Calendar and Time¶
The Calendar of Harptos¶
Daytime is described using a 24-hour clock, since the day of Toril is 24 hours long. The calendar below is common enough to apply to all regions within the Realms (especially the Sword Coast). The year consists of 360 days: twelve months of exactly thirty days each. Three ten-day weeks fall in each month, though days are usually referred to by their number within the month (1–30) rather than a specific weekday.
| Month | Colloquial name | Gregorian month |
|---|---|---|
| Hammer | Deepwinter | January |
| Alturiak | The Claw of Winter / The Claws of the Cold | February |
| Ches | Of the Sunsets | March |
| Tarsakh | Of the Storms | April |
| Mirtul | The Melting | May |
| Kythorn | The Time of Flowers | June |
| Flamerule | Summertide | July |
| Eleasias | Highsun | August |
| Eleint | The Fading | September |
| Marpenoth | Leafall | October |
| Uktar | The Rotting | November |
| Nightal | The Drawing Down | December |
Years are referred to by numbers using the system known as Dalereckoning (DR) — taken from the year humans were first permitted by the Elven Court to settle in the more open regions of the forests.
The Roll of Years¶
The wide variety of competing and conflicting calendars causes no end of pain to the historian and the sage. Most use the Roll of Years, a system by which each year has its own personal name. The names are drawn from the predictions written down under that title by the famous Lost Sage Augathra the Mad, with a few additions by the great seer Alaundo.
Notable years for the BG2:EE story:
- 1356 DR — Year of the Worm.
- 1358 DR — Year of Shadows (the Time of Troubles).
- 1360 DR — Year of the Turret.
- 1373 DR — the current year of the Baldur's Gate II storyline.
The Time of Troubles¶
During the Year of Shadows, the gods of the Forgotten Realms assumed mortal form and walked the Realms. The crisis began when the gods Bane and Myrkul stole the Tablets of Fate from Lord Ao, the overgod of the Realms. In retribution Ao banished all of the gods from their outer-planar domains (except Helm, who guarded the Outer Planes).
The gods were forced to assume mortal Avatar forms until the end of the Time of Troubles, when the tablets were returned. During the crisis:
- Mystra (goddess of magic) and Myrkul (god of the dead) were killed as avatars.
- Bane (god of evil and tyranny) was destroyed fighting Torm.
- The human Cyric killed Bhaal (god of murder and assassins) in an epic struggle while competing for Bane's portfolio.
- After the dust settled, Cyric (death, evil, and madness) ascended to new godhood.
Some now-deceased gods had some warning of their impending deaths — or at least the attempts on their lives — and took steps to prevent them. And succeeded, at least in part.
— Elminster
This is, of course, the backdrop for the Bhaalspawn storyline of Baldur's Gate — the saga of which BG2 is the second chapter.
Timekeeping in Baldur's Gate¶
The game compresses Realms time about ten-fold relative to the standard AD&D rules:
| Unit | Length |
|---|---|
| Round | 6 seconds of real time (vs. 60 seconds in tabletop AD&D) |
| Turn | 10 rounds — 60 seconds |
| Game day | About 2 hours of real time |
| Rest | 8 game-hours — about 45 minutes of real time |
The shorter round is the foundation of the personal initiative round — see Initiative and Rounds.
Source: bg2ee/original_manuals/baldurs_gate_2_ee_amn_survival_guide.pdf — "Time in the Realms", "Calendar", "The Roll of Years", "Timekeeping in Baldur's Gate".