[Dragaera] _Taltos_ and _The Hobbit_

[Scott Schultz]

>I don't think Tortaalik was around for 600 years, which would put 
>this vintage at perhaps 1k years.  With survival of the interregnum to be
explained away.

I wonder if dating is generally tied to the reign of the Emperor or the
reign of the House. We've had this debate before, about whether a particular
House's custodianship of the Orb could involve multiple Emperors (a Tekla
republic being a possible such reign, if it at all mirrors our own
republic).

Some evidence for this exists - Alexx notes in his timeline that while
certain dates during Zerika's reign are listed relative to her ascension,
that dates prior to her ascension and after her abdication are given
relative to the beginning of Tortaalik's reign. That is, they are "tuned" to
the reign of the House, rather than the reign of any particular Emperor of
the House.

Technically speaking, the Interregnum was still the rule of the Phoenix. No
need to treat it differently than other dates except in historical texts
that deal directly with matters of state.

Quoted from the timeline:
" [The Disaster occurs in the 532nd year of Tortaalik's reign (FH 9). The
long date at the beginning of the Phoenix Guards (PG ix) incorrectly omits
"of the Turn of the Dragon" in between the Year and Phase. Note also that
The Phoenix Guards (PG ix) claims that this is still the Cycle of the
Athyra. This is certainly incorrect by standard practice, but an exception
may have been made in this case so as to count Zerika IV's reign as the
beginning of the Great Cycle. It is interesting that Five Hundred Years
After, published shortly after the end of her reign, returns to correct
usage, calling Tortaalik's reign the beginning of the Great Cycle of the
Dragon.]"