Age (Era)

An Age (sometimes called an Era) is an unset period of time in Mencu's history that help better divide the different time periods of the world into clearer-set eras. While there are no set guidelines on how long or how short an Age can be, the length of an Age is determined by the astronomical events called the Dissipations. While to the naked eye they appear to be little more then impressive looking supernovas, they are in truth, residual views of worlds that have collapsed or dissipated back into The Origin—the space-time area surrounding The Archetype and The Facsimiles—due to various instabilities with aetheric flows or the like. While most Ages last at least 2500 years or more, some of the longer anomaly ages lasting upward of 4000 or even 5000 years, and a few have been abnormally short. The 196th and 197th Ages are an example of abnormally long Ages, with the 196th Age having lasted over 6400 years, and the 197th Age nearing its 48th century as of *The Crusade of Zulera*.

## Origins

Timekeeping has been a part of Mencu's history since its creation, and while different cultures have sprung up over the years and ages, all of them agreed on a universal timekeeping system, including the Arakos. Ultimately however, the concept of an Age was brought into practice by the Jalenga after the collapse of the 186th Facsimile, which began the 1st Age. Originally called "The 1st Age of Aetheric Dissipation" most people outside of Jalengan circles simply shortened it to "The 1st Age", for while they did not know the nature of the incident, millions of people on hundreds of worlds saw the supernova that had lit up the sky. These types of events, caused by the aetheric imbalance and subsequent destruction of a Facsimile world, became the astronomic harbingers of a new Age.

### The Facsimiles

According to ancient studies by the Jalenga in times past, The Archetype is a world possessing exactly 201 copies, known as The Facsimiles. While created in the likeness of The Archetype, they have long since diverged and become unique worlds each on their own, not unlike how the Vartiz and Kasil have since split into nearly a dozen other distinct races over time. Each time a Facsimile collapses or is otherwise destroyed, its remains briefly light up the sky for several days, and on Mencu this is heralded as the ending and beginning of an Age. As of the 197th Age, only four Facsimiles remain: The 5th, The 52nd, The 148th, and The 197th. Of these, Mencu is the 52nd Facsimile, and based on the length of the age and the amount of effort contributed into keeping Mencu stable, it is popularly believed that it is—or was—"next in line" to be destroyed, and that the resilience of the people of The 52nd are the reason the Age has lasted as long as it has.

## Names & Lengths

Timekeeping Councils exist between most nations on Mencu, including the orderly Arakos and the freewheeling Zaderei. While many of these races and cultures are often at odds with one another, this council exists as a neutral and apolitical entity that serves to keep consistent records across Mencu. Even the contentious Arakos who are often at war with many other countries, cooperate in this endeavour, for they too wish for an orderly world with well-recorded events.

### Naming Conventions

While "The Ages of Aetheric Dissipation" were the official Jalengan name for this period in time when a destroyed world's aether would dissipate throughout the void of space, scribes and scholars quickly shortened these to "The 1st Age", and by the 2nd Age, this trend had become standardized. However, even as ages were numbered, they still had full/official names in the Jalengan archives, to serve as records and reminders of what events caused their change. A name is given to an age only after it ends, with the Žaníma of the age's final year marking the last day of that age. Since it is rare for Aetheric Supernovae to fall on the last day of any given year, in the common event that these events do not fall on Žaníma, the current year still will "finish out", and the new year will welcome the new Age. This was a simple logical measure taken to prevent disrupting the calendar, and by extension to keep the 12 months aligned with their corresponding seasons.

Years in an age are always numbered with four digits, with even lowers years such as 35 or 648 being written 0035 and 0648, respectively. No age has ever lasted beyond 6400 years (let alone 9999 years), and as such, the need for a 5th digit in the year-numbering convention has never been necessary. However, were such an event to happen, it would likely simply be numbered 10000, 10001, 10002, etc.

### Lengths

There is no set length for an Age to last, but they generally last a couple dozen centuries, based on how aetherically stable the remaining Facsimile worlds are. During the 196th Age, the people of the remaining five Facsimiles believed that their home worlds were so stable as to be impervious from imbalance or destruction, and for thousands of years, this claim held—until it stopped. An imbalance on Kulak-Fe began to form, and while most people blamed the Jalengan refugees for this event, no supporting evidence was found to link them or their actions to the calamity, and rather than flee to a surviving facsimile, the remaining Jalenga fought to the last to try and restore or maintain the stability of the world, although their efforts were in vain. And thus began the 197th Age.

## Role in the Series

The events of the *The Crest of Zabutur* series all take place in the 197th Age.

## Trivia

* Many people assumed that Zurado-Kura, the 197th Facsimile, would be the world to cause the 197th Age, due to a slight aetheric tilt towards Darkness that has shrouded the world in an eternal night. However the true culprit wound up being Kulak-Fe, the 93rd Facsimile, instead.
* Zurado-Kura is a particular anomaly, given that its Dark aetherial tilt has existed since the 37th Age. As such, there have been people fearing that it would be the harbinger of every age from the 38th Age onward.
* Sepher, Zurado-Kura, and Tokorima are all proof that a world can have a slight aetheric imbalance and still remain stable and intact. Tokorima is slightly inclined towards Earth, Sepher is slightly inclined towards Water, and Zurado-Kura is slightly inclined towards Darkness. The exact limit threshold is unclear, however.
* Mencu is the only remaining facsimile not to have an aetheric tilt, and so among scholars from the remaining worlds, it is popularly believed that Mencu as a world will be the last one to finally go the way of the others.

## See Also

* Timekeeping
* 196th Age
* 197th Age
* The Facsimiles