Bloodfire (The Sojourns of Rebirth) (54 page)

1. Breath – The shortest unit of timekeeping, a breath
represents the amount of time it takes for a person to
exhale.

2. Whisper – A whisper generally represents the time it
would take to tell someone a substantial secret.
3. Prayer – A prayer is the longest unit of arbitrary
timekeeping, and originated with ancient religious rites
worshipping the Divines in the early days of the Empire,
which only lasted the same rough amount of time.
4. Day – One of the only concepts of timekeeping to have
survived the fall of humankind, a day represents the full
cycle of day and night.
5. Span – A span is seven days, and is based on the lunar
cycles.
6. Cycle – A cycle is four spans, or the time it takes for the
moon to complete one cycle.
7. Sojourn – A sojourn is roughly thirteen cycles, or the time
it takes for Ereas to complete one rotation around the sun.
Units of Distance
Distance, like time, is measured arbitrarily in some cases, and
more precisely in other cases, but most Imperial interests use but
the one unit for almost everything.
1. Finger-width – The smallest unit for measuring distance, a
finger-width represents precisely what it sounds like, the
width of an average adult's finger.
2. Pace – The single most common unit of measurement, a
pace is described as the distance it takes a fully grown
adult to stride two steps. Most measurements can be
calculated using paces, or as fractions and multiples of
paces.

Units of Weight
There's surprisingly little need for using measures of weight in the
Empire of Exeter, and as such, a single measurement is used for
everything.

1. Stone – This unit of measurement is the universal method
for weighing objects, and was adapted from the early
merchant classes in the Before, who would use baskets full
of stones that could fit in the palm of the hand as the basis
for setting prices on goods. An average adult male would
be said to weigh approximately 150 stone.