Crevasses
Crevasses are deep cracks in a glacier or snowpack. They can be as deep as 50 meters / 160 feet with near vertical sides. Fictional crevasses are often extremely hazardous terrain features found in the frozen regions of fictional worlds. Adventurers are often swallowed whole by these cracks, as snow drift can form snow bridges across them, hiding them completely from the sight of those crossing the frozen expanses. Their depths may lead to expansive ice caverns.
| Synonyms: cracks, fissures, chasms |
| Example Mythonyms: the crevasses of the Icemaw Stretch |
| Terrain |
Designing Fictional Crevasses
Overview
In fictional worlds, large crevasses may divide the landscape and separate two different regions or countries. They may mark the division between civilization and the wilds or the wastes. They may share similarities with canyons and chasms and there may be cliffside settlements and cliffside pathways. In game-oriented worlds, crevasses may act as either terrain hazards or terrain obstacles.
Those navigating a glacier often travel connected by ropes, so that if one member falls into a crevasse the others may attempt to stop their fall.
