The Royal Calendar is the primary calendar in Shadoweave. It is centered entirely around the Eight Families and which of the Eight Families is currently reigning. Any time one monarch passes and a new monarch ascends to the throne, the calendar changes.
Date Format
Dates follow a simple format and have four components.
Day Number. There are 365 days in the Royal Calendar. According to historians, the number of days is a hold over from before the Fragmentation. These days are organized into 13 months, each with 28 days (or 4 seven-day weeks). One day is reserved at the end of the year (Day 365) which is known as Kingsday, a holiday to celebrate the unification of Humanity and is customarily marked with businesses being closed and parades. Months and weeks are numbered rather than given names and the day number is used over any specific week or month number.
Reigning Family. This is the name of the current reigning family.
Reign Number. This is based on how many times the current royal family has controlled the throne. Since the crown is passed between Eight Families, each family has reigned at least once. Reign numbers keep the calendar in order, preventing years and reigns from getting mixed with higher reign numbers, correlating to later reigns. Reign numbers are represented as roman numerals for ease of reading and prevent confusion between numbers.
Year. This is how many total years the current monarch and reigning family have been ruling.
Combining these elements together, you can form the date.
| Day Number | Reigning Family | Reign Number | Year | Current Date |
| 102 | Burke | IV | 11 | 102 Burke IV 11 |
| 223 | Astor | II | 6 | 223 Astor II 6 |
| 38 | Godwin | III | 30 | 38 Godwin III 30 |
Monarchical Succession
The calendar changes when a monarch dies and power moves to a new family. When the seat of power passes to a new family, the last and first years numbers overlap and the days continue to count to 365 uninterrupted. For example, if the second monarch from House Lockhart reigned for 32 years before dying on Day 100 and the throne was then passed to third monarch from House Astor, the calendar would change from 100 Lockhart II 32 to 100 Astor III 1.
Timestamps
Within a database, a timestamp is added to the end of a date. This time stamp is the number of hours, minutes, and seconds that have elapsed since the beginning of the day. The timestamp is usually placed in parentheses with each element separated by colons. For example, 13:03:15 (or 1:03:15 PM) would be written as 102 Burke IV 11 (13:03:15).