Cove Haven

Location Of Cove Haven
On Long Island

Cove Haven is one of the most isolated places in the Floating Isles. It sits deep within the Upper Mountains of Long Island, surrounded on all sides by steep slopes that function as a wall, cutting it off from the rest of the island. Aside from the deep caves that cut through the mountains, the only opening is a narrow, shallow channel that connects the bay to the Ring Sea. Most large sea creatures cannot pass through it, and very few attempt to. Because of this, the area is quieter and more stable than most other parts of the Isles.

Slopeback And Young

Several small rivers run down from the mountains and through their caves, and spread through a dense forest before emptying into the bay. The water is slow-moving and clear in most places, with soft ground along the banks. The forest here is thick but not as chaotic as elsewhere, and the ground is often open enough for larger animals to move through without difficulty.

The largest animals in Cove Haven are the Bump Grazers, which spend much of their time in and around the water. These heavy-bodied herbivores move slowly through the bay, feeding on soft vegetation that grows in thick patches along the bottom. In the surrounding forest, the Slopebacks move about on their knuckles, stopping regularly to pull down branches to feed. Sailgrazers and Parrot Hogs are also common, feeding on low plants, roots, and shoreline growth. Smaller herbivores fill in the gaps, including the Flightless Parrot and the Haven Tortoise, both of which are seen frequently along the forest floor and near the water’s edge.

School of Spined Salmon Swim By
A Pair of Bump Grazers

Predators here are fewer, but still present. Sailhunters move through the forest and along the riverbanks, targeting the smaller and mid-sized animals. The most dangerous hunter in the water is the Broadhead. It stays hidden in the shallows and deeper pools, waiting for anything that comes close enough. Young Broadheads are just as dangerous in their own way. Their tadpoles gather in tight schools and feed aggressively, stripping small prey down quickly if it is caught among them.

Flightless Parrot

The waters of Cove Haven hold a wide mix of fish and other aquatic life. Spined Salmon, Shield Fish, and Needlefish move through the rivers and bay in large numbers. These are all prey for the Giant Bottomfish, which stays low along the floor of the water and feeds on anything it can catch. Along the bottom and in the shallows, Giant Lobsters and Reed Crawlers are common, moving slowly between rocks and submerged vegetation.

Smaller creatures are found throughout the forest and along the water. Sailed Lizards move between trees and open ground, while the Spike-Tongued Toad hunts from the forest floor. This toad is large for its kind, about the size of a small cat, and uses a long tongue tipped with a single barbed spine to catch prey at a distance.

Spike-Tongue Toad Hunting A Lizard

• Naturalist Note: Cove Haven represents a naturally enclosed basin ecosystem, shaped by isolation. The surrounding mountain barriers and restricted marine access function as a biological filter, limiting the entry of large predators and allowing a stable, semi-contained food web to develop.
  
  Most of the creatures of Cove Haven can be identified with some degree of confidence.
  
  The Bump Grazer is likely a dinocephalian therapsid, possibly Moschops or Tapinocephalus. The Slope Back is clearly a type of chalicothere, identifiable by its characteristic knuckle-walking posture and browsing behavior.
  
  Primary predation is divided between land and water. The Sailhunter is almost certainly Dimetrodon, while the Broadhead can be identified, based on Daniel's other writings, as Mastodonsaurus.
  
  Aquatic biodiversity is composed of well-established prehistoric lineages. The Spined Salmon is similar to Ischnacanthus, while the Shield Fish is similar to Zenapsis, and the Needlefish to Angelacanthus.
  
  However, trying to identify the smaller fauna of Cove Haven leads to mixed results. The Sailed Lizard is probably Longisquama, an arboreal reptile moving among the trees. The Flightless Parrot, strangely, appears to be a larger version of the New Zealand Kakapo - a flightless and nearly helpless species, but one of the few that can be seen outside the island chain. The identity of the Spike-Tongued Toad cannot be ascertained from the fossil record, and it appears to be an otherwise unknown species.
  
  Overall, Cove Haven stands as a contained and stable ecosystem, where isolation has limited outside influence and allowed these species to persist in a balanced and predictable food web.