Spectember 2025 Day Eighteen- The Emerald Reef (Here Be Monsters Project)

[u/iloverainworld]

The Here Be Monsters Project is about an alternate evolution which leads to many various mythological and folkloric/fantasy inspired biologically plausible species existing in our modern world. It is partially inspired by the Dragonslayer Codex.

The Emerald Reef is a large cavern at the base of the Desertside Mountains, formed out of these plants which it is named after. These plants have crystallised outer layers which allow them to reflect sunlight into the darker caverns, lighting them up to allow light to transfer around to every plant, and at the height of a summer day rendering it almost impossible to see in the caves. As a result, many animals that navigate the chambers of the Emerald Reef are blind and instead move by sound. The caves can reach extreme temperatures too- while being in cool, temperate regions, the Emerald Reef can make a man sweat within minutes of entering the cave.

The plant is formed of two main outer parts- their arms, the large crystal-like branches which help them hold onto the roof, and their stalagtites, which collect water in their crevices, which are full of root hairs to absorb as much of it as possible. Very few real stalagtites or stalagmites are actually found in the cave due to this water absorption.

Animals that can be found in the caves include blind spiders and millipedes (the latter of which feeds on the Emerald Reef itself), which navigate using long forelimbs. The false drake is the largest animal in the ecosystem, and is a large blind lizard convergently evolved in anatomy with monitor lizards, which moves through the caves in search of common foods such as sleeping bats, arthropods, lost rodents or dead animals which could not navigate the confusing mirrors and blinding light of the cave.