Anno Meteorum (A.M.)

Anno Meteorum

“Time itself shattered alongside the world.”

Overview

Anno Meteorum (A.M.) is the standard calendar system used throughout the world of *Apocalyptica Arcanum*. It measures the passage of years beginning from the catastrophic Meteor Strike on January 18th, 1886, the apocalyptic event that marked the end of the old world and the dawn of a new, magic-infused reality.

Prior to the Strike, many regions followed varying calendar systems tied to nation-states, religions, or local traditions. These systems became largely irrelevant in the aftermath of the apocalypse, as the devastation was so complete that it necessitated a universal reckoning. One year after the Strike, surviving civilizations officially abandoned the old ways of measuring time and adopted Anno Meteorum, literally meaning "In the Year of the Meteor."

Structure

The Anno Meteorum calendar retains the basic structure of the old Gregorian system: twelve months, approximately 365 days in a year. However, cultural significance has shifted dramatically. The first day of the first year, 1 A.M., is celebrated not as a festive occasion, but as a solemn reminder of survival.

Dates are typically written with the abbreviation "A.M." to distinguish them from any surviving pre-apocalyptic records. For example, what would once have been the year 1887 is now recorded as 1 A.M.

Cultural Impact

The adoption of Anno Meteorum reflects not just a practical need for a unified calendar, but a profound philosophical shift. Survivors of the catastrophe did not merely rebuild—they understood that they lived in a fundamentally different world. Time itself, like the Earth’s geography, had been altered. History is now divided into two epochs: the Beforetimes (pre-Strike) and the Era of Shardisite (post-Strike).

Religious institutions, arcane academies, and national governments alike incorporate A.M. dating into their official records, legal systems, and ritual calendars. The passage of time itself is seen as intertwined with magic, change, and the ongoing struggle for survival among the peoples of the world.

Legacy

Anno Meteorum serves as a constant reminder that the world mortalkind inhabits is not the world they were given, but the world they have inherited—and remade—through cataclysm and adaptation. Even today, more than two millennia after the event, every contract, law, and scripture bears the indelible mark of the Meteor Strike that ended an age.

Some scholars suggest that if another event of similar magnitude were to occur, a new reckoning of time would be necessary once again. Until then, the calendar of the Meteor remains the shared testament to endurance and transformation among all the peoples of the world.