TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY TOUGHS: Prisoners, Prostitutes, and Passion

Timeline

This page is a chronology of the political events in Turn-of-the-Century Toughs, a cycle of historical fantasy novels by Dusk Peterson about disreputable men on the margins of society, and the men and women who love them. The novels are set in a world based on the late Victorian and Edwardian Eras. A later series in the cycle, Waterman, combines elements of the 1910s with retrofuturistic imagery from the 1960s.

Sections below: Calendar Systems | Tri-National Calendar | Old Calendar | Timeline.

Updated February 2011.

Calendar Systems

Two different calendars are used in the four nations of the Turn-of-the-Century Toughs universe.

Tri-National Calendar

The Tri-National Calendar (TNC) is a reformed calendar system agreed upon by Yclau, Mip, and Vovim, who had originally used different calendars from one another. It counts a single circuit of the planet round the sun as a year, divides the year into four seasons of three months each, and uses numbers rather than names for the months, so as to avoid favoritism toward any of the three nations.

The four seasons are a concession to Vovim, which originally had a calendar based on its quaternary number system (base 4), while the three months are a concession to Yclau, which originally had a calendar based on its ternary number system (base 3). Both number systems were eliminated at the time of the calendar reform, replaced by a uniform duodecimal number system (base 12).

Three years in the Tri-National Calendar equals one year in our own world's calendar. Thus, the years 355 to 451 cover the span of time that was covered in our own world between 1880 to 1912. However, the fact that the equivalent historical events take three times longer in the Toughs universe means that there is only approximate equivalences between the dates of historical events in our world and theirs.

Holidays are left to the individual nations to decide, but by the fifth century, the Tri-Nations are all celebrating the traditional Yclau holidays of the Lords' Spring Festival (moveable date: the day after the migrating birds return) and the Commoners' Autumn Festival (moveable date: the day after the first night of frost), as well as the traditional Vovimian holidays of Mercy's Feast (midsummer) and Hell's Fast (extending from midwinter to late winter).

Old Calendar

The Old Calendar, used by the Dozen Landsteads, and originally by Yclau as well, is a tri-year calendar based on the Dozen Landsteads' ternary number system. One tri-year in the Dozen Landsteads equals three years in Yclau, Mip, and Vovim. Each tri-year is divided into three sun-circuits of three seasons: autumn, spring, and summer.

Landsteaders label the three circuits of their tri-year according to their traditional three-field system of planting: barley, clover, and fallow. For example: 1900 Barley, 1900 Clover, and 1900 Fallow are the three sun-circuits (years) that make up the single tri-year of 1900. By contrast, under the Tri-National Calendar, the tri-year of 1900 is counted as three years: 400, 401, and 402.

Conveniently for the reader, one tri-year just happens to correspond to one Earth year. The Dozen Landsteads's dating system therefore corresponds to the dating system of Earth's, leaving aside minor details such as the fact that the Landsteaders' planet travels around the sun three times during each equivalent of our year. Thus, the years 1880 to 1912 in the Dozen Landsteads correspond to the years 1880 to 1912 in our own world.

The Dozen Landsteads celebrate the Lords' Spring Festival and the Commoners' Autumn Festival by the holidays' traditional names: the Masters' Spring Festival and the Slaves' Autumn Festival.

For more about the Old Calendar, see: Landstead Ternary Symbols and Their Meaning.

Timeline

BOC = Before the Old Calendar.
OC = Old Calendar.
TNC = Tri-National Calendar.

Date unknown: Tribes of the Old Continent arrive at the New Continent, displacing and interrmarying with the natives. In the region that would later come to be known as the Midcoast nations, the native tribes that refused to adopt the newcomers' ways of life fight the encroaching invaders.

2000 BOC to 500 OC: Vovim's invading tribes gradually coalesce into a kingdom that spans much of the Midcoast region. To the northeast of Vovim, a similar alliance takes place between twelve leaders of the invading tribes, leading to the founding of the Dozen Landsteads. All other territories in the continent remain under the control of native tribes that have not yet formed alliances with one another. With one exception, all of these territories will eventually become small nations with less political influence than the three great nations of the east: Vovim, Yclau, and the Dozen Landsteads. The one exception is Mip, which will end up bound by larger nations on all three sides: by Vovim to the north and west, by Yclau to the south, and by the Dozen Landsteads to the east. As a result, Mip will play a pivotal role in trade and cultural exchange between its influential neighbors.

0 OC: Remigius, founder of the Dozen Landsteads' law system, is tortured to death. His death will later mark the start of the Dozen Landsteads' dating system, originally known merely as The Calendar.

1199 OC: The First Landstead breaks with the other Landsteads over the issues of female inheritance and slavery. It will eventually rename itself as the Queendom of Yclau and expand its territory westwards and overseas.

1317 OC: The Celadon-Brun Act is passed in the Dozen Landsteads, making significant changes to that nation's master/slave social and political system.

1508 OC: The master/slave system in the Dozen Landsteads is eliminated in favor of a master/servant system.

1550 OC: The Thousand Years' War begins between Vovim and Yclau, primarily over which nation will control the territory of Mip. Mip's native people are not consulted on this matter.

0 TNC (1762 OC): In one of their periodic attempts at peace, Vovim and Yclau agree to adhere to a bi-national calendar. After the emancipation of Mip in 355 TNC, this is referred to as the Tri-National Calendar.

