Shalvenay‭

So, assume that you have 1m$^3$ of normal Terran seawater you can adiabatically raise to an arbitrarily high pressure/temperature in situ (say, by compressing it with nuclear shockwaves from all di...

1 answer  ·  posted 10y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Shalvenay‭

Slime molds are a fairly well-known grouping of organisms, performing a valuable function as real-life detritivores and bacterivores, as well as inspiring fantasy tropes such as oozes. Many slime ...

2 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 10y ago by Shalvenay‭

Since we're dealing with cat-folk already with the question about the Khajiit, I figured we'd toss a different evolutionary lineage for furry humanoids around, that of the hyena. Ever since the ea...

1 answer  ·  posted 10y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 10y ago by Shalvenay‭

So, on the Planet of the Aves, Tres' sapient crows are the dominant sapient species. Given that your average bird spends plenty of time on the wing, how intuitive would they find subsonic aerodyna...

2 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 10y ago by Shalvenay‭

We know that Earth creatures can generate high-voltage electricity (your nearest electric eel can attest to that). We also know that ordinary air at Earth atmospheric pressure can be used as a las...

10 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Shalvenay‭

A classical trope of fantasy is lizardfolk, or a similar species by another name (see for instance the Argonians of Elder Scrolls fame). In general, though, we're dealing with: Bipedal, often pl...

6 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 7y ago by Shalvenay‭

One thing that just about all interstellar civilizations need if they want to be anything more than long-distance friends is a way to get from their starships down to the surface of planets and bac...

7 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Shalvenay‭

In some environments (think of the Faerunian Underdark for a fantasy example, or a planet orbiting a pulsar for sci-fi folks), high-energy (UV and up, but I'm mostly concerned about UV and very sof...

3 answers  ·  posted 9y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Shalvenay‭

So, I have a character who has an interesting quirk: they cannot wear flat shoes or boots (i.e. where the heel is at the same level as the ball of the foot or approximately so, within 1.27cm or so)...

3 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 10y ago by Shalvenay‭

What effect would a crystalline material that is inert under ordinary environmental conditions have on someone if it was injected into their bloodstream? Examples materials include finely pulverize...

4 answers  ·  posted 11y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 11y ago by Shalvenay‭

How would you form an extended stretch of coastline that is effectively useless for overwater trade -- i.e. there are no sheltered areas to serve as ports, or trade routes that can reach all the wa...

10 answers  ·  posted 11y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Shalvenay‭

So, I'm looking to get one of my characters poisoned. However, if they notice that something's up, the jig's likely up as they'll seek treatment for what happened, so this needs to happen "under th...

11 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Shalvenay‭

Some published settings -- such as the Greyhawk 'verse commonly seen in conjunction with Dungeons & Dragons -- treat the prime planet's host solar system as geocentric. How could this be reconc...

7 answers  ·  posted 12y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 9y ago by Shalvenay‭

Related to this question, which deals with the no-papers visitors. However, in my case, instead of a character with no paperwork whatsoever -- we're dealing with someone from an alternate reality ...

2 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 10y ago by Shalvenay‭

So, a visitor (whether they be from another planet or another reality) gets deposited on the face of the Earth. They find that the air's breathable, that water and suitable macronutrients are avai...

3 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by Shalvenay‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by Shalvenay‭