Preventing the Spread of Disease, Crime and Mayhem

[valiant12]

I need some help for the novel I'm writing at the moment.
Two of my PoW characters are visiting a academy for magic users located on a flying island.
One of the characters is planning to study there and when she graduate aspire to work in the academy. The other character is sent to the academy to learn the basics of using magic as quickly as possible.
The flying island is smaller than the average habitable flying island in the setting- less than km in diameter.
The academy have wells that provide drinking water, but it must rely on food shipments from other flying island and the land below. There are about 250 new recruits from all over the world each year and almost all of them successfully graduate 3 years later.
I'm wondering how can the academy staff prevent the spread of deadly disease in the small island full of people.
can you build an effective sewer system in such a small island? What about enforcing a quarantine?

And how do you prevent armed people from becoming violent when they spend too much time with the same people in the same tiny smelly overcrowded island , eating shitty food, bathe with contaminated water, suffering from various illnesses and abusing substances? And most magic users in that setting are not exactly sane.
For example pyromancers enjoy burning stuff , cryomancers dont like there stuff burned, dark mages like to sleep all day , order and chaos mages dont like each other and other people dont like them either. And then there are the blood mages whose magic work better when they are surrounded with bloodshed and sickness .

 

[NerdyCavegirl]

Well you could go about it a couple ways. The prefered option, promote a culture from the beginning that lives in balance with the ecosystem, respects each other's territorial boundaries, breeds and dies at an even rate, and nourishes, rests, and challenges their bodies and minds properly. A healthy organism is less likely to get sick, commit pointless violence, or otherwise behave erratically. But since implementing such a lifestyle takes years at the very least, and it sounds as if your island is imbalanced, governments usually try to strip personal liberties from the people. Curfews, patrols, quarantines, martial law, forced tests and treatments, bans against weapons, etc. And it usually fails because the ones who survive are those who value liberty over security.

 

[NerdyCavegirl]

And as for the sewer system, you can kill two birds with one stone. Water on a flying island seems to me a limited resource. 1: Filter the sewage through layers of gravel, sand, and charcoal to remove solid waste. 2: Build several large distillers, powered by sunlight through a large lens during the day and fire/some other heat source by night. This boils the water and pipes it to a reservoir to condense, killing most pathogens and leaving behind any solid residue. 3: Dump the solid waste, spent filter medium, and any other organic waste besides meat into a compost heap to grow your own food. Properly tended compost should also get hot enough to kill off most pathogens. If you don't want disease to spread, close off the borders and don't trade. Of course this all depends on their technology level, but so many modern things can be made with such primitive materials that it's a wonder they weren't thought of 10,000 years ago.

 

[K.S. Crooks]

I live in Toronto where the population density is 4150 people/sq km. The city of Mumbai has a density of 29 650/ sq km. the point is you can have a large, moderate or small population in a square kilometre. You're dealing with a school, in which case a sq km is more space than a university campus. It never needs to feel over-crowded. Instead of large dorm building you can have small homes for the students and staff. This will limit a disease's ability to spread. Sick people can stay home and only 3-4 others needs to be careful.

As for the water and sewage, think 3-dimensionally. You never say how deep the island is. Most likely the island is a few km in depth. You can have an underwater aquifer to supply drinking water, plus whatever amount of rain you have fall. You can even have the island pass through clouds and thus have a new supply of water obtained each day. Sewage can be sent to underground caverns, but the best option is to use it as fertilizer for growing crops. You can see examples of this in off-the-grid living communities. It sounds like a fun place to attend school. When does enrollment begin? Hope this sparks a few ideas.

 

[valiant12]

It sounds like a fun place to attend school.

It's more like an university. The people attending are 18 years olds at the beginning.

Curfews, patrols, quarantines, martial law, forced tests and treatments, bans against weapons, etc. And it usually fails because the ones who survive are those who value liberty over security.

