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One day after traveling through the mushroom biome, the man stopped to take a breath. Plopping himself on the ground, the traveler pulled out his map to look at where he would go next. After working out exactly where he was, he was able to figure out what his next move was. He smiled as he saw what was next. Looking beyond the horizon, he grinned as he spotted the outline of his next move. He would go through fantasy hills.
As one of the fantasy genre’s environments, the hill biome stands out among the others in how often it appears. While they’re considered their own environment, they can be placed within others to add some diversity. Besides the plains, mountains, and ocean, hills are one of the most common landforms.
Due to them being practically all over the world, they are one of the most traveled landforms. Fantasy hills make traveling fun, for you’re always going up and down instead of being on flat ground. And they come in many sizes, some small and some large.
However, there’s more to the hill biome than simply traveling through them. It takes a curious eye to see that they conceal many secrets and if one knows where to look, they just might a prime hiding spot. That hiding spot can be used for just about anything.
With how many hills there are throughout the world, it’s no wonder they play a role in the story. Their main role is to be used as a way for the hero and his crew to travel from one place to another. Let’s face it, the story would be boring if the hero was just traveling on flat ground in-between towns.
Interestingly enough, you can expand how fantasy hills are used in your story by adding a splash of drama or intensity. Perhaps a skirmish occurs between the hero and a group of bandits?
This is the eleventh in a series detailing the types of fantasy environments. If you want to peruse the ones that came before this one, you can find them on our blog page.
Without further ado, let us step into the realm of the hill biome!
Fantasy hills are one of the most common environments, not just in the real world but also in fantasy. This is because they have a twofold purpose:
The location of the world where they are dictates how hills look. In plains-like areas, hills are small and smooth and full of grass. Next to mountainous areas, they take more a rocky appearance and they’re larger and rougher compared to the ones in the previous sentence. In the desert, they’re full of sand and look like dunes.
The hill biome is interesting in that while it’s generally considered to be its own environment with its own ecosystem, it can be used in conjunction with another one. For instance, you can put some hills in a forest or alongside a river. This makes them tremendously easy to work with and that’s always an added benefit in terms of worldbuilding.
Their being able to easily integrate with the others means there’s so many ways they can be used. This presents opportunities to develop unique combinations not often seen. You can put hills underwater in either the ocean, a vast lake, or in an area that has mushroom forests.
The ecosystem of fantasy hills varies by climate but generally speaking, many of the same animals and plants appear in hills in multiple climate areas. Deer, coyotes and birds are just several examples of animals that live on hills in different climate regions. You also have trees like pine and oak and thick vegetation like bushes appearing on hills in different areas.
Another advantage the hill biome has is that when you place it within or alongside another environment, the ecosystem of said place merges into the hilly area. An example of this would be a forest and a group of hills. Many of the same animals like wolves and raccoons move back and forth through the two.
Did you know that fantasy hills are awash in secrets? While most people travel through them, they don’t see how many secrets the hills have. That’s because they’re in such a hurry to get to their destination that they fail to realize that perhaps the greatest secret they’ll ever unearth in their life could very well be lying underneath their feet. All they have to do is know where to look.
One common secret is that of treasure. The treasure could be a chest full of rubies and other precious gems or it could be part of a scavenger hunt. Many avid treasure hunters scour the mountains or beach areas but not those of the hillside. By ignoring them, they’re missing out on the chance of a lifetime to find treasure in a place where nobody figured to look!
The hill biome also conceals hideouts for bandits or ruffians or any other sinister group of people. They make the hideouts so far off the beaten path, you couldn’t see them even if you squinted your eyes while standing on the road’s edge. This makes it easy for them to waylay people and steal their money and cargo, especially at nighttime. They can quickly get back to their base of operations without anyone being the wiser.
Fantasy hills also hide dungeons. They could be underground where you have to go through a cave to reach them. They could be carved into the hillside and you have to press a switch or solve a riddle to get them to appear. You could make it so that the dungeons are responsible for the problems plaguing the area, like a powerful wind that never stops or the grass is poisonous.
One interesting way to have hills hide a secret is for them to be the secret, turning that idea on its head. You could design and arrange the shape of hills in a particular area to show a clue to something else like treasure or a dungeon. You could make it so that you have to stand in one exact spot in order to see the secret clearly.
The hill biome appears several times throughout the story. Now you might be wondering what role can you give it? Well, like the others, it has several roles, depending on what story you’re telling.
The number one role fantasy hills play in the story is to bridge the gap between two towns. Part of the plot features the hero and his allies going from one town to another where something happens to push it forward. The hills in this scenario is to give them a bit of breathing room as they process what just happened.
Fantasy hills can also serve as a visual backdrop on the hero’s journey. He and his allies can talk about their plans to defeat the villain or where they’re going as they walk up and down. The audience can enjoy the scenery while listening to the characters talk.
Another thing they’re great for is to have an unexpected twist occur, something that catches the hero off guard. Since they’re a great place for bandits or robbers to hide out, you could have them attack the hero from out of nowhere, leading to a fight. This adds a bit of dramatic flair to the story.
The hill biome can also play a major role, serving as the site of a town or city that’s seen throughout the story. The city could be the hero’s hometown or a key ally in the war against evil where the hero returns to several times. Think of Edoras in Lord of the Rings. It becomes an invaluable ally against the corrupted Saruman the White and later on Sauron. The capital of Rohan is on a large hill, surrounded by many smaller ones.
Fantasy hills are a necessary component in making a dynamic, interesting world. They add a bit of visual variety while also serving as a transitionary point between two different environments. These two reasons are why they’re so easy to work with, for you can put them with any other environment and they’ll mesh together seamlessly!
They appear in many spots across the world, yet no two spots are the same. This adds depth, for each one brings something unique to the table. It’s interesting how hills come in different sizes, shapes, and colors. This gives creators a lot to work with when bringing them into their world.
The hill biome works with many kinds of roles in the story. Whether your characters are walking through a series of hills on their journey or they’re speaking about something important, hills help move your story forward.
So what are you waiting for? Put them in the world you’re building and they’ll help you make the world of your dreams!
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Sunfire
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