General Q and A

It's nice seeing you become active again RCS.

I suppose a good question to ask then is = what sort of markets are available in Negav? What sorts of currency/exchange rates like? And pwehaps more importantly, what sort of technology is available, considering the place is a trading hub thats quite bustling with so much offworld traffic, i would imagine the markets vary quite a bit from extremely primitive antiques to vastly OP levels of tech available and everything inbitween... for the right prices.

since there's so many different currencies, I would say that the exchange rates would be determined based on how many times they've seen a particular currency. It'd be based on rarity, so lets say someone from a world that commonly trades with negav is used, since that currency has been seen a lot, it wouldn't be worth as much. Now say someone from Earth somehow managed to find their way, even though our change isn't worth a whole lot, since it's never been seen, it'd probably have a high exchange rate, despite the common material used in quarters or pence, or whatever.

Statistically (and theoretically) speaking, Negav trading with earth would be a nightmare considering our hundreds of different currencies. XD

That's just one idea tho.

rcs619 wrote:

I don't believe I've ever seen anyone make that assertion. The healing factor enhances the immune system, and keeps it functioning normally. autoimmune diseases occur from an error, or mistake within the immune system running out of control. I believe the healing factor would prevent that just like it prevents the vast majority of everything else.

Also, cancer occurs from the DNA of a cell going out of control. The immune system can actually kill and combat a lot of forms of cancer, it just gets completely overwhelmed by the speed at which the cancer cells reproduce. A boosted immune system should be able to handle most cancers just fine, assuming that cancer cells can even form at all with the healing effect in place.

Yeah, except this:

Karbo wrote:

Mhh I won't go into a case by case, I'm simply not knowledgeable enough in medecine to know exactly what a given disease is about ^^;
But I thought the wiki was relatively precise on that particular point...
Basically the immune system get a dramatic boost when in Felarya and regenerate to a certain extent.
A cut of limb clearly won't grow back but a wound will close fast.
But a genetic disease won't be healed because it's about DNA and the soil of Felarya doesn't correct that.

and this:

Oldman40k2003 wrote:

Anime-Junkie wrote:

Yes, it wouldn't cure you. But, depending on the genetics, the symptoms or the cause of the disease it might not mute it at all.
To use an example: diseases like Multiple Sclerosis, which would be made worse by the Felarya effect, as boosting the immune system would just give it more power to attack the body. Any autoimmune disorder would be devastating to a person or creature on Felarya.

While your immune system is getting boosted, you are also "regenerating" (or at least that is what I get out of this sentence fragment

Karbo wrote:

...and regenerate to a certain extent.

), so I think the question of "will your auto-immune disease get better, stay the same, or get worse on Felarya?" depends entirely on the relative strengths of the immune system boosting vs. the regeneration, and how quickly an auto-immune disease destroys things.

That is, lets say that an auto-immune disease kills 400 cells per second, and the human body regenerates at 100 cells per second (under normal conditions). In the real world, a person with this disease would eventually run out of cells and die. Now lets assume they go to Felarya.

Suppose they travel to Felarya, and their immune system gets a 2x boost in strength, as does their bodies' ability to regenerate. That means that they now lose cells at 800 cells per second and gain them back at 200 cells per second. They are now losing cells faster than they were on Earth, and so are dying faster.

Suppose they travel to Felarya, and their immune system gets a 2x boost in strength, but their ability to regenerate gets an 8x boost in strength. That means that they are now losing cells at 800 cells per second, and gaining them back at 800 cells per second. Under these conditions this person has stopped dying, but the damage already done is not getting repaired.

Finally, suppose that they travel to Felarya, and their immune system gets a 2x boost in strength, but their ability to regenerate gets a 10x boost in strength. That means they are now losing cells at 800 cells per second, but gaining them back at 1000 cells per second. This person is not only not dying, but is in fact getting better, as damage is getting healed. They aren't cured of their auto-immune disease, but so long as they stay on Felarya they will be asymptomatic.

