The Redwald Calendar

The importance of the Redwald Calendar in your game will depend on how you run your campaign. If your game is a series of related adventures then use the calendar to hang a thematic tag on an adventure, or as a background for an adventure. For example a murder mystery set during one of the major festivals, or a rescue mission set in the height of winter snows adds flavour and anchors your adventures in the setting. If you’re running a campaign in a traditional method, keeping track of out of adventure time, then as well as the thematic there are more obvious benefits.

The Redwald Calendar is a lunar calender so a month is a moon. In Redwald there are only two six-moon seasons: Wintertíd  (Winter time) and Sumortíd (Summer Time).

The Twelve Moons of Redwald

Æfterra Geola

After, or Following, Yule. The first month starts with Modranecht, Mothers' Night when sacrifices are made to Eorðdraca, the Earth Dragon and mother of all things, for a good year.

Solmónað

The mud month a time of rain and hardship and for farmers ploughing.

Hrédmónað

Dedicated to the goddess Hrêðe. A month when enemy warriors are sacrificed in hope of victory during the coming fighting season.

Éosturmónað

This is the month of the goddess Ēostre and is a time of feasts and spring festivals.

Þrimilchi

Named the thrice-milking month, because the land is so fertile and the weather so favourable that cows must be milked three times a day during this month.

Ærra Draca & Æfterra Draca

These two months Arra Draca (Preceding Dragon) and Æfterra Draca (Following Dragon) are named after Dragons because these are the months when the sun and the fighting is often at their fiercest.

Wéodmónað

The Weed month a time when farmers plant Vetches and warriors cut down their enemies like weeds in the field.

Háligmónað

Holy month. Throughout this month a series of rites dedicated to Tiw are preformed in return for the victories of the summer fighting season.

Winterfylleð

Fylleð means full moon; the full moon in this month marks the start of winter.

Blótmónað

Blood month. In this month livestock not kept alive through the winter is offered to the gods, slaughtered, and preserved for winter feasting.

Ærra Geola

Preceding, or first, Yule. A month of darkness and cold lightened only by feasting and mead hall boasting of the battlefield glory to be gained in the year to come.

Days of the Week

Sunnandæg – Day of the Sun

Monandæg – Day of the Moon

Tiwesdæg – Tiw’s Day

Wodnesdæg – Woden’s Day

Ðunresdæg – Ðunor’s Day

Frigedæg -  Fríge’s Day

Dracandæg – Day of the Dragons

Times of the Day

Úht - 3 am to 6 am

Morgen - 6 am to 9 am

Undern - 9 am to noon

Middæg - Noon to 3 pm

Gelotendæg - 3 pm to 6 pm

Æfen - 6 pm to 9 pm

Niht - 9 pm to midnight

Midniht - Midnight to 3 am

The Division of Land

As land is the main source of wealth and power in Redwald, the division of land is a handy tool for Referee’s to devise the fighting strength of the kingdoms they use in their game.More importantly it gives the Referee an idea of the pool of npcs he can draw on.

 The smallest unit of land is the Hide. Each Hide of land is enough to sustain one household. Every five hides must provide at least one-man (with shield and spear at least) to fight in the Fryd.

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How Big is Hide? How Big is a Household?

The size of a Hide depends on the quality and fertility of the land, but it is usually between 15 and 30 acres.

As you can imagine a Redwald Household is larger than our modern nuclear families. It will consist of mother and father, possibly two sets of grandparents, at least three and as many as twelve children, as well as any unmarried siblings of the father. If the household is doing well there might be one or two slaves as well.

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Not all households farm and those involved in craft and trade will likely be smaller, though no less prosperous.

The next unit of land is the Tithing which is ten hides and controlled by a Thegn. So a Tithing is ten hides of land supporting ten households, who must produce enough to sustain themselves, their Thegn, two men for the Fryd and a surplus for king.

Of course some Thegns are more ambitious than others and will find ways to squeeze more Frydmen from their Tithing, and may even have other Thegns swear their Tithing and loyalty to them on their way to becoming an Ealdorman.

The next unit of land is the Hundred which is ten Tithings (or as the name suggests a hundred hides). A Hundred is ruled over by an Ealdorman who commands the Thegns and Frydmen of his hundered.

Next is the Scíra, or Shire. The Scíra is an arbitrary unit of land with no set size, but as a guide a small Scíra might consist of a single Hundred, a large one five Hundreds, and the average Scíra three Hundreds. However many Hundreds make up the Scíra it is ruled by a Gesith, an Ealdorman of the royal war band. He is aided in administrative and peacekeeping duties by a Heah-Gerefa, or High-Reeve and his Reeves.

The number of Scíra in each kingdom, like the number of Hundreds in each Scíra, depends on the size of the kingdom, but the average kingdom would have three Scare.

For example let’s look at an average sized kingdom Southlund Seaxe . . .

3 Gesiths, 9 Ealdormen, 90 Thegns, and 180 Frydmen. This modest army is strengthened by the 12 or so elite Hearthweru of the ruler’s bodyguard, several Gesiths from court made up of brothers, cousins, uncles, and other noble relatives of fighting age, let’s say 15 of those, and 30 Sperebrógan (Spear Terrors) noble youths acting as skirmishers.

Southlund Seaxe has three Scíra, each of which is of average size and consists of three Hundreds. So Middle Anglund’s basic fighting force would be . . .

So, Southlund Seaxe’s army breaks down into 40 elite warriors (including the King) 90 professional Thegns, 180 spears in the ranks of the Fryd, and 30 skirmishers. An Army of 340 men.