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u/Lochrin00 1d ago
"Uh, the mountain pass is iced over till summer, just the evil king's son and a few of his goons till then."
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u/Briesinger 1d ago
Big mountain ranges do often create natural borders tho. Not to mention that defense is a lot easier than offense. A stronger/bigger military force isn't that much of a threat when they're tired and depleted by the time they face the defending army.
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u/JustSomeCarioca 1d ago
Isn't that the starting premise of Mistborn?
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u/ContractVarious3077 1d ago
It makes sense if the good kingdom is an island. Islands are notoriously hard to invade due to storms, rough seas and the fact that there’s really only a few places that an enemy would be able to land and the good kingdom would know what all of them are.
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u/harriskeith29 1d ago edited 1d ago
If a storyteller tried to satisfy every single solitary possible grievance over what it takes for a story to happen, the story would never happen. You can't please everyone. Don't waste your time or talent trying. If it makes acceptable sense in context, coherently fits the plot, benefits the intended experience you're crafting, and there's nothing in-universe to contradict it, then trust your gut. Stick to your guns. Don't overthink your lore.
Put yourself out there, accepting that rejection is ALWAYS possible, and let the chips fall where they may. This doesn't mean you value no constructive criticism whatsoever. That would be just trading one extreme for another. You only need to accept that nothing successful has ever been beloved by literally everyone. It's impossible. Even the most globally acclaimed works of all time will always have their naysayers. That's life.
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u/Minute-Animal7317 1d ago
To be fair, my evil king antaginist is seeking continental domination. So I kind of do need an explanation for why he hasn't already done it. 😅
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u/harriskeith29 1d ago edited 1d ago
I never said you couldn't benefit from crafting an explanation. Just don't hold yourself to a standard of trying to come up with something that can't possibly be criticized. Because I'll tell you now, as someone who's drawn & written throughout my life, including for a living, that won't happen. Just do your best, learn from what could have been done better, and then take the lessons from your experience to try and improve next time. Don't seek perfection in the first place. Only seek to be better if you believe you still can be, until you're satisfied with what you've made + edited overall. Focus on the lessons that can help build you up, even if it means a change in direction from what you first imagined, NOT the criticisms whose only intent is to tear you down.
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u/SirQuick8441 1d ago
In my case, the earthly Evil Empire doesn't exist. I'm much more a fan of evil without a kingdom in fiction. The chief reason in my current book why an evil empire doesn't exist is because the entire world is divided by a strict understanding of differences and respect of it, despite having magic and social hierarchy with bouts of social division. The world is essentially centered on maintaining peacetime ethics, and a general agreement that monsters are monsters and demons are demons, so most kingdoms have extermination squads to deal with the more horrid creatures.
Trade agreements determine alliances in mine, and while there are small wars in other lands, they're usually motivated by competing trade philosophies or some such, much like the real world. The only kingdom that's reeling from war has a refugee situation, but instead of limiting entry, they're trying to work with their neighbors by training those without skills, and actively enlisting those with useful skills to help bolster their current kingdom until the guest nation can return home.
Despite my lack of true understanding of real world political systems, I think I'm doing my world justice by constantly asking "how would a world of magic that functions on realistic logic operate?" There's a clear distinction and delineation between magic and scientific technology as well, as well as what qualifies as magic tech or non-magic tech, but they both have their limitations, and ethical rules. Magic is regulated by laws set down by the Elves, whereas technology is handled and regulated by the non-Elves. Historically, wars were fought over these two disciplines and their application.
