It's 5 centuries after a nuclear war. Contrary to the doomsday stories we're all familiar with, it's not something that would end all life on Earth (air bursts do more damage due to a combination of blast and EMP coverage and leave minimal fall out) but it certainly would end civilization. Every major city on Earth was destroyed, all non hardened electronics were destroyed by the EMP, famine induced by nuclear winter crop failures depopulated the planet and general chaos destroyed what the nukes didn't. It took about 50 years for some sibilance of civilization to return to the world and the combination of brain drain, technological regression and the resources that fueled the industrial revolution being depleted have prevented civilization from advancing past an equivalent of the mid-late medieval period. For the sake of following the story with ease, I've ignored the inevitable language changes and use contemporary American English in the dialogue. Also a note on naming conventions: Everyone is a member of their dad's family however wives don't take the surnames of their husbands and mothers pass on their family names along with the father. So a male child is given name, mother's surname, father's surname. A female child is given name, father's surname, mother's surname. With the father's surname being applied to all children prefaced by 'House' (this isn't limited to the nobility). This naming convention is only used in North America and the coastal regions (and only the more centralized nations) of South America. This will only be noted in passing, such as when dealing with foreigners as the story itself will be focused on the Central Realms (Great Plains/Lakes region). I've yet to decide on a title. --- “Presenting Lord Daniel Smith Doolittle of Forest Keep and his sister, Lady Samantha II Doolittle Smith of Rivertown,” announced an older man with a bit extra around the middle, dressed in the fine robes of a court official. The siblings of House Doolittle, having been announced, stepped thru the doorway and into Lord Daniel’s thorne room. Lord Daniel was dressed simply (to the dismay of many courtiers), having no taste for the traditional and elaborate trappings of his position, his sister on the other hand wore a long flowing dress, purple with gold trimming as appropriate for any reigning nobel in the Kingdom of Erie. Across the throne room, on her throne set lower and apart from the thrones of her children, sat their mother, Widow Samantha I Johnson Smith of House Johnson. Like her daughter, she wore a long flowing dress, black to reflect the mandatory 2 month mourning period. The siblings walked briskly across the throne room, the court in a muted but festive mood, and took their thrones. Leaning over to his mother, Lord Daniel smiled and whispered, “A fine morning, mom. How have you been feeling?” Smiling Widow Samantha whispered her reply, “I’m fine. Your father knew his end was coming well in advance. This day is for you and your sister, Dan.” Hearing herself referenced, Lady Samantha turned to the other 2 and said, “Dad would be proud I think. His children ready to take on the burdens of leadership, his beloved wife in good spirits and the court supportive. Gods know successions are rarely this seamless.” To this the 3 could only sit in silence, Lord Daniel shaking his head in disgust. It had not always been so, Eire was by far the richest of the Central Realms and had, until 13 years prior, been extraordinarily progressive. Smooth successions went without saying, women held equal claim to men and the peasantry could always expect the local Peace Officers to find them justice when anyone, including nobel, wronged them. Alas that had all come to a bloody end when the then king’s cousin invaded with an Ohioan army at his back. 3 years of hard fighting followed and while the would be usurper fell in battle and the Kingdom of Ohio found itself conquered for its troubles, Erie was devastated. Many peasants, either in service to the army or victims of raids didn’t survive the war, many smaller towns were razed disrupting trade and prompting a surge in highway banditry, the nobles found their hearts hardened by the harsh realities of war and the entirety of House O'Rielly, which had ruled Erie since its founding 4 centuries before, was wiped out leaving a chaotic power vacuum. Many a king had been proclaimed at Eire Citadel in the intervening years, none reigned longer than 3 years before meeting their end in some grizzly (and it was ALWAYS grizzly) fashion. The older man in his fine robes had walked across the throne room while the 3 had exchanged pleasantries and offered a short, well drilled bow to Lord Daniel before speaking, “My Lord, shall I take the vows?” Lord Daniel nodded assent and the old man turned to address the court. “Courtiers of Forest Keep, take your places!” The murmur of conversation suddenly ended and those Courtiers gathered on the East Side quickly took their places at the center of the throne room. “By the grace of the gods,” To this the gathered courtiers recited the phrase before taking a knee, “do you swear to serve the Lord of Forest Keep?” ‘I dos’ followed. “Do you swear to uphold the Lord of Forest Keep’s will, so long as it’s in keeping with the King’s Peace,” murmurs came from those courtiers on the West Side for there was neither king nor peace in Erie, “and the teachings of the gods?” More ‘I dos’. “Do you swear yourselves to lifelong fealty to the Lord of Forest Keep?” Yet more ‘I dos’. “Then rise!” The courtiers rose and quickly stepped aside. The older man then gathered the courtiers on the West Side, those who hailed from Rivertown, and repeated the oath of fealty for Lady Samantha. When this was done the older man turned to Lord Daniel and offered another short, well drilled bow. Lord Daniel nodded politely in response while Lady Samantha said, “Thank you, Chamberlain Martin.” Chamberlain Martin smiled and replied, “It’s my honor to serve the children of Lord Charles. May you both,” Chamberlain Martin shifted his gaze to Lord Daniel, “rule as wisley as he did.” To this the siblings offered a smile and polite nod.
