Par'tha Expanse - Sector Calendar
| Memory 118 |
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| Memory 118 Guide • Full Index • A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
| Par'tha Society |
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When dealing with the outside galaxy, the Caraadians use the standards of the rest of the galaxy. However, in domestic affairs, the Tanith calendar (established by Kaen Tan in 5412) is still in common use. There are 60 minutes to an hour, 24 hours to a day, 5 days to a week, 7 weeks to a month, and ten months to a year. To round out the 368-day year, there are three festival weeks and three one-day holidays.
Local Seasons and Holidays
The Par'tha Expanse has its share of holidays and festivals commemorating key historical events and common cultural traditions. The major sector-wide holidays are described below.
In addition to these holidays, the Freeworlds Region and each noble house have festivals unique to their worlds - most honoring domestic heroes and famous historical figures. The major holiday unique to the Freeworlds Region is Independence Week (Relada 10th through 15th) which commemorates its breaking away from the Expanse.
- Tan Day. Tan Day celebrates the birthday of Kaen Tan. There are large parades and elaborate public feasts on most worlds in the sector.
- Expansion Week. Expansion Week consists of five days of celebration commemorating the settlement of the Par'tha Expanse. The holovids feature special programming, and cultural festivals are common in urban centers.
- Productivity Day. The work ethic is strong in the Par'tha Expanse, and Productivity Day is a holiday celebrating hard work and past generations who helped make the sector what it is today.
- Laelath Week. Laelath Week was a Senali holiday which celebrated commerce and family (the two concepts were not far separated in the Senali mind). Traditionally, celebrants exchange gifts, and make new alliances and trade arrangements, and spend time with their families. The holiday gradually spread into the Caraadian population of the Par'tha Expanse, and has changed somewhat in the cultural transition. Most Caraadians ignore the trade aspect of the festival and go on vacation. Many businesses, however, focus on this fact and use the holiday week to bring in the profits from tourists. A few companies still use the time to broker new deals with their trading partners.
- Harvest Day. Harvest Day is an ancient holiday brought to the sector by the original settlers. Presumably it once commemorated the harvesting of crops, but no one knows for sure. Most people now simply regard it as a welcome chance to take a day off work.
- Winter Feast. This holiday originated on the initial Gorin settlement, and marks the local winter equinox. When the settlers began to spread to other worlds, the holiday was kept regardless of the subject world's seasonal variations.
The Capital Season
The capital season is a social season unique to the upper crust of the Expanse. During the capital season, which runs from Expansion Week to Laelath Week, many of the nobility descend on Oscion to wine and dine, spy and intrigue, and take pleasure jaunts to Yrocyn and the other resort planets in the sector.
Being seen on Oscion during capital season is an absolute must for nobles interested in maintaining reputations as movers and shakers. Avoiding capital season marks a noble as a social pariah and can have a big negative impact on his status among his peers. Occasionally, those who had business outside the sector could be excused for a season or two, but since the Caraadians had severed ties with races outside the sector, this is no longer a valid claim. Attending to business elsewhere within the sector seldom cuts it as an excuse; during capital season, sector business comes to Oscion.
During the season, Oscion's finer resorts, restaurants, and entertainment centers are overflowing with wealthy tourists and nobles. Visitors to the planet without good political connections will find it extremely difficult to get lodgings in the finer Oscion resorts and hotels.