Cove City is too populated to hold much of it's own original Flora and Fauna.
However recently the Cove City Council decided to renovate some areas, for both safety and city improvements. They cleared several areas of collapsing older towers, remnants from early in the city's construction that had long since been abandoned. In their place, the Council decided to showcase new, amazing innovations developed by the Academy and local inventors thanks to recent mushrooms discoveries on the isles. (Read more about Mushroom Magic here) After much debate as to what these wonders would look, like the Council settled on monuments to the thing they all loved most about their beautiful home - gorgeous landscapes filled with fruits, herbs, and more, highlighting the Isles they all knew and loved. There are 7 grand parks in the city, featuring the 7 distinct biomes found on the Mycorzhan Isles and maintained both by the general population and the dedicated park rangers who teach creatures how to care for the food forests of each biome.
- Cove City Community Park - Open Woodland
- Hazelmoss Woodland Park - Temperate Forest
- Mycorzha Grasslands Park - Temperate Grassland
- Morel Marsh Water Park - Subtropical Wetlands
- Sun-Dried Desert Park - Semi-Arid Desert
- Fern Leaf River Park - Boreal Forest
- Crescent Peak Alpine Park - Alpine Tundra
The Council, having mostly grown up in the city and away from much of the land, quickly found themselves a bit lost. They put out a posting, requesting the aid of some of the Mycorzhan critters to create a plan. Nalin volunteered immediately, eager to share their knowledge of the Isles, and together with the Council and the Academy the 7 Grand Parks were designed and ground was broken on the project. Large mature trees were shipped in from various regions to be planted, along with many saplings and seeds to recreate the best of Mycorzha right here in the city.
Cove City Community Park - Open woodland
Stretching across several miles in the heart of Cove City sits the Cove City Community Park, the largest of the seven grand parks. The closest example of a traditional city park that Beyonders might be familiar with, the Community Park is a landscape of gently rolling hills covered in lush, low-lying grasses, wildflowers, and open woodland that showcases the natural terrain of the nearby Luna Valley and the area upon which Cove City was originally built. Winding from the main entrance up to the Temple of the Mysts at the top of the park, the largest path is paved in blue stones to represent the Luna River, lined on both sides by red-bud trees that flower gloriously pink in the spring, to the delight of residents who enjoy walking the petal-strewn path. Side trails spread out through the park, passing small ponds and playgrounds and stands of shady trees. A dedicated community gardens and teaching center is maintained so Beyonders and residents alike can learn about the cultivation and care of all the various biomes of the Isles in one place.
Hazelmoss Woodland Park - Temperate forest
Spreading boughs and quiet, leaf-littered hiking trails beneath a dappled forest canopy are hallmarks of Hazelmoss Woodland Park, nestled into the southern corner of Cove City. Beautiful chestnut, oak, beech, and maple trees shade a darkened forest floor, where mushrooms and small saplings thrive in fallen “mother logs” that are carefully protected by park staff. Park visitors emerge from the shaded forest into brilliant sunlit clearings, each home to a different set of crops that have been brought north from Hazelmoss Woods to be carefully cultivated by representatives of their various homesteads. Residents of Cove City can enjoy one of several day hike loops that meander their way from clearing to clearing, bringing hikers to various vistas and points of interest along the way. Shorter, curated trails with signs describing various Hazelmoss plant and fungi species are popular with parents, while the cubs and climbers of Mycorzha flock to a multi-level playground of platforms, rope bridges, and canopy swings that is a huge draw to anyone not afraid of heights.
Mycorzha Grasslands Park - Temperate grasslands
A vast, open prairie-land, the second largest of the grand parks sprawls out to the southeast of the main city island. The Mycorzha Grasslands Park, for all its size, is one of the less popular parks for city residents, as it has no particular draw for those seeking a day of leisure or entertainment besides the rolling fields of wildflower and swaying grasses. A few trails are blazed through the towering clumps of wood grass, big bluestem, and switchgrass, largely used by the smaller and scurrying city-creatures going to and from their home burrows, foraging for daily fare, or simply enjoying a quiet, more private place from the larger residents of Cove City. Despite not being as popular for visiting park-goers, the Grasslands Park stands as one of the most important sources of forage and fodder for a large part of the city populace. In fact, this regular harvesting is an important aspect of maintaining the health of the park, along with controlled burns accomplished by park staff.
