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Description

A male Blue Crush-Bill (Atlantabranta plumosus), a common species of mega-goose, sizes up an intruding male. The winning male is usually determined by who can honk the loudest and will win access to the nearby harem of females. Disturbed by the commotion a Quilled Robber Dragon (Arbordraco latro), the largest of the arboreal dragons, flees to the forest canopy where it disturbs a nocturnal Mossy Crab (Musco sp.) that was previously camouflaged on the bark of the tree.

The Hesperides, the fabled chain of islands known by so many cultures of Europe and Africa as a distant Eden in the midst of the Atlantic, is known to the people of our world as the Atlantic Isles or the Megazores. Scientists noted that many of the Europeans people of VA shared a reoccurring shared story about how in ancient times people from the west would sail to their shores and share with them knowledge and new technologies. The Novans of Eastern Europe told the first explorers when they were able to communicate effectively of how they were descended from a great empire past the ocean that set sail to conquer new lands. Scientists initially thought that this was evidence that in this timeline, the Americas had been home to advanced sea faring civilisations. Years later the first expedition to cross the Atlantic was underway where they were aiming to set up a research station on the east coast of North America. The Caledonia set sail from a coastal settlement on the Isle of Man and its next stop was to be the Azores to gather supplies. However when they arrived instead of a chain of islands, they were confronted with what seemed to be a mountainous landmass. The mission to reach America was aborted and instead the team set out to explore the geographical anomaly. They found themselves confronted with a volcanic land of cloud forest, great rivers, exotic forests, strange fauna and the fading ruins of a great civilisation. So was the story of how 21st century science first came to know of the island of Atlas and the existence of the Hesperides.

The team initially thought that whatever empire had once lived here had long gone however within a month they started to spot fishing vessels off the coast and eventually they were able to make contact with the Atlanteans who resided on the Western landmass of Gadeirus. The island of Atlas had been abandoned after the Cataclysm destroyed much of cities and the place was deemed cursed by Poseidon. The Atlanteans loss was natures gain. The cloud forest of which a great portion had been cleared began to grow back and eventually swallowed the remains of most settlements and the populations of native herbivores began to bounce back.

Today Atlas is an eerie land of laurel forests draped in moss fed by the warmth of the Gulf Stream and the great quantities of sea fog that blows in, a remnant of the habitat that once covered most of Europe in the early Pliocene. Occasionally the lichen or fungi may give way to reveal the tile of an ancient street or the stump of a long forgotten building. The forests are punctuated by the soft chirping and calls of endemic birds. At certain times of the year, the land vibrates with the bellowing honks of Mega-geese. In the absence of large mammals bird species have evolved to gigantic sizes akin to the Moas of New Zealand and the Elephant Birds of Madagascar. However the size of this landmass compared to most islands has meant that an even greater diversity of avian herbivores have arisen; In the forests Giant Geese honk for mates and ratites of various sizes search for berries. In the lowland flood plains and rivers giant swans and large species of ducks graze on water plants. While in the arid and mountainous regions to the East large bustards and strange species of seabird roam by sea side cliffs. Just like in New Zealand these large flightless birds are food for an aerial predator. Halions are giant eagles, related to Sea and Bald Eagles but much larger, that nest on mountain peaks.

Birds are not the only group of animals to lose their flight ability. Dragons are primarily creatures of mountains and do not fare well in coastal areas, the buffeting sea wings often causing them to lose control and plummet into the waves. Because of this they are not often found offshore. The Hesperides is one of the few exceptions to this rule. A small number of small to medium sized dragon species are found here and almost all of them have lost their powered flight. Instead they are found in the undergrowth searching for rodents and crabs like small theropods or in they canopy where they glide from tree to tree. A few specialised species have even taken to a fully piscivorous diet and resemble featherless Herons. The dragons here belong to an ancient family that is now extinct in Eurasia and Africa. Other reptiles include large lacertid lizards that are especially prominent in the arid East and offshore islets.

Large mammals are not fully absent. A population of feral North African Elephants that originated from a time when Atlas was still populated live wild in the lowlands and forest edges. Native mammals include several species of large wooly rodents, many of them arboreal and a variety of endemic bats.

The cloud forests hold a huge diversity in terrestrial crab species. They range from species that scavenge on the remains of animals to arboreal species that eat berries and lichens. There is evidence to suggest that crabs on Atlantis once grew to much larger sizes but the introduction of rats and human pressures have lead to the extinction of many of the largest species.

