Every location in a high fantasy world has some magical element to it: a floating castle inside a volcano, a silver palace orbiting the moon, a forest populated by fairies and natural spirits, a great tower built to reach the gods and destroyed over a single night as a form of divine punishment. Everything is bizarre and wondrous.
Magic is abundant, omnipresent, and employed in a variety of ways and by a variety of people, from powerful court wizards to traveling healers. Golems, airships, and elementally-infused weapons are a common sight. However, the most ancient and world-altering rituals have been lost to time, hidden within sunken ruins or guarded by centuries-old monsters.
In a high fantasy world, antagonists are larger-than-life figures with armies and incredible magic at their disposal. Each of them is a dark and twisted reflection of one or more of the protagonists: they are shadows that must be confronted for the heroes to grow and eventually triumph. Towards the end of the story, driven into a corner by the protagonists' actions, high fantasy villains often resort to extreme measures and transform into divine or demonic entities that defy space and time.