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In most fantasy stories, and even IRL, there are horde-like nations/beings/creatures that come from a single direction (i.e. the North).

I am creating a world where there is a demonic portal spawning straight in the middle of the known world. Ideally, this center of the horde would be difficult to simply bullrush into by other nations, though not impossible.

The main question is:

How would medieval societies likely react to the presence of a large horde coming from the exact center of the known world?

Would they try to reach people on the other side of this gigantic horde circle? Would the world be separated? Or would they adapt in some other way I likely am not aware of? Assume also that before this hordelike group appeared, the known world had been in contact with each other.

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  • $\begingroup$ What kind of horde are we talking about here? Zombies, zerglings, orcs, goblins? $\endgroup$
    – Halfthawed
    Commented Jan 30, 2020 at 2:58
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    $\begingroup$ In my world specifically? Demons. Nearly difficult to kill and almost always spawning (meaning they shouldn't worry about reinforcements). While I plan on making these very powerful so that they would have the effect of something like the Mongols historically, I am mostly asking this question because I do not want these demonic creatures to be too powerful and completely wipe out most nations on the map, but that part I feel is besides the main question, and answering the main question may help give me insight to help adjust their specifics $\endgroup$
    – Maverick Alpha
    Commented Jan 30, 2020 at 4:02
  • $\begingroup$ this also depend on each kingdom or nation too, if they hate/fight each other constantly or not. if they are not, then alliance or join force is the more likely what they do to kick this horde of evil illegal immigrant, either through diplomatically or base on culture or religions and even if they not working together all this kingdom nearby probably will rush to there and naturally form their own join force without alliancy since its in the center after all its more easy to surround and assault them together rather than the portal near the end of the land or world. $\endgroup$
    – Li Jun
    Commented Jan 30, 2020 at 4:02
  • $\begingroup$ The nations of my world specifically are in conflict with each other, the state of the world should be on the brink of collapse (I'm thinking politics near the outbreak of WW1). Some smaller wars with the threat of a larger world war, as well as other political disputes. I'm interested to know how this would affect such a world $\endgroup$
    – Maverick Alpha
    Commented Jan 30, 2020 at 4:04
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    $\begingroup$ oh yeah also how inteligent the demon is and are they unified ? or they have internal conflict or possible to develop internal conflict too ? one strategy i can see can counter a horde is divide at impera strategy, many horde culture end up cracked up or divided due to internal conflict especially after the leader is death and lose their identity by culutre assimilation, so maybe ad that after the portal is gone or destroyed to make sure they kill each other if they can breed fast too. $\endgroup$
    – Li Jun
    Commented Jan 30, 2020 at 6:10

2 Answers 2

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Realistically:They move the fuck away or die. There was no medieval society that could ever contend with an endless enemy of even minor competence. If it’s endless hordes of demons you’re just not going to stop it. Resources would be very limited in a preindustrial world and if your enemy is unstoppable it’s a mathematical certainty that you’re fucked. People would leave such a cursed land and never look back. Nobody would fight that insane of a war of attrition

In stories: A brave band of heroes kills the demon monkey king and closes the portal to hell, saving the world.

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    $\begingroup$ I'm definitely avoiding the band of heroes thing, but is there any way to tip the scales so that there's at least a chance for these nations to combat a horde like this? Perhaps if the demons are slow to expand, or are not as difficult to kill, just that they spawn at a faster rate. $\endgroup$
    – Maverick Alpha
    Commented Jan 30, 2020 at 4:13
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    $\begingroup$ @Maverick Alpha yeah, just don’t make the horde infinite or functionally infinite. Once something is never ending and expanding the math quite literally ensures it’s victory $\endgroup$
    – user71781
    Commented Jan 30, 2020 at 4:15
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    $\begingroup$ Even an industrial society would fail before such enemy because the enemy can keep coming for centuries until the industrials run out of oil, coal, banded iron formations and phosphorus. Also an industrial society fighting such war would become a mix between 1984's Oceania and Starship Troopers. $\endgroup$
    – Geronimo
    Commented Jan 30, 2020 at 13:15
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It depends on the country

Military / Direct Adaptations:

