Lost Cerrado

* Map
* Zones
* Camps

A dry, sub-tropical plain that's been attracting large herds of herbivores for millions of years. It was once part of a grand seasonal migration route for species like Aptonoth and Larinoth, but back in the time of the old Wyverians a strange "earthquake" split the land in two. Now the land is divided by a deep river ravine, which while a beautiful and thriving habitat in its own right, is wholly insurmountable for the large herbivores who used to trek back and forth across this plain. Hunters can use their Seekers to fly across.

### Zones

At night the borders of Zone 1 twinkle with sparkling green lights; the short termite mounds that skirt the outside woods are full of symbiotic beetle larvae that draw in insects with bioluminescent lures.

To the far east is a rocky, raised steppe that leads into one half of the split central mountain. Plant and animal life is scarce there, but there are many destructible rock formations and good opportunities for mining. The higher peaks northeast may have reasons of their own to be explored but are even more barren and are so treacherous they can only be traversed with the grappling hook.

A fairly large and roundish plateau lies to the southwest. Large monsters have little reason to seek it out, but hunters may find its natural resources and path into Zone 12 worthy of interest.

Insectivores of all shapes and sizes gather here year round, even traveling great distances from other maps just to get a taste of its decadent arthropod smorgasbord.

The wooded lowland zone is one of the greenest parts of map (at least at it's altitude) and the scattered rock formations on all sides give it an enclosed feeling that many monsters find comforting. This is a good place to search for resting or injured quarry.
The plateaus around it ascend in height from west to east, leading up gradually into the cloudy high altitude part of the map. They are all separated at their base, but the stone bridge between the highest two is big enough for both hunters and monsters to walk across. All together the three formations serve as a path connecting Zone 12 and Zone 6, incomplete but easy enough to navigate with use of the grappling hook.
Monsters can appear in either part of this zone but generally prefer the low wooded sanctuary.

The Zone 6 plateau, like all the main plateaus, is verdant and lush at its top, presenting a very different kind of environment compared to the dry lowland plains. Different species of plants and fungi grow in the close, wet, and windy air here, which in turn attracts unique varieties of insects and endemic life.
Because the plateau is so isolated it is only frequented by monsters than can fly, glide, or climb.

Currently, however, the old watering hole is dry, and will remain so for most of the year. In its current state it is little more than a mud-filled depression, shrinking day by day under the harsh light of the sun. Animals searching for fresh drinking water will find no respite here, but to mud-loving species like Barroth it's a seasonal paradise.

Zone 8 is connected to the neighboring plains by a barren pass in the southwest and to the the river ravine by a steep and muddy embankment. Though easy to miss there is also a third exit, a very long and winding cave which leads north under the plateau and up to a secluded beach above Zone 9. Most large monsters don't have a habit of going this way, but those that do can use it to give greenhorn hunters the slip! A fourth path leads south through sparse woods and under the shade of a very large stone bridge; it has long been favored by predatory monsters looking to ambush migrating herds.

Most of Zone 9 is highland jungle, the largest stretch of which borders the northeast boundary of the Lost Cerrado. A smaller section south of the main jungle is also visited by monsters but is slightly lower in elevation and is not as densely forested. The smaller plateau west of it is sparser still and is largely ignored by native monsters, though some aerial predators do carry their prey here to eat in peace. The land bridge connecting them is very wide and solid but does have holes through which hunters can fall through!

