Ruby Beacon


 * This article documents a beacon used to illuminate and provide safe passage into Shipwreck Island. The top of the Club Penguin Lighthouse is officially called the Beacon, and should not be mistaken for this, which is a beacon, not the Beacon.

The Ruby Beacon is the navigational aide that guides ships into the makeshift dock of Shipwreck Island. It was assembled by Rockhopper in late Feburary of 2012, and was the first structure erected on the island in literal centuries. Its light is produced by a ruby that is considered to be a CyberGemz by most geologists and jewelers. The ruby is the largest ever known to penguin-kind, and it is said to have been cut by Rockhopper himself. He stored it on Dinosaur Island to prevent theft or the potential of it falling overboard.

Introduction
Shipwreck Island earned its apt name because of its hazardous, craggy rocks, shoals, sandbars, and otherwise dangerous terrain that surrounded it from all sides. Rockhopper had spotted the island as early as 2006, but never dared to approach it. After the incident of him losing his ship (because she had collided with an iceberg), he decided to completely forget about it, and declined to speak of it, because he felt it was impossible for his wooden clipper ship to face.

Rockhopper rekindled his goal to dock at Shipwreck Island in 2012, when he became confident, as proved by the technological advances that permitted the EPF to ensnare Herbert in a deep freeze, that G could engineer the Migrator to avoid and destroy hazardous obstacles to safely navigating a ship in and out of the coast of the island.

"Rockhopper Quest"

 * See also: The Quest for Shipwreck Island

As tradition had it, Rockhopper made a Club Penguin party out of the expedition and drafted any able-bodied penguin as honorary crewmen to operate the Migrator on every Server of every spectrum. Each time would require the Migrator to sail a path determined by Rockhopper as both the safest and most efficient route for the ship to sail. It also factored in the suitable place to dock on the ultimate destination: RH had found a creaky dock, preserved by the salt of the sea, intact on Shipwreck Island.

This dock was too small for the Migrator, but it was nonetheless the safest part of the island, but even it was ensnared in a lethal labyrinth of shipwrecking hazards, obstacles, and landmasses.

Rockhopper observed the need of a proper beacon to aid his navigation around and to Shipwreck Island. He had always sailed far from its vicinity because of the magnitude and scope of the obstacles that made it unable to be explored by sea.

Shipwreck Island was a craggy landmass with rough terrain, barren landscapes, and very little flat land. Rockhopper decided that a true lighthouse could not be erected, so he was to make due with a simpler beacon to illuminate the area.

Rockhopper recalled various items he left on other islands which he had previously explored and gave passing reference to in his old Journal. He commissioned his honorary crew to sail to each Server's copy of the island and gather resources to ereact a beacon.


 * From Swashbuckler Trading Post, he aquired rope which he had tarred and coated to avoid weathering by the sea.
 * From Dinosaur Island, a collosal ruby he had unearthed and previously polished was picked up.
 * From Club Penguin Island, durable wood and metallic beams were assembled to make a pedestal for the ruby.

The Migrator as an ironclad warship
The Migrator was covered in iron armor and provided a steam engine to drive herself at the speeds neccesary to propel her to Shipwreck Island, and give her the durablility to withstand icebergs and floes, sandbars, and other dangerous items that blocked the way. (Nautically speaking, this combination of a steam engine and iron armor reclassified the Migrator as a ironclad warship.)

Clearing the path and erecting the Ruby Beacon
After the materials were gathered, the Migrator was directed to the destination. She immediately confronted rocky seabeds, sandbars, and most commonly, icebergs. The iron hull G outfitted her with rendered Rockopper's old enemy powerless. The Migrator easily destroyed these hazards.

To eliminate the need for future usage of iron armor, and to remove that much-reviled engine fastened to the Migrator, Rockhopper ensured that a seabed leveller was installed to demolish obstacles and dig a safe harbor into Shipwreck Island. G provided with with the use of an oversized, clunky jackhammer with a diamond bit.

The jackhammer was used to smooth and deepen the area around the Shipwreck Island dock. It would allow a ship as large and deep-hulled as the Migrator to dock safely and easily in the otherwise unnavigable waters. Naturally, this was a success.

Coming ashore on Shipwreck Island, Rockhopper and crew hiked to the highest point and installed the Ruby Beacon.

The ruby


The most important component, and the most impressive, is the collosal ruby that gives the beacon its name and its light. It is dubbed the Beacon Ruby. Its unspeakable clarity allows for it to refract and amplify light, making it an extremely effective beacon, visible in the day, in the night, and, most importantly, in the hazardous storms that frequent Shipwreck Island.

The Beacon Ruby is the largest single ruby ever discovered by any penguin, and is at least four times as large as the second place Ruby Ruby.

Rockhopper has always had a love for fine jewelry and owns more jewels than any country in all of Antarctica. His abundance of gemstones is to the point that he hides lower quality gems in sandboxes for penguins to play with! Rockhopper discovered this ruby as he explored Dinosaur Island. It was lodged in a small cavern in one solid chunk. The pirate deftly extracted the ruby and cleaned, cut, and polished it in between further exploration and trips to and from Club Penguin and Rockhopper Island.

The results were unmatched. Refined and polished, the Beacon Ruby was clear enough to see through and large enough to amplify and scatter (red) light if it was concentrated at the mighty gem's base.

The ruby was stored at Dinosaur Island and kept a secret, because Rockhopper feared greedy sailors would take a gem that was far too precious for any one penguin to own. Rockhopper, being a wealthy and benevolent penguin, had decided at the discovery of the Beacon Ruby should be used for everybody. (Rockhopper loved sticking it to EBUL; he believed in complete penguin equality and that "every penguin was his matey".)

After its erection as the Ruby Beacon, jewelers and geologists were encouraged to sail with Rockhopper to steady the magnificent gem. The gem was so stunning that the jewelers universally assented the gem to the coveted status of CyberGemz. A Cybergemz is a precious jewel that 1) possesses exceptional size, clarity, brilliance, and quality, 2) possesses some sort of abnormal or even supernatural power, or 3) is a one-of-a-kind mineral that defies any other regular gemstone classification.

To prevent thievery, the Beacon Ruby is firmly fastened to its stand and can not be removed without excessive force. Since it was erected before it could be weighed, studied, and analyzed in a sterile laboratory, its actual clarity, grade, karat size, etc. will never actually be calculated.