Thelgord
August 26th, 2007, 10:39 PM
The speed of information...in a fantasy world anyway...
I have been doing some research and would like share my finding with you all and see what you think. This kind of goes along with map making and world building, which is what brought me to this research to begin with.
In equestrian endurance racing there is good article on wikipedea. It would seem that a horse and rider can travel about 160km (approx 100 miles) in 10-12 hours. This gives an average speed around 9 mph. This is of course on fairly well maintained routes that have been inspected for safety (for both the rider and the horse). By the time they reach the finish line both horse and rider are too exhausted to anything but rest for a least a day and a half. Keep in mind these are the best people and animals in the world that make it in these times.
From http://www.nyupress.org/professor/webinteaching/history3.shtml it’s said that by relaying riders day and night one could reasonably get a message 125 miles across a combination of roads and trails in about 2 days.
The Persians under Xerxes' rule (486-465 B.C.) employed the fastest system. They set rider approx 30 miles apart, (roughly 6 hours ride) and could relay information 24/7 on well maintained roads and trade routes. Thus they could cover 120 miles per 24 hours and up to 100 miles if the destination was well off “the beaten path”. The Persian riders, like their modern day “professional” counterparts, were the best in the world, as were their mounts. (Note: The Arabian horse still dominates professional endurance racing)
The Romans used a similar system on their frontier lands. They setup a network of towers that were as far off as one could see on an average day (approx 20 miles). This allowed towers to send massages up and down the line with smoke during the day, and fire light at night. Granted these messages were very simplistic such as “I am sending a rider to you” or “We are under attack”. Again, for more detailed messages riders could be dispatched and a message could be sent up and down the line with speeds close to that of the Ancient Persians. This also allowed the Romans to control a much larger border area without the need to build a few thousand miles of wall.
Fast forward to the late 1930’s – 1940’s and we get the German Blitzkrieg. This was made possible by portable radios that every unit and every piece of mobile armor carried with it. Commanders hundreds of miles away in some cases could move a unit or change its orders in a matter of an hour to as little as a few minutes.
Fast forward to the first Gulf War and the United States (and its Allies) took out the world’s fourth greatest army in 100 hours. How? The U.S. denied Iraqi commanders the ability to communicate while employing the largest real time voice/data/video network ever assembled for a military operation in history. Commanders physically located in the united states could watch major operation unfold in real time and communicate with troops on the ground, letting them know where they needed to be and when … AND … the make up of the opposition that they had been sent to intercept.
How does all of this tie in to a fantasy setting? Most fantasy settings have at least one army and an “Epic” battle to save the world from the evil demon princess who has come back from her sleep of a thousand years seeking revenge for … well you get the idea.
These armies need to move and they need to communicate. Even our hero (or heroin) will at some point need to go somewhere or receive a message from someone. By keeping this information in mind when map/world building your description of distance (hopefully) will be more accurate. Keep in mind that the larger the army, the slower it moves. Roman Legions could take a month to move a mere 400 miles. (approx. 20 miles per day)
If a King has a way to use magic to talk with far off commanders this asset will most likely be tightly held secret and guarded with the best men available in his kingdom. This of course depends on how pervasive magic is in your world. It could be that crystal balls are so common there is one in every house leading to the need for an early version of caller ID ;)
I have been doing some research and would like share my finding with you all and see what you think. This kind of goes along with map making and world building, which is what brought me to this research to begin with.
In equestrian endurance racing there is good article on wikipedea. It would seem that a horse and rider can travel about 160km (approx 100 miles) in 10-12 hours. This gives an average speed around 9 mph. This is of course on fairly well maintained routes that have been inspected for safety (for both the rider and the horse). By the time they reach the finish line both horse and rider are too exhausted to anything but rest for a least a day and a half. Keep in mind these are the best people and animals in the world that make it in these times.
From http://www.nyupress.org/professor/webinteaching/history3.shtml it’s said that by relaying riders day and night one could reasonably get a message 125 miles across a combination of roads and trails in about 2 days.
The Persians under Xerxes' rule (486-465 B.C.) employed the fastest system. They set rider approx 30 miles apart, (roughly 6 hours ride) and could relay information 24/7 on well maintained roads and trade routes. Thus they could cover 120 miles per 24 hours and up to 100 miles if the destination was well off “the beaten path”. The Persian riders, like their modern day “professional” counterparts, were the best in the world, as were their mounts. (Note: The Arabian horse still dominates professional endurance racing)
The Romans used a similar system on their frontier lands. They setup a network of towers that were as far off as one could see on an average day (approx 20 miles). This allowed towers to send massages up and down the line with smoke during the day, and fire light at night. Granted these messages were very simplistic such as “I am sending a rider to you” or “We are under attack”. Again, for more detailed messages riders could be dispatched and a message could be sent up and down the line with speeds close to that of the Ancient Persians. This also allowed the Romans to control a much larger border area without the need to build a few thousand miles of wall.
Fast forward to the late 1930’s – 1940’s and we get the German Blitzkrieg. This was made possible by portable radios that every unit and every piece of mobile armor carried with it. Commanders hundreds of miles away in some cases could move a unit or change its orders in a matter of an hour to as little as a few minutes.
Fast forward to the first Gulf War and the United States (and its Allies) took out the world’s fourth greatest army in 100 hours. How? The U.S. denied Iraqi commanders the ability to communicate while employing the largest real time voice/data/video network ever assembled for a military operation in history. Commanders physically located in the united states could watch major operation unfold in real time and communicate with troops on the ground, letting them know where they needed to be and when … AND … the make up of the opposition that they had been sent to intercept.
How does all of this tie in to a fantasy setting? Most fantasy settings have at least one army and an “Epic” battle to save the world from the evil demon princess who has come back from her sleep of a thousand years seeking revenge for … well you get the idea.
These armies need to move and they need to communicate. Even our hero (or heroin) will at some point need to go somewhere or receive a message from someone. By keeping this information in mind when map/world building your description of distance (hopefully) will be more accurate. Keep in mind that the larger the army, the slower it moves. Roman Legions could take a month to move a mere 400 miles. (approx. 20 miles per day)
If a King has a way to use magic to talk with far off commanders this asset will most likely be tightly held secret and guarded with the best men available in his kingdom. This of course depends on how pervasive magic is in your world. It could be that crystal balls are so common there is one in every house leading to the need for an early version of caller ID ;)