Spices
Many of the jungle’s flowers, leaves, roots and seeds are sources of exotic flavours worth their weight in gold.
Foodstuffs
Although most of the native fruits have a short lifespan, some of the harder-husked fruits and nuts can survive months before consumption, making them a valid export. The island provides many citrus fruits, sweet or sharp in flavour. One particular crop cultivated by the natives, cocoa, is used for an exclusive beverage.
Medicines
Some plants have medicinal properties aiding pain relief, acting as antiseptics or specific treatments for certain diseases. Included amongst these are poisons and narcotics also.
Oils, Gums and Resins
A number of trees and shrubs produce natural excretions which can be collected at certain times of the year by tapping or milking the plants. The oils have a range of properties from sticky flammability to pungent insect repellents. Two gums are available, one a natural source of glue, the other a waterproof sealant. The resins are types of perfume, often used by the natives to coat their skins during rituals.
Cloud Forest
Above 1,500 metres the jungle starts changing in nature, from rain forest to cloud forest. At this elevation the air is cooler, which not only affects the size and density of the vegetation but also type of precipitation it receives. Essentially, during the wet season, wrung-out clouds which provide rain to the lower jungles are blown up against the Tane Caldera mountain ridge, where they cling to the precipitous forests, wreathing them with ethereal fogs which slowly dissipate under the rays of the tropical sun. Even in the dry season the humidity of the lower jungles rises up the mountains where it condenses as, albeit wispier, streamers of mist that appear and fade like ghosts dancing in bands across the dark green flanks. Since little actual rain falls, the forest gains its moisture from the depleted clouds in the form of condensation which accumulates directly onto the plants. As a result most of the trees are infested with ferns and moss which suck up large amounts of moisture. The numbers of orchids and bromeliads also increase, which forces most trees to restrict their canopy growth or else have branches break under the combined weight of absorbed or collected water. The reduced levels of mist-blocked sunlight, lower temperatures and steep slopes prevent trees from reaching the giant sizes of those in the jungle. In sheltered spots they can still reach a respectable 30 metres in height, yet as the elevation rises further the forest begins to thin out, the vegetation growing commensurately smaller. Above 3,000 metres the cold and wind prevents the forest from climbing further. Almost everything within the cloud forest is covered with moss, which hangs from branches, thrives on tree trunks, covers rocks and provides soft spongy footing. Everything is constantly soaking wet, making life thoroughly unpleasant, but has the side effect of acting like a huge sponge. The slow percolation of water is what feeds the start of the streams which cross the caldera to the coast. Due to the slower rates of regeneration the cloud forest does not support many large herbivores. However, it provides a perfect home for many types of colourful birds, amphibians and some reptiles which like the brighter, sod den environment. There are fewer species of dangerous insects at this level, though one or two exist such as swarms of vampiric butterflies and deadly moths that emerge during brief periods of sunlight, which can often be blown enmass to other places on the island. Navigation in the forest is not as bad as the thicker jungle, although it is easy to get lost when clouds roll in, cut ting off long distance vision. However movement is more restricted. Most of the cloud forest grows on the mid slopes of the mountains, making the terrain steeply angled and cut through by knife edged valley ridges. Thus hiking is often more a case of scrambling and climbing, which soon becomes exhausting in the damp, chill environment. Few natives willingly live in the cloud forest, yet often send parties to forage for certain flowers, creatures and barks that this less hospitable region provides. In fact the area is a treasure house of natural resources for those interested in exploiting them.
