Overview of Cerilia

MAJOR CITIES

The lands of Cerilia were first settled by humans just over two thousand years ago and in that time, they have flourished, expanding to the far reaches of the continent and beyond.

TABLE 1.X: LARGEST CERILIAN CITIES

Name	Population
Anuire	135,000
Ariya	70,000
Ilien	70,000
Endier	50,000
Brechlen	44,000
Saarmen	41,000
Daikhar	36,000
Djafra	36,000
Mairada	35,000
Aftane	33,000
Mesire	29,000
Zikala	28,000
Kal-Saitharak	27,000
Trie	27,000
Masetium	24,000
Zhigun	23,000

CLIMATE

The climate of Cerilia can often be as diverse as the myriad of peoples who make it their home. Ranging from sweltering desert and savannah to frozen tundra and glacier, it is quite possible that Cerilia's climate is far more varied than any other continent on Aebrynis. This fact is largely due to a confluence of factors including latitude, ocean currents, and the presence of rain shadows.
While it is well known that Cerilia lies in the northern latitudes, it is hard to say exactly how far to the north it really is without knowing some things about the planet itself. In their heyday, the Masetians used mathematics to accurately calculate the size of Aebrynis and create a coordinate system dividing the world into lines of longitude and latitude. According to these ancient mathematicians, the world is approximately 8000 miles in diameter and 25,000 miles in circumference. The southern coasts of Cerilia, according to the Masetian system, sit at about 45° North, while the northern shores sit at about 60° North. This northern position causes Cerilia's weather to be quite cold. Were it not for ocean currents, the weather in Khinasi and Anuire would closely resemble the frigid lands of Rjurik and Brechtür.
The prevailing winds in Aebrynis' northern hemisphere blow from the west. These winds blow through the Miere Rhuann (the Sea of Storms) and cover western Cerilia in rainy weather all year round. In winter, these rains become driving sleet and snow. The Seamist Mountains, despite being formidable obstacles for armies, are not tall enough to prevent these storms from reaching the heartlands of Anuire. As a result, much of Anuire receives rain all year. These rains, combined with the warmer latitudes of Anuire's location, ensure that the Anuirean Heartlands are the richest and most fertile land in Cerilia. The Rjurik

Highlands to the north of Anuire are buffeted by the same storms, but are much colder.

Southern and central Cerilia suffer from rain shadows. The Iron Peaks of the Chimaeron and the Mountains of the Silent Watch in southern Brechtür prevent the prevailing winds from carrying significant precipitation into these regions. Additionally, ocean currents carry warm equatorial water from southern Aduria to the shores of Khinasi, moderating the region's temperature. Temperatures in Khinasi are typically a full twenty to thirty degrees warmer than the rest of the continent and rarely sink below 50° F.

Eastern Khinasi tends to be much wetter than the sun drenched western half, largely due to southerly winds that circulate in the Sea of Dragons. However, a warm current flowing up through Suiriene and the other Khinasi Island States keeps the weather fairly warm.

Vosgaard's weather is the most frigid in the entire continent. An arctic pressure cell sits directly above the Thaelasian Sea, bringing northeasterly winds strait from the northern pole. These winds are funnelled by mountains into the northern end of the Rhuannadaraight (Storm's Deepening), where they often meet the warm winds of Khinasi, causing the fierce storms from which that forest takes its name.

Brechtür's weather is often wild and unpredictable due to the Krakennauricht. The Krakennauricht is a body of cold water large enough to support its own weather cell. This results in cold northerly winds blowing down the western shores of the bay, wet westerly winds blowing along the southern shores of the bay and warmer southerly winds blowing up along the eastern shores. However, in the winter, the cold Thaelasian cell that dominates Vosgaard's weather shifts south and suborns the Krakennauricht cell, resulting in arctic weather throughout out much of northern Brechtür. Though the bay keeps the area warmer than continental Vosgaard, it is cold enough to cause large parts of the Krakennauricht to freeze over, completely stopping Brecht sea contact with the rest of Cerilia.

If one wishes to compare the climates of Cerilia to those of Earth, Anuire's weather would closely resemble that of the Pacific Northwest near Vancouver and Seattle, Rjurik's would resemble Scotland and Norway, the Khinasi Plains States would resemble the north African coast, eastern Khinasi would closely resemble the Mediterranean regions of Spain and Italy, Vosgaard would resemble the northern latitudes of Alaska and Canada, while Brechtür does not have a climate comparable to any major weather system on Earth.

THE CERILIAN CALENDAR

All Cerilians follow a similar calendar,

me is measured differently depending on where in Cerilia one happens to be. The Brecht measure time by tide and moon, while the Khinasi track the passage of days, months and years by the position of the sun. The Vos generally don't care about days or months - they measure time by the naming of years, with the first snowfall after a brief summer beginning a new year.

