Casporan Calendar & Series Timeline

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CALENDAR

The world of the Eternal Library Series uses a different calendar than the one we’re used to. Specifically, they rely on a lunar calendar based in moon cycles rather than months. In real life, our lunar calendar does not line up exactly with the solar year, and reconciling the two can involve some pretty intense math. I’ve also limited it to twelve moon cycles rather than thirteen, which means one year on Casporan Earth is 336 days instead of 365. For the sake of my brain, the Earth of the ELS has a solar and lunar calendar that match up exactly, haha. Or something. Don’t think about it too hard.

Different areas of the world have different names for their moon cycles, as they’re largely based on regional climate and ecology. I imagine the modern global economy gets around this by referring to them by number (ex. First Moon, Second Moon, Third Moon) where necessary. Or maybe the calendars of certain world powers are more prevalent, but Caspora is one of those smaller places off doing its own thing. I’ve left this vague on purpose, again so I don’t have to think too hard about it, and so I can make up whatever is convenient as the series and world expand, without limiting myself by past explanations.

The lunar calendar on Casporan Earth begins with what we’d consider March, so their New Year celebration is aligned with the coming of spring in the northern hemisphere. Casporan moon names are inspired by the climate and ecology of the Pacific Northwest, which the fictional country is heavily based on (Caspora City being roughly the equivalent of Seattle, and Mount Cinaed equivalent to Tahoma, also known by its colonizer name Mount Rainier). I lived in Seattle from 2016 through 2019 and fell in love with the place. I’d be there still if my partner didn’t need to be in Los Angeles for work!

Each Casporan moon has 28 days—on our Earth, moon cycles are technically a little longer at 29.5 days, but again I’ve simplified things. Each moon cycle consists of four weeks, with major phase days marking the start of each one, the equivalent of Sundays. The first day of each moon cycle is the New Moon, followed by the First Quarter, Full Moon, and Third Quarter.

The days of the week do not currently have names because I have not thought of them. At this point I don’t know if I will, because it’d be weird for them to suddenly show up after avoiding the subject for two entire books. Oh well! Trust me when I say that they do have names for the days of the week, I just don’t know what they are, haha. Here are the moons/months of the year, along with some major holidays and major characters’ birthdays:

Cloud Moon (March)
New Year’s Day
Tabby’s birthday
Spring Equinox

Sprout Moon (April)

Bluebell Moon (May)
Siobhan’s birthday

Honey Moon (June)
June’s birthday
Summer Solstice

Blackberry Moon (July)

Lavender Moon (August)

Fish Moon (September)
Rhiannon’s birthday
Fall Equinox

Spider Moon (October)
Inyene’s birthday

Cedar Moon (November)
Aeronwy’s birthday

Fir Moon (December)
Amane’s birthday
Winter Solstice

Wet Moon (January)

Opal Moon (February)
Mairead’s birthday
New Year’s Eve

MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS AFTER THIS LINE, DO NOT GO FURTHER IF YOU HAVEN’T READ BOTH BOOKS AND DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED!!!!!!

SERIES TIMELINE

Casporan years are roughly equivalent to the real life Gregorian calendar once you subtract 2000. For example, The Thread That Binds starts in Casporan year 4018, which is more or less equivalent to 2018 in our universe. This is because like us, they use Common Era (CE) and Before Common Era (BCE) for years, but the split is marked 2000 years earlier.

In other words, Year 0 in Caspora is the real life equivalent of 2000 BCE. This is the year that the first Flamekeepers came into existence, marking the beginning of the Cinaedite calendar that continues to be in use in Caspora today.

OVERALL LARGE EVENTS

  • circa 0 - First Six Flamekeepers receive Flames

  • circa 3000 - Eternal Library is founded, Charter Book and art of Illumination created

  • circa 3500 - Reclamation period, "The Founding" is written by Calliope Everberry over top of the Charter Book to hide it

  • circa 3750 - Caspora overthrows Scriptivist theocracy and becomes a socialist democracy

  • 3968 - 7.9 earthquake hits Caspora City

  • 3978 - The Tale That Twines starts

  • 3981 - The Tale That Twines ends, The Flame That Sings starts

  • 3986 - The big fire, Rose becomes Head Librarian

  • 3987 - The Flame That Sings ends

  • 4018 - The Thread That Binds starts

  • 4019 - Aeronwy becomes Head Librarian

  • 4020 - The Thread That Binds ends (after time skip)

  • 4022 - (probable start of book 4, The Book That Dreams)

Here is a rough visual timeline I drew up of the same major events, plus a few others:

(Note: the older cast’s birthdays are RIGHT before the start of this timeline; I ran out of space. June, Inyene, and Siobhan were born in 3954, Mairead was born in 3955, and Aeronwy was born in 3956.)

INDIVIDUAL BOOK EVENTS

I'll be honest, I keep the exact timelines of these books somewhat vague on purpose to make my life easier. The Thread That Binds covers approximately a year not counting the time skip in the last chapter. The Tale That Twines covers about ten months, then the two year interlude, then another six months in time. They tend to mention what month/moon/season it is to indicate time passing, with vague mentions of how many days and weeks it's been.

With the exception of the dates on June's journal entries and recovered memories, of course. The entries don't always correspond to the exact date(s) of the scene(s) in the chapter they begin with, but the entries are always OLDER than the scenes, at least. By which I mean everything is chronological, more or less. Kind of has to be when you're telling a story in first person present tense.

