View source

From Fax Encyclopedicus

Amorcul-Ethion's year is magically constructed for precision - the sun loops around the island (for in this dimension, it is the sun and stars that move, not the disc itself - the dimension isn't all that large, so this kind of makes sense) on a precise twenty-four hour loop. The loop 'bends' in a precise sixty-week cycle (with one week being seven days), resulting in a full loop of seasons on most islands (including the central Academy islands) - though the ones immune to seasonal pressures aren't necessarily where logic dictates they should be. Amorcul-Ethion sorts its year into twelve months of precisely five weeks. It further divides the year into four three-month Semesters - the second-to-last week of each being finals season, and the last week being a festival (and also the time when new students are admitted, so that they come in on a positive note and have time to adjust before classes start). Any last week of the month not reserved for a Festival is a Down Week - classes are relatively light. Down Weeks are the only times that students and staff may take vacations, outside of reasonably-emergency circumstances... But are also commonly used for longer field trips by teachers, if their class agrees to it (policy strictly prohibits mandatory field trips, requires two thirds of the class agree to the trip, encourages inviting of outside students, and requires a make-up option be provided for those who don't - or can't - join). ((NOTE: Fill the calendar more...)) == January == '''1st''': Winter Semester begins. == February == == March == '''15th-21st''': Cram Week. Classes are traditionally very light this week, and many students panic to get through their projects and written exams to be ready for the Practical Finals during... '''22nd-28th''': Winter Finals Week. This is the only time when ''most'' Final Exams may be taken. '''29th-35th''': Winter's End Festival. The Winter's End Festival is known for glorious feasts, gift exchanges, and ludicrous lines at every public restroom on the entire island. Academy-sponsored Festival activities are strictly reserved for students and permanent residents, although some unofficial (or at least, less-official) festivities are opened to the public, particularly in or around the Docks District. == April == '''1st''': Spring Semester begins. == May == '''5th''': Chancellor's Birthday. A full day off of classes, dedicated enjoyment of the culture and food of the Kingdom of Majenya (Think Mexico in the real world) - the current Chancellor being a Majenyan Dwarf. (The previous Chancellor, an Elf from the Republic of Tunuanion (think Thailand) had a similar day on her Birthday of April 6th - still somewhat celebrated in Amorcul's Tunuanian restaurants and districts.) == June == '''15th-21st''': Cram Week. Classes are traditionally very light this week, and many students panic to get through their projects and written exams to be ready for the Practical Finals during... '''22nd-28th''': Spring Finals Week. This is the only time when ''most'' Final Exams may be taken. '''29th-35th''': Skyheat Festival. The Skyheat festival is a giant excuse to enjoy the beaches of Amorcul. Fortunately, with hundreds of islands, there's never a shortage of beaches of all sorts. Any caster who knows any sort of transportation magic knows that this is the best time of year to collect gold, friends, and favors. The University often runs intramural sports competitions during this festival - notably, just about every one is spoiled by rampant manipulation of rules and cheating, and pretty much no one cares. On the second-to-last day, a special pool is summoned and filled with one gallon of Dwarven Ale for every person on the island (resident, student, or otherwise). During this day, all individuals are handed a souveneir Festival Coin, and a wooden Hangover Coin. On the last day, policy dictates that anyone who successfully cures your Hangover gets your Hangover Coin - large stacks of them being tradeable for extra credit during the Summer Semester. == July == '''1st''': Summer Semester begins. == August == == September == '''15th-21st''': Cram Week. Classes are traditionally very light this week, and many students panic to get through their projects and written exams to be ready for the Practical Finals during... '''22nd-28th''': Summer Finals Week. This is the only time when ''most'' Final Exams may be taken. '''29th-35th''': Festival of Cultures. A time when cultures across the Enarliran cosmos are celebrated. Great fiction authors, loremasters, and other celebrities from across the cosmos come to represent their cultures, subcultures, and the like, devoting a full week to students enjoying as many cultures besides their own as possible - although they are required to spend two days manning booths or otherwise helping with their own culture's representation. The Festival of Cultures is noted for it's unusual policy of the Grand Masquerade - during the entire festival, only guards and those with special dispensations may be seen in public without a Personant - a special half-mask (covering eyes, nose, and immediate surroundings enchanted to transmute them to one of many variants of an elven form, such as to render all at the festival anonymous, yet identifiable within the context of one another. (See [[Amorcul:Special Items]]). This tends to have the side effect of ludicrous levels of perverse activities ensuing... Especially when, against school rules but ultimately uncatchable, some students, every year, figure out how to rig their Personants to change their gender... == October == '''1st''': Fall Semester begins. == November == '''31st''': Backup Festival. During the first class a student attends this day, they are given a Backup Potion, which they are encouraged to drink just before going to sleep, as a partial safety for the... '''32nd''': Enchanters Festival. During this one day of each year, Enchanter prohibitions on the use of their magics on students or staff (already often somewhat ignored - things like this aren't that easy to enforce!) are completely repealed - and they are flat-out encouraged to mess around. There are traditionally a few ground rules (in particular, efforts to get around the Backup Potions are ''firmly'' banned, and any house/apartment with a red ribbon on the front door is not to be touched), but in general, Enchanters use the chance to show off massively and with exceptional gusto. '''33rd''': Thank The Guy Who Thought Of The Backup Festival Day. The effects of the Backup Potion go off overnight (technically, 36 hours after drinking - so if drunk before bed on the 31st, it should go off during sleep in the early morning of the 33rd), erasing all enchantments, mind-effecting illusions, and the like from those who wisely took the encouragement to drink the Backup Potion. A traditional offering of one copper piece as thanks is collected for a charity each year, along with photos of injuries, humiliations, and the like suffered by Enchanters during the Festival and morning after. (No one actually knows who thought of the Backup Festival - it, and the TTGWTOTBFD, where thought of by a committee after realizing that the second annual Enchanters Festival was soon and they ''still'' hadn't entirely fixed every brain from the ''last'' one.) == December == '''15th-21st''': Cram Week. Classes are traditionally very light this week, and many students panic to get through their projects and written exams to be ready for the Practical Finals during... '''22nd-28th''': Summer Finals Week. This is the only time when ''most'' Final Exams may be taken. '''29th-35th''': Winter's Eve Festival. The most elaborate of the festivals of the year, the Winter's Eve Festival involves a themed feast at sunset on each day - each centering around a specific sort of food. Many Enarliran religious traditions mandate fasting during the day, with most food places closed to respect this. This is the most common time of year for students to leave Amorcul-Ethion to visit family and friends back home.

Return to Amorcul:Annual Schedule.