In Kaen, each city and many places in the country have at least one local god, whose priesthood serves as one of the two branches of government (the other being the military and civil power of the tirgans). There is, at least in theory, a higher rank of national gods, and an upper echelon of universal gods, although their actual existence has been disputed by a significant minority of Kaenish heresiarchs.
In the Wardlands at least three gods, or three aspects of one god, are worshipped: the Creator, the Sustainer, and the Avenger (“Creator, Keeper, and King”).
The dwarves of the Wardlands evidently assent to these beliefs. (At any rate, they have been known to swear by these deities.) But they have another, perhaps older, belief in immortal ancestor spirits who watch the world and judge it from beyond the western edge of the world. The spirits of the virtuous dead collect in the west through the day and night and pass through at the moment of dawn, when the sun enters the world and the gate in the west is opened. Spirits of the evil dead, or spirits that have been bound in some way, may not pass through the gate in the west. Hence, dwarves each day (at sunrise, or when they awake) praise the rising of the sun and the passage of the good ghosts to Those-Who-Watch in the west.
Appendix C
Calendar and Astronomy
1. Astronomical Remarks
The sky of Laent has three moons: Chariot, Horseman, and Trumpeter (in descending order of size).
The year has 375 days. The months are marked by the rising or setting of the second moon, Horseman. So that (in the year The Wide World’s End begins) Horseman rises on the first day of Bayring, the penultimate month. It sets on the first of Borderer, the last month. It rises very early in the morning on the first day of Cymbals, the first month of the new year. The other two moons set simultaneously on this occasion. (The number of months are uneven—fifteen—so that Horseman rises or sets on the first morning of the year in alternating years.)
The period of Chariot (the largest moon, whose rising and setting marks the seasons) is 187.5 days. (So a season is 93.75 days.)
The period of Horseman is fifty days.
The period of Trumpeter is fifteen days. A half-cycle of Trumpeter is a “call.” Calls are either “bright” or “dark” depending on whether Trumpeter is aloft or not. (Usage: “He doesn’t expect to be back until next bright call.”)
The seasons are not irregular, as on Earth. But the moons’ motion is not uniform through the sky: motion is faster near the horizons, slowest at zenith. Astronomical objects are brighter in the west, dimmer in the east.
The three moons and the sun rise in the west and set in the east. The stars have a different motion entirely, rotating NWSE around a celestial pole. The pole points at a different constellation among a group of seven (the polar constellations) each year. (Hence, a different group of nonpolar constellations is visible near the horizons each year.) This seven-year cycle (the Ring) is the basis for dating, with individual years within it named for their particular polar constellations.
The polar constellations are the Reaper, the Ship, the Hunter, the Door, the Kneeling Man, the River, and the Wolf.
There is an intrapolar constellation, the Hands, within the space inscribed by the motion of the pole.
This calendar was first developed in the Wardlands, and then it spread to the unguarded lands by exiles. In the Wardlands, years are dated from the founding of New Moorhope, the center of learning. The action of The Wide World’s End begins in the 407th Ring, Moorhope year 3242, the Year of the Hunter.
2. The Years of The Wide World’s End
407th Ring, 2843 N.M.: Year of the Door
1. Cymbals.
New Year. Winter begins.
1st: Chariot & Trumpeter set. Horseman rises.
8th & 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
2. Jaric.
1st: Horseman sets. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
3. Brenting.
1st: Horseman rises. 3rd & 18th: Trumpeter rises.
4. Drums.
1st: Horseman sets. 8th & 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
Midnight of 94th day of the year (19 Drums):
Chariot rises. Spring begins.
5. Rain.
1st: Horseman rises. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
6. Marrying.
1st: Horseman sets. 3rd & 18th: Trumpeter rises.
7. Ambrose.
1st: Horseman rises. 8th and 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
8. Harps.
1st: Horseman sets.13th: Trumpeter rises.
Evening of the 188th day of year (19 Harps):
Chariot sets; Midyear—Summer begins.
9. Tohrt.
1st: Horseman rises. 3rd & 18th: Trumpeter rises.
10. Remembering.
1st: Horseman sets. 8th & 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
11. Victory.
1st: Horseman rises.13th: Trumpeter rises.
12. Harvesting.
1st: Horseman sets. 3rd & 18th: Trumpeter rises.
6th: Chariot rises, noon of 281st day of year. Fall begins.
13. Mother and Maiden.
1st: Horseman rises. 8th & 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
14. Bayring.
1st: Horseman sets. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
15. Borderer.
1st: Horseman rises. 3rd & 18th: Trumpeter rises.
407th Ring, 2848 N.M.: Year of the Kneeling Man
1. Cymbals.
New Year. Winter begins.
1st: Chariot, Horseman & Trumpeter all set.
8th & 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
2. Jaric.
1st: Horseman rises. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
3. Brenting.
1st: Horseman sets. 3rd & 18th: Trumpeter rises.
4. Drums.
1st: Horseman rises. 8th & 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
Midnight of 94th day of the year (19 Drums):
Chariot rises. Spring begins.
5. Rain.
1st: Horseman sets. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
6. Marrying.
1st: Horseman rises. 3rd & 18th: Trumpeter rises.
7. Ambrose.
1st: Horseman sets. 8th and 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
8. Harps.
1st: Horseman rises.13th: Trumpeter rises.
Evening of the 188th day of year (19 Harps):
Chariot sets; Midyear—Summer begins.
9. Tohrt.
1st: Horseman sets. 3rd & 18th: Trumpeter rises.
10. Remembering.
1st: Horseman rises. 8th & 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
11. Victory.
1st: Horseman sets.13th: Trumpeter rises.
12. Harvesting.
1st: Horseman rises. 3rd & 18th: Trumpeter rises.
6th: Chariot rises, noon of 281st day of year. Fall begins.
13. Mother and Maiden.
1st: Horseman sets. 8th & 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
14. Bayring.
1st: Horseman rises. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
15. Borderer.
1st: Horseman sets. 3rd & 18th: Trumpeter rises.
Appendix D