2. CALENDAR & SEASONS

Plutonia (Month X, days 22–28; except during High Summer Waxing, Year 6):

This sombre festival commemorates death, darkness, the all-consuming void, the mysteries of the unseen planet of Yuggoth, and the woesome eventual arrival of Yug. It is marked by parades in which the marchers are garbed in black, their faces stained with soot; too, stylized silver jackal masks are worn by the clergy. Torches are borne and chants are droned, and when the two moons climax, morbid death dances are performed. These dances are slow-step affairs in which celebrants take a series of calculated steps, pause, and shake their bodies (inhuman spasms to the casual observer). Flagellation is also observed, with higher-ranking individuals lashing those randomly selected of lower station. Ritual fasting and sleeplessness occur on the day of the twin totality, when human and animal sacrifices are made to appease otherworldly and netherworldly spirits. In general, Plutonia enjoys less pomp and circumstance during seasons in which the hours of darkness are limited; the most intense of these festivals happen from Coda (Fox, Year 12) to Genesis (Bear, Year 1), with the most macabre occurring during Nightfall (Bat, Year 13). Some Plutonia celebrations will culminate with the appearance of the aurora borealis; witches and shamans will draw many portents from these phenomena. Lastly, certain men of learning posit that Plutonia awakens the dead and inspires lycanthropy.

YEARS of the CYCLE:

The axis on which Hyperborea spins is cause for long periods of midnight sun and polar night; each 13-year cycle includes one year of perpetual light and one year of perpetual darkness. Death and madness reign supreme when the sun sets for the last time in Coda (Year of the Fox), for Nightfall (Year of the Bat) is a frightful time, which can have a strong impact on the characters and the campaign. If a fighting man is 23 years of age in Drought (Year of the Eagle), he may remember with horror his 15th year, when the sun never rose, but too young was he to recall surviving his 2nd year, when still he clung to his mother’s teat. The arrival of Genesis (Year of the Bear) is a slow rebirth of sorts, and festivals are held by many cultures, civilized and barbaric alike.

Cyclical Calendar Defined:

Year: Sequence in the 13-year cycle.

Common Denomination: Calendar designations employed by commoners, barbarians, and frontiersmen.

Esoteric Denomination: Calendar designations employed by men of learning, sages, and sorcerers.

Season: Division of the 13-year cycle as reckoned by changing sunlight, temperature, and weather conditions.

Hours of Daylight - how many hours and minutes per day the sun is visible, are reckoned by the week, month, and year. From 5 minutes on Week 1 Month 1 Year 1 and increasing by 5 minute intervals each week to all the way back to 0 minutes Week 1 Month 1 Year 13. With the exception of Year 6 in the cycle which has 23 hour and 55 minutes of sunlight from Week 3 Month 7 till Week 3 Month 7 Year 7. And of course Nightfall which is a year of darkness.

GMs (Franz) Note:

The referee can establish mood through use of the setting’s long periods of light and darkness. Equivalent to the Artic circle but on a 13 year cycle rather that a 1 year cycle. A campaign that begins in Nightfall (a full year of darkness), for example, may be one of dread and despair, when Chaos reigns supreme. The weather is harshest (as cold as −40°F), monsters prowl, and otherworldly races work their nefarious schemes and machinations; e.g., the mi-go may be more active on the surface world during Nightfall. Mere survival is fundamental. Likewise bewildering is the year of light. For many men, the passage of days is lost in a blur as the swollen crimson sun wheels perpetually just above the horizon, which for some is nearly as taxing as a year without light.

CLIMATE & SEASONS

As earlier treated, Hyperborean years are accounted in periods similar to those utilized by the ancients: 364 days divided into 13 months of 28 days each. Of course, this is not a true sidereal year, for Hyperborea requires 4,732 days (13 years) to complete one full circuit around Helios (the sun). Thus, the four seasons are spread across the 13-year cycle, as illustrated in the previous table.

