Activity for Philip Rowlands‭

Type	On...	Excerpt	Status	Date
Question	—	Creating a humanoid squid I'm thinking of adding humanoid squid into my world, as an expy of the bloodsuckers from the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games. These cephaloids somehow fell into our universe from a parallel one (they don't know how it happened either), and have the following attributes: Their home environment is mainly inside... (more)	—	about 7 years ago
Question	—	How could an airborne disease only survive undeground? The orcs in my world are humans who have been infected by two different diseases: An airborne mutagen that permanently denatures their myostatin receptors, which prevents their muscles from being growth-limited like a normal human. This causes increased muscle mass, though not without issues. A gre... (more)	—	about 7 years ago
Question	—	Could humans dig out a 20km tunnel through quartzite by hand? The dwarves in my world are humans who starting digging caves in the Maumturks and Twelve Bens in Ireland during the Iron Age, and eventually connected the caves via tunnels rather than trudge across the bogs that surround the hills. The rough timeline I have is that the caves start during the Iron A... (more)	—	almost 8 years ago
Question	—	Rabies is now waterborne. How does this affect agriculture? "One other thing. Never drink the water out here without boiling it." the old scavenger added, waving a hand over the bogs and hills. "You'll get rabies, and I don't like accepting payment from somebody who's trying to eat me." "Rabies? I thought that was spread by bites?" "Meh. You coul... (more)	—	about 8 years ago
Question	—	On the origins of leprechauns The leprechaun. A little ginger humanoid dressed in green, with buckled shoes and a matching hat, and a massive pot of (tax-free) gold. We all know them. Or not. For the world I'm building, I've decided to go down a different path. Instead, somebody who doesn't speak Irish thinks it's short for "lep... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Question	—	How would red eyes occur in a human (without underlying medical conditions)? The main character in my setting is a human with red irises. I know that severe cases of albinism can cause somebody's eyes to appear red, but that's actually caused by light reflecting off the blood vessels in the retina. I've also heard that Harlequin-type ichthyosis can cause red eyes, but I'm not... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Question	—	What sort of problems might occur if every human gained extra muscle mass? I'm doing some background work for a scifi/horror piece, and it includes "orcs", who are just humans that have undergone a series of mutations - the main one being that they no longer produce myostatin. This results in them having more muscle mass than a normal human - according to that article, in c... (more)	—	about 9 years ago