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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/39423
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

## You can give hints of cartography through the words you choose.

As for an example, let's call country A the _Holy Empire of Highmarch_, and country B the _Duchy of Hillsberry_. I just made up these names. But what do they tell to the reader?

For country A, we now know that it is probably a vast territory, that religion has a great part in it, and that Highmarch must refers to mountains or harsh lands, and only with these informations you already can figure what the people would look like, how hard is their lifes, and so on.

For country B, the fact this is a Duchy means a smaller territory, with less authority, and the Hillsberry part probably reminds you of, let's say, hills and berries, two things that are probably nicer than anything in Highmarch.

Also, keep in mind that [Kingdoms are good, Empires are evil](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoodRepublicEvilEmpire): the trope is strong enough that you can use it at your advantage to give a good sense of cartography only by _naming_ places.

## You can give measures by what they mean to the characters.

If a kilometer breaks immersion in a fantasy setting, how about using measures that means something to them? Yards, feet and any imperial unit "feels" appropriate for a fantasy setting because it refers to something the reader know, even if they are not europeans (meaning, not imperial units-user).

However, for longer distances (because who still uses furlongs nowadays anyway?), you _have_ to tell the reader by something they can relate to:

- How long is a road when using horses? How many times must they stop to rest?
- Do their beards grow? How much?
- Are they tired at the end of their trek? Was it easier than they thought?
- How much did they eat? Did they had to count on their supplies? Hunt in the woods? Gather potatoes in fields? Do they starve? How do people greet them?

All these questions can help the reader feeling what it is like to travel from one country to another, from the length of the trek to the character of the people they will meet, thus giving us indirect informations about the land they're living in.

A good choice of words will make Arthur starve on the muddy path to Windheld Manor. A poor choice of words will just make "Jim goes 3km to town".

Original score: 10