There are multiple academies in the world both magical and mundane. The academy which I describe in my first post is supposed to be the good guys academy, where human life is valued. I also planned to add a more "evil" militaristic academy. Restricting personal liberty is there method of management.
the key ideological difference between the two academies is that one of them wants to be a nice place where people learn useful skills , the other one want to be perfect or at least look perfect to the outside world.

 

[NerdyCavegirl]

Ah, then I say go with my more sustainable suggestion. Have them draw up plans to become a self-sufficient community. How contagious and dangerous is the disease?

 

[valiant12]

Plague, smallpox, cholera, malaria, etc. And flu and colds. Also some fictional illnesses.

 

[NerdyCavegirl]

Shit, all those on one floating island? I'm not sure most of those are even airborne, so I'd say growing their own food and closing the borders would solve a lot of problems. What period/tech level?

 

[MiguelDHorcrux]

I need some help for the novel I'm writing at the moment.
Two of my PoW characters are visiting a academy for magic users located on a flying island.
One of the characters is planning to study there and when she graduate aspire to work in the academy. The other character is sent to the academy to learn the basics of using magic as quickly as possible.
The flying island is smaller than the average habitable flying island in the setting- less than km in diameter.
The academy have wells that provide drinking water, but it must rely on food shipments from other flying island and the land below. There are about 250 new recruits from all over the world each year and almost all of them successfully graduate 3 years later.
I'm wondering how can the academy staff prevent the spread of deadly disease in the small island full of people.
can you build an effective sewer system in such a small island? What about enforcing a quarantine?

And how do you prevent armed people from becoming violent when they spend too much time with the same people in the same tiny smelly overcrowded island , eating shitty food, bathe with contaminated water, suffering from various illnesses and abusing substances? And most magic users in that setting are not exactly sane.
For example pyromancers enjoy burning stuff , cryomancers dont like there stuff burned, dark mages like to sleep all day , order and chaos mages dont like each other and other people dont like them either. And then there are the blood mages whose magic work better when they are surrounded with bloodshed and sickness .

As for the disease, consider introducing a Madam Pomfrey in your story if you can. Or straight up pills and tablets. I presume there is magic in your world so it will be easy for a dedicated nursing ward with just one lead nurse and two assistants, hence the Madam Pomfrey suggestion. Although for the really critical cases, well you should also introduce some sort of MEDEVAC (military term for Medical Evacuation).

As for the sewer systems, go about it creatively or logically. In my story, there are massive airships with living quarters. The sewer systems get emptied everytime they land. You can do the same. Whoever delivers the food system also takes out the septic tanks. Gross, but it is what it is and it's not like you have to describe that in detail anyway.

As for pacifying the students, look at it as though it is a regular school with unruly kids. Methinks it all boils down to the ability of the teachers and administrators.

 

[valiant12]

I'm not sure most of those are even airborne,

I think that none of these diseases are airborne.
Malaria is spread by mosquitos. And they spread a lot of other nasty illnesses.
Cholera is spread by contaminated water and contaminated (uncoked) food. Plague is transmited primarily by infected fleas and fleas are transported by rats.
I have absolytly no idea how small pox works.

As for pacifying the students, look at it as though it is a regular school with unruly kids. Methinks it all boils down to the ability of the teachers and administrators.

I haven't attended a school where they teach you how to summon lightnings and flood\burn a room with your mind.

 

[MiguelDHorcrux]

I think that none of these diseases are airborne.
Malaria is spread by mosquitos. And they spread a lot of other nasty illnesses.
Cholera is spread by contaminated water and contaminated (uncoked) food. Plague is transmited primarily by infected fleas and fleas are transported by rats.
I have absolytly no idea how small pox works.



I haven't attended a school where they teach you how to summon lightnings and flood\burn a room with your mind.

Oh please. I dumbed down the problem to make finding the solution easier. And since you're too much of a dolt to get what I mean, I was simply trying to say that the OP introduce strict and powerful teachers that can rein in the students.

 

[Sheilawisz]

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