When the Makers vanished, Novera did not lose its sense of time—but it did lose its point of reference.
Early stewardship systems continued tracking orbital cycles, stellar drift, and planetary rotation with flawless precision. Yet disagreement arose over what moment should define “Year One.”
After decades of temporal desynchronization between regions, the Stewards enacted a planetary standard known as the Temporal Accord. Rather than anchoring time to a birth, ruler, or conquest, the Accord marks time from a single, universally acknowledged transition:
The Moment of Autonomy
The first confirmed planetary cycle in which no Maker-origin directive was received, confirmed, or overridden.
This is not remembered as a disaster.
It is remembered as the moment Novera realized it was alone.
Years are counted After Autonomy, abbreviated in-world as AA (never spoken aloud in formal contexts, only rendered in data and record).
Example:
Current Year: 487 After Autonomy
Formal notation: Year 487, Accord Cycle
There is no “Before.”
What came earlier is referred to collectively as The Designed Era.
A Standard Noveran Day equals one full planetary rotation.
Length: 24.6 standard hours
Culturally divided into 5 Segments, rather than 24 hours
Ignition – First light, systems spin-up
Ascension – Full daylight, peak activity
Zenith – High sun, maximum output
Dimming – Decline of light, transition hours
Afterglow – Night cycle, reflection and rest
Citadel Cities adhere to strict segment schedules.
Open Belts often collapse them into “Lightcycle” and “Darkcycle.”
A Noveran year contains 10 months, each 36 days long, for a total of 360 days.
The remaining 5 days are not assigned to any month.
They are Interstice Days.
Initium
Beginnings, system recalibration, oaths renewed
Virex
Growth cycles, expansion, construction
Helior
Peak energy output, long lightcycles
Strata
Stability, governance, infrastructure audits
Fluxen
Change, innovation, experimentation
Aurel
Balance point of the year, cultural festivals
Sunderfall
Historical remembrance, conflicts past and present
Cryost
Cold cycles, reduced activity, conservation
Umbrix
Darkness, secrecy, reflection
Continuum
Endings, data archiving, future forecasting
Each month is divided cleanly into six 6-day spans, commonly called Runs—a holdover term from early system processes.
The final five days of each year exist outside the calendar.
They are known collectively as The Quiet Span.
No official work cycles
Many systems enter low-priority operation
Contracts and warrants are suspended unless renewed
Each day has a traditional designation:
Residual – Closing unresolved matters
Echo – Review of the past year
Null – No records logged; systems observe only
Spark – Planning, declarations, personal vows
Carryover – Time rolls forward
Unbound individuals often make life-altering choices during the Quiet Span.
Stewards monitor it closely.
Novera’s climate is partially stabilized, resulting in four broad seasons, though boundaries blur in Null Zones.
Rise (Initium–Virex)
Gradual warming, increased system output
Crest (Helior–Fluxen)
Maximum energy, volatile innovation
Fade (Aurel–Sunderfall)
Cooling trends, historical focus
Hush (Cryost–Umbrix)
Cold cycles, low visibility, introspection
Continuum exists between seasons, acting as a temporal buffer.
Citadel Cities treat time as a resource to optimize
Open Belts treat it as something to spend
Null Zones often experience desync, skipped days, or looping records
Unbound are statistically more likely to act during Fluxen and the Quiet Span
A common Noveran saying:
“The Makers gave us time.
We gave it meaning.”
Ignition Segment,
12th Day of Fluxen,
Year 487 After Autonomy
The year is considered volatile but promising.
Predictive systems disagree.
Which, on Novera, usually means something important is about to happen.