Thanks for the replies, guys. So, to my question of what concepts and units of time people would know, the answer seems to be "not much".
Quote:
Originally Posted by Teresa Edgerton  So really, Spectrum, it depends on which part of the medieval period you are interested in. |
Well, I want "Sentinels of Mith" (my series) to have something of a "dark age" feel, so I guess it would mostly resemble... I don't know, maybe 900 or 1000 CE. (There have been periods of higher technology in the past, though, with a number of cataclysmic wars each bombing the world some centuries back. So artifacts of higher technology might exist.)
I've read a little about clocks on Wikipedia, and I think I will have sundials and hourglasses and maybe the occasional water clock. In a major town there will probably be at least a few sundials (on churches and castles and the like), and a few scholars and clergymen will own hourglasses.
The specific situation I have in mind right now is this: The Rissitics are laying siege to the city of Cicora. A small group of agents have infiltrated the city, among them two mages. The mages will conjure daemons to wreak havoc inside the city, and then, when the soldiers are occupied fighting the daemons, the Rissitic fleet will attack. The conjuration ritual takes some time to complete, so my thought is that the mages are to commence the ritual at sundown, and then the fleet attacks half an hour after sundown or so.
I guess I will give each party and hourglass measuring half an hour (or whatever) and use that.