derive your fantasy settings from somewhere other than medieval europe you cowards
apart from anything else it gives you the chance to read some world history from parts of the world that aren’t europe and that shit is non-stop fun
some to start you off:
the an lushan rebellion (and literally all chinese imperial court drama makes european political machination look totally pathetic)
the battle of tondibi (and literally the entire fall of the songhai empire to the morrocan invaders)
the hajj of mansa musa (the richest man of all history)
kublai khan’s repeated and failed attempts to invade japan
this isn’t even stretching to like, russia, southern africa, the pacific, or anywhere in the americas yet?
c’mon man don’t you wanna base a fantasy story on patachuti?
THE TRUNG SISTERS THO
HAVE A FEW IDEAS FOR FANTASY SETTINGS FROM KOREAN FOLKLORE AND HISTORY:
The “Imjin War” – Japan’s 16th century invasion of Korea. Particularly the tale of Admiral Yi Sun Shin, a common guard-post commander who rose to prominence as Korea’s greatest admiral, who once defeated a contingent of 400+ Japanese ships (admittedly mostly troop transports) with 13 warships, was betrayed by spies within his own court, and clawed his way back to power in time to turn back the Japanese invasion of Korea.
The Hwarang (Flower Knights) – A bunch of pretty-boy warriors from the 7th century onwards, renowned just as much for their attractive looks as well as their loyalty and skill in the arts of battle. Their entire Wikipedia article reads like mlm fuel from the fevered mind of fangirls.
The Amheng-Osa – Joseon-Era secret inspectors who posed as common travelers to investigate corruption among government officials and abuses of the populace. Famously figures into the “Tale of Chunhyang,” about a virtuous Korean girl who resists the advances of a corrupt nobleman and is eventually rescued from her plight by her true love, who happens to have been promoted into one of these guys while they were apart.
And no history of Korea would be complete without talking about King Sejong, the guy so beloved and respected by Korean historians that they always call him King Sejong the Great – A guy who developed an entirely new writing system that even the common people could learn, largely supplanting the older system that could only be used by the very wealthy and highly educated. A guy who used that new writing system to spread knowledge of farming techniques among the people and increase literacy among the population.
Now, remember that a lot of fictional magic systems rely on “runes” and “glyphs,” and imagine what would happen to a society where magic had always been the province of only the wealthy scholars… and the turmoil that society might undergo if a new system of magic that could be learned by anyone was being distributed to the common folks who could now use magic for every day things…
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