Diomikatan Time Zones

The tidal lock of Diomikato causes timekeeping to be a little bit more nuanced than on some other Imperial planets. In the early days of the Diomikato colony, independent villages and towns would operate on seemingly random schedules completely independent from one another. As the planet grew this became increasingly inconvenient. Eventually the planet was consolidated into a single, standardized time zone by the ever-growing Aquilan government, named Diomikaten Standard Time (DST). Currently, DST is based off of a calculation of Diomikato’s orbital period divided by the average rotation period of every other planet in the Aliya system.

## Boeleth Regional Time

Despite attempts to standardize timekeeping across the planet, not all regions of Diomikato reliably conform to Diomikaten Standard Time. The trouble with keeping time on a tidally locked world is the lack of consistent events with which to base the start and end of the day off. Electronic timekeeping makes this largely redundant, but in the early days of Diomikato, colonists grasped for any constants in the world around them to use for time. Luckily for inhabitants of the White Trine, the local Boeleth more than serve this task.

The Boeleth are a species of avians indigenous to the colder regions of Diomikato. The species is widely beloved for their beauty, but more importantly, for it’s call. Boeleth emit a call at an incredibly consistent time each day. Early inhabitants of the region logically decided to use this call to signify the start of their day, and this tradition is persisted into current times. Much of the White Trine observes its own, unique timezone based around the daily chime of the birds, known simply as Boeleth Regional Time (BRT).

BRT is offset six hours ahead of Diomikaten Standard Time. Every few years there is a renewed discussion about whether or not Boeleth Regional Time should be retired, so that all of Diomikato would be standardized. Though the majority of the planet’s population operates in DST, a sizeable noble contingent holds lands throughout the White Trine. This group argues that BRT should be the official timezone, as it is based on a natural phenomenon and not the, as critic put it, arbitrary mathematics of DST. The gridlock between the two groups is enough that there has never been a successful effort to combine the two time zones.

## Cultural Impacts

There are several major impacts that the tidal lock of Diomikato has on the culture and society of its inhabitants. The most important of these is simply the effect it has on the daily life and schedule of the populace. Because of the constant position of Aliya in the sky, there is no natural signifier for day and night. As such, it is very easy to lose track of the time of day on the planet, and most all Diomikatens have an alert system set on their datapad to keep them on schedule. This is generally a minor practice, given that a life spent on the surface of Dio conditions most of its inhabitants to have a fairly reliable internal rhythm. In addition, most cities and towns in Diomikato have some form of public timekeeping alert, be it an announcement by speaker or a more traditional bell tower of old.

Another consequence of the tidal lock is that of the sleeping habits of Diomikatens. All of the majorly inhabited regions of Diomikato, with the exception of small outposts and ice-hauling operations in the far frontiers of the cold-side, are on the sunward side of the planet. Almost all of the planet’s population exists within a gradient between perpetual sunlight and twilight. This means that any room with a window will rarely find itself unlit, and most Aquilans grow accustomed to sleeping with light in their eyes. Blackout windows are common among the housing establishments for visitors to the planet, but are seldom used by natives.

This sleeping practice causes little to no problems for the average Diomikaten while planetbound, but carries implications for their sleeping experience when travelling abroad. Not only do most grow accustomed to sleeping with light in their eyes, but many also grow dependant on it for getting a healthy amount of sleep. In some rare cases, those inhabitants of the brightest portions of the planet even develop Scotophobia- or the fear of the dark. Both of these problems are commonly addressed through the use of nightlights. There are many types of nightlights produced on Diomikato, ranging from bright yellow hued lights for those from the more starward portions of the planet, to softer, blue tinted lights for those who hail from more leeward regions. Nobles generally have nightlights custom made for their specific preference, with commissioned engineers coming to their home to determine the exact consistency of the area’s sunlight. This can also impact domestic travel for some Aquilans, especially those who live at the further fringes of the habitable zone of the planet. Furthermore, one of the most commonly cited marital issues is a disagreement over whose nightlight to use.

Because of the implications of a population with a widespread use of nightlights, and a false stereotype that Aquilans are afraid of the dark, “Scote” (short for Scotophobia) has become a popular slur for Aquilans, be they native to Diomikato or not.

The lack of a restrictive day/night cycle on the planet also has implications on local work schedules. It has become fairly common practice for the heavy industry of the planet to operate on a schedule not dissimilar to a Navalis starship. These operations, such as Red Trine mining groups, very large Greenbelt plantations, or Ice-Haulers operating in the Frozen Expanse, are organized into three, rotating shifts of eight hour intervals. Workers will have eight hours on the job, followed by eight hours of personal time, and then eight hours of sleep.

The existence of two distinct time zones on the planet also has some effects on Diomikaten culture. The White Trine is far more sparsely populated than the rest of the habitable portion of Diomikato, and as such Nobles from the region looking to experience High Society must usually travel to Infernum. The offset between BRT and DST makes it so that dinner for a noble from the White Trine would occur in the middle of the night in Infernum, generally happening at around 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. Diomikaten Standard Time. To cater to this market, most high-end restaurants in Infernum run a special shift at this time so as to be open for their travelling guests. This service is known as the *Cena Sens Inverse*, and is mostly attended by cold-siders or the Infernum youth while on dates.