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Exhausted after walking up and down a long series of hills, the traveler sighed as he looked at the horizon. Nothing but grass as far as the eye could see. At least it looked flat, which meant walking across it wouldn’t wear him out. He had a leisurely walk in front him, for once, and he would take advantage of it. The area he was about to go through was a fantasy grassland.
The grassland is one of many types of fantasy environments. However, did you know that it’s one of the most common environments? It ranks second only to the ocean due to how often it appears all over the world.
The fantasy grassland is unique among the environments in that it’s not the only term that’s used to describe it. The grassland also goes by the plains and meadows. Isn’t that interesting? Can you name any other environment that can do that?
It’s found in so many areas of the world that it’s one of the most traveled ecosystems. While it’s considered to be generally flat, it has many gentle hills that make it easy for animals and people to move through. The ease of travel for both groups enables them to reach their destinations quicker.
With its sheer size, the fantasy grassland is a treasure trove of wildlife. Depending on the location, many different animals and plants can be found in one area and not in another. This gives creators great flexibility in creating purely fictional animals and plants to sprinkle in different grasslands.
What role does the grassland play in the story? It’s actually one of the top environments, in terms of frequency of appearance. The grassland is solely used as the stage to move the story forward. It merely acts as a visual backdrop for a wide array of scenes from a traveling party to a battle between good and evil.
This is the twelfth in a series chronicling the different types of fantasy environments. As always, if you’ve haven’t checked out the others, you can find them on our blog.
Now, let us discover what the grassland has to offer, shall we?
In terms of land-based environments, the grassland reigns supreme. It appears in many shapes and sizes all over the world. The same holds true in fantasy. Just look in movies like Lord of the Rings or the many video games like The Legend of Zelda and you see how many places it shows up.
So why do you see it in so many places? It’s because it’s one of the most important ecosystems in the world. It provides plenty of food and water for the many animals and plants that live there. However, it’s also the ideal environment to grow crops and animals. The easy-to-work-with soil and great access to a water source makes it easy to have large areas devoted to farmland.
Devoting vast acres of grassland to farmland greatly increases the food supply, which is a necessity for population growth. The type of crop that can be grown depends on where the grassland is located. Some climates are perfect for certain fruits like bananas or vegetables like corn. The same applies for animals.
So where does fantasy grassland come in? For worldbuilding, it takes up most of your land. You have to decide how much to set aside for farming as well as what animals live there. Of course, what animals and plants that can be found there varies by climate.
Of course, it plays a large role in commerce. Besides the ocean, the grassland gets a lot of traffic as it offers the quickest way to get from one place to another due to how easy it is to move through. This means you have to design roads that provide fast travel between cities and towns.
The fantasy grassland is a kingdom’s major agricultural producer. It feeds the rest of the kingdom and excess food is then sold to other countries for a tidy sum. It’s so important to a kingdom’s economy that when war breaks out, it becomes one of the first targets slated for destruction. Destroying an enemy’s food production dramatically increases the chances of his people starving to death.
Fantasy grassland appearing all over the world in many different climates means it’s one of the best environments to see different animals and plants. Naturally the climate it’s in dictates what’ll be found there. This is key to creating the bestiary of a world.
We’ll start with the most common one, the one that mostly comes to mind when you think of the grassland: the plains. Typically appearing in the middle of a large kingdom, the plains is an expansive area in-between two different environments, serving as a large transition point. Animals found here include buffalo, squirrels, deer, rabbits and so on. Plants found here include corn, carrots, berries, and so on.
Tropical fantasy grassland shows up in warm, humid regions. Here, the grass is considerably taller and wilder than its plains counterpart. Plants such as bananas and palm trees grow here. Animals like boars are found here.
Mountainous grassland appear in cool to cold areas. The mild temperatures makes it difficult for grass to constantly grow and such growth is halted during the cold months. Animals such as bears, squirrels, foxes, and coyotes reside in these areas due to great access to water springs and ample food sources. A great diversity of plants from pine trees to small thick bushes grow here as well.
What about the cold, harsh regions? Surely they don’t have grasslands? Yes, they do but not much. The constant bitter cold temperature and frozen soil makes it difficult for a lot of grass to grow. Those that manage to grow usually get munched on by the moose and elk that live in these parts. It comes as no surprise that not many plants grow here and those that do only survive for a short time before dying due to the cold.
Many fantasy worlds recreate these animals and plants but don’t let that stop you from creating one of your own. This is fantasy, after all where the sky’s the limit when it comes to your imagination. If you have an interesting idea for a new animal that you think is suitable for the grassland, put it in. Who knows, your unique animal could become beloved by many people.
The fantasy grassland has only one role in the story. It serves as the platform on which to move the story from one point to another. As a creator, you never want your story to stand still. It must always move forward.
How does this environment help propel it forward? Don’t forget that it’s the most common land biome which means out of all the others, it’ll be seen the most. Its goal is to serve as a visual backdrop for scenes.
Unlike the mountains or oceans where it’s pleasing to look at, not many people look at grass as a scene is unfolding. The grassland isn’t as glamorous as those two and that’s okay. What it lacks in glamor, it makes up for the massive variety of scenes you can use it for.
There’s so many ways you can use fantasy grassland that it can be a bit overwhelming at times. From a somber moment between two characters to a family going on the run to a great battle, the story possibilities it offers is endless and that’s one of its greatest advantages. You, the creator, have a great stage to use at your disposal from the start all the way to the end.
The beauty of using this environment is that you can customize it to fit in with the scene, which is another one of its key strengths. Having soggy grass in the middle of a fierce, ferocious battle? Or having grass burn due to the whims of a deranged wizard? There’s no end to what you can use it for!
Are any of the other environments as versatile as the grassland? It’s hard to beat since it’s one that appears from the very beginning to the very end and it does its job, that is moving the story forward one step at a time, very well.
No matter which way you slice it, the fact that fantasy grassland is the largest land environment in the world. That means it’s a core element in breathing life to a world. It’s arguably the most important because it feeds communities and helps them grow and flourish.
It being the largest land environment means it appears in many parts of the world. From mountains to coastal areas, there’s an abundance of grassland. And yet no two are the exact same. This presents creators with many possibilities to differentiate them, populating them with interesting animals and plants not found in any others.
The grassland’s singular goal is to be the stage on which scenes unfold to nudge the story forward. It does more of the heavy lifting than the other environments throughout the story due to it being one of the first to show up but it does a superb job.
In conclusion, the grassland is an invaluable asset and having it in your world makes it easier for your audience to truly immerse themselves in the world you created from your imagination.
Go ahead and bring it into your world. You’ll be amazed at how helpful and versatile it is.
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Sunfire
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