The Plateau
Formed from the roughly level bottom of the Rangi Caldera, this region is a wide open plain of thorny, scrub like vegetation encircled by a towering wall of mountains. Named the Puna Plateau, the caldera wall is open to the south-west where the crater rim long ago collapsed into the Tane Caldera, leaving a sheer cliff face dropping down into the cloud forest below. Dry and cold, the atmosphere of the plateau has led to it being populated by vegetation completely different to the jungles of the island’s lower elevations. Most of the moisture comes from the night-time frost. Few of the plants grow above waist height, save for a small area bordering the plateau’s single lake. Almost all of the scrub is either tough grasses, cacti of various prickly types or spiny shrubs with small waxy leaves to prevent evaporation. Lack of water forces the plants to grow in patchy clumps interspersed by basalt stones and bare areas of gritty soil, making the entire plateau look somewhat like a blasted desert. The plain isn’t truly flat, possessing small undulations, winkles and shallow gullies from where the ancient caldera buckled from the forces of its creation. These have been weathered by wind or frost, providing much of the coarse sand that makes up the barren soil. Nearer the mountainous rim are scattered larger rocks, boulders which have obviously fallen from its steep walls. The climate of the Puna is an odd combination of fluctuating temperature, aridity and cutting winds. At night the region is cold, often dropping to near freezing. Shielded by high peaks, most of the plateau receives no direct sunlight until mid morning, so this chillness perseveres long after dawn. The thin air however, blocks little of the sun’s warmth, so once illuminated the plain soon heats up, becoming an oven. As the sun descends towards dusk, its gradually reddening light continues to illuminate the mountains for a short while even after it has set. The baking warmth how ever soon disperses and the temperature plummets. These wildly swinging temperatures cause havoc with the air flow over the island, sometimes causing strong winds to circulate within the caldera. Unfortunately these can pick up a lot of the rough soil, turning breezes into pain fully abrasive gusts that drive grit into eyes and clothes. In the dry season, particularly hot days combined with just the right prevailing winds can give rise to small twisters, which pose a threat to the indigenous fauna. Most of the plateau is lightly grazed by small to medium sized herbivores that in turn are preyed upon by avian predators inhabiting the surrounding mountains. Some modest feline carnivores also hunt here, but seasonally migrate to and from the cloud forest regions. With little biomass and few animals to feed upon, insect life is much reduced from that in other areas of the island. A few species of harmless ants mine out subterranean nests, which can be dug up by those who know of the sweet nectar they collect. Moths also proliferate, hatching and dying in sequence with the lunar cycle.
High Mountains
Monster Island has two chains of mountains carved from the rims of the Tane and Rangi Calderas. The longer Tane range varies in height, from 1,500 metres near where the crater drops into the ocean, up to 3,250 metres in the centre of the isle. As such most of the Tane Mountains are covered with cloud forest, thinning at their sharp crests where tropical storms scour the summits. Conversely the Rangi Mountains reach over 5,000 metres, their white-tipped peaks dominating the entire island. Due to some inexplicable feature of their volcanic upthrust and erosion, the sides of the worn crater rim are precipitous, sloping between 60-80o and granting them a stunning majesty. They literally loom threateningly over the land. Between 3,000 and 4,500 metres the slopes possess diminishing amounts of plant life, mostly isolated patches of scrub, grass and hardy alpine flowers. Above this is the snowline where flora can no longer survive. That said, most of the mountain slopes are exposed crags of basalt, the vegetation clinging to ledges or sheltered crevasses. Few animals inhabit the higher slopes, only small climbing rodents which can reach isolated plants and the occasional exotic life form that comes through the gates. Large predatory birds and some flying beasts use this region to nest, protected by the isolation and difficulty of scaling the peaks. However they must descend to lower altitudes to gather food, the mountains being comparatively sterile despite their considerable surface area. The high altitude makes these elevations particularly cold. Even direct sunlight barely brings the temperature above freezing and at night it drops well below 0 degrees C. Damp air which reaches this height generally deposits its last remnants of moisture as hoar frost or very fine pow der snow. Above the snow line this has accumulated over centuries to form several small glaciers that descend the mountain slopes to near the plateau where they eventually melt, forming the source of minor streams. These minor rivulets hold no fish whatsoever, they are too cold and too high to support life. A few hot springs emerge in the high mountains, appearing to be steaming vents hidden behind permanent fog clouds. At the snow line this can result in a hot pool being surrounded by strange ice formations where the fog has frozen across the rocks, growing organic looking sheets or icicles.
Glacial Peaks
By far the most sterile environment on the island, the permanent snow and ice capping the highest mountains support no native plant life save for a few lichens which somehow survive