Naming of the Years [Archive] - Wizards Community

Naming of the Years [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
DnDEstArsVitae
12-13-06, 11:23 PM I want to start my game in 1373 DR, a year after the Year of Wild Magic. However, though I do want a name for the year, I'm not sure when or how Forgotten Realm years get named. Are they only named halfway through the year when scholars know what happens, do they have predestined names, who decides the name, or does no one know?

Thank You
Vita
Lord Karsus
12-14-06, 12:07 AM -The year after DR 1372 is DR 1373, The Year of the Rogue Dragons. The year after that is DR 1374, The Year of Lightning Storms. I believe that it was Alaundo, and another prophet named Augathra who prophesized the names of all of the years, until 1600. Usually, the description of the year entails what happens during that year. For instance, take DR 1373, the Year of the Rogue Dragons. The major event of this year was the return of the King Killer Star, and the Rage of the Dragons.
Old Sage
12-14-06, 09:00 AM I want to start my game in 1373 DR, a year after the Year of Wild Magic. However, though I do want a name for the year, I'm not sure when or how Forgotten Realm years get named. Are they only named halfway through the year when scholars know what happens, do they have predestined names, who decides the name, or does no one know?

Thank You
VitaThe names on the Roll of Years are already known, well in advance... since they're drawn from the prophecies of Augathra, Alaundo and others, made centuries past.
Ramenth
12-14-06, 09:31 PM I find the Roll of Years interesting, because half the names are very important and relate directly to the year (I.E; Year of Rogue Dragons) while others... just don't. At all. (I.E; Year of the Unstrung Harp.)
Lord Karsus
12-15-06, 07:31 PM I find the Roll of Years interesting, because half the names are very important and relate directly to the year (I.E; Year of Rogue Dragons) while others... just don't. At all. (I.E; Year of the Unstrung Harp.)

-Hey, cataclismic events shouldn't happen every year. And, hey, isn't the Year of the Unstrung Harp the year the moonstars were founded?* That's a pretty important event.

*Note: I do not have access to my books at this moment, so I may be wrong.
Old Sage
12-15-06, 07:58 PM The Tel'Teukiira, largely, became active as a group in 1370 DR -- the Year of the Tankard.

Given the involvement of Khelben, Laeral, and Elminster -- and supposedly Alaundo through his Prophecies -- the actual origin of the Moonstars resides firmly in the past.

Cloak & Dagger has more.
Lord Karsus
12-15-06, 08:09 PM The Tel'Teukiira, largely, became active as a group in 1370 DR -- the Year of the Tankard.

-Well, at least my memory was not that off. The Year of the Unstrung Harp certainly sounds like it has some bad connotations for the Harpers, though.
Ramenth
12-15-06, 09:51 PM But, from what I've read of it, it doesn't. That's the thing. I'm not saying that every single year should have a major event, just wondering why people bothered to write down (and named a year after) a prophecy that probably went something like... "In this year, a bard shall cease singing forever, after being tossed from a tavern for telling too many stories about Gnomes."
Lord Karsus
12-15-06, 11:11 PM But, from what I've read of it, it doesn't. That's the thing. I'm not saying that every single year should have a major event, just wondering why people bothered to write down (and named a year after) a prophecy that probably went something like... "In this year, a bard shall cease singing forever, after being tossed from a tavern for telling too many stories about Gnomes."

