Playing God: Inventing infrastructure for your fantasy WIP

Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that allow societies to function from day-to-day, and is therefore an essential element of world-building. In today’s Playing God post, I explore the integrated nature of infrastructure, some important considerations, and give a sneak peek at the infrastructure in my own fantasy WIP! →

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SERIES CONTENTS

👍 Introduction | 💡 Creation | 🌟 Cosmology | ☯ Religion | 🔮 Magic | 🌍 Geography | 🌦 Climate & Weather | ⏳ History | 🎭 Race & Culture | 💬 Language | 🎵 Music, Art & Writing | 🏠 Infrastructure | 🤴 Government | 📜 Laws | 💰 Economy

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Infrastructure is the set of physical and organisational facilities and systems that serve a society and enable it to operate. It is a part of our everyday lives, and includes the physical networks (“hard” infrastructure) and institutions (“soft” infrastructure) that allow us to function. Here are a few key reasons why it is therefore essential to think about infrastructure when world-building for a fantasy WIP:

🌳 Realism

If infrastructure is a part of everyday life, then it is vital to develop it in your fantasy world so that your characters’ everyday interactions feel realistic. Think about it: infrastructure controls where and how we live, how we travel, how we communicate with each other and the mechanisms through which we receive education, healthcare and more. This influences how individuals and societies behave—and it will influence your characters. Put in the effort to make your infrastructure feel real!

🔄 Integration

Of all the key elements of world-building, infrastructure is one of the most highly integrated and intertwined with all the others. It is shaped by history and geography, by climate and weather and culture. In turn, some of the “soft” infrastructure aspects such as government and law and economy are by definition a part of the infrastructure itself. None of these work properly without consideration of all the others, so it is definitely worth thinking about for the sake of consistency!

🔮 Magic

You definitely know you’re in a fantasy world when the infrastructure is seamlessly married with the magic system. Depending on the nature of magic in your world, chances are it has had some kind of impact on the infrastructure, and/or the infrastructure influences the way that magic is used. Consider what capabilities magic can provide for transportation, for energy, for communications, because if it’s possible then you can guarantee someone in your world would have investigated it!

📚 Plot

And finally, as always, we cycle back to the plot. Don’t underestimate the limitations that the infrastructure in your world will place on your plot. For example, if the only land transport infrastructure that exists is a road and a horse, then you characters can’t travel hundreds of miles in a day without using some kind of magic. But at the same time, infrastructure can provide just as many opportunities to progress your plot and make things interesting to your audience. All you have to do is IMAGINE!!

Now that we’ve established the importance of developing infrastructure when building a fantasy world, we can talk about WHAT we ought to consider. There are many more things to think about than what might first meet the eye, but that only makes this exercise more fun! Some of the most significant infrastructure-related considerations are as follows:

🏠 Buildings

I imagine that the first thing most people think of when they hear the word “infrastructure” is buildings—and for good reason! In our world, humans spend a lot of time indoors, so it makes sense that we should consider what type of buildings exist in the worlds we create. What do they look like and what materials are they made from? Are places of work different from where people live? How do buildings differ across locations and cultures? These are just a small selection of questions you may wish to ask.

✈ Transportation

Transport infrastructure is another element that you’ve probably thought about early on. In many fantasy novels, people get around by horse or some other animal, but there’s no need to limit yourself. Think about how people move across land (e.g. roads, railways, bridges), how they move via sea (e.g. water vessels, ports, shipping routes) or even by air (e.g. airships, airports and the likes). Or maybe the way people travel in your world is intertwined with your magic system. The possibilities are endless!

💡 Utilities

An aspect of infrastructure that you may not have considered in as much detail are the key utilities: water, energy, and waste. How are people in your world supplied with water? Is there a system of pumps and pipes or must people collect water manually? What sort of energy sources do people use? Is electricity in widespread use or does magic provide a form of power? And how is waste disposed of? Is there a sewer system? What happens to household rubbish? While these might not be vital to your story, it can sure give your world-building that extra punch!

☎ Communications

At some point during your story, it is likely your characters will have to communicate over distance, so it is definitely worth having a think about what sort of communications infrastructure exists in your world. Must messages be delivered by hand? Does magic play a role at all? Or perhaps your fantasy world has a sci-fi twist that includes more advanced technologies that enable transmission through wires, radio, optical, electromagnetic or other means. Don’t restrain your imagination!

⚙ Soft infrastructure

Finally, there is a broad array of soft infrastructure that you may wish to explore for your fantasy world. These are the services which maintain the economic, health, cultural and social standards of a population. What sort of financial system exists within your world? What do the education and health care systems look like? How about government (more on this in a later post!), or law enforcement, or emergency services? Are there specific activities or amenities that people can access for recreation? See—infrastructure is about more than just buildings!

Writing this post has actually made me think quite a bit about the infrastructure in my WIP fantasy series Graceborn, and I reckon I still have some work to do! Infrastructure and services vary in nature across the different nations, but here are the key points to note:

Buildings: Architecture varies from region to region, though most buildings in the known world are constructed from stone. One building that I have developed in particular detail is called Tor Kiva, the 85-storey white tower in the very centre of Asphodel which is the home of the Graceborn.

Transportation: Travel throughout the world is conducted on foot or by horse on land, or by ship or barge on water. Air travel is only available to the araadre, the winged Ancient Race who can fly. I have a few ideas for potential changes to the transport infrastructure in my world, though those will stay under wraps for now!

Utilities: Water, energy and waste infrastructure varies from region to region and also depends on an area’s economic status. Plumbing exists in more affable cities like Asphodel and Dalgaard, whereas poorer places must make do with collecting water by hand. There is no centralised power system, but coal, peat and oil are mined in Hebron as a source of energy for the world.

Communications: With the exception of Telepaths (a type of Graceborn Adept), who can communicate mind-to-mind, messages in my world must be transmitted the old-fashioned way. Technological development has been virtually non-existent for the last millennium because of *reasons*, so people must make do with communicating in person or by letter.

Soft infrastructure: I will talk about governance, legal and economic systems in my world at a later state, but education and healthcare varies significantly from nation to nation. Graceborn Healers are posted to all major cities to deal with extreme cases, though access can still be an issue. State-run education exists in places like Asphodel, though most eastern and southern children are home-schooled.

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What infrastructure have you invented for your fantasy world? How did you develop each aspect? What do you think are the most important considerations?