THE BOOK OF DAYS
One of the lasting legacies of the Anuirean Empire is the standardization that it brought to the realms in its far-reaching domain. Although most regions of Cerilia still maintain a local calendar, scholars consider the Anuirean calendar to be the standard for marking the passage of time. Anuireans base their calendar on the orbit of the moon and the movement of the constellation of Haelyn, the protector. The Anuirean Book of Days defines twelve months to a year, four weeks to a month, and eight days to a week. A year has 388 days. The four annual days not part of any month have become times to celebrate and reflect. These days fall upon the vernal equinox (the Day of Rebirth), the Summer solstice (The Night of Fire, when a show of falling stars results from the annual passage through a meteor belt), the autumnal equinox (the Veneration of the Sleeping), and the winter solstice (the Eve of the Dead).
The 12 months of the Anuirean calendar begin with the Day of Rebirth, the vernal equinox. The month Sarimiere is the first of the new year, followed by Talienir, then Roelir. After Haelyn's Festival, the month of Haelynir begins. Anarire and Deismir (named for the Godswar's final battle) follow in succession, with the Veneration of the Sleeping next. Erntenir, the month of harvest, leads to Sehnir, then Emmanir, just before the Eve of the Dead. Then comes the coldest month, Keltier,

which flows into Faniele, then Pasiphiel, and again, the Day of Rebirth.

TABLE 1.X: CYCLE OF THE YEAR

Month Name	Common name
Day of Rebirth	New Year Spring Equinox
1 Sarimiere	Spring I
2 Talienir	Spring II
3 Roelir	Spring III
Night of Fire	Haelyn's Festival Summer Solstice
4 Haelynir	Summer I
5 Anarire	Summer II
6 Deismir	Summer III
Veneration of the Sleeping	Vernal Equinox
7 Erntenir	Fall I
8 Sehnir	Fall II
9 Emmanir	Fall III
Eve of the Dead	Winter Solstice
10 Keltier	Winter I
11 Faniele	Winter II
12 Pasiphiel	Winter III

Anuireans devote six of the week's eight days to work, giving the remainder over to leisure. The days, from work's beginning to rest's end, are: Firlen, Renlen, Dielen, Varilen, Branlen, Barlen, Mierlen, and Taelen

Aebrynis's days are 24 hours long, divided into night and day by the setting of the sun. The length of the night varies by season. Throughout most of Cerilia, the Festival of Rebirth sees almost 16 hours of daylight, whereas the Eve of the Dead sees as little as 8. Aebrynis's moon has a 32-day period, thus each month of the Anuirean calendar is exactly four 8-day weeks. Each month starts with the new moon, the moon waxes as the month progresses and then wanes as the month draws to a close.

Table 4-5: Days of the week

Day Name	Common name
1 Firlen	Firstday
2 Relen	Secondday
3 Dielen	Thirdday
4 Varilen	Fourthday
5 Branlen	Fifthday
6 Barlen	Sixthday
7 Mierlen	Seventhday/Restday
8 Thelen	Eighthday/Godsday

Almost 2,000 years after the destruction of the old gods, Anuire's current yearly reckoning is 551 Michaeline (551 MR) or 551 after the death of Michael Roele, last Emperor of Anuire. In Khinasi lands, the year is 2039 MA (dating from the Masetian Arrival in Cerilia). In certain other parts of Cerilia, the year is 1524 HC (Haelyn's Count), recording the years since the battle of Mount Deismaar.

The 22nd day of Deismir is celebrated through Cerilia as the anniversary of the Godswar. In much of Cerilia, the celebrations focus not on the battle of Mount Deismaar, but rather on the ascent of the current gods to divinity.

The noble warrior god Haelyn is the protector and brother to Roele, the founder of the Anuirean Empire. Naturally, the astronomers based in the City of Anuire in those long-ago days chose the constellation of Haelyn to help them measure time. This constellation, six stars high, looks like a warrior en garde and is fully visible from southern Anuire at the summer solstice.

With each passing month after this solstice, one star slips below the southern horizon. When the last star - Haelyn's head, or the Crown of glory - falls beneath the horizon, the Eve of the Dead has come. Haelyn's constellation hides only for the single night of the winter solstice, but it's a night of frantic prayer, for many fear the Shadow World's influence grows strongest when Haelyn's constellation does not watch over his people. Of course, Anuireans living farther north must endure even more time away from Haelyn's gaze (and longer nights). As protection from the Shadow World, people in the north also venerate other deities, particularly Erik

Name	Length (miles)
Maesil	450
Ruide	410
Zhaïnge	405
Asarwe	370
Hjarring	260
Black	175
Pipryet	175
Stonebryn	175
Sidhebyrn	150
Tsongya	150
Mueller	145
Ro	125
Spider	125
Northbyrn	110
Moura	105