-Well, there's a few reasons I can think of. Firstly, the "cooler" souding names (Year of the Unstrung Harp, for example) are a lot...cooler than the more mundane sounding names (Year of the Tankard, for instance). Also, keep in mind that the Roll of Years was created in what, 2e sometime? There could be a whole bunch of plotlines that were never explored. Perhaps, when the Roll of Years was first created, a certain designer, or a certain author wanted something major to happen to the Harpers in the Year of the Unstrung Harp, but the plotline was eventually dropped. So, the name stays, but the plot to make the name relevant is gone. That is the best thing I can think of...
Faraer
12-17-06, 02:53 PM Alaundo and Augathra's prophecies are cryptic and poetic, not descriptive, and many of them are nothing more than the year names. The idea is not that they definitely refer to large-scale events: sages differ, even after the fact, on what the prophecies refer to. These guys are crazy mystics, not big-man-theory historians, and their visions were not all of the RSE-type events that TSR has trained some of us to think 'important'.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DnDEstArsVitae 12-13-06, 11:23 PM	I want to start my game in 1373 DR, a year after the Year of Wild Magic. However, though I do want a name for the year, I'm not sure when or how Forgotten Realm years get named. Are they only named halfway through the year when scholars know what happens, do they have predestined names, who decides the name, or does no one know? Thank You Vita
Lord Karsus 12-14-06, 12:07 AM	-The year after DR 1372 is DR 1373, The Year of the Rogue Dragons. The year after that is DR 1374, The Year of Lightning Storms. I believe that it was Alaundo, and another prophet named Augathra who prophesized the names of all of the years, until 1600. Usually, the description of the year entails what happens during that year. For instance, take DR 1373, the Year of the Rogue Dragons. The major event of this year was the return of the King Killer Star, and the Rage of the Dragons.
Old Sage 12-14-06, 09:00 AM	I want to start my game in 1373 DR, a year after the Year of Wild Magic. However, though I do want a name for the year, I'm not sure when or how Forgotten Realm years get named. Are they only named halfway through the year when scholars know what happens, do they have predestined names, who decides the name, or does no one know? Thank You VitaThe names on the Roll of Years are already known, well in advance... since they're drawn from the prophecies of Augathra, Alaundo and others, made centuries past.
Ramenth 12-14-06, 09:31 PM	I find the Roll of Years interesting, because half the names are very important and relate directly to the year (I.E; Year of Rogue Dragons) while others... just don't. At all. (I.E; Year of the Unstrung Harp.)
Lord Karsus 12-15-06, 07:31 PM	I find the Roll of Years interesting, because half the names are very important and relate directly to the year (I.E; Year of Rogue Dragons) while others... just don't. At all. (I.E; Year of the Unstrung Harp.) -Hey, cataclismic events shouldn't happen every year. And, hey, isn't the Year of the Unstrung Harp the year the moonstars were founded?* That's a pretty important event. *Note: I do not have access to my books at this moment, so I may be wrong.
Old Sage 12-15-06, 07:58 PM	The Tel'Teukiira, largely, became active as a group in 1370 DR -- the Year of the Tankard. Given the involvement of Khelben, Laeral, and Elminster -- and supposedly Alaundo through his Prophecies -- the actual origin of the Moonstars resides firmly in the past. Cloak & Dagger has more.
Lord Karsus 12-15-06, 08:09 PM	The Tel'Teukiira, largely, became active as a group in 1370 DR -- the Year of the Tankard. -Well, at least my memory was not that off. The Year of the Unstrung Harp certainly sounds like it has some bad connotations for the Harpers, though.
Ramenth 12-15-06, 09:51 PM	But, from what I've read of it, it doesn't. That's the thing. I'm not saying that every single year should have a major event, just wondering why people bothered to write down (and named a year after) a prophecy that probably went something like... "In this year, a bard shall cease singing forever, after being tossed from a tavern for telling too many stories about Gnomes."
Lord Karsus 12-15-06, 11:11 PM	But, from what I've read of it, it doesn't. That's the thing. I'm not saying that every single year should have a major event, just wondering why people bothered to write down (and named a year after) a prophecy that probably went something like... "In this year, a bard shall cease singing forever, after being tossed from a tavern for telling too many stories about Gnomes." -Well, there's a few reasons I can think of. Firstly, the "cooler" souding names (Year of the Unstrung Harp, for example) are a lot...cooler than the more mundane sounding names (Year of the Tankard, for instance). Also, keep in mind that the Roll of Years was created in what, 2e sometime? There could be a whole bunch of plotlines that were never explored. Perhaps, when the Roll of Years was first created, a certain designer, or a certain author wanted something major to happen to the Harpers in the Year of the Unstrung Harp, but the plotline was eventually dropped. So, the name stays, but the plot to make the name relevant is gone. That is the best thing I can think of...
Faraer 12-17-06, 02:53 PM	Alaundo and Augathra's prophecies are cryptic and poetic, not descriptive, and many of them are nothing more than the year names. The idea is not that they definitely refer to large-scale events: sages differ, even after the fact, on what the prophecies refer to. These guys are crazy mystics, not big-man-theory historians, and their visions were not all of the RSE-type events that TSR has trained some of us to think 'important'.