The Empire utilizes the Weston Calendar. It is used in the Dominion as well.

1st month:  VERAL.  This month, named after Veralaan the founder, has 28 or 29 days.  Histor­i­cally, there are more weddings during the month of Veral than during any other month; it’s consid­ered auspi­cious.  VERAL is the first month of spring.  Although the Hunter Lords do not realize the signif­i­cance of the named month, it is during VERAL that the Sacred Hunt occurs.  The first day of the month is the Spring Equinox.  

2nd Month:  FABRIL.  28 days.  Named after the first of the maker­born to grace the pre-salva­tion Empire with his arti­facts and knowl­edge.  Died a martyr to the league of Wizards (which later became the Hand, or the Dark Hand as it was more collo­qui­ally called), which is why he has earned a place in the folk­lore.  The sword of Fabril rests upon the hip of the Justice-born King — for of the items Fabril fash­ioned, only two survived (extant; Verasal­lion has a couple as well) — and the rod is at the side of the Wisdom-born King.  Both items demand their due.

3rd Month:  MOREL.  28 days.  Named after the legendary (this is this world’s version of Arthur) hero who rode into the dark­ness of Allasakar at a time when the Gods walked the world.  The actual name, rendered in Essalieyanese is Moorelas; the Old Weston is Morrel, some­times Moirel.  What­ever his name, he rode three times against the God; the third time, he did not return — but the strong­hold of Allasakar was discov­ered and breached.

4th Month:  LATTAN. 28 days.  Begin­ning of the 2nd week is the Summer Solstice — and the opening cere­monies of the King’s Chal­lenge.  Lattan is the old Weston word for High Summer (Weston is the language at the base of Essalieyanese).  Orig­i­nally, Lattan was a specific time — the Summer Solstice; it was one of two points during the year in which new and old worlds inter­sected; they still inter­sect so now, for those who will NOT walk the Oracle’s path.  Contem­po­rary usage has lost all meaning of the more signif­i­cant event.

5th Month:  SERIL.  28 days.  

6th Month:  EMPERAL.  28 days.  This is actu­ally the Old Weston name of the month; it is not clear that it was meant to refer to the King or the Emperor of one of the Weston states, although that is clearly the tone of the word.  The 10 days of The Gath­ering, and the coro­na­tion (if there is to be one) take place on the 15th to the 24th of EMPERAL.  If not, Advent is cele­brated here, on the morn of the 28th — as the kings rise at last to the throne they were born to.

7th Month:  WITTAN.  28 days.  The begin­ning of the third week is the Autumnal Equinox.  There are many festi­vals during the month of WITTAN, but most of these are observed by followers of the mother in Aver­alaan itself.  Outside of Aver­alaan, WITTAN is prob­ably the most cele­brated month in the year — it’s the month of the harvest., with all that that signi­fies.  This is the second most popular time of the year for marriages, although this is mostly in the outlying regions; If the Kings tour (at one point it was part of cere­mony), it will be at the very begin­ning of WITTAN, after the Advent.  *If* this is the year of a coro­na­tion, the Kings *will* tour, with their queens; that part of tradi­tion has not, and will not, be erad­i­cated.  Root of the word is unclear.

8th Month:  AERAL.  28 days.  Root of this word is heavily debated.  *Heavily* debated (scholars do this sort of thing and enjoy it, and no one else cares one way or the other, so as long as the scholar is spon­sored they can do as the please).  The word is not Old Weston, although it takes a Weston form.  The proferred expla­na­tion that is given the widest credence is that the word comes from the title Aeiria, which would be one of the titles given to the Queen of the Hidden Court.  Since no scholar in his right mind believes in the hidden court, debate continues.

9th Month:  MARAN.  28 days.  

10th Month:  SCARAL:  28 days.  The begin­ning of the 4th week is the Winter Solstice.  This is named, as in LATTAN, after the Old Weston word, SCARRAN, which refers to the darkest point of inter­sec­tion between the old/new worlds.  Again, the conjunc­tion occurs for those who know how to invoke its use; the line between the old and the new breaks at this point — but perhaps to a more dangerous locale.  

11th Month:  MISTERAL.  28 days.

12th Month:  CORVIL.  28 days.

13th Month:  HENDEN:  28 days.  The origins of this month are argued vocif­er­ously among members of the Order of Knowl­edge.  One side says that it is the modern­ized version of Horenden, Old Weston for Hand — the symbol of the League of Wizards; the other side claims that it is actu­ally a southern term, meaning “the thing that is hidden but on the verge of step­ping out”.  During this month, the more cere­mo­nial among the Essalieyanese (which does not include most merchants) begin the Aver­alaan version of Lent.  In the first week, they do not partake in any of the more tradi­tional forms of enter­tain­ment; in the second, they do not wear certain colours, in the third, they do not eat certain foods.  Then, there is one day of respite (the Moth­ersday) before they launch into the Six Dark Days.