Below you
can find an overview on all measures and weights, which are commonly used all
over Santharian lands. This weights and
measures standard was elaborated and defined under the rule of the
Erpheronian King Thar and later
on introduced in the United Kingdom of
Santharia as well (with only a few minor modifications). Most of these
measures are also valid or understood at trading towns of other continents such
as Aeruillin or Nybelmar. Additionally to the common measure and weights tables
this overview also contains tally measures used to measure precious metals, ore
or gems as well as a list of common Santharian
currency.
Line Measure is used to measure length, height and distances. The details of
this measure can be summarized as follows:
Wet Measure
is used to measure liquids like alcohol, water, oils and similar things. The
details of this measure can be summarized as follows:
Sea
Measure is used to measure distances at sea or other areas which contain
liquids. Some of these measures are similar to the Line Measurements (see
above). The details of this measure can be summarized as follows:
Dry Measure
is used to measure flour, grains, spices etc. The details of this measure can be
summarized as follows:
Land Measure
is used to measure areas/surfaces. The details of this measure can be summarized
as follows:
Heft
Measure is used to measure weights. The details of this measure can be
summarized as follows:
Tally
Measure is used to measure precious metals, ore or gems. This measure doesn't
have set values, but represents rather a
subjective system, calculated on a complicated three-way sliding scale of
quality versus size versus amount. The details of this measure
can be summarized as follows:
Below you
can find an overview on the
royal currency currently in circulation and
accepted throughout most of the
Santharian
kingdom:
MEASUREMENT,
CALIBRATION
AND UNITS
OF TEMPERATURE
(HEAT
AND COLD)
|
The brilliant gnomish
inventor and alchemist Periklesius (Gnomic: 'Periklezeuz') originally
designed his ‘Periklesian Temperature Tube’ to measure the changes in the
weather, but after being contacted by the dwarven community and harassed
by his fellow alchemists, he realized the potential of his new measurement
device and expanded its range. Although he was never able to construct a
Periklesian Tube (or Peritube) which was capable of measuring the true
extremes of heat and cold, the scale which he initially developed was
expanded by other researchers, and divided into units called ‘periks’
(Gnomic: 'perikz' – about 10 terran degrees) in his honour. We can now
measure accurately to approximately a half-perik (5 terran degrees),
within the range of our current devices. The original Periklesian Tube
(Pertube, Per'meter) was a thick upright cylinder of glass, filled with a
fluid in which small spheres or bubbles of glass filled with other fluids
of varying viscosities would float freely, their height within the tube
depending upon the temperature of the surrounding air (or other medium).
Much later Periklesius would simplify this, with the discovery that
quicksilver, a mercurial substance produced from cinnabar ore, reacted to
heat and cold. We owe our current 'Pertubes', slim quills of glass filled
with quicksilver and marked neatly in periks, to his persistent euxperi
(investigations) of how various substances reacted to varying
temperatures.
The benchmarks below are the most common ones we use on a regular basis:
Periklesius’s original historical standards are in a bolder font. As you
can see, he chose the highest and lowest temperatures he could identify at
the time, and the always-reliable point at which water freezes and boils
as his calibration points. We have been able to adjust and fill in
considerably more benchmarks over the years, but his original scale
remains the standard for most of Sarvonia – mainly the humans, gnomes and
dwarves.
Temperatures are given in ‘periks’, or ‘P’. Temperatures below the
freezing point of water, or ‘zero’, are either read as ‘below periks’
(B.P. - the dwarven preference), ‘lowpers’ ( L.P., a common human
contraction), or rather affectedly as ‘Kirepz’ (K, by the hobbits, who
seem to find this humorous. However, out of courtesy to the original
inventor, the gnomish Periklesius, the Compendium has chosen to use his
original suggestion – adopted by the gnomish community, and the standard
which we hope will be used by scholars of all races from henceforth – the
addition of a small 'minus' mark preceeding any measurements in periks
below 'zero'. |
Temperature Measure is used
to measure heat and cold, for describing climate, in alchemical applications,
and for cookery. The standard of measurement is called a 'perik' after its
inventor, and its main benchmarks are the freezing and boiling points of
ordinary freshwater. The details of this measure can be summarized as follows:
Periklesius also observed -
but was not able to measure precisely at the time – the various 'rednesses'
which iron radiates when heated. He wrote: “Zomeday yr zmiths, who know zo well
at whott exact hue toh ztrike th' metal, or bend, or anneal, will speak kazually
of itz heat in 'perikz' as eazily az they do now of itz kolourz...” and while we
have not yet arrived at that kingdom-wide familiarity, we have been able to
determine, as the great man was not, exactly what those hues amount to in
periks! Note: the colours given are commonly used among most Tharian-speaking
smiths, so can be treated as 'standards' in their own right.
We are also able to give
you, in slightly-less poetic categories, the forge flame colours, long an
indication of their own heat as well. While smiths do not, surprisingly, have
unique names for these heats, most saying gruffly that 'it feels right' or that
they 'jest know' from experience – but through observation and cross-checking a
great many smithies, we have ventured to give our own names to specific
temperature ranges that we have been able to distinguish.
Based on these calibrations,
the Compendium is also happy to announce that it can now provide you with
specific heats, in periks, for melting points of many of our basic metals.
