon:

New Moon:

During Nightfall (Bat, Year 13), Phobos is not visible from one day before to one day after the new moon phase; likewise, Selene is not visible from nine days before to nine days after the new moon.

First Quarter:

During Vernal Equinox (Wolf, Year 3), Phobos is not visible from one day before to one day after the first quarter phase; likewise, Selene is not visible from nine days before to nine days after the first quarter.

Full Moon:

From mid–High Summer Waxing (Tiger, Year 6) to mid–High Summer Waning (Crab, Year 7), Phobos is not visible from one day before to one day after the full moon phase; likewise, Selene is not visible from nine days before to nine days after the full moon.

Last Quarter:

During Autumnal Equinox (Aurochs, Year 10), Phobos is not visible from one day before to one day after the last quarter phase; likewise, Selene is not visible from nine days before to nine days after the last quarter.

FESTIVALS:

Festival weeks coincide with twin totality (i.e., when both Phobos and Selene are full), celebrations typically occurring from three days before to three days after the event. As no full moons are visible during midsummer on Hyperborea (because of the elliptical paths taken by each satellite), no festivals occur from mid–High Summer Waxing (Tiger) to mid–High Summer Waning (Crab). Festival weeks are observed by many races and cultures spread about Hyperborea. Khromarium is of course the centre of civilization, the most heavily populated and culturally diverse city in all of Hyperborea; here all the festivals are observed. Port Zangerios, “The City of Masks”, is likewise diverse, for it fosters an entire culture predicated on pretence; here the festivals are celebrated with unmatched panache. In Yithorium, where the witch-queen rules through terror and fear, the festivals are a time of disenthrallment, the queen herself said to join in the revelry. Even the Amazon metropolises Pandoros and City in the Clouds observe the festival weeks, but in most instances they pay homage to Artemis and honour the sacrifices of their foremothers.

However, the festival weeks are not universally embraced; exceptions, of course, may be found:

  • In New Pictland, no festival weeks are observed, but the twin totalities are honoured with bloody sacrifices made to the spider god, Tlakk-Nakka, whilst the half-blood Picts of the Savage Boreal Coast hold rites that celebrate bestial and ancestral spirits.

  • In the Viking capital of Erikssgard, the twin totalities are celebrated with banquets that culminate in sacrifices (usually beasts, but sometimes thralls) made to Ullr and Ymir.

  • Ixian priests and necromancers of Fazzuum, sequestered deep within the fastnesses of their pyramidal temples, hold terrible rites in honour of the snake god, Yig (Apep).

  • The underground city of Krimmea is reputed to be unconcerned with the moon cycles or the festival weeks; sages say the subterranean Kimmerians of this city no longer reckon the motions of the heavenly bodies.

  • The ways of the ape-men of Kor and the orcs of Orcust are scarcely understood, but certainly they hold their own degenerate celebrations.

  • In Yithorium, where the Witch-Queen rules through terror and fear, the festivals are a time of disenthralment, the Queen herself said to join in the revelry. Even the Amazon metropolises Pandoros and City in the Clouds observe the festival weeks by paying homage to Artemis and honouring the sacrifices of their foremothers. However, the festival weeks are not universally embraced; exceptions, of course, may be found.

Apollonalia (Month I, days 1–7; except during High Summer Waning, Year 7):

The roots of this festival trace back to when the Hyperboreans emerged from the Spiral Mountain Array to reclaim the jewel of their old empire, Khromarium. Even before the first 13-year orbital cycle was complete, the wisest of the sorcerer-kings and witch-queens had already ratiocinated the period of a single revolution. Too, they calculated the orbital paths of the moons and the motions of the stars. After the Hyperboreans endured their first Nightfall, when the first light of Genesis shone on the twisting towers of their ancient city, and the moons demonstrated twin totality, they established a festival in honour of the god of light who once walked amongst them: Apollo.

Apollonalia was at first a Hyperborean festival held every 13 years, during the first week of Genesis, but in due time it became a popular annual celebration for civilized and barbaric men alike (save during High Summer Waning, when the moons remain unseen). Regardless of the absence of light, Apollonalia is even celebrated during Nightfall; the theme is different in that it is regarded as a farewell to light, with sacrifices made in honour of its return in one year (the next Apollonalia). The festival is celebrated with food (roast boar), pomegranate wine, rejoicing, promiscuity, and sacrifice. Celebrants wear white gowns and mistletoe garlands. Some hold that the deity Apollo attends the most extravagant of these fetes, but always in anonymity.

Saturnalia (Month IV, days 8–14; except during High Summer Waning, Year 7):

This well-nigh-annual extravaganza was initiated by Xathoqquans (followers of the deity Xathoqqua) to celebrate their god’s arrival from Saturn (Kyranos). Saturn is prominent in the night sky, and since it remains the dwelling place of many of Xathoqqua’s kin, it is regarded with great reverence. Too, the Hyperboreans are said to have history on the ringed planet, where antemundane secrets were once revealed to them, as well as the arts of dweomercræft. This festival is not celebrated by the Hyperboreans alone, however, for Xathoqqua’s adherents know no racial, cultural, or taxonomic barriers; indeed, certain scholars aver that even the beasts celebrate this festival. Saturnalia is celebrated by indulging in excess: feasts, orgies, lewd displays, wild music, sacrifices, lotus chewing, and snake handling. It is a time of utter Chaos, when restrictions are relaxed and impulsiveness is embraced; the festival is never without unfortunate deaths (including murder) and destruction, causing some to deplore this festival. (Mothers hide their children and so forth.) The revelry culminates with the totality of the two moons, on which extravagantly profligate midnight banquets are held, these followed by a general waning of celebration over the next three days. Saturnalia celebrants will oft wear loose, colourful garments (such as yellows, oranges, and reds), hats that brim with feathers, and masks—though nakedness (excepting the mask and/or hat) is not uncommon on the fourth night, when the full moons climax and wantonness prevails.

Bealltainn (Month VII, days 15–21; except during High Summer Waxing, Year 6):

Although this holiday is rooted in Keltic and Pictish traditions, its present form has evolved. Bealltainn is the most significant festival to druids, pyromancers, shamans, and witches. It is a celebration of fire, rebirth, atonement, cleansing, fertility, and purification, marked by the lighting of great bonfires, plenteous imbibing of wine, lotus chewing, and sacrificial f ires in which animals and men (criminals or thralls, typically) are immolated. The popularity of this festival has spread throughout the realm, though its druidic significance is not necessarily embraced by most cultures; the subtle meanings are altered to fit the respective culture. Bealltainn celebrants will oft paint their naked bodies red, green, or yellow; tint their hair copper, silver, or gold; and wear garlands of mistletoe and holly leaves. They will beat drums, dance wildly, and engage in salacious acts fuelled by wine, lotus, and religious fervour. The music is intensely rhythmic, its vibrations permeating far and wide, and it is not unusual for the most feverish of these celebrations to be met by lightning storms. Of all the festivals, Bealltainn may be the most intense and dangerous, as entire villages are said to have been consumed by fire.

https://app.fantasy-calendar.com/calendars/2bd657dcb4cf61d598fd7f5467512284