The Huns were a world class fighting force who made masterful use of both bows and horses, conquering an enormous part of the known world. The Romans developed the legion using a combination of formations, shields, and discipline and became one of the most dominant cultures in history. Neither of these two groups were able to effectively invade the Swiss, even at the height of their power. The Alps were simply too large of an obstacle to their forces. Pair that with highly trained soldiers who used the terrain to their advantage, and even two of the most powerful empires in history couldn’t overtake them.
Geography is one of the most basic elements affecting a culture. The land will determine how large a population can grow, how difficult it will be to defend against foreign invaders, and even what sort of technology they will develop. Mining isn’t a big industry in a land filled with swamps and deep soil fields, for example.
If you know what sort of culture you want, tailor the type of geography to their circumstance. If you want a culture based on raiding and honor in plunder, like the Vikings, they need to come from a land that is unsuitable for large scale farming for some reason. Scandinavia has a relatively short growing season and relatively poor soil. They also have a lot of timber and access to high grade ores to make iron and steel. Instead of hunter/gathering in ancient times, they were fisher/gatherers, making boats and ships something they would have dealt with for generations.
If you wanted something similar, you could make your culture from a semi-arid badlands, where there were yews and other small trees and great horses. Since any agriculture will be stunted, plundering villages of their neighbors may become not only an acceptable way of life, it may be the greatest honor, since you are feeding not only your family, but perhaps your whole clan.
If you want a culture made up of peaceful farmers, you know that they need to live in an area with plenty of land and resources. Scarcity breeds conflict, so there must be a lot. What is preventing a more warlike neighbor from taking that land away from them? Is it a mountain range, like the Swiss? Is it political, where they have good political relationships with their neighbors, supplying them with food and never taking sides in any wars? Are they on a series of islands in difficult to navigate waters, so landing a fighting force is simply too difficult?
In order to build on the realism of your world, think about the basics of the land and how living there would change a culture over generations. Where do they get their food? What raw materials are in abundance, and what is more rare? If they have cities, how do they feed that population? How do they get water for their people? How do roads work?
Myos is a country that’s surrounded by desert and nestled in a massive mountain range. They have an unbelievable amount of stone and mineral wealth. They can grow crops on some of the mountain sides, but they get most of their food from the bay directly to the north. There are rivers that flow from the mountain streams, eventually ending up in the Calwere River. Frothwere, the capital, is located on the mouth of the river, providing the people there with relatively easy access to trade via river and sea. A huge portion of their diet is seafood, supplemented with peppers and other vegetables that grow in the hot, dry climate. Their food is also very spicy, which allows the body to sweat without actually increasing their body temperature. The high heat makes it so that during the early afternoon, the whole country basically stops to stay indoors in order to sleep or drink to stay cool.
The buildings are primarily made of stone, but might use wooden shingles or shutters as a display of wealth, since wood is so hard to find. They are isolated from cultures who would do them harm by the desert and the mountainous terrain, so it’s unnecessary to have a large standing army. However, they are dependent on trade both from ships and caravans. This means that they have a strong navy as well as a system of caravan guards and garrisons along the road to keep it as clear from bandits as feasible.
Next week, I’ll be discussing economics in your worldbuilding, and how geography and the Hierarchy of Social Estates affects it. If you want to see a topic, just let me know in the comments!
See you next week!
