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After traveling through the cave, the man continued his quest. Sadly, he didn’t find what he was looking for in the cave but he had heard of another nearby. He set out to find it though he knew it could only be in one place. Donning on warm clothes, he headed out towards the mountains and it took him some time before he found what he came for: an entrance wreathed in nothing but ice. The traveler stepped inside what was called a fantasy ice cave.
One of many environments, the ice cave is known for two things. Firstly, it’s packed to the brim with ice from the floor all the way to the ceiling. Secondly, due to everything inside being made of ice, it’s bitter cold. It’s so cold that it’s easy for someone to freeze to death.
Unlike their normal brethren, which was the feature of the previous article, ice caves are rare, only appearing in certain spots around the world. Their rarity makes them challenging to find. However, finding one is only the easy part.
Besides the ice and cold, a fantasy ice cave is perilous to navigate safely. It’s even more dangerous than it’s normal counterpart since you have to add the slippery surface into the mix. Even though it contains many dangers, it’s filled with beauty as well. There’s nothing like seeing a frozen river or waterfall in a cave.
Believe it or not, the ice cave has monsters more vicious than its normal equivalent. You would think that such a cold place would be devoid of monsters but some quite nasty ones have settled in and taken it as their home. These brutes can hurt even the most seasoned adventurer.
How does a fantasy ice cave fit in the story? Remember that nearly every tale features the hero and his party going through a cave. Now, said cave is almost always the normal variety which makes it harder to bring more than one in said tale. This lowers the likelihood of an ice cave appearing in the story.
Overall, an ice cave may or may not be in the story at all. If by chance it makes it in, it acts similar to its normal ilk by serving as a vehicle for the hero to navigate a dangerous place in order to make it to the other side. This means they only appear in one part of the story and then that’s it.
This is the nineteenth article in the series documenting the different types of fantasy environments and the second in a mini-series about caves. If you haven’t read any of the eighteen that came before this one, you can find them on our blog.
Grab some really warm clothes, for we’re about to take our first step in a world not many people get to see!
True to their name, this type of cave is draped in ice all over. Even the rocky walls, ceiling, and the ground have ice on them. This makes them slick to the touch! Though the floor may be composed of rock, there’s many patches of ice that make even the simple act of walking treacherous.
Where can you find a fantasy ice cave? Ice is associated with only cold places which means all warm places are out of the window. There’s only a select few that works: snowy mountains and the tundra. Finding one isn’t easy.
The path to getting in comes with its own set of challenges. You have to contend with brutal snowstorms or blizzards that drastically limit your vision and worry about the wildlife like wolves who would love to tear you apart limb-by-limb.
And when you finally get in, you have no idea what its size is. How big can one get? The answer is it depends. There’s some that’s only just one room and some that are ginormous, spanning the entire length of a mountain. Some can go all the way down to the mountain’s roots!
At its core, a fantasy ice cave is made of rock. The rock used varies. Some can be granite or limestone. However, due to it being found in such a cold place, over a long period of time, ice crystals formed and accumulated, changing its physical appearance, turning it into an ice cave.
A fantasy ice cave has its shares of terrifying creatures who’ve claimed it as their home. These creatures have no love for those who encroach upon their home and will attack them on sight. And they’ll aggressively pursue those who attempt to flee.
You wouldn’t think so but an ice cave will have bats. However, these aren’t just your run-of-the-mill bats. These flying fang-toothed beasts adapted to the cold a long time ago and will chase their target all the way through the cave unless they’re vanquished. Beware their fangs, for they can cause you to freeze!
Monsters made out of ice can be found here as well. They come in different forms and shapes from a serpent to a snowman-like creature. They attack their target from afar by shooting balls of ice at them. For those that like to get up close and personal, they use their body to attack. This could be using their paws to land a punch or trying to bite him.
In some worlds, ghosts masquerading as typical objects also live in an ice cave. While they disguise themselves by looking like an ordinary snowball or something else, some take the form of gems like diamonds. This is a tactic they use to lure unsuspecting prey in and devour them before they know what hit them.
One of the most feared monsters you can come across in an ice cave is none other than a spider. Its blue-white skin enables it to easily blend into its surroundings which makes it hard to see. These spiders can be big, small, and in-between. They use their fangs which is laced with either poison or something that can paralyze their prey.
You can run across rock monsters. They come in a variety of different shapes and sizes but they’re not to be trifled with. They pack a hefty punch and throw rocks and ice at their targets. Due to their heaviness, they move slowly which means you can outrun them and get to a safe place.
Not many stories feature a fantasy ice cave. Does this mean you shouldn’t include one in the tale you’re making? Of course not!
Whenever it appears in the story, the ice cave acts as a mechanism in which the hero and his allies must navigate a dangerous environment in order to make it to the other side. This is usually part of the main story, appearing in only a specific part.
Here the hero must contend with slippery slopes and ground and savage beasts. This makes for riveting suspense, as both the characters and the audience want to see what happens next.
You can set the stage for a dramatic confrontation. Perhaps the hero and his crew stumble onto a rare, vicious monster they must defeat before they can continue. Or two characters get into a heated argument over something and a calamity befalls them, separating them. They must find a way back to each other and the only thing standing in their way is a cave full of monsters. There’s a lot of different ways you can go here!
While a fantasy ice cave appears sporadically in the story, finding a way to fit it in yours isn’t easy. The goal is to make it seem like a natural progression and that’s hard to do, considering the ice cave is found only in cold areas. Not many stories devote a lot of time to these places which complicates things.
What you definitely shouldn’t do is shoehorn it into your story. For example, if your tale devotes a tiny amount of time to cold areas, having your characters suddenly exploring snowy mountains out of nowhere will look odd. Your audience will definitely notice and your story’s credibility will take a hit.
Instead lead up to it. You can do this by cleverly foreshadowing or letting your audience know there’s such a place way before you have your characters explore it.
In conclusion, the fantasy ice cave is a rich environment to include in a world. Even though it doesn’t appear in many places, its rarity helps it stand out among all the others. That’s a great plus for it!
It being exclusive to cold places like the tundra makes the ice cave one of the most dangerous places. Even walking on foot can challenge you for you have to really pay attention to where you step, lest you lose your footing and slip off into the abyss below.
Watching your step is the least of your worries. You have to deal with the monsters who inhabit the ice cave. They’re stronger than their normal counterparts since ice attacks are part of their arsenal. When battling them, you have to ensure you don’t lose your balance with how slick the ground is.
When it comes to the story, a fantasy ice cave is a situational environment. What that means is in some tales, it effortlessly fits in, feeling like it naturally belongs there. In others, it feels out of place, like it shouldn’t be there. For the tales it shows up in, it’s a setting where the hero explores it, hoping to find the way out while dealing with the many dangers it has.
So should you bring it into your world? Yeah, there’s no reason why not! It adds an interesting layer to worldbuilding and if you set it just right, you can create an amazing ice cave that your audience will want to come back to again and again!
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Thanks for reading this and until the next time,
Sunfire
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