what am I saying about war?

[marycatelli]

There are characters in this world -- one of them my heroine -- who walk about a lot.  From town to village to village to village to the hunting lodge to the next village and maybe a city about. . . .

Which, it occurs to me, is saying something about the world.  During the Dark Ages they kept their nice schematic of men who pray, men who fight, and men who work because there were no rich merchants to clutter it up by having clout through their cash, because travel was too difficult.  For a lone traveler, it would have been even worse.

So, is this really compatible with a heavily fighting nobility?  With a number of battles in the book?

To be sure the High Middle Ages saw a lot of fighting, too.

Or maybe I should just endow this group of people with magic that lets them sneak about when faced with brigands or men-at-arms.  There's certainly plentiful enough magic IF I can work out a way to ensure that no one else gets a hand on it.  Conditions, I think, conditions, since their social power is limited.

Comments

[marycatelli]

Ah, well, they don't walk from A to B and back. They walk about in a long circuit because what they are carrying is certain skills.

Or perhaps it's easier to hide yourself by magic without horses.

[ford-prefect42.livejournal.com]

Ah. The itinerant expert. Gotcha.

[marycatelli]

Wasn't thinking of the travel side when I made her that, but it's useful

[ford-prefect42.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's a spectacular opportunity for world-building!

[marycatelli]

World bludgeoning more like, at this point. When your story requires X, Y, and Z it's always fun to try to fit them together in a functional world.