Anyone who has played any Monster Hunter game will have probably noticed at some point that the ways these so called "monsters" act are strangely familiar, with their behavior being more animalistic than monstrous. This is without a doubt the thing...
A glacial wind blows over the moonlit landscape, whipping up a puff of powdered snow from the frozen ground as it does, the tiny ice crystals shimmering in the moon's gentle glow. Beautiful auroras dance across the sky. Their green, blue, and purplish-pink colors greatly contrasting the whites, grays, and blacks of the surrounding landscape.
Beneath this colorful spectacle and along the coast of the hinterland sea, colossal glaciers creek and groan as the waves relentlessly crash into them, while icebergs and other ice flows are tossed about by the currents, unable to do anything about it. As some chunks are taken back to land and thrown against its hard, frozen surface, smashing the blocks to pieces in the process, their impacts resonate throughout the hollowed parts of the ice sheets and the caverns that litter the terrain.
Ghostly howls echo through the caves as chilling winds move past or into the entrances, subsequently pushing some snow into the cavern. Above ground, the many ravines, mountains, and other geological formations created by the activities of the area's now-dormant volcano, meltwater erosion, and glacial movements amplify the noises of the breezes that pass them, the low whistling giving this beautiful yet seemingly empty landscape an unsettling feel.
With a layer of frost covering everything and sub-zero temperatures gripping the landscape, it would seem like nothing can exist in such a hostile climate; however, life still manages to survive here despite the challenges. Small patches of forests give shelter and food to a variety of life forms, while the nutrient-rich sea hosts a surprisingly large menagerie of aquatic and semi-aquatic species. The gigantic cave systems beneath the surface provide creatures with a place to hide from the occasional blizzard. Even in the harsh, mountainous regions, lifeforms still prevail.
Although there's plenty of flora, fauna, and fungi living here, life is very harsh for them, even with their adaptations designed to help them deal with the cold. Only a select few can truly thrive in these lands, and they are the toughest of all.
As the moon starts getting close to the horizon, a figure watches it set from the peak of a frozen mountain while the undulating auroras behind it start dissipating. Laying on a large ledge overlooking the terrain, Permafrost, an adult female Velkhana, begins slowly sitting up and spreading her wings, momentarily flapping them before folding the appendages and calmly getting to her feet.
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Standing to her full height, Permafrost carefully approaches the end of the ledge, the bottom impossible to see due to the shadows of the night. Opening her wings, she pushes herself over the edge and begins flapping the large appendages, quickly turning her fall into a glide. With a few simple beats from her wings, the Velkhana easily flies and glides across the frigid, mountainous terrain, always making sure to stay just far enough from the peaks to avoid crashing into them. Soon enough, Permafrost begins slowing down and carefully descending, keeping a close watch of her immediate surroundings as she does this.
