The Xianese calendar functions by the same twelve-month year commonly used in reality, and month names are preserved for the sake of convenience. The years are three hundred and sixty-five days long, with an extra day every four years to keep the seasons from slipping. The near-tropical clime of Ektau leaves the seasons somewhat vague, however, and there are really only two major periods- winter, when the air sometimes drops to as low as 50 degrees Fahrenheit and the rains come thick and heavy, and summer, which is somewhat drier and boasts a temperature in excess of a hundred some days.
In Xian, years are measured from the landfall that Lammach's refugee fleet made in the bay that later became the site for Xian. The year at the game's commencement was 120 AL, After the Landing. By the calendar of the Ninefold Celestial Empire, it is AY 1744, counting from the Ascension of the Jade Emperor of the First Dynasty, and the coarse Skandr of Nordheim call it 933 years since their god Hjal slew the Stone-Eating Worm and told his people to go forth and plunder the weak landsmen. As the Empire is no more and the Skandr have only a casual interest in any history that their skalds can't sing about, the Xianese dating system is the one in widest use through the Sunset Isles.