D&D Setting Purge, pt.1: Timekeeping
I had a lot of worldbuilding ideas floating around from when I ran D&D more often, this is going to be the first of me purging that file so I can do other stuff.
The standard Gnome calendar has 365.25 days, separated into 12 months composed of three ten-day weeks. The remaining 5 days are independent holidays and are not part of a month. Every 4 years, a special leap year holiday, Confluence, is celebrated.
Each season in the Gnomish calendar is associated with one of the classical elements: spring is air, summer is fire, fall is earth, and winter is water. The days of the week are named for D&D's dragons and are as follows: Golday, Stormdusk, Bronzedawn, Jadenight, Copperdawn, Cottondusk, SIlvermorn, Coalnight, Fireday, Redusk
The 6 special holidays are as follows:
Firstday: Gnomish new years, celebrated at the end of winter and beginning of the spring season.
Whistlepig: A festival to celebrate spring, Whistlepig festivities include a council of elders convincing the titular whistlepig to leave its burrow. Methods vary from coercion, intimidation, brute force, or trickery. Most Gnomish communities keep a family of whistlepigs around for this holiday. Killing a whistlepig at any time is said to bring misfortune to entire towns.
Glittergold: a summer solstice holiday celebrating the sun aspect of the high lord of the Gnome pantheon, Garl Glittergold
Wintertide: A fall harvest festival where gifts are exchanged before the coming of winter. Also celebrated is the Feast of Wintertide, a community-wide potluck that cannot be eaten at a table.
The Light Festival: a more personal midwinter holiday, the Light Festival is a family celebration in which the home is lit brightly to banish winter darkness and summon Garl Glittergold back to the sky. Bad children are warned that kobolds will come the night of the Light Festival and steal their shoes while they sleep.
Confluence: every fourth year, Gnomes celebrate Confluence, the day when the Prime Material and the Feywild are in closest proximity. Confluence is celebrated at massive carnivals, where games are played, art is displayed, deals are struck, and of course, feasts are eaten. The most celebrated contest is the crowning of the Fey Courts, both Seely and Unseely. While Confluence is a specific day, the celebration and carnivals can sometimes be stretched up to a week.
