Celestial ScriptByKvott Ki'jinn
Time: The Key Element in Tracking
One thing I have found when listening to a few of my guild peers, is that they, all to often, attempt to track our moons by keeping a stopwatch. This will never do. In terms of OOC arguments, computers have "burps"...they can sometimes speed up, stop abruptly, or slow to a crawl. A perfect example of this is what we call the "fog". Therefore, the only perfect way of tracking a moon is by using its own record of time, in the game, to chart it.
Therefore, the first most important part to a Celestial Script is the annotation of time. Observe the following:
365-200:BT
or
It has been 365 years, 200 days since the Victory of Lanival the Redeemer. It is the anlas of Berengia's Touch.
As you can see, we now have a way for coordination of "Lunar Dates". Furthermore, I've managed to keep track of each Anlas when I lived in Shard; they are always thirty minutes, or 30 Rosian to Elanthians. Therefore, we could technically delineate time to the minute by writing:
365-200:BT'15
or
It has been 365 years, 200 days since the Victory of Lanival the Redeemer. It is 15 Rosian after the anlas of Berengia's Touch.
Writing the year, the day, and even the Rosian is simple enough; they are only numbers. We do, however, need a key for the Anlas(es?) of Elanthia:
| Anlas |
Abbrev. |
Time of Day |
| Andumen | AD | Immediately after Midnight, New Day begins |
| Starwatch | SW | Very Early Morning, Nighttime |
| Asketi's Hunt | AH | Early Morning, Nighttime |
| Berengia's Touch | BT | Early Morning, Usually Daybreak |
| Hodierna's Blessing | HB | Morning, Daytime |
| Peri'el's Watch | PW | Late Morning, Daytime |
| Dergati's Bane | DB | The Mark of Afternoon, Immediately after |
| Firulf's Flame | FF | Early Afternoon, Daytime |
| Tamsine's Toil | TT | Possible Dusk, Day/Night |
| Meraud's Cloak | MC | Definate arrival of Night |
| Phelim's Vigil | PV | Early Nighttime |
| Revelfae | RV | Late Night, just before Midnight |
Notice that there are 12 anlas. Since each is 30 minutes in length, that would make an Elanthia day 6 hours long.
Note- If you see anything questionable, or you have information to contradict my own, do not hesitate to contact me in the game or through mail. My primary goal is to gather accurate information; I have no ego to feed.
Scholarship in Relation to Time
Do you ever use the TIME verb? It is the verb required for you to estimate what time it is in your own mind. Simply type TIME and you'll receive the typical information, giving you a highly indicative idea of the year and day, but a less accurate reading of the actual anlas or rosian.
To counteract this poison pill, raise your scholarship abilities. The higher you get, the more likely your readings of time will become accurate. You will normally see a difference once you acquire 120 ranks in scholarship.
Also, be advised that "Cloud Cover" has a part in the timekeeping process. If the sky is cloudy, you will need more scholarship to guess. Currently, I am unable to get accurate time readings during a cloudy day. Piercing Gaze does not seem to alleviate this problem either.
The City of Shard, Where Time is Always on the Mark
Having problems keeping track of Anlas? Travel to Shard and sit within the City's limits. Once there, you'll notice that the guards announce "citywide" the end of each anlas as it passes without problems. If you are interested in highly accurate time, that is the place to go. On top of this, you can use their announcments as visual reminders when to start looking for certain constellations in the sky.
This concludes the first lesson on Celestial Script, which covers how to track time and designate it. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Eldrad. I'll make sure I can offer any help possible through him.
The End
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