0-201 TNC (1762 to 1829 OC): In both Yclau and Vovim, ancient systems of government, law-keeping, and class structure continue, epitomized by the use of torture in the royal dungeons of both lands. In Yclau, however, a small number of torturers begin to discuss innovative ways to break prisoners.

202 TNC (1829 OC): Yclau's royal dungeon is destroyed by a cave-in. It is refounded as the Eternal Dungeon, and the dungeon's first ethical code book is issued by the surviving torturers. Debates with other nations over the effectiveness of the Eternal Dungeon's techniques will eventually result in the creation of an international prison reform body, the United Order of Prisons.

301-365 TNC (1862 to 1883 OC): At the start of this century, an industrial revolution sweeps Yclau. Yclau and Vovim sporadically continue the Thousand Years' War.

338 TNC (1874 OC): Layle Smith becomes a torturer in the Eternal Dungeon. He will later take control of the dungeon, rename the torturers Seekers, and be known as the most famous High Seeker of the Eternal Dungeon.

344 TNC (1876 OC): Layle Smith's fifth revision of the Code of Seeking is issued, spurring a prison reform movement within Yclau and increasing the power of the United Order of Prisons.

355 TNC (1880 Barley OC): Mercy Prison is created in Mip by the Yclau government, which has control of the land at this time. It is the first of Mip's life prisons and is a product of the prison reform movement. Later that year, Yclau frees Mip as part of a truce agreement with Vovim. The Mippite government is given into the hands of its magistrates. Beginning of the Eternal Dungeon series, which is set primarily in Yclau.

356 TNC (1880 Clover OC): In response to pressure from the United Order of Prisons, Vovim's King declares that some crimes that were previously punished by death will now be punished by life imprisonment. The conditions under which Vovim's life prisoners are kept will eventually become the topic of heated international debate.

359 TNC (1881 Clover OC): Bainbridge starts the Commoners' Guild in Yclau. The guild becomes the focus of class unrest in that land.

360 TNC (1881 Fallow OC): A dispute between the Vovimian King and the High Master of his Hidden Dungeon over prison reform issues causes political divisions in Vovim. The United Order of Prisons condemns the use of torture in the Eternal Dungeon.

365 TCN (1883 Clover OC): The preaching of a young Vovimian prophet sparks civil war in Vovim, causing the unofficial end of the Thousand Years' War between Vovim and Yclau. The sixth revision of the Code of Seeking is issued, creating major changes to life in the Eternal Dungeon.

375 TCN (1886 OC): Partly in response to changes in the Eternal Dungeon, the Commoners' Guild in Yclau begins pressing for a new era of prison reform that takes into account class oppression. Vovim's King falls to the rebels, and prisoners in the Hidden Dungeon are liberated.

376-400 TNC (1887 Barley to 1895 Barley OC): After an initial period of anarchy that lasts for a number of years, the Vovimian government is gradually converted into an elective monarchy with a parliament. A period of peace begins between Yclau and Vovim.

385 TNC (1890 Barley OC): The public receives its first hint of troubles in Mip's life prisons through an unsuccessful uprising at Compassion Prison. Beginning of the Life Prison series, which is set in Mip.

392 TNC (1892 Clover OC): Yclau's Guild of Healers issues a report suggesting that more mid-class folk than in the past are engaging in vice and crime. Mid-class folk begin to join the commoners in urging Yclau's Queen to institute social reforms, particularly to the prison system.

400 TNC (1895 Barley OC): The Commoners' Guild and its mid-class allies rise against the Queen of Yclau. The Eternal Dungeon is raided as part of the rebels' attack on the royal palace. The Yclau government is converted into a democracy. Yclau's life prisons are shut down. In Mip, troubles in the life prisons reach their peak.

402 TNC (1895 Fallow OC): As a result of the troubles in the life prisons, the Dozen Landsteads declares war upon Mip. Beginning of the Commando series, which is set in Mip and the Dozen Landsteads.

Early 400s TNC (late 1890s and early 1900s OC): Vovim gradually accepts the industrial revolution that has already transformed life in Yclau and Mip. The slum problem that plagues those two countries spreads to Vovim. Social reformers turn their attention from the treatment of prisoners to the role of poverty in creating immorality and crime.

401 (1895 Clover OC): The Tri-National War begins, involving all four of the Midcoast nations. The end of the war will cause increased ties between the three countries of the Tri-Nation area, to the exclusion of the Dozen Landsteads.

448 TNC (1911 Barley OC): Michael's House for Boys is founded in Vovim. It will soon attract the attention of social reformers in that land. Beginning of the Michael's House series, which is set in Vovim.

451 TNC (1912 Barley OC): Yclau, while retaining its democracy, restores its monarchy. In one of her first speeches, the new Queen proposes freeing the original territory of the First Landstead, which will allow its government to re-ally itself with the remainder of the Dozen Landsteads. Her proposal includes provisions requiring the retention of certain aspects of Yclau culture in that territory, such as the queendom's advanced technology. The other eleven Landsteads react by forbidding nearly all cultural and technological imports from their southern neighbors, including the First Landstead. As a result, the society of the upper landsteads is effectively frozen in the year 1912.

601 TNC (1962 Barley OC): Beginning of the Waterman series, which is set in the Dozen Landsteads.

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