Gaian Calender and Gaian Elve Classes

December 13, 2012.

WTF where do I categorize this.. lol

I was going through my things and looked at a bunch of notes hidden in different sketchbooks and stuff and decided that I needed to get them down for reference. XD

You guys can have a look too in case you wanted to know more about the random things that are constantly going on inside my head when it comes to world-building.

SO, on Gaia, the "canon story line" where most of my characters are supposedly to live, this is the calendar system they implemented at some point after its formation. The planet is huge, and its circumference is roughly 5x the length of Earth's. It takes about 36 hours for the planet to make one day/night cycle rotation, and 520 days to orbit around the sun for a year.
Have a look at the map here:


Gaia's calender system is divided into 13 months consisting of 5 weeks each, and 8 weeks a day. Each week and day have a corresponding colour and environmental representation. I had to make up some words because I couldn't find a good enough corresponding English way of saying "flowing moving water areas" and "all the land and rocks and stuff". XD Luminary somewhat corresponds to the element of fire, Empyrean to air, Alluvrial to water, Geolitheus to earth, and Abyss to aether/nothing.

To make it even more complicated, years are counted in cycles, much like in Eastern astrology, and each year has a representation that somewhat mirrors the Major Arcana of a Tarot deck.
Someone born on the 1st day of the 1st month of the 2nd year (the 2nd year of the calendar is actually counted as the 1st year because the first year is actually year 0.. yeah, it's hard for me to wrap my mind around sometimes. Just don't think about it and rely on the year date that is given lol) might have their birthday written as:
1st Wanderer, Aries, White Luminary.
23 years later, if another person is born on the same day, they would be:
2nd Wanderer, Aries, White Luminary.

However, the more formal way to write someone's birthday and title on Gaia would look like this:
Aaron the 1st Wanderer of Aries in the Order of the White Luminary.

Calculation to figure out Cycle and Representation a person was born in:
(Year / 23 ) + 1 = Cycle (there might be are decimal points, this is the remainder. You can get the full value of the remainder on a calculator by multiplying the decimal value by 23)

Cycle remainder = Year Representation on the list

Example:
(Year 0 / 23) + 1 = 1st cycle, remainder 0
remainder 0 = Jadesche/Chaos
= 1st Jadesche/Chaos

(Year 1 / 23) + 1 = 1st cycle, remainder 1 (0.0435 x 23 = 1)
remainder 1 = Wanderer
= 1st Wanderer

(Year 2 / 23) + 1 = 1st cycle, remainder 2
remainder 2 = Scholar
= 1st Scholar

(Year 22 / 23) + 1 = 1st cycle, remainder 22
remainder 22 = Gaia
= 1st Gaia

(Year 23 / 23) + 1 = 2nd cycle, remainder 0
remainder 0 = Jadesche/Chaos
= 2nd Jadesche/Chaos

(Year 24 / 23) + 1 = 2nd cycle, remainder 1
remainder 1 = Wanderer
= 2nd Wanderer

NOW PUT IT ALL TOGETHER:
Birthday: Year 4168, 3rd Month, 3rd Day

(Year 4168/23) + 1 = 181.2174 + 1 = 182.2174 = 182nd cycle, remainder 5 (0.2174 x 23 = 5)
remainder 5 = Judge
= 182nd Judge of Gemini in the Order of the Orange Luminary


Birthday: Year 4189, 8th Month, 15th Day

(Year 4189/23) + 1 = 182.1304 + 1 = 183.1304 = 183rd cycle, remainder 3 (0.1304 x 23 = 3)
remainder 3 = Scribe
= 183rd Scribe of Scorpio in the Order of the Violet Empyrean


There are 11960 (23 x 13 x 40) combinations of Year Representation x Month Sign x Day Order. As you may imagine, many people on Gaia can be very religious or superstitious about what this all means.

I like the visual metaphor of there being a Jadesche/Chaos of Realignment in the Order of the Black Abyss to end the cycle to start anew with the Wanderer of Aries in the Order of the White Luminary. Our of chaos and darkness comes a wandering soul from a white light.

HOW TO CONVERT YOUR BIRTHDAY?
You can try to do it simply by just literally taking the year, month, and day (but that means you will never get a day 32 - 40 result.. which actually might be just as well. Earth peeps were perhaps not meant to be in the Order of the Abyss.. lol). It's inaccurate, but fun.
For example: February 21, 2000 = 9th Dungeon of Taurus in the Order of the Green Alluvrial.

Slightly more accurately, take note of your Zodiac sign according to modern western astrology, and add about 2121 years to your birth year (because Gaia's main story takes place in the 4000s anyway!). And just pick a colour/environment combination you like.
For example: February 21, 2000 => Aquarius 4121, fave colour red, fave environment abyss.
=> 180th Knight of Aquarius in the Order of the Red Abyss.

I would be the 179th Seer of Leo in the Order of the Yellow Geolitheus. xD


And I also included a chart of classifications for Gaian Elves who are training for battle because I found really messy notes on it and needed to get it down before I lose them!
Most of the Elves I made so far as Corpusir/Scriptir types who use both symbols and body movements in order to channel magic, so they actually fall into the eclectic class of Nullir elves.

It will probably be a LOOOOOOONG while before I will be able to properly work on this project in any significant way, so I thought I may as well toss some basic info up to show that I've been working on it for some time. lol

Thanks for reading. XD I hope I didn't hurt your brains.

Also, goes without saying, but don't steal my ideas. lol