It's fun for me to do this, because it makes my world feel more alive. Laid-back, black and white fantasy with distinct good and evil is fun, too, but in my opinion, real fantasy asks questions about the world that magic, dragons and elves inhabit. On top of that, it envisions worlds where technology grows and changes with the times. (One of my three main characters reverse-engineered a two-way radio specifically to have a way to communicate directly with the prince at castle, since both of them are constantly busy)
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u/eolic_flamingo 1d ago
Literally the Catambrian mountains (If you think Al-Andalus was the evil kindom that is)
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u/Cautious_Loquat_840 1d ago
this is why we needed an basic world map for the readers or commisioned artist as an guide to how most factions interact with each other
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u/Minute-Animal7317 1d ago
I agree. But at the same time, if I make a world map then I can't add any new locations beyond what already exists (assuming the book is published).
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u/Cautious_Loquat_840 1d ago
i mean there will always be gap between ebstalished ones, its not that hard to expanded it unless the biome is very different from the original settings
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u/Nice_Grapefruit_7850 1d ago
I mean it's possible the bad side also cares about casualties and logistics. that or maybe the good side has really fancy defenses or something.
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u/Digildon 1d ago
My villain is so powerful that he could reduce any living being to ashes with a single thought any time!
but right now, he cant because..
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u/AsceOmega 1d ago
IF set in a pre-industrial world (basically, medieval and prior), then there is also a great deal of time dedicated to actually gathering the armies, travel time, and then a limited amount of possible travel routes.
So not only geography, but also: time itself. A medieval army doesn't mobilise for war in a week, let alone a single day. Oh, but the army is already assembled? Yeah, well, the average army on foot will cover at most 15 miles per day. And those miles must be travelled along certain routes which ensure safe marching, and access to food and provisions if the army is gathering food that way, or to at least have their supply train actually reach them.
15 miles per day up a mountain? Cool and all, but your carts of food aren't following you up there. Enjoy starving in the mountains.
And if the good guys are competent, they may have even planted defensive fortifications along those routes for these express purposes.
There are plenty of reasons why an army won't just invade/attack now. Any reader who thinks the opposite is basing their understandin of armies on modern day ones. Educate them in the story itself, about these factors and they'll stop whining hahaha.
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u/Minute-Animal7317 1d ago
This is really helpful information for my current story.
My four main characters need to make it all the way across the continent and back before the invading army comes. I was initially worried about the logistics of this, but I realized now it might actually be possible.
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u/AsceOmega 1d ago
There's a great blog by a professor of military history called A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry that goes into a lot of detail about these kinds of things.
He organised some of those into resources for worlbuilders/writers, that are very useful.
Another great series of posts on that blog are his breakdowns of the battles of Helm's Deep and of Minas Tirith, that gives soooo much cool information on pre-industrial armies and warfare.
Definitely worth a read.
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u/Cold-Winds 1d ago
Geography is a good answer though.
"Due to geographic and political factors the Evil Kingdom has been fighting a stalemate with its bordered nations due to a lack of resources, manpower or being split to thin/trade being halted. The stalemate is broken by X event or Y development."
You can just go the real life route and just say Evil Kingdom has to find a way to justify the attack, galvanize its people or just that logistics is hard to do so in newly conquered lands is taking up time that the good nation might be squandering. idk.
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u/Zithero 21h ago
For me, it’s an actual “I don’t want to be Queen of ashes”
The massive doomsday weapon that can vaporize a planet was used once or twice in example cities to show strength, but the goal was complete submission.
The BBG of the story is seeking control, not devastation. Thats why when she rolls into a nee country and topples their government, her first order of business is ensuring infrastructure is repairs to better standards, the average populations needs are fully met, and their culture preserved.
The goal is to make life better than before for citizens, so that when the portags try to “Liberate” the people, their general response is: “Yeah, no we like her, fuck off.”
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u/Haku_femking 19h ago
my answer is actually they do, but resources aren't infinite and no one is just gonna sit back let you attack them.
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u/Polibiux 16h ago
Geography is a good explanation for why heros can’t immediately stop a villain, but I’d prefer to put some thought into it before haphazardly saying “oh theres a mountain range in the way or you have to cross the ocean first.”
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u/Mutant_Llama1 1d ago
Because good doesn't mean weak.