THE ANESTHETIZED ISLANDS.

        The Age of Sacrificial Clay was typically defined by the cyclic growth and decay of biostratigraphic research produced by the Anesthetized Islands, particularly those located off the coast of East Eris.  Within this period of vigorous investigation (a proposed Golden or Ghost Era of analysis) the superiority of the corporeal system of topography was accepted and the theoretical basis for the anatomical strata was established through the laws of superposition, including the principle of original horizontality, and the principle of lateral continuity.
        The first major biostratigraphic inquiries were completed on the islands of Local Twilight and Insentience.  These works contained tables for the movements of the anatomical strata of the five continents known at the time and marked the beginning of nontraditional methods of calculation, including formal regulation, the increased rate approach, and fine-grained soil inhalation.  In simple terms, the greater the dosage of clay administered, the longer the researcher experienced feelings of inspired or vivid concentration (the phyllosilicate trance).   Though later islands would prohibit these methods of research, early scholars considered them vital to accurately measure the inherent metal oxides and organic matter that composed the anatomical strata.
        The Anesthetized Islands took a keen and ongoing interest in the study of biostratigraphy partly because they considered terrestrial scars to be sacrilegious (and therefore necessary to study) and partly because they often travelled without the incarnate continents to navigate by and relied upon knowledge of torrential anatomy for guidance in their journeys.  Lost without a detailed cartography of terrestrial trauma and displacement, the Anesthetized Islands sought to understand the true nature of this terrain, not solely as a matter of near survival, but also as a revelatory search for regretful or rejected strata, certain mistakes of calcification ready to be reclaimed, corrected, or else released into the open current.