Time in Tel-Avi

Time in the world of Tel-Avi is tracked according to the rotation of the Three Suns around the Plane of Earth, as they make their yearly trek through the celestial spheres.

The rising and setting of the Three Suns mark off the days. With each day being broken down into fourty-two hours, according to the Great Number, as laid out by the Cyfandiri Astrologer, Pietro Van Hubletel.

To those people unable to afford expensive time-pieces, the days are more often broken out into ten watches. Each watch consists of a span of approximately 4 hours as the astrologers recon time, and are as follows:

False Dawn: from the first appearance of Coprenius on the Southern horizon until the rising of the Twin Suns.
First Dawn: from the rising of the Twin Suns to the rising of Coprenius.
High Dawn: from the rising of Coprenius until the Twin Suns reach their conjoined zenith.
Zenith: from the Twin Suns reaching zenith, until Coprenius reaches its zenith.
The Burning: from Coprenius zenith, until Alero begins it’s recession in the east.
The Separation: from the beginning of Alero‘s recession to the beginning of Remi’s recession in the west.
The Cooling: from the beginning of the division of the Twin Suns, until Alero sets in the east.
First Dusk: from Alero‘s setting in the east, until Remi’s setting in the west.
True Dusk: from the setting of the Twin Suns, until Coprenius once again disappears below the southern horizon.
The Dark Night: from the setting to the rising of Coprenius.

Most people operate according to the Cyfandiri Caldendar, for the astrologers of Gaeldoch are seen as the greatest in the world. The Cyfandiri Calendar recognizes 28224 days in an Age. With each Age consisting of 42 years of 672 days each, subdivided into 42 months, according to the Great Number, with each month subdivided into 4 weeks, each 4 days long.

It is not uncommon for a person to be asked their "Age", to which it is appropriate to respond by eighths. That is to say, a child between 0 years and 5 years and 42 weeks of growth would say they are one-eighth of an Age, while a man of 84 years would say they are two Ages.



Three Suns

The world has three major celestial bodies to provide light during the day.

The Twin Suns
These two bodies share very close celestial spheres, or so it has been theorized. The Twin Suns are named Alero and Remi, some say after the two great cities that face each other across the Strait of Retep, though others insist that the twin cities were named for the suns. Regardless of what was named for what, these two great balls of white light rise together every morning in the northern sky, directly opposite their counterpart, Coprenius.

The Twin Suns trace elliptical orbits across the sky, both rising, as if they were a single great sphere, at the point that the astrologers deem the northern post of the world. Remi and Alero diverge as they climb their way up the sky, but again appear to conjoin as a single blazing-white sun when they reach their zenith above the Axis Mundi at mid-day. From there they diverge again, Alero taking the eastern path and Remi the west, until they both disappear below opposing horizons, only to be reunited again the following dawn.

Coprenius, The Southern Sun
The massive red Southern Sun, traces a strange route through the sky, rising at the southern post of the world, rising up in ever decreasing spirals towards the peak of the sky until it reaches it’s zenith above the Axis Mundi at mid-day, then retracing it’s path to set at the same point in the south.




Regarding Conversions

Because of the extended length of the days and the long passage of years in Tel-Avi, visitors from Earth (if such ever occurred) are often confused. For earthlings, the simplest, though not necessarily accurate, calculation is to figure that one Tel-Avi year equals three and one third Earth years.

Despite other differences in time calculation in Tel-Avi, similarities in time-keeping technology result in Earth and Tel-Avi hours being almost identical in length.