Anyway, here they are by book. I've put The Tale That Twines first since it happens first chronologically:

THE TALE THAT TWINES (Book 2)

  • 3959

    • Honey Moon 16 - June's first trip to Turquoise Lake, meets Siobhan

  • 3966

    • Honey Moon 16 - Turquoise Lake trip where June gets bullied & Siobhan beats the other kid up

  • 3967

    • Wet Moon - Critique circle for June's fanfic

    • Opal Moon - June & co visit the Library for art books, draws fanart that eventually gets published with fic

  • 3968

    • Honey Moon - the big earthquake, Neirin cremates Hazel

    • Blackberry Moon - June and Valerian move to Fenia

  • 3977

    • Opal Moon - June moves back to Caspora

  • 3978

    • Cloud Moon - June's Charter Oath and Binding ceremony, reunion with Siobhan, rescues Mischief, first night with Opal, meets Aeronwy, Library tour, first deep dive meditation (Chapters 1-5)

    • Sprout Moon - Visiting Siobhan/Caoimhe at Temple, watching Planet of Honey (Chapters 5-6)

    • Honey Moon - Turquoise Lake trip, Rose's kids, hanging out with Aeronwy in Bindery (Chapter 7-8)

    • Blackberry Moon - Memory retrieval with Inyene (Chapter 9)

    • Lavender Moon - Talking to PoH book with Opal (Chapter 10)

    • Fish Moon - Memory retrieval with Aeronwy, letter from Val, THE SONGS WE SING movie premiere, Mairead's house (Chapter 11-13)

    • Spider Moon - Earthquake memory retrieval with Opal, comfort from friends (Chapter 14)

    • Cedar Moon - Temple duties and hard chats with Siobhan (Chapter 15)

    • Fir Moon - Winter Solstice party (Chapter 16)

    • Wet Moon - Observatory visit with Opal and Conall, Bindery work, failed deep dive meditation (Chapter 17)

    • Opal Moon - Interlude starts

  • 3980

    • Opal Moon - Interlude ends

  • 3981

    • Cloud Moon - June finishes stitching The Thread That Binds, celebrates with coworkers, failed Thread twining (Chapters 18-19)

    • Sprout Moon - Convention, portfolio review with Rose (Chapters 20-21)

    • Bluebell Moon - Dance lessons start, Siobhan's birthday at the (Chapters 21-22) children's hospital

    • Honey Moon - More dance lessons, psychic testing for Aeronwy, workshop and argument with Mairead, tea with Inyene, Siobhan, Opal (Chapters 23-24)

    • Blackberry Moon - Turquoise Lake trip, Aeronwy's Flamekeeping, letting go (Chapter 25)

    • Lavender Moon - Successful Thread Twining, talk with Hazel's spirit, feelings confession with Aeronwy, gala, memorial, festival shopping (Chapters 26-28)

    • Fish Moon - Aeronwy's interview (Chapter 29)

[THE FLAME THAT SINGS (Book 3) will pick up here from 3981-3986]

THE THREAD THAT BINDS (Book 1)

  • 4018 - PART ONE

    • Honey Moon - Psychic testing, Rhiannon's promotion, apprenticeship interviews, Amane and Rhiannon meet, Amane's possession, the trio have awkward lunch, the amethyst room (Chapters 1-6)

    • Blackberry Moon - Rose's funeral (Chapter 7)

    • Lavender Moon - Invitation to the Bindery/apprenticeship announcement (Chapter 9)

  • PART TWO

    • Fish Moon - Tabby and Amane's Charter Oath and Binding ceremonies, Rhiannon scrying memories, Rhee and Amane shopping, Inyene and Aeronwy, lessons with June, Amane talks about dreams with Tabby, chat with Amane's sister (Chapters 10-12)

    • Spider Moon - Tabby's parents visit, choosing a book with Aeronwy, Rhee figures out where The Founding is, Rhys Elkspinner, reading On Flamekeeping, Amane/Tabby/June/Aery hike to standing stone circle, oracle reading for Aeronwy (Chapters 13-15)

    • Cedar Moon - Trouble with Tabby's parents splitting, June/Aery/Tabby dancing in the Bindery, Red Robes dream, Amane/Aeronwy birthday party in the Bindery, Rhiannon steals The Founding, Head Librarian candidate announcement (Chapters 16-18)

  • PART THREE

    • Fir Moon - n/a

    • Wet Moon - Journey to Tabby's heartscape garden, Aeronwy puts out fire; National History Museum exhibit/it's a palimpsest; inventory in the Bindery storeroom/Amane and Tabby flirting; Rhee & Amane explore Archives, Amane gets possessed by Calliope (Chapters 19-21)

    • Opal Moon - Dinner at Aeronwy & June's house; scanning The Founding and figuring out it really is the Charter Book; Amane & Tabby get stuck in elevator, go on astral journey, almost kiss; Rhee confesses to stealing The Founding and reveals extent of problems to others; aftermath of that (Chapters 22-27)

  • 4019 - PART FOUR

    • Cloud Moon - Cord cutting with Aeronwy and June in Tabby's heartscape garden; Rhee and Tabby make up; Rhee visits Camille and finds the shadowbox; Rose saves Amane from possession, apprentices can come to Trials (Chapters 28-30)

    • Sprout Moon - Tabby stands up to parents; Rhee and Aeronwy sneak into Temple to steal cursed shadowboxes (Chapters 31-32)

    • Bluebell Moon - n/a

  • 4019

    • Honey Moon - Head Librarian Trials, Mairead being fired (Chapters 33-35)

    • Blackberry Moon - Visit to Rhee’s parents’ house (Chapter 35)

  • 4020

    • Honey Moon - Time skip, lunch and update, ending (Chapter 36)