Cliffs
Cliffs are steep changes in elevation. Fictional cliffs are often formidable terrain elements that reach to dizzying heights. They are often the sites of cliffside pathways or cliffside towns that hang from their steep embankments. They may mark the boundaries between countries or between different regions. In narratives, cliffs are often sites where characters are placed into situations from which there may be no escape (particularly so at the top edge of the cliff). There may be jagged rocks below.
| Synonyms: bluffs |
| Example Mythonyms: the Black Cliffs of Evernell |
| Terrain |
Designing Fictional Cliffs
Archetypes
Overview
Fictional cliffs often act as boundaries that must be surmounted or which impede entirely. They break the landscape into two, and designers should consider both the region and terrain of the upper and lower levels as these can be vastly different.
Fictional cliffs are hazardous, and pose a threat to anyone that may fall from their heights. Precarious boulders may be perched on their edges, and often in narratives other structures, buildings, or vehicles partially hang from their heights, ready to tumble.
Reference Image Gallery