WINTER

Winter is the defining season of Hyperborea due to the dreaded lightless year of Nightfall (Bat, Year 13). Winter stretches (4 years total) from mid-Twilight (Mammoth, Year 11) to mid-Renaissance (Fish, Year 2). Temperatures plummet during this time, and the ice thickens. During this frigid period, the coastal mainland sees highs of 35ºF and lows of −10°F. Temperatures in the interior of the Spiral Mountain Array will scarcely climb above 0ºF, and typical lows are about −40°F. Hyperborean winters are remarkable for their relentless winds, freezing man and beast alike. Many rivers, lakes, and wetlands freeze, glaciers groan and swell, ice sheets consume bays and inlets, countless beasts (and some monsters) hibernate, and even great coniferous forests shed their leaves. Only by luck or circumstance do the weak survive the dark Hyperborean winter.

SPRING

Spring (2.5 years total) emerges from mid-Renaissance (Fish, Year 2) to Tempest (Hare, Year 4). Temperatures are cool, with coastal mainland highs of 50ºF in late spring, though temperatures in the interior of the Spiral Mountain Array will seldom climb above freezing. Hyperborean springs are wet and humid, and during this period the great conifers bloom, the poppy fields emerge, and the wetlands thaw. Spring thunderstorms are common, as are floods, mudslides, and other natural disasters. Icebergs will break from coastal glaciers, pulling vessels to their doom beneath the sea.

SUMMER

Summer (4 years total) occurs from Deluge (Elk, Year 5) to Drought (Eagle, Year 8). Temperatures peak during this time, with highs of 80ºF on the coastal mainland. The interior is always cooler, and in the Spiral Mountain Array temperatures rarely rise above 50ºF. Hyperborean summers are mostly humid, though trending drier by late summer (hence the designation of Drought). Storms brew on the Hyperborean Sea to assail the coast, and with glacial melting the rivers flow more strongly.

FALL

Fall (2.5 years total) follows from Tranquillity (Whale, Year 9) to mid-Twilight (Mammoth, Year 11). Temperatures begin to plummet during this season, with coastal mainland highs of 40ºF, whilst in the interior of the Spiral Mountain Array, temperatures infrequently rise above 20ºF. These are the years when light dwindles and winter’s dreaded arrival is nigh at hand; preparation for survival begins. Some flora dies during this period, which is typically dry, though the occasional storm is not unusual, especially at sea.

The Hyperborean Sky

By Night

The Hyperborean night is a vast, cold panorama, defined by its flat-world perspective and the strange motions of its celestial bodies. High above, the larger moon Selene wheels across the black void, its great, irregularly shaped orb glowing a breath-taking aquamarine hue. It is a stately presence, associated with the goddess Lunaqqua, taking a full 45 and a half days to complete its slow circuit. Constantly chasing it is the smaller, ruddy brown moon, Phobos, a speedy celestial body completing its orbit in just seven days, a sight associated with fear and bloodshed. Both moons cling to the horizon, never rising too high (mirroring the arctic perspective of Old Earth). Looming prominently in the heavens is Saturn (Kyranos), often vividly visible along with some of its moons, a planet heavy with significance for sages and priests, for it is the rumoured former abode of the toad god Xathoqqua.

By Day

The daylight hours of Hyperborea are characterized by the omnipresent, mournful gaze of Helios, the giant red sun. Far from the blazing warmth of Old Earth's star, Helios sheds little heat, instead bathing the hexagonal world in perpetual tones that shift from fulvous (yellowish-brown) to sanguine (blood-red). This dying star never rises or falls sharply, choosing instead to linger at the Rim of the World, its zenith never ranging more than a shallow (25 degrees) above the horizon. As the day progresses, Helios appears to be chasing the two moons—the fast, ruddy-brown Phobos and the slow, aquamarine Selene—both of which also cleave close to the horizon. More unsettling still, the great ringed planet Saturn (Kyranos) is oft in Hyperborea's sky, faintly but visibly present even during the day, a constant ominous smudge that reminds men of Xathoqqua and antemundane secrets. At times some of Saturns (Kyranos) moons are visible very faintly in the daytime sky. This celestial dance, combined with the subdued, cold light, serves as a constant, visual reminder to all Hyperboreans that their realm is ancient, waning, and subject to dire portents foretelling the sun's eventual death.