Descriptive or Foreign Place Names?

[BeigePalladin]

depends, is the wname of the place is the country of the narative language or a foreign one.

If it's in the protagonist/view point characters home-country then it would logically be descriptive, since thats how places are named. But if its in a country other than that I'd say foreign name because it is foreign...

but thats just me. I'd really say personal oppinion for everyones stuff

[Ghost]

One thing I've been thinking about is mixing the two styles in one name, something like the Twice Lucky Chóngqing Province. Does that work?

I'm not sure I understand. Do you mean supplying both the foreign word and the translation (like a tautological place name) or modifying the foreign name with an attribute (like Lovely Guilin). The first seems longish and a bit clunky. The second makes me wonder why the whole thing wasn't translated or left alone.

Maybe it needs a different example. "Twice Lucky Chóngqing Province" doesn't look nice to me.

[Devor]

I'm not sure I understand. Do you mean supplying both the foreign word and the translation (like a tautological place name) or modifying the foreign name with an attribute (like Lovely Guilin). The first seems longish and a bit clunky. The second makes me wonder why the whole thing wasn't translated or left alone.

I didn't want to explore the linguistics at all, but if there's dead languages in the region, it might be reasonable for pieces of them to show up here and there in character and place names. But if you don't like the half-and-half I'll try to think of something else.

The only place name I've come up with, that I'm happy with, is the Risen Springs Prefecture. I don't know why I seem to be blocked on place names. I haven't been in any of my other projects.

[Ghost]

I just wasn't sure if you meant things like Horse Farm Stuttgart and Dirty River Rio Puerco (having both the translation and the original name) or doing an Adjective + Foreign Name type of thing.

Since you like Risen Springs Prefecture, you should base other names on that style. You could brainstorm lots of adjectives, their synonyms, and geological features and combine them in various ways. OneLook is really helpful. Most of the list will be thrown away, but I usually get a few good ideas that way.

I'd also think of things that could've happened in history or myths and make simplified names about it. A general betrayed an emperor and the place where he gathered a rebel army is called Broken Vow. People in one region believe three tall mountains are really three giant brothers who battled against enemies of the countryfolk, so they name the region Three Heroes Prefecture because of the mountains. There's a myth that the largest river carries away the souls of the dead, so it's Big Ghost River. A name could be as simple as Long Valley. Maybe yellow is an imperial color like it was in China and the dragon is a symbol of authority, so the emperor's palace is in Yellow Dragon City. These aren't the best examples (although I dig Three Heroes Prefecture), but I hope it helps.

I'd think of little stories in their history and culture, nothing too detailed. I'd think of how the people would explain distinctive landforms in their folklore or how they'd use them as a reference when traveling.