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Comments: I made a conscious decision in Galligan’s Edge not to talk about chronology. There’s no mention of the year. Sure, there’s details of past events. Many of those events are critical to the story, such as the Daeva Caris’ forthright chattery about the Battle of Ephalus. But generally Edge is a linear novel and very focused on getting to the next thing. There’s no real flashbacks, only discussion of past events.
Obviously, I can’t go through a fantasy series never setting up timelines.
I think it will be useful to have a timeline reference, both for me and anyone reading the Torrodil series. Dates won’t correlate with Earth’s history, but I was inspired by the 16th and 17th century in particular when I first started writing Torrodil. Hence the two warring countries. Venecia has parallels with Spain and Venezuela; Carrigan has parallels with England and Ireland. Carrigan, if anything, is an amalgamation of the two, with the Inner Kingdom representing the heart of England, and the Outer Kingdom representing Ireland. I didn’t have a conscious thought doing this, but if I did it would’ve been along the lines of, Hmm, what would make Englishmen and Irishmen fight with one another even more? Well, what if I squished them into one giant mess of a crumbling country? That might work.
So, even though poor ol’ Torrolings exist in their own space and time, completely unaware that they’re trapped in a living hell of Elizabethan proportions, the chronology that follows does link to our own in some messed-up way.
Days of the Week
Same as ours. Monday-Sunday. I’m lazy and frankly what day of the week it is plays a central role in Chapter 1 of Galligan’s Edge. It’d be too much for the reader to bear, I think, if I bombarded them with Marwain for Monday etc. right off the bat.
Months of the Year
Months of the year, however, have to be different. They often take their name directly from a Pagan festival. This Pagan malarky will be expanded on in the series, so put a ring round it for now. It’s important.
1) Hearthfire
2) Rotswell
3) Ostara
4) Bloomsham
5) Midsummer
6) Lithe
7) Firefall
8) Brewell
9) Lamhain
10) Leavesturn
11) Frostfall
12) Hogsmead
Pagan Festivals
The Carric calendar is based around eight Pagan festivals. Paganism is on the way out thanks to the divine intervention of the glorious Shaper and his zealot preachers. That said, the eight festivals play an important part in Carric society, and while many of the Pagan observances have fallen to the wayside there is, for now, still a celebration on each date.
1) The Festival of Hogsmead/Yuletide – 18-25 Hogsmead
2) The Festival of Lights – 31 Hogsmead-3 Hearthfire
3) The Festival of Lambs/Eostre – 18-25 Ostara
4) The Festival of Winter’s Fall – 31st Ostara
5) The Festival of the Fat Fathers/Midsummer – 18-25 Midsummer
6) The Festival of First Fruits – 25 Firefall-01 Brewell
7) The Festival of Boon’s Tide – 18-25 Lamhain
8) The Festival of Leavesturn/All Hallow’s Eve – 31st Leavesturn
Timeline
*Years are CE (Common Era), with the epoch starting from the separation of Carrigan and Venecia into two independent nations. There’s no year zero in the Torrodil calendar. 1 BCE is followed immediately by 1 CE.
1675 – Early Lamhain to Early Hogsmead – Events of Galligan’s Ashes take place.
1675 – Late Midsummer to Early Lamhain – Events of Galligan’s Edge take place.
1670 – Queen Gadelle takes to the Carric throne, promising a new era of social and political stability.
1661 – Thomas Bartholomew Bunton is born. He will never use the name Thomas again.
1660 – Ree Galligan is born.
1646 – Carrigan’s monasteries are dissolved to ‘feed and clothe a fattening king’. The monks at Old Haven break off to form the Illuminate Order, devoted to learning and a somewhat rigorous cleaning routine.
1604 – The Second Civil War comes to an end with Helen’s death.
1598 – King Alfrick is beheaded by his twin children, Helen and Matthias, at Danduin Keep. The Second Civil War breaks out.
1560-1598 King Alfrick holds the throne, during a period later referred to as a golden age. Pagan polytheism is expunged. The Kingdom of Carrigan is at its peak.
1260 – The Battle of Ephalus takes place. Thousands of Daevan women are sacrificed to banish their male counterparts into the Aether. Nerith endures, along with the children of Thrace.