In all parts save for a pair of muddy embankments on either side the walls of this ravine are incredibly tall and steep, presenting a straight vertical drop from the ground-level cerrado. Theoretically they can all be scaled with the grappling hook, but their immense depth makes reaching the top of them a challenge. Both faces of the ravine are pock-marked with rare and valuable fossils, each bifurcated into a cast and mold by the sudden earthquake that separated the two halves of this land.
The river running along the bottom of the ravine was once barren, clear and buried well below ground, but after years of direct exposure to the sun and loose sediment falling in its taken on a somewhat muddier tinge and become colonized by a plethora of surface species. Fish, freshwater crustaceans, algae, and aquatic plants of all kinds now call this river their home, as well as the birds and wyverns that feed on them. Nearly the entire length of the river is deep enough to house large monsters and has a swift current that pushes swimmers and fallen land monsters northward.
Notable portions of Zone 10 include a sheltered passage leading through an eroded rock formation in the eastern bend, two sets of rocky whitewater rapids behind it, and an extremely deep, slower moving hole nestled between them. The waters south are not quite as deep, but the stretch far north of them is surprisingly shallow and can be walked across. Both sides of the river have grainy, muddy beaches that are dark in coloration and sustain patches of lively green ground cover. There are even a few termite mounds down here in the deep, but seasonal flooding prevents them from becoming as expansive as they are on the plain.
Lastly, Zone 10 does include a large, flat ledge midway up the side of the split mountain west of Zone 9. Monster activity is extremely rare here, but it is a reliable mining spot for precious ores!

The rockier northwest peaks were shattered long ago by the formation of the river ravine, but one jagged stretch of mountains remains, bridging Zone 12 to the much shorter, easier to scale plateau in Zone 3.
Southeast of that lies a sheltered lowland glade, walled in on three sides by Zone 12s main plateau and almost completely entrapped by the remnants of the northwest peaks. It's a long way down but well worth investigating as many different species of monsters will come here to avoid predation or bed down for the night.

### Weather

#### *Clear Skies*

Clear, sunny skies with a Warm (day) or Cool (night) ambient temperature are considered normal conditions for the Lost Cerrado.

#### *Thunderstorms*

Dark clouds gather before a storm, setting the average temperature to Cool and bringing strong winds that sweep across the plains and whistle in the canyon and high plateaus. Endemic life species react to these changes early and seek shelter well before thunder, lightning, and rain arrive. The behavior of large monsters can change wildly under these conditions, but exactly how varies by species.

### Disaster State

#### *Wildfire*

Dark clouds blot out the sun as embers float in the air. The forests outside Zones 3 and 6 are overwhelmed by a raging, windswept inferno, preventing all passage through them. Zone 5 and the lowland den in Zone 12 are also inaccessible. Smaller wildfires are scattered around the boundaries of these areas, including the lower portion of Zone 3 and most of Zone 4, but the old game trail is so dusty and bare that no flames have reached the northern half of the map. These smaller fires can be walked through, inflicting minor environmental damage and Fireblight. These can also be extinguished by water element weapons and ammunition, but only temporarily.

No fire has spread to the highland plateaus, and so luckily they are all fully accessible, but the air around them has become dangerously thick. Toxic smoke decreases visibility and causes hunter characters to cough, slowly losing health as if they were poisoned.

The lower depths of the ravine are mostly unaffected, save for falling embers and burning leaves in the wind.

The ambient temperature is raised to Very Hot everywhere but in caves and water, where it raises less severely to Hot. Day and night become indiscernible. Thunderstorms can roll in during the Wildfire state but have no effect on temperature, though they will extinguish smaller fires for as long as they last, provided they bring rain.

Plant, mushroom, and insect based gathering points become very scarce during a Wilffire; conversely, bone based gathering points proliferate. Monster and endemic life spawns change considerably.

### Native Monsters

#### Small Monsters

* Apceros
* Aptonoth

#### Large Monsters

* Barroth
* Nerscylla
* Qurupeco
* Rathalos
* Rathian

### Gallery

Daytime render by YuzucchiNyanNightime render by YuzucchiNyanConcept art by SirKConcept art by SirKConcept art by SirK

### Real World Inspirations

Most of the real world geography referenced when making the Lost Cerrado was from Brazil, Venezuela, and Arizona.

Three Bridges, LebanonThree Bridges, LebanonNeversink Pit, Alabama

### Trivia

* A *cerrado* is a South American biome similar to a savanna.
* The tropical high-altitude areas on this map are inspired both by real South American geography and by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 novel *The Lost World*, where populations of living dinosaurs prowled atop an Amazonian plateau. The name *Lost Cerrado* is partially in reference to this; the *Lost* part of the name also describes how the animals living here have lost their original way of life due to the formation of the ravine disrupting seasonal migration paths.
* The Lost Cerrado is where Rathalos and Rathian prefer to raise their chicks, at least on the continental Verge.