Morel Marsh Water Park - Subtropical wetlands
The western edge of the island upon which Cove City rests is a place of inlets, streams, and small islands, the land fraying and mixing with the waters of Coral Cap Cove. Some innovative beavers saw this as the perfect place to build an artificial wetland; diverting streams and encouraging silt to gather and settle allowed for the creation of the Morel Marsh Water Park. This expanse of cypress, rushes, and quiet waterways is wreathed in semi-constant mist, thanks to special mushrooms used to heat the park and its surroundings. This has drawn many spas and baths to the western district of the city, making it a place for residents to cleanse themselves both physically and spiritually. The park itself is tied together by a network of boardwalks and bridges, allowing visitors to explore the wetlands without getting their feet wet. Cubs and hatchlings are always eager to visit the Deadly Gardens, a section of the park where poisonous and carnivorous plants are cultivated, while many adults come to ride the “bayou boats” that wind around the park’s waterways on an automated circuit. The arching cypress, firefly swarms, and carved and decorated bridges and overhangs lends a romantic feel as the boats glide past, making the park popular with young couples and others looking to have their union blessed by the mists.
Sun Dried Desert Park - Semi-arid desert
The Sun-Dried Desert Park, nestled along the southern edge of Cove City island, represents some of the crowning achievements of research into mycological sciences on the Isles. A rise in the island with good drainage provided the foundation of the park, and the beaver engineers took it from there; further diverting water, as well as installing and cultivating an ingenious blend of Mycorzhan fungus and nigh unheard-of technological systems to allow for control of temperature and humidity across the entire park, as well as in tightly focused points in the air above the sandy expanse. Thus, not only can the wide-spread heating and cooling of the park simulate the nature of the southern deserts, but park staff can actually form localized storms, microbursts that flood specific areas with sudden downpours. Of course, the incredible marvels of this system remain largely hidden from park-goers, who get to play in what amounts to an enormous sandbox. The annual Sun-Dried Sand Sculpture festival always draws a crowd, and many come to scheduled “rainshower parties” to frolic on hot summer days.
Fern Leaf River Park - Boreal forest
Any visitor to Cove City arriving via boat or the northern bridges cannot help but see the towering grandeur of Fern Leaf River Park. The spires of Douglas Firs, Redwoods, and Sequoias stand sentinel along the island’s northern bank, an easy landmark for those moving about the City. One of the first of the parks, the main grove was in fact planted long before the project took root with the Cove City Council, giving the trees time to flourish and grow to their present heights. Below, a forest floor thick with needles spreads beneath undergrowth of berrying plants and sprays of fern. As Fern Leaf Forest itself is bordered by the Lantern Glow River, so too does a long and winding offshoot of the Luna River wind among the breathtaking quiet of the giant trees. Visitors can hike along trails spreading throughout the park, or they can float gently along the river, enjoying the dappled shade beneath and learning about the spawning cycle of the Lantern Fish, who swim up the Lantern Glow River each autumn to lay their eggs in the steaming waters of the Glow Cap Caverns. The Fern Leaf River Park uses special mushrooms to similarly heat their river, allowing park goers to enjoy a warming dip even in the depths of winter. As the art and information along the lazy river show, the Lantern Fish get their natural glow from eating glowcaps and luminescent algae as fry, before departing for ocean waters each spring and returning each fall to spawn.
Crescent Peak Mountain Park - Alpine tundra
The expanse of the Luna River to the north of Cove City island is crossed by a number of bridges and walkways, but none are so trafficked as one which connects, not to the top of the cliffs on the north bank, but into the heart of the cliffs themselves. Here you will find thrill-seekers and park-goers flocking to the Crescent Peak Alpine Park, one of the most popular spots to visit in all the City. Unable to fully capture the snowy alpine heights of the Crescent Range, park engineers carved out a massive underground space to house this park and protect it from the heat of Cove City summers. Mushrooms are used to create artificial light, chill the air, and freeze water into snow, which is blasted into the park to make it a year-round snow-globe. Visitors eager to sled, ski, or simply enjoy the winter landscape enter the park from below or descend on lifts from above, arriving at the peak of a tall slope meant to evoke the grandeur of the Crescent Mountain terrain. Sleds are continuously pulled to the top of the slope by a vine-and-pulley system similar to that used to send trade goods along the Luna River, and eager creatures await to ride them back down. Some creatures choose instead to use a zip-line to speed to the bottom of the hill and enjoy the view along the way, and then all take the lifts back to the top once again. A few creatures might notice the Alpine Gardens Walk, which allows visitors to take the scenic route up (or down) the slope on a winding path through beds of Arctic Poppy, Saskatoon Berry, and Pasqueflower.
