Location, Location

Setting the scene is a common theme of many bloggers.  I always read those posts and usually find new ideas.  Setting helps set the mood for the conflict occurring in the scene. 

In my latest released fantasy novel, Beyond the Gate, the first third of the novel takes place underground in a long winding tunnel beneath a mountain.  The hero, Cage Stone, and heroine, Sabelline Shelton, are surrounded by darkness and solid rock.  How much mood setting can I do with that?

The two characters experience the dark differently.  To her the black is complete, the silence deafening.  To his superior eyesight, the path is revealed and the voice of the surrounding rocks speak quietly to him.  She feels the brooding presence of the massive mountain looming over their heads while he wonders how the wondrous cave was constructed. 

The cave's air varies from unwholesome and foul to cool and even refreshing.  The fell beasts hunting them make a variety of sounds and fill their air with foul odors. 

Hopefully the reader will understand something about the two characters as they experience the setting from their perspective.  Cage and Sabelline see the world through the lenses of their own personalities and quirks.

What is the most challenging setting you've had to describe?  Do you have an example of an exceptionally well set scene from something you've read?