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Lots of fantasy worlds have domesticated animals like horses that humans or other human-like species use for many things like riding or herding cattle. However, they can’t just live in the house with them; rather they live in buildings just outside. These structures are simply known as fantasy medieval stables.
Fantasy stables operate like their real world brethren with the exception that they can have imaginary creatures live there. The genre is known for its fantastical animals and you can use this to your advantage to feature animals unique to your world that humans have tamed by having them live in the stables.
In order to create fantasy medieval stables, there are several requisite elements you need. While of course it depends on what type of animals live there, the majority of stables use the same elements. Elements like the stall and fence help make managing animals easier and help their owners forge stronger relationships with their animals.
Stables in fantasy contain a plethora of different animals. The type of animals that live in them varies by world so it’s important to use ones that can be found in other parts of the world. This helps add immersion to the world as your audience knows these animals don’t just exist to to live in the stable; there are wild ones out there somewhere.
These structures play more of a passive role in the world than many other buildings. They specifically cater to taking care of animals and that isn’t necessarily the most glamorous thing in the world. Your readers might enjoy learning about them but they don’t want to spend too much time there, not when there’s a whole world they’re itching to explore! If you play your cards correctly, you can have them leave a lasting impression on your audience!
This is the twenty-fifth article in the series looking at the different kinds of fantasy buildings. For more, our blog page has many others you’d like!
Stables come with several crucial elements that help make them feel real to your readers and your characters. Immersion is the goal here; you want them to feel as if these places actually fit in your world, not just something you created. Since many fantasy worlds take place in medieval times, many stables reflect the ones that existed during that era.
The first element is their great space. The vast majority of fantasy medieval stables are out in the countryside where land is abundant. They need all that land for their animals to roam around freely without feeling constrained. Furthermore, having ample space enables the stables’ employees to focus on the animals they’re caring for and not have to worry about too many unwanted guests since they’re far out from cities and towns.
Secondly, the animals need a place to sleep or stay during the cold months. The barn or animal boarding house does the trick and it can be expanded during periods of growth in order to hold more animals. This building comes with stalls, one for each animal, though they have to be cleaned out every day.
Besides sleep, animals need food and that’s where the feeder comes in. The stables’ employees dump food atop the feeder throughout the day and call them over to eat. Having a steady source of feed ensures that they’re happy and healthy. Many fantasy medieval stables like to have their feeder be right next to the barn or in close proximity so that their animals can get to them when they need to.
The fourth element is water. Stables need a readily accessible source of water which most of the time would be rivers or lakes to provide drinking water for the animals and people. At this point, many worlds haven’t reached the technological level to where they can pipe the water in from afar which means being close to a source of water is vital to both the animals’ and stables’ survival.
Fencing is the fifth and final element of fantasy medieval stables. They help confine animals to a specified area so that employees can corral them in when they’re needed. You don’t want to have them roam around with no fencing otherwise it would be nearly impossible to bring them in!
Stables play host to many different kinds of creatures. The ones you feature in your stables are largely dictated by what type of animals exist in your world but we’ll simply look at what you’re likely to come across in the typical stables.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that horses are the first ones that come to mind. These beautiful steeds serve a wide array of functions such as helping to herd cattle or graze the grass. They are indispensable to the people who ride them and are among the most essential animals stables use.
Besides horses, fantasy medieval stables have other colorful ones like chickens and cows. This is because there’s a lot of overlap between stables and farms. In fact, a lot of farms have stables on their land to house the animals they ride on.
You can opt to go with animals not commonly associated with stables but that your world has learned to domesticate. Elephants are a great example of this. Though they may be slow, there’s no denying their incredible power which makes them capable of moving even heavy objects out of the way.
Flightless birds like ostriches work for stables. You can raise them and have people ride them though there’s a learning curve since they move fast and it’s a bit difficult to stay on. Just be sure to go with large birds that are similar to horses where people can sit on for hours on end without fear of falling off.
You don’t have to just stick with real world animals. With fantasy, the sky’s the limit when it comes to your imagination! You can populate stables with fictional creatures like the mighty pegasus though it might be difficult keeping them on ground since they’re capable of flight and can fly away anytime.
In terms of their role in the world, stables play a passive role, at least compared to other buildings. The reason for this is that they aren’t necessarily the most exciting, even when including the fact that people work with animals. Nevertheless, it doesn’t diminish what they bring to the world at large.
The central fact is that fantasy medieval stables primarily focus on taking care of the animals who live there. That means ensuring that they’re well-taken care of, tending to their needs, and working to make them happy. Happy animals makes things go smoothly at the stables.
Many stables take in injured or wounded animals and nurse them back to health before releasing them back into the world or returning them to their owners. Additionally, they also deal with behavior problems or do some retraining. They offer a plethora of services for those with animals like horses.
Another thing fantasy medieval stables bring to the world is that they help protect animals, especially endangered species, from going extinct or losing their homes. Their reputation depends on them helping animals, regardless of if they’re in their care or not, and they work assiduously to help those who need aid.
Some stables have special events where they invite the public to attend to learn how to interact with animals. Employees show people what to do and what not to do when dealing with wild animals. These events help people live in harmony with animals as well as give them some insight into their behavior.
Fantasy medieval stables are interesting places. There’s certainly never a dull moment since the animals in these places have their own moods and emotions. People who love working with animals gravitate to stables because it gives them the opportunity to do something they love which is fulfilling.
There are some requisite elements to include when it comes to building stables from scratch. Elements such as a barn or animal boarding house goes a long way in making them feel authentic, which your characters and readers will love! Don’t forget to take the needs of both animals and people into account when creating stables.
If there were no animals in fantasy medieval stables, that would be sad for they are the sole reason why stables exist! Horses, dogs, and other real world animals are fantastic additions to stables but you can go a step further. Coming up with unique, fantasy-based animals that exist in your world helps it stand out from the crowd. Bonus points for having them be able to stay in stables where they get plenty of care from attentive employees!
Though stables may not play such a major role in the world, what they do often leaves a lasting impression in local communities. They help protect animals, take care of them, among other activities. That may not make for exciting stories but there’s no doubt that they do so out of love for animals.
If you haven’t given much thought to including fantasy medieval stables to your world, you can change that by starting today!
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