To be clear, this isn't a post-apoptotic story. This is medieval drama nothing more, nothing less. As it's not fantasy I set it in the real world and to avoid having to abide by history I set it in the future. The description in the OP is the cannon explanation for why the future is medieval but won't be explored in the story at all. Reputable history only goes back 3 centuries and with the war having occurred 5 centuries before, it has about as much historical meaning to the people in the story as the Great Flood does to us (if not less).
Lady Samantha II they called her. It brought a smile to her face. 4 days ago she was ‘Little Sam’ daughter to the great Lord Thomas IV Harrison Doolittle, Lord of Forest Keep and Rivertown, Keeper of the Kingswood and Champion of the Woodfolk. Titles earned in that wretched war save Forest Keep, his childhood home. 5 days ago she was named Lady Samantha II upon the death of her father and 2 days ago she had arrived in this stinking, lively and wealthy city. Many wondered why the old war hero had maintained his seat at Forest Keep. Little more than a waypoint on the O'Reilly Highway, a Woodfolk village in the shadow of a small stone castle. Rivertown on the other hand was a bustling city at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, a bustling center of crafting and trade and controlling the ferries that allowed those traveling on the O’Reilly Highway to cross the Ohio River. Perhaps it’s greatest prize however, at least to its local nobility, were the rich fisheries and farmlands the city commanded and the waters of the rivers themselves. Both a source of great wealth and a guard against shiege for so long as the city walls held, the defenders would never want for food or drink. Forest Keep had its cham however, the Kingswood was a vast, largely untamed forest. Rich in game, a paradise to both a hunter like her brother and a lover of animals like herself. The constant shade made even the hottest of days pleasant, the seclusion of the deep forest an excellent place to disappear in her thoughts. An excellent place to disappear with the rich boys that stopped by the castle too, sons of merchants on their way to and from Rivertown. That her father maintained it as his seat even after his cousin died heirless and left Rivertown to him in the waning days of the Usurper’s War was no mystery to her, nor her brother who not at all considered it a slight that she rather than he got Rivertown. As she stood on the boardwalk overlooking the Mississippi River, trying to remember the quiet of the deep forest in the midst of thousands of people rushing to and fro in the street behind her, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning she saw the smiling face of a young man, barely older than she, tall and lanky and dressed in the same sort of roads as Chamberlain Martin. Returning the smile, she greeted him, “I’ve been wondering how long it’d take you to track me down, Chamberlain Thomas.” Smiling Chamberlain Thomas replied, “You are a new face but known because of your station. A few pointed questions to the nobel women in the market and here we are.” Lady Samantha turned way, gazing out at the waters of the Mississippi, plyed by dozens of small fishing boats and merchant barges and Chamberlain Thomas stepped up beside her. Without looking at her, he continued, “This is your 1st time seeing the rivers isn’t it?” Nodding, Lady Samath replied, “Indeed. But I don’t think this is why you’re here.” Chamberlain Thomas replied, “Indeed not, word has come from my spies in Lord John’s court. Seems our fears about his plans for this city were well founded.”
Well, there are a few basic rules that need to be kept in mind. Firstly; don't overcomplicate your language. It's very tempting to write in complex sentences, and use rather fancy language to describe things and events, but that holds basically no interest to the reader. Take Tolkien, for example; his writing was always succinct and to the point. Secondly; avoid exposition dumps. It's natural to want to load up the reader with all the information about the world, but if you do all that up front it'll just look like an essay. Information about the world should be woven into the narrative, not placed in clumps outside of it. Thirdly; be careful with the adverbs. Many new authors find themselves adding adverbs to more or less every single verb or adjective. It tends to get very repetitive. Fourth...ly; use "he" or "she". If you use people's full name, including titles, every time they are mentioned it feels like you are beating the reader over the head with their identity. Fifth...ally; when writing dialogue, make sure people aren't saying things that only make sense in the context of there being a reader. For instance; do people in real life ever end sentences with the names of their interlocutor? No. Dialogue must always make sense exclusively in the context of the story. Real people don't speak exposition for the benefit of some unseen observer. Sixth..icially; consider what the characters' actions and words say about them. Everything people say and do should always tell you something about them. How does Samantha speak? Does she use the language of a haughty noblewoman, or does she talk like the people on the streets? Would a noblewoman in such a society use contractions such as "isn't" or "you're"? Now, all of these don't necessarily apply to your story, but I just think they are important points to keep in mind when starting out. Oh, by the way; if this is truly your first story, don't be too depressed if at the end you feel it didn't come out very well. Writing takes practice, same as everything else, and in all likelihood the first tries will not be very good.
