The Chronaether Cycle
Originally transcribed byAevian Thorne, Keeper of Deep Time, Archivist-Seer of the Celestial Academy
As prepared by High Archivist Maeril Vosk, Senior Aether-Cycle Keeper of the Skyward Cartographer's Guild,for Initiates who seek ancient Astherian wisdom.
"Time is not a line in Astheria—it is a living current, a spiraling breath, a storm sometimes still. To live beneath the celestial veil is to sail its pulses, not count its days."
—Initiate's Primer, Guild Doctrine Vol. II
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Foreword to Scribes and Skyfarers:
Though the Auroral Cycle governs the tides of our daily lives and lunar flow, it is but a candle flicker compared to the vast, glacial rhythm of the Chronaether Cycle—the first time, the deep time, the living memory of Astheria itself.
If the Auroral Cycle is the heartbeat of us, Skyfarers, then the Chronaether is the breath of the heavens.
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Introduction
Dear novice Skyfarer, seeker, or scribe—
If you're reading this, you've likely just crossed into the vast regions of Astheria, or are preparing for such an undertaking. You may be used to the Tide Calendar, and Tidephases but in Ancient Astheria, time is measured in Currents and Flows. These are governed not by moondrifts or anomalous celestial phenomena, but by the resonance of aether itself.
An excerpt from First Codices of the Skyborn Archives, from the records of Elyndra, Skyborn historian reads:
"For Mortal envoys, you may be used to sun-drawn calendars, earthbound weeks, and a logic that time flows forward in neat, measurable segments. Not so here.
Astheria is not aligned by a sexagesimal system of planetary calculations, but by the ebb and flow of celestial harmonies."
This document will prepare you to interpret the Chronaether Cycle—our system of temporal reckoning.
I. The Origin of the Cycle
The Chronaether Cycle predates the Great Schism. In the elder days, time was not usually measured by moons (although Auroral Cycle was already developed; it was not widely used by Skyfarers, but by Mortal Envoys). It was measured by the slow drift of the Celestial Currents and the movement of a fixed constellation in these currents known as the Crown of Stars—an arc of seven radiant, unmoving stars that circles Astheria with unerring grace.
Legend names this crown as the shattered circlet of the First Architect, frozen in orbit to mark the rhythm of the world. It is said to "glitter with memory," and its passing defines the grand cycles of Astherian existence.
II. Units of Measurement in Chronaether
The Chronaether Cycle follows a nested system of timekeeping, based on the observable pulse and drift of starlit tides as transcribed by Elyndra, Skyborn historian:
[Measure]
[Analogous/Akin to]
[Description]
𖤍 Glint
Mortal second
A flicker of starlight; nearly imperceptible unless amplified by aetherglass.
𖤍 Breath
Mortal minute
The subtle pulse of a Sky Current; temples resonate to these.
𖤍 Spiral
Mortal hour
The cycle of a light-current swirl; used by Timekeepers to track flow motion.
𖤍 Flow
Auroral Rises/Falls, Mortal Day
Marked by the Crown's shift against a fixed temple axis.
𖤍 Crest
Tidephases, Mortal Week
Named for the crests of the sky tides—larger rhythmic waves.
𖤍 Current
Tides, Mortal Month
One full phase of the Crown's arc across Astheria.
𖤍 Passage
Auroral Cycle, Mortal Year
The completion of the Crown's full orbit—believed to realign temporal leylines.
Note: While Glints, Breaths, and Spirals are measurable with sensitive instruments, only Flows and above are visible through Crown-tracked movement and used in sacred observances. Also, a Celestial Turn is a hundred Passages whereas a Chronaether Cycle is a thousand Passages.
Thus, per previous sample of skylog entry, we are in the 644th Chronaether Cycle. Stars above and below, it has been 644,000 Passages since the Great Schism.
III. Temporal Architecture and the Crown of Stars
Many ruins of pre-Shattering civilization are aligned with the Crown's "glittering breaths"—faint shimmering alignments that pulse once every Spiral, like a Skygate or a Skybridge. Within ancient temples, these were used to mark sacred hours, indicating an entire society in tune with cosmic rhythm alone.