Description

A male Blue Crush-Bill (Atlantabranta plumosus), a common species of mega-goose, sizes up an intruding male. The winning male is usually determined by who can honk the loudest and will win access to the nearby harem of females. Disturbed by the commotion a Quilled Robber Dragon (Arbordraco latro), the largest of the arboreal dragons, flees to the forest canopy where it disturbs a nocturnal Mossy Crab (Musco sp.) that was previously camouflaged on the bark of the tree.

The Hesperides, the fabled chain of islands known by so many cultures of Europe and Africa as a distant Eden in the midst of the Atlantic, is known to the people of our world as the Atlantic Isles or the Megazores. Scientists noted that many of the Europeans people of VA shared a reoccurring shared story about how in ancient times people from the west would sail to their shores and share with them knowledge and new technologies. The Novans of Eastern Europe told the first explorers when they were able to communicate effectively of how they were descended from a great empire past the ocean that set sail to conquer new lands. Scientists initially thought that this was evidence that in this timeline, the Americas had been home to advanced sea faring civilisations. Years later the first expedition to cross the Atlantic was underway where they were aiming to set up a research station on the east coast of North America. The Caledonia set sail from a coastal settlement on the Isle of Man and its next stop was to be the Azores to gather supplies. However when they arrived instead of a chain of islands, they were confronted with what seemed to be a mountainous landmass. The mission to reach America was aborted and instead the team set out to explore the geographical anomaly. They found themselves confronted with a volcanic land of cloud forest, great rivers, exotic forests, strange fauna and the fading ruins of a great civilisation. So was the story of how 21st century science first came to know of the island of Atlas and the existence of the Hesperides.

The team initially thought that whatever empire had once lived here had long gone however within a month they started to spot fishing vessels off the coast and eventually they were able to make contact with the Atlanteans who resided on the Western landmass of Gadeirus. The island of Atlas had been abandoned after the Cataclysm destroyed much of cities and the place was deemed cursed by Poseidon. The Atlanteans loss was natures gain. The cloud forest of which a great portion had been cleared began to grow back and eventually swallowed the remains of most settlements and the populations of native herbivores began to bounce back.

Today Atlas is an eerie land of laurel forests draped in moss fed by the warmth of the Gulf Stream and the great quantities of sea fog that blows in, a remnant of the habitat that once covered most of Europe in the early Pliocene. Occasionally the lichen or fungi may give way to reveal the tile of an ancient street or the stump of a long forgotten building. The forests are punctuated by the soft chirping and calls of endemic birds. At certain times of the year, the land vibrates with the bellowing honks of Mega-geese. In the absence of large mammals bird species have evolved to gigantic sizes akin to the Moas of New Zealand and the Elephant Birds of Madagascar. However the size of this landmass compared to most islands has meant that an even greater diversity of avian herbivores have arisen; In the forests Giant Geese honk for mates and ratites of various sizes search for berries. In the lowland flood plains and rivers giant swans and large species of ducks graze on water plants. While in the arid and mountainous regions to the East large bustards and strange species of seabird roam by sea side cliffs. Just like in New Zealand these large flightless birds are food for an aerial predator. Halions are giant eagles, related to Sea and Bald Eagles but much larger, that nest on mountain peaks.

Birds are not the only group of animals to lose their flight ability. Dragons are primarily creatures of mountains and do not fare well in coastal areas, the buffeting sea wings often causing them to lose control and plummet into the waves. Because of this they are not often found offshore. The Hesperides is one of the few exceptions to this rule. A small number of small to medium sized dragon species are found here and almost all of them have lost their powered flight. Instead they are found in the undergrowth searching for rodents and crabs like small theropods or in they canopy where they glide from tree to tree. A few specialised species have even taken to a fully piscivorous diet and resemble featherless Herons. The dragons here belong to an ancient family that is now extinct in Eurasia and Africa. Other reptiles include large lacertid lizards that are especially prominent in the arid East and offshore islets.

Large mammals are not fully absent. A population of feral North African Elephants that originated from a time when Atlas was still populated live wild in the lowlands and forest edges. Native mammals include several species of large wooly rodents, many of them arboreal and a variety of endemic bats.

The cloud forests hold a huge diversity in terrestrial crab species. They range from species that scavenge on the remains of animals to arboreal species that eat berries and lichens. There is evidence to suggest that crabs on Atlantis once grew to much larger sizes but the introduction of rats and human pressures have lead to the extinction of many of the largest species.