Calendar

Vouza has two moons. The larger and brighter moon is called Arsata and has a period of 30 days. The smaller, dimmer moon is called Saopeo and has a period of 18 days.

A year is 360 days long and therefore contains 12 lunations. These are given names:

1. Maidens' Moon
2. Dragons' Moon
3. Blossoms' Moon
4. Foxes' Moon
5. Archers' Moon
6. Lovers' Moon
7. Altars' Moon
8. Ravens' Moon
9. Chisels' Moon
10. Harvest Moon
11. Mourners' Moon
12. Hearths' Moon

Years are numbered since the Collapse, e.g. 529 AC.

Festivals

There are five festivals that are recognized as globally important:

Sunreturn (1/1 - 1/15)

The final eight days of Hearths' Moon are considered inauspicious and dangerous, a time when demons and evil spirits are at the peak of their power. However, immediately after, the first fifteen days of Maidens' Moon are considered a joyous time and are set aside for feasting, family reunions, and gift-giving. Friendly contests of skill are common. Common symbols used during the festival are the branches of redwood trees, carved jasper stones, and images of griffons.

Lovers' Festival (3/30)

Celebrated on the final day of Blossoms' Moon, this day is both a time for people to celebrate their lovers by trading private gifts and songs with each other, but also an auspicious date for families to arrange marriages between their children. Most villages and towns have a public feast at dusk where new couples can announce their engagement. The feasts traditionally feature tomatoes and rabbit.

Glider Festival (5/5)

On the fifth day of Archers' Moon, the legacy of the Ancients is honored in the form of glider races. People eat flatbread-wrapped beans and (children especially) compete in mock archery duels. Blue and yellow and imagery of doves are symbols commonly associated with this festival. At the end of the festival, offerings of food and drink are given to the spirits.

Tomb Festival (7/15)

Celebrated from dawn on the fifteenth of Altars' Moon to dusk on the sixteenth. During this time, people are expected to fast, eating only cherries, and tend to the tombs of their ancestors, cleaning, repairing, and re-painting them. They also make offerings of food, drink, and incense. If you are rich, you will leave offerings of carnations and sapphires at the tombs; if you are not, you will burn images of those things. People who have traveled far from their ancestral tombs often tend to a local shrine instead.

Harvest Festival (10/15)

Celebrated from dusk on the fifteenth day of Harvest Moon to dusk on the sixteenth, it is a time to give thanks to the spirits for the harvest and one of the most important festivals of the year. Dances and parades are held to praise the spirits, and the people make delicious pastries and confections from the bounty of the harvest. A large bonfire is also traditional.