Northern Forest

The Northern Forest is a temperate coniferous rainforest which is almost constantly showered by torrential rainstorms. The region sees an average of 403'' of rainfall per year, about as much as the wettest parts of the Human era Amazon Rainforest. 

Thick black clouds constantly roll in overhead, and sunlight is rarely seen below the forest canopy: even above the canopy, the clouds and rain make the skies dark. Despite the relentless rain, the darkness, and the frequent storms, temperatures are generally high, and the atmosphere is humid and rich in carbon dioxide.

Flowering plants are rare, and have largely been replaced by giant lichens, which assume the shapes and sizes of trees and dominate the understory of the forest. They achieve photosynthesis and absorb moisture by trailing feathery algal structures that hang like tattered curtains in the humid air, and reproduce by growing spore sacs which burst upon contact with passing animals. They also grow fruit-like, diamond-shaped "lichen capsules," which are fed on by various animals. One organism which lives inside the trunk of the lichen tree is the slithersucker, a giant predatory slime mould which emerges from the lichen's hollow algal core and drapes itself over a branch, waiting for prey.

There is certainly no shortage of animal life in the Northern Forest. The niches of birds are filled by forest flish, cousins of ocean flish which have left the sea behind entirely. These flying fish fill the niches of birds such as hummingbirds, flitting around the forest hunting insects; hornbills, cracking open lichen pods with their heavy "beaks"; and even hawks, preying on other flish species.[5]

The most advanced animals of the Northern Forest are the terasquids, squid which have evolved to become terrestrial. The largest species is the elephantine megasquid, Pangaea II's largest animal, which travels across the forest floor on its eight legs browsing on fruits and small animals. Other, smaller species such as squibbons are arboreal, using their boneless bodies to effortlessly brachiate through the trees.

The abundance of animal life means that the forest is constantly alive with sounds, including the cricket-like chirping of forest flish, and the ominous rumbling calls of distant megasquid.