  • Defeat: The nations whose capitals or resources are closest to ground zero will be conquered first. Their castles and fortresses may become demonic outposts, and their people may be enslaved, extradited to the demonic realm, or forced to fight.
  • Surrender/alliance: The portal-adjacent countries not immediately conquered will soon realize they have no choice but to concede. Depending on their strength, they may either surrender entirely or offer to support the invaders.
  • Building walls: Powerful enough nations far enough from the portal would deal with the invaders like China did with the Mongols: they would build physical defenses. In particular, you might see this not with portal-adjacent countries, but those next to portal-adjacent countries. People living right on the demons' doorstep are screwed; those living one country away will have time to build defenses. This has interesting sociopolitical ramifications: it essentially stops innocent people from escaping into neighboring lands. Perhaps there is a whole ring of walls surrounding the badlands, erected within the first decade of invasion.
  • Leaving: While I understand the basic premise of NixonCranium's answer, in which he argues that people would accept defeat and flee, this isn't sustainable. For all they know, if they leave, the demons will follow. Plus, whole kingdoms can't easily be evacuated, and even if they could be, would governments let people leave instead of defending their countries? Imo, portal-adjacent countries wouldn't have time to flee, and nearby countries with time to flee might experience some population decline, but not much.
  • Direct warfare + the interkingdom alliance: Powerful enough nations will realize that if no one fights back, they're all screwed no matter what. They may form a confederacy of all unconquered lands to rid the world of the demons and seal the portal. This is in stark contrast with the "band of heroes" approach; instead, it takes armies to defeat armies.

Economic / Indirect Adaptations:

  • Rerouting trade + allocating resources: Major roads will be constructed around the perimeter of the new demonic territory in order to supply the troops and facilitate commerce. Infrastructure may grow to support whole cities of soldiers along the perimeter, and agricultural towns full of refugees will spring up in adjacent fields to support them. Assuming that demonic invasion is a unifying threat, expect the new roads to cause a net increase in trade despite the obvious obstruction.
  • Isolating the enemy: Rivers that intersect the badlands will be dammed on both sides to cut off access to water, fish, and transportation. Adjacent forests will be scorched, fields will be sown with salt, and evacuated villages will be burned or razed. This serves to limit the invasion as much as possible, assuming demons conquer the way humans do.

If everything goes according to plan, the border will be pushed inward over the course of several years of warfare until the portal can be directly sealed by mages or defended by troops. Perhaps the portal will be flooded, or buried, or enclosed in a vast intergovernmental fortress. Assuming the demons are successfully contained, countries may take their land back, a new one may form in the badlands, or the area may now be uninhabitable.

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    $\begingroup$ Ten years? Pshaw. Ten years is more than two orders of magnitude less time than it took to build the Great Wall of China, and you're proposing something similar in scope. No country neighboring the neighbors to the Pit will be able to erect defenses in time unless there's an army on the other side of said defenses buying said time. Which is a problem: Why should I, a country neighboring the Pit, spend ruinous amounts of resources fending off the end of my neighbors (i.e. competition) if it means guaranteeing my own doom? $\endgroup$
    – Ton Day
    Commented Jan 30, 2020 at 9:36
  • $\begingroup$ @TonDay Without knowing the scale of the OP's world, I can't place the length of the wall - but I assume given a medieval Europe-analogous setting, countries will be a lot smaller than China. Plus, given the urgency of a demon apocalypse and the power of the Church, I imagine the maximum amount of resources will be allocated. Also given such urgency, the initial wall can be made a lot cheaper and a lot weaker than China's and fortified over time. (1/2) $\endgroup$
    – Zxyrra
    Commented Jan 30, 2020 at 12:06
  • $\begingroup$ @TonDay Why shouldn't a country neighboring the pit spend ruinous amounts of resources fending off the invasion? Regardless of whether neighbors are considered, doom is doom. They may be angry that their neighbors aren't helping, but that doesn't change the fact that if they don't fight, they're screwed. Imo, they'll fight to save themselves - even if it's futile (2/2). $\endgroup$
    – Zxyrra
    Commented Jan 30, 2020 at 12:07
  • $\begingroup$ Because of the perverse incentive to flee. I save my people instead of watching them die. And I have my revenge upon the people around me - they tried to dump a problem in my lap, and instead I've dumped it in theirs. $\endgroup$
    – Ton Day
    Commented Feb 4, 2020 at 9:37

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