IV. Difference from the Auroral Cycle
𖤍 Time Focus
Chronaether Cycle: Grand, cosmic, deep-time
Auroral Cycle: Local, daily, lunar
𖤍 Anchor
Chronaether Cycle: Crown of Stars + Sky Currents
Auroral Cycle: 9 Lunar Flows + Celestial phenomena, including anomalies
𖤍 Post-Shattering Use
Chronaether Cycle: Rare, sacred, long-term planning
Auroral Cycle: Standard for settlements and daily trades
𖤍 Associated Magic
Chronaether Cycle: Chronomancy, aetheric divination
Auroral Cycle: Rune crafting, weather navigation
Following the Shattering, Skyfarers shifted to the Auroral Cycle out of necessity—moons being easier to track. However, the oldest artifacts, temples, and skyship vaults remain synchronized to the Chronaether, suggesting that deep truths, prophecies, and ancient magics remain encoded in its rhythm.
V. Current Usage and Preservation
𖤍 The Celestial Academy maintains the Chronaether Vault, a sealed chamber calibrated to the Crown's orbit.
𖤍 Timekeepers within the guilds chart both cycles but prioritize Crown Pulse Monitoring during known instability years.
𖤍 The Temple of Starforge in the ruined Astherian capital still lights its altars only at the start of each new Passage.
𖤍 Chronomancers and Navigators attuned to the Crown's path could foresee disturbances in the sky currents weeks before storms, realign aetherglass mechanisms by syncing to star pulses, predict the emergence of rift surges or temporal fractures.
VI. Flow Synchronization with Mortal Calendars
Another excerpt from First Codices of the Skyborn Archives, from the records of Elyndra, Skyborn historian reads:
"The Chronaether weaves not by mortal clocks, but by the breathing of stars, the spiraling of memories, and the flowing of fate."
The Chronaether Cycle doesn't map perfectly to mortal calendars.
[Unit Name]
[Measure]
[Equivalent]
[Mortal Measure]
𖤍 Glint
Base
Smallest flash of time (blink of an eye)
Second
𖤍 Breath
20 Glints
One long inhale
Minute
𖤍 Spiral
32 Breaths
One coiling of time
Hour (1 mortal hour = 140 Spirals)
𖤍 Flow
32 Spirals
A continuous sweep
Day (1 mortal day = 105 Flows)
𖤍 Crest
5 Flows
A surge, a tide
Week (1 mortal week = 147 Crests)
𖤍 Current
7 Crests
One full "shift"
Month (1 mortal month ≈ 90 Currents)
𖤍 Passage
10 Currents
A full "season-turn"
Year (1 mortal year ≈ 110 passages)
Visualization for Mortal Envoys
Think of Chronaether Time like a liquid river:
𖤍 Glints are the little sparkles on water
𖤍 Breaths are the little ripples
𖤍 Spirals are the whorls and eddies
𖤍 Flows are the river currents
𖤍 Crests are the rising waves
𖤍 Currents are when the river bends or meanders
𖤍 Passages are when the whole river moves to a new place
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Final Reflection
The Chronaether Cycle does not merely record time—it remembers it. And in Astheria, where time is often fractured, what is remembered may yet guide what comes next.
As Inscribed upon the ancient Orrery of the Stars, Caelen Skyspire:
"When all moons fall, and storms rise unchecked, it is the Crown that still gleams."
Closing Note
As you continue reading these entries, journals, and legends from the Skybound Realm, remember this: each Tide is a mood, each Current is a breath. Learn them, and the world shall whisper back.
—High Archivist Vosk,Senior Aether-Cycle Keeper of the Skyward Cartographer's Guild
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Skyfarer's Glossary (Addendum I)
Collected and transcribed by Elyndra of the First Wellspring, Skyborn Historian
𖤍 Glint (The briefest blink of luminous change.)
A shimmer in the weave of Aether, the smallest flicker of the great aether current.
Almost imperceptible except to the most sensitive.
𖤍 Breath(The inhalation and exhalation of living Aether.)
Composed of 20 Glints.
A single, full "Breath" marks minor motions in ambient magic and island drift.
𖤍 Spiral (The twist of starlit threads across the aetheric river.)
Has 32 Breaths.
Spirals are used by navigators to adjust their flight paths or by scholars to measure delicate timefolds.
𖤍 Flow (The steady unwinding of a life-thread.)
Equal to 32 Spirals.
Flows are understood as periods of productivity or natural shifts.
𖤍 Crest (When the tide of Aether surges highest.)
Comprised of 5 Flows.
Crests are used to gauge meaningful shifts: weather changes, current shifts, or other celestial phenomena.
𖤍 Current (The full rising and ebbing of starlit rivers.)
Made of 7 Crests.
Roughly akin to a "month" in mortal measure.
𖤍 Passage (The solemn voyage around a thousandfold horizon.)
10 Currents complete a Passage, marking what ancient Skyborn considered a "year."
It is a sacred unit for recording the growth of the realm and the weaving of great events.