The Curious Savannah
The Reclaimed Frontier
"Unlike their now-extinct mundane kin, monsters have an even greater capacity to alter their environment than Humanity does. Their physiology facilitates rapid, delineated changes that increase their power more quickly than any human can, and their quick maturation means that even a single den of monsters can have drastic effects on their surroundings. In large groups, they can render the environment nearly inhospitable to humans, as forests turn to stone and the very air turns against you. What follows is a list of the most dangerous regions, what to expect there, and how to overcome them - organized by threat level. We begin our journey in the Curious Savannah... "
- Bestiarum Vocabulum
Geography
The Curious Savannah extends for 260 miles across southeastern Zamzara, sharing the Namaku Samudra with Green Gullet, on which Mummy's Isle resides. It barely touches The Teeth and the Wasting Bog in the southwest and has a small land bridge connecting it to the Hand of the Hidoi, on which Longiren Hold lies. In the center of the savannah is the Insect's Marsh, which has only a single strip of dry land keeping it traversable. There are three major landmarks of note in the area - the revered Mount Jagen, which has the town of Vira Nagara at its base, the holy Trinity Crags, now overrun by The Nashya, and the Mystic Groves, where few tread even before The Kalyugi spread monsters across the land. Almost overnight, a gleaming city of limestome was formed in the southwest - King's Metropolis.
The vast majority of the savannah is a flat plain with dense, thin trees that result in an open canopy. It undergoes frequent, but short-lived rain cycles due to being adjacent to the sea. Dry thunderstorms are not uncommon here in summer and frequently cause wildfires. The area has few rivers, and the major sources of water nearby are all saltwater - the only fresh water here is found in ponds after the rains and in the domains of Water-Element monsters, who stalwartly guard their treasure. More than in most other areas, strange monsters have claimed the savannah as their home: a traveller can see spires of crystalline ice on one part of the horizon, then turn and see a sea of flame billowing into the sky. Many of them would clearly be better suited to other environments, but instead change the savannah for their own purposes.
Fauna & Flora
Despite only having two known entrances to The Nashya, the monster density and biodiversity here are both quite high, and an explanation for this behavior has eluded scholars for decades. There are particularly large groups of Fire, Ice, and Electric-element monsters that nest here, moreso than would be typical of the climate. While there are many watering holes throughout the savannah, several of the Water-element monsters seem to have been driven out by their Ice-element counterparts, which have taken over swaths of territory centered around their domains.
Mount Jagen is nearly overrun with Dragon and Fairy monsters which seem to battle over control of the caves and cliffs. Strangely enough, the monsters have been here so long that the local plant life has changed to reflect their surroundings - in some areas there are thorny vines with a taste for blood, while others have beautiful, fake-looking flowers that release hallucinogenic spores. The Insect's Marsh has its name for obvious reasons, but is especially infamous for the tales of monsters disappearing in the marsh and reappearing weeks later in strange, chitinous forms. No one who has entered the deep marshes to investigate has returned. The Mystic Groves have plants found almost nowhere else in Zamzara, but they are fiercely guarded by the Psychic-element monsters that seem to cultivate them for nefarious purposes.
Natural Resources
The most valuable resource from the savannah, besides rare monster parts, are its copious amounts of high-quality rubber, courtesy of the prolific rubber vine. The land itself is decently fertile and well-suited for grazing, but the monsters feel the same way and will usually drive off any interlopers. The lumber quality here varies, but its hardwood is exceptional for tools and buildings - unfortunately it burns quickly and has a long maturation period. While there are small limestone caverns throughout the savannah, the largest caves are found within and around Mount Jagen. Monster lairs litter the landscape at an extreme density, and some are known to produce very valuable alchemical and medicinal reagents... some as byproducts, others as tools.
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