Yurtash – God of Spirits. It is hard to define what spirits are to the common man, due to superstitions and drunken fireside chats. In short, spirits are creatures neither living nor dead that perform specific tasks in the world. They are the after images of once-living creatures. While the soul may depart to another world, a part of the spirit may remain in the world, trapped, only to be harnessed by magical means. Yurtash seems to store and nurture these lost energies of forgotten souls until they have a use in the world again. Mystics, greenmen and some arcane casters call upon the spirits in spells. Many of this god’s clerics share the powers of mystics over these spirits.
Appendix C – The Calendar of Dhea Loral
The calendar of Dhea Loral is four hundred days long. That reflects the time it takes for one year to pass for the planet of Epos Goth. The calendar is divided into five seasons, with two months in each season, as follows…
Planting season: Primus, then Florum
Summer season: Jherad, then Doyal
Harvest season: Othgar, then Novak
Waning season: Tiquierum, then Norgrad
Winter season: Vientula, then Icethule
Each month is forty days long. Each week is ten days. The civilized societies of the land do tend to observe two-day weekends, however much work is still done on these days. The value of a weekend in Dhea Loral is seen more as a time for socializing and public events, but even on these days many merchants are still doing business. There is also a midweek day by which many government offices in the civilized lands take half of the day off. The evening on these days is usually reserved for balls, feasts, religious observations, or other relaxing endeavors. Note that many people do not observe such luxuries, as the struggle to work and survive has bred a strong work ethic into a number of cultures.
The New Season Day, which commemorates the start of the New Year, is held at the traditional end of winter. Usually it begins to snow in most of the lands by mid to late Norgrad, and by the first of Primus the snow is melting away.
The calendar is measured by an important date in Dhea Loral history. In a time when war was sweeping the lands, several immortals and demigods were taking sides. Several were trying to attain more power, while some defended the common man. Several gods lent their powers to affect the outcome as well. It was a dark time in the world when great civilizations fell and new governments arose. During the waning season of 1 BC, (Before Covenant), the fury of the demigods and the use and destruction of several artifacts led to the destruction of the last great empires. The winter season that followed was a struggle for survival for many races. Even those living in the vast cave and underground systems of the world, while not affected by the surface winter, were weak and foraging for meager foods. The major powers, those gods who exerted the most influence in the world, stepped in and forced an end to the conflict. On the first of Primus, in the year now called 1 AC, (After Covenant), the gods and demigods signed a pact regarding the involvement of the deities in the future of the world. Although the gods were capable of controlling the world much more directly, restrictions were placed and honored by all. In this way they voluntarily gave up several privileges, and bound their oaths. Even the most chaotic of gods can never break the Covenant.
This was more or less the start of the churches and clerics, at least in their modern day incarnation. Clerics are the necessary vessels through which the gods move the races, although the gods retain the necessary powers over nature and magic to make the world run smoothly and stay in balance.
About the Author
Douglas was born on Nov. 28, 1971. He got the chance to live in many different places while he was growing up, courtesy of the assignments the US Army offered to his father. Too quiet and too shy for too long, there were always dreams of other worlds and places…and the desire to write about them. He got into fantasy role-playing games in his mid-teens. To this day he has friends whom he meets in tabletop role-playing games as well as online adventures. Many of his characters evolved in games, and each developed their own personality. Inheritance of a Sword and a Path is the second book he has written, though the first he has had published. He continues to work at finishing the rest of the Earthrin Stones trilogy so that he might start on many of the other storylines buzzing around in his head.
Douglas lives with his wife and two boys in Minnesota. He works in healthcare, serving people’s needs at both hospitals and clinics depending on his rotation. When most people see him, he is wearing scrubs.
For more info, please see the author’s website at DheaLoral.com
The Earthrin Stones 1 of 3: Inheritance of a Sword and a Path Page 61