Magonnett Shores
Expanding Wetlands in Tropical Taishan Climates
Abstract
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The lush green island of Magonnett lies off the northeast coast of Taisha, at: 2251°N by 661°W. It is a tropical island of volcanic origin, rich with biodiversity and unique species. It is also, conveniently enough, shunned by people of all stripes and ethnicities. This allows for study on a microcosmic scale unlike anything else the Bardic College has access to. It is a treasured and vital resource. However, it became apparent in a survey report published by doctors Gnomenclature and Gil, that much of the internal island's jungle biome has been shrinking, due in no small part to the yearly tsunami season. The school commissioned this report, as well as the Goober, Barry, and Gnils report, to ascertain if the impact of the school's yearly study also has anything to do with the shrinkage. |
Introduction
| Taking the islands locale into account, our team decided that working with the School of Geology at the College would be prudent. A five year, inter departmental study ensued, the likes of which has never been seen on campus, that eventually even included the College of Glamour, which helped compile the findings and structured them into an easily understandable package of Psi Crystals and lecture halls. |
Limitations of Study
| This research project was hampered by the mandate that the island be 'untouched by outside influences', such as seeds, or rats from ships, or any of a million other considerations that needed to be taken into account. Only very small teams could work on the island at any one time, and they each had to go through a six week quarantine process before and after their trip. It was also limited in that the timing of the study was not to exceed five years; which, as we all know, is a heartbeat in geological timescales. |
Methodology
| The School of Geology's Professor Elland D. Plumb, and his team of five grad students, first thought to do this by surveying the jungle itself. However, over an evening of beer-pong and jello shots at the Fraternity, Dr. Plumb's star pupil drank way too much, and passed out, leaving a lull in the conversation about just how to go about this. It was at this point that the janitor, a Mr. Benjamin P. Gnowles, piped up, stating it would be easier to meaure the beach growing, than to measure the jungle shrinking. This marked the beginning of a radical shift in thinking about the project in general, and we decided to bring in the School of Biology to help us study the growing wetlands surrounding the island. We also enrolled the School of Mysteries to divine how many species were currently residing upon the island, and where they were, while enlisting the School of Art to draw illustrations of every animal they could find upon the island. The Maritime Academy, with the financial help of the Merchant and Sailors' Guild, provided transportation as well as offshore housing and provender. |
Body of Work
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It soon became apparent that, after the tsunami season of 5458NG, the more frequent tsunamis were affecting the very fabric of the island, restructuring its ecology almost entirely and forcing extant species to adapt very quickly. Some, such as the Spotted Newt, have gone extinct during the time this study took place. The tsunamis are changing the island on a fundamental level, and we, as a body of researchers, will be there to witness and document this historic process in action. The beach is, also very apparently, growing exponentially with each hit of a massive wave, which leaves salt, and other toxins that will kill land plants, further and further insland. In this, we enlisted the School of Oceanography, which determined that an offshore volcano is growing in the Eastern Sea. This is causing underwater seismic events, which in turn cause the tsunamis that are slowly choking out Magonnett's lowland jungle. |
Conclusion
| It is the conslusion of this study that the island is changing before our eyes in a spectacle far exceeding the normal time frame, by virtue of the offshore volcano. The activities of the school's researchers are not accelerating the decline of the island; we are only lucky enough to be there to record it. |
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