Measurement

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Standards of Measurement on Lume

The majority of Folk are practical by necessity, and a formal education on Lume is atypical. The most learned Folk are Casters, who may act as tutors in exchange for board when traveling, etc. Commonfolk may also be educated by visiting or resident Slenders, however most will educate themselves through books and scrolls they trade and duplicate. These conditions, coupled with the practical necessities of a developing society, has given rise to a rather rough and ready method for everyday mathematics.

Lacking sophisticated equipment, Folk use what is readily available. Calculations are performed with the hands, feet, and limbs as follows; five fingers on each hand equals one span, so that both hands and feet amounts to four spans. The wrist, arm bone, elbow, upper arm bone, and shoulder together also count for a span, as do the ankle, lower leg bone, knee, upper leg, and hip. This allows for calculations up to forty, and is generally more than enough for regular trade and everyday use. This standard is accepted throughout the Continent alongside BarterSpeak. When needed, each limb can represent the aforementioned eight spans, or forty digits, to allow for calculations of up to two-hundred. More densely populated villages and emerging towns are adopting more sophisticated tools for counting, such as beads on strings or rods. These and other developing systems have been strongly influenced by the Slenders, the philosophical Dunefolk, and the fastidious Manidae aristocracy. The Slenders themselves use a decimal system closely resembling the old terrestrial metric system, including Roman numerals and denominations; century to represent a hundred, millenia for one thousand, etc. They have recently begun tasking their traveling academics with encouraging the Folk to adopt this system, however with trade routes opening with other Races, it is likely the system will continue to evolve to suit all inhabitants.

With Lume's dispersed and culturally diverse population, standards of measurement vary greatly between region, Race and profession. The populace is sparce enough that land-titles are not enforced; if a being or family live and work an area, they own it until they cease to occupy it. Few see the reason to hold more than they can manage, as this is irresponsible, and the occasional dispute is settled by the judgement of a town council, Slender diplomat, or impartial visitors.

Smaller measurements, for the purpose of crafts for example, are unique to each trade, and the terminology reflects the tools and materials used. Leatherworkers use terms such as handspans, fingerwidths, half-hides, etc. Walking is the preferred form of travel on Lume, so rates of distance are measured in walking time, i.e. two days to the next village, a halfday to the river, etc. There are eight spans to a terrestrial meter, and a stride is roughly eighty terrestrial centimeters.

At the time of writing, Necrosis attempts to enforce land ownership laws with the unification of his Multis empire. The implication behind this development is one the wise Slenders, Gardeners and Frost Giants consider to be misguided and fraught with error.