As the title suggest, right now I am going to rant about some crucial points in world/story building and in the end, hopefully, provide you with some insights and useful links. It is likely that someone else has done something similar already, but refreshing your knowledge is always good, and maybe my links are something you have missed up until now. So, let's start. 425Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwK5sGkRJIv
We all love fantasy novels with new and unknown worlds. The journey of the protagonist, being chased by the bad guys, his troubles in reaching Mordor to destroy the Ring… you catch my drift. But exactly this is where geography and travel limitations become crucial. A year ago, I bought a book. In it, the main character escaped through the secret tunnel in the castle, on foot, and in a single day managed to get, at least according to the provided map, to the middle of the continent where the story was taking place. No magic, no vehicles, just his two sturdy teenage legs. In the same time the protagonist’s twin sister, a princess, no battle experience, needed a couple of days on horseback to travel, again according to the map, a quarter of the distance her brother covered on foot in a single day.425Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXqfU5oizwO
Now, if you don’t tell me specifically that the guy is a super-human/some other cool overpowered race, or there is a speed magic boost, teleportation ring, a flying carpet, a dragon or at least an un-dead/spirit horse to use as means for transportation, I don’t by this. “But it’s a fantasy world, so everything goes”… No! We readers are not stupid. And such things, at leas for me, can spoil the whole story. Distance is distance. Terrain is terrain. And there can be a suspenseful chase and high stakes journey only when there are limitations.425Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJa5y18PCt
When writing travel in our stories we should consider 4 main factors: Who? Where? How? When?425Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdUIs39SBec
Who? – The speed of travel, especially on foot, depends on the condition of a person. A child or an injured person is slower than a healthy, well trained soldier. A mage with power boost is faster than a normal human.425Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcyHQSTdTs8
Where? – Ah, the terrain. Your travel speed differs whether you travel on flatland or in a mountain. Traveling on a good road is faster than going through uncharted woods. Sailing upstream is slower than downstream. Traveling along the coastline takes more time than open sea.425Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ25KL0UAVgh
How? – Is the protagonist traveling on foot, on a horse, in a vehicle? Is the travel on land, water or trough the air? Is he alone or in a group? A fleet is slower than a single ship. With a constant wind sailing is faster than walking on land, but the moment the winds turn, you are done for (if your boat has no engine, magic boost or good old oars). An army travels slower than a small group of people.425Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkVgoSIfAS
When? – This does not only mean the time period. It means weather conditions. Snow can cover mountain passes and close roads, so travel during winter is harder. Winds can change directions during sea voyage.425Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvzp4yPwNBm
So how to solve these problems? I am not a geography specialist, but as a scientist I know how to do my research. It might be a fantasy world, but one can still get inspiration and a good feeling for distance and time from our own world. Therefore, as a starter, I recommend using the ORBIS platform. It is an interactive simulation of the road system of the Roman empire. It can give you information about the traveling speed between different parts of the Roman empire (count the whole of Europe and parts of Africa) with exactly the 4 above-mentioned parameters and much more. For people wanting to go in depth with sea travel I recommend as a good read “SPEED UNDER SAIL OF ANCIENT SHIPS” in combination with the nautical route calculator from https://sea-distances.org/. With a bit of knowledge on the speed of a sailing ship and these links, one can do a pretty good job. I am currently using all three of them for my work and am super happy. It even helped me to make a plausible map of my world (to be posted soon) that really corresponds with the things I am writing, so hopefully I won’t make a fool of myself.425Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPvjaF2lg5V
So, that was it! I hope this rant was at least a bit helpful. If you have any questions of further input, feel free to comment. The next rant will be on map-making and giving form of your fictional world.
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