The Continuous Calendar proposes the following structure, derived from the existing natural rhythms of the world and therefore requiring no artificial memorization of invented conventions:
The Year: One year shall consist of thirteen months of twenty-eight days each, plus one additional day at the year's end which shall belong to no month and be designated the Still Day. This produces a year of three hundred and sixty-five days, consistent with the observable solar cycle and requiring no adjustment, intercalation, or correction of the kind that has plagued previous calendar proposals.
[Editorial note: Previous calendar proposals referenced here include the Twelve-Month Compact of Year ~1580 CC (retroactive), which required an intercalary month every four years and was abandoned after thirty years when three regions intercalated in different years, and the Thessavar Regional Calendar, which used thirty-day months and simply accepted that the calendar would drift from the solar year by five days annually, which it did.]
The Month: Thirteen months of twenty-eight days each divide cleanly into four weeks of seven days, producing no remainder and no partial weeks at month's end. This office considers this feature alone sufficient justification for the thirteen-month structure, as it eliminates the confusion produced by months that begin mid-week, which under current regional systems is the norm rather than the exception.
The Week: Seven days, named as follows, in order: Rootday, Ironday, Wayday, Ashday, Greenday, Duskday, Stillday. These names have been selected from among the most widely used day-names across imperial territories, with preference given to names with existing broad recognition. Rootday as the rest day and Greenday as the market day reflect practices already followed by the majority of settlements within imperial borders, minimizing disruption to existing commercial and social rhythms.
The Month Names: The thirteen months shall be named as follows: Rootwake, Greenrise, the Long Rain, Brightmonth, Highsun, the Amber Turn, Harvestend, Ashmonth, the Dimming, Ironmonth, the Deep Cold, Stillwater, and the Waking. These names are drawn from the existing naming traditions of the various regions and have been selected for their broad recognition and their correspondence to the natural characteristics of their respective seasons. This office acknowledges that some regions will find some names unfamiliar. It submits that mild unfamiliarity is preferable to the current system, in which every region finds every other region's system entirely uninterpretable.
