The World of Mi-halar
Mi-halar [ MEE-h-eye-lahr ] is the name of the world on which all events in The Psalms of Fire and Fury and other upcoming series take place. There are five continents on Mi-halar: Victarius (featured in The Psalms of Fire and Fury), Exelind’ar (historically mentioned in TPoFaF and featured in upcoming prequels to PoFaF, including Project Wings), Doshgei’ghe (a part of Project Wings’ story), Iseki (also a part of PW), Tajari, and the Arctic continent known most commonly as The Arctic.
Calendar
The world of Mi-halar, as a general whole, follows a Lunation Calendar divided into twelve moon phases.
The moon completes one full cycle every 30 days (or dates/da’es depending on one's accent and preferred linguistic style).
Each moon cycle was determined to be a “fresh start” for the people, thus beginning the creation of the calendar for time telling and tracking of stars and the moon. The indication of each new phase was the sighting of the new moon. Some phases, however, would be 29 days instead of 30 depending on the cycle of the moon and the lunation calendar would be updated throughout the seasons to reflect the moons changes accurately.
Each day is 24 hours in length and seven days make up a knot (i.e., week). To mark the passage of time long ago, before modern calendars, simple sailing ropes or scraps of fabric were used to count the passage of each day. This method was believed to have been developed by sailors who had no accurate way to determine dates other than by observing the rising and setting of the sun and moon. At each rising of the moon, a small slit was cut in the rope or fabric, and after seven (a number chosen due to its believed good fortune by those who studied numerology) moon rises, those slits were tied into a knot to indicate the passing of time.
In instances where continents, kingdoms, or specific cultures follow different forms of timekeeping, author notes and appendices will be added to the content for reader clarity.
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The twelve phases on the Victarius Lunar calendar that make up each epoch (year) are below inn chronological order:
Scholus
Atonian
Vernius
Aquius
Sprit
Solius
Jilay
Lotian
Autumnia
Tember
Pyria
Delova
One hundred epochs would form a century, and one thousand would form an age
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As the Conquerors who claimed The Great Continent and renamed it Victarius hailed from Exelind’ar, their Lunar calendars are very similiar, however, due to The Old Gods of Three being a religion not widely honored or known on Exelin’dar (a kingdom that believed Dragons were their true gods before Purists began influencing the kingdoms leaders), their calendar does not have moon cycles named after those gods.
The Continent of Victarius
Once a land of freedom and innovation, Victarius was known in the past by many names, such as Dariniai to those sailing and flying in from Exelind’ar, Azerith from those traveling from Tajari, and other names throughout history that often translated to various forms of unclaimed, free, and open. Others simply called it The Great Continent.
The lands of Victarius were once a haven for travelers, refugees, and settlers, flourishing in peace and borderless prosperity. This era ended when the four golden-eyed bastard children of King Alvarian, denied legitimacy and titles in their homeland of Exelind’ar, crossed the ocean with stolen dragons and armies to claim the continent as their own.
Instead of staying in their homeland and fighting for their right to rule their own lands, the four golden-eyed children gathered their army and stole many of their country's dragons. They crossed the long and foreboding ocean to the Great Continent, flew over the Shattered Steppes and past the Unclaimed Lands, and took from others what they denied, believing their rule over the lands would bring it into a greater age.
Only the Isles of Aishar were unable to be conquered during their battles.
The remaining written records of this time dispute how long the Alvarian conquerors were on the land before declaring war on its people in their fight to rule. It is commonly believed that they spared no moments in claiming their power and using their dragons for conquest. It is also just as commonly believed that they attempted diplomacy for an extended length of time before determining they had no choice but to force their rule. What occurred during these epochs, like many tales, has been lost.
Upon victory, the Continent was renamed to Victarius after Glenolyn’s golden dragon, the largest and mightiest of all who led them to their victory. The land was split into four countries for the siblings to rule over, the borders being drawn where their dragons laid their claim, with the Isles of Aishar remaining its own after proving itself unconquerable.
It is believed that after the war was won, the dragons that survived the battles split across the lands and now lie beneath the lands and mountains, waiting for their time to reign again.
The heat of summer in 390 AC (After Conquest) brought with it the beginnings of the Great Civil War. Several leaders, most prominently the entirety of Craigie, desired to declare themselves independent from the kingdom they believed had tarnished their once free lands, despite the innovation and evolution their civilization found after rebuilding from the Alvarian Conquest.
The fifteen epochs (i.e. years) of war burned through the kingdom, leading to the destruction of entire cities and monuments, a great plague, and famine caused by lost farmlands and stolen or tarnished food reserves. The countries found themselves on the absolute brink of destruction as allyships crumbled and diseases and starvation tore through armies and cities, bringing about a desperate treaty and plea for peace.
That peace was found, but not before more bloodshed changed the lands and the skies.
When every star fell from the sky on The Darkest Night and blood replaced all of the water in the Land of a Thousand Rivers, the Great Civil War had ended, and a new age began with new landlines drawn and noble families named.
The Great Civil War was instrumental to the Isles of Aishar as well. Their independence was lost during the war as they joined the continent’s fighting, attempting to bring an end to what was occurring, knowing that the destruction of the continent would end their prosperous country as well. However, while they became one of the Six Kingdoms of Victarius, they kept all else of their history, culture, and anger.