Environmental Storytelling In Practice
Part 1: Worldbuilding
Introduction
Following my previous essay on Environmental Storytelling, in which I detailed the concepts of World Building, Narrative Stratigraphy and Narrative Osmosis, I wanted to take things a step further and demonstrate how these concepts can be put in practice. In this first part, we will establish the region the player explores, and build up its lore in a way that can be used for our ultimate purpose. So without further adieu, I would like to introduce you all to...
"The Tragic Tale of Miriam's Woods"
Imagine a dark fantasy world, inspired by Dark Souls and Elden Ring. Imagine that you, the player, have just reached a new region – a beautiful, but unsettling pine forest, known as Miriam’s Woods. As you explore, you start to uncover the tragic stories that have taken place here over a period of five hundred years. As you piece them together, you'll gain insight into the historical timeline that defines the region. But as writers and Narrative Designers, we need to know all this deep lore up front. SPOILERS INCOMING! Pay attention to sections below highlighted in bold as these are the key elements we need to consider for next time when we layer them onto the landscape...
500 years ago
Once, the forest - "Miriam's Woods," was not a forest at all. Instead, it was a landscape of rolling grassy hills. Upon these hills, lived an indigenous nation of Shepherds. The Shepherds were a people deeply connected to nature, contenting themselves with tending to their herd and worshipping an ancient god of wilderness. Atop the largest hill, they built a great stone circle to their deity. The stone circle would act as a centralized cult-site and the place in which they engaged in regular human sacrifices. Since their religion idolized the brutality of the natural world, such sacrifices also required brutal means...
300 years ago
Whilst the Shepherd people occupied themselves with their own society, a Great Nation arrived on the coast to conquer this new world. As they colonized the cultures already here, they built towns and cities to the glory of their High King. Eventually, the Great Nation clashed with the Shepherds over precious minerals believed to lie within the hills. With superior numbers and weapons, they overwhelmed the Shepherds and enslaved them, eradicating all who dared resist. Yet, despite this victory, the High King struggled to control the area. After destroying the stone circle of the Shepherds, it was believed a curse befell the land, resulting in failure for any who tried to rule it.
200 years ago
Whilst the land remained largely untouched, the Great Nation establish several villages around its outskirts. These villages were populated by citizens of the Great Nation, but also men and women claiming ancestral heritage to the Shepherds. Meanwhile, the Great Nation found itself caught in a war with a neighboring power. After the assassination of their High King and the disappearance of his only son, the Great Nation was thrown into turmoil.
190 years ago
As the war waged, the wicked Count Drakmar found he could use this time of uncertainty to his advantage. You see, Drakmar was a serial killer whose “interests” often came under scrutiny of other nobles. Drawn to the isolation of the rolling hills, the Count constructed a Fortress atop the ancient ruins of the Shepherd‘s stone circle. As armies clashed elsewhere, Drakmar employed devious servants to abduct peasants from the nearby villages. In his fortress, he would torture and kill each. His victims’ bodies were strung up for carrion birds to devour.
185 years ago
The Count’s murders reached an almost industrial scale. The more he killed, the more he felt a spiritual connection to the land and the ancient energy residing beneath it. Eventually, his crimes drew the attention of others. It was an innocent girl named Miriam who would bring about Drakmar’s demise. She was the younger sister of the war hero Lord Viktor Angelo. Despite her station, Miriam sought obscurity and peace in the countryside. She dressed like a peasant to explore the nearby villages. Of course, Drakmar had her abducted. She died tragically by his hands. But her disappearance would not go unnoticed. Her brother found evidence of her demise at the hands of the Count. Enraged, he gathered an army and marched on Drakmar’s fortress. The siege was difficult and lasted weeks on end. Eventually however, Angelo would prevail. Entering the Count's home, and being horrified by what he found, Angelo denied the monster a noble death, instead stringing him up like his own victims, to be feasted upon by the birds whilst still alive.
To commemorate the Count’s victims as well as those who had fallen in battle, Lord Angelo ordered a pine forest be planted across the battlefield and that the Count’s fortress remain abandoned. The forest grew rapidly over the next one hundred and fifty years, cared for by nearby villagers in the paid service of Angelo. But fifty years ago, a new darkness fell over the land. The undead began to rise from their graves, and word of horrifying creatures stalking the forest canopy led many to flee. Miriam's woods have been empty ever since…