So, if the goal is a Felarya where people with auto-immune diseases don't die, we need merely adjust the relative strengths of regeneration vs. immune system boosting.

Cancer is a much trickier thing to deal with, and I have not yet given it enough thought.

...and there are more as well. The threads that contain these discussions have been linked to previously. You also realize that progression forward with cancer treatments is not by immune system application but instead by target chemo (ie such as the use of nanomachines to deliver chemo, or the use of specialized bacteria that can 'light up' a cancerous region). Radiation health is not my specialty, but I'm fairly certain I can say without question there are very few here with the on-hand knowledge to contest what I do know due to my job. Cancer is not so simple as you make it out to be, and the effects of the soil as they are laid out in the wiki and defined by Karbo mean that it is more than a sufficient threat for those living on Felarya who do not possess advanced medical or magical technique.

Given that Karbo calls out the DNA/RNA illness correction as impossible, I have to maintain that the way aging doesn't occur is that the RNA loss is simply prevented by using some sort of chemical limiter (such as the biological discussions about telemerase caps and the like), and not by direct effect. However, you also seem to have lost recollection that a lot of people coming to Felarya are transient, and their illnesses may not be curable by the time they get there. They might come to Felarya seeking that miracle cure/heal, but if the problem has already manifested too far from whereever they came from, they're still going to die. Sure, there will be some societies with technological advancement to the point where curing such things is possible, in which case however those who know of such a thing would not be staying on Felarya to wait on the soil but instead be going directly to said world via Felarya's gates.


As for the effects of the soil, Lamina is the only current region in the wiki that I know of where the effects are vastly lowered (and Lamina is a huuuugge region), but there could be other regions as well (realms not yet explored, such as that mystical other continent). Also, where did you get the magical field from? That's not something I could find reference to, except that Lamina has a field affecting magical use (including the soil). Given that you can take the soil away from Felarya and still get some sort of healing effect from it (recall it works about 20%), even if it was a field the soil is still playing some sort of part as a capacitor at the very least since it can be used in such a way.




As for currency, the wiki has a short article on exchange and carrythrough here, including a discussion about things you could see being bought and for what price they would fetch.

Since it isn't covered in detail, I'd personally think that the way currency exchange is handled is either by strength of trade or by material of the coin. For example, you have a trader from another realm who is dealing with goods that are either required or greatly desired, his money is going to be worth something for otherwise they'd have to deal in direct barter.

Elsewise, perhaps you have metallurgic mages/alchemists who can determine the material of a coin used in money and if that material is worth something the exchange rate could be based on that - I think you might particularly see this with societies that have access to something that Felarya doesn't have, or doesn't have in quantity. Again though, that material has to be something desirable such that it makes the implied worth of the coin a set value.

Regardless, the implied worth is going to be the important part (Spice and Wolf, anyone?).

Another interest you might happen across with regards to currency trade is that there are probably subsectors in Negav where groupings of one realm or a common sect of realms meet, in which case money exchange there might be done with their own local currencies and no exchange exists at all - especially given that Negav in some cases handles goods that can't even be brought to Felarya or used there (spaceships for example).

aethernavale wrote:

rcs619 wrote:

I don't believe I've ever seen anyone make that assertion. The healing factor enhances the immune system, and keeps it functioning normally. autoimmune diseases occur from an error, or mistake within the immune system running out of control. I believe the healing factor would prevent that just like it prevents the vast majority of everything else.

Also, cancer occurs from the DNA of a cell going out of control. The immune system can actually kill and combat a lot of forms of cancer, it just gets completely overwhelmed by the speed at which the cancer cells reproduce. A boosted immune system should be able to handle most cancers just fine, assuming that cancer cells can even form at all with the healing effect in place.

Yeah, except this:

Karbo wrote:

Mhh I won't go into a case by case, I'm simply not knowledgeable enough in medecine to know exactly what a given disease is about ^^;
But I thought the wiki was relatively precise on that particular point...
Basically the immune system get a dramatic boost when in Felarya and regenerate to a certain extent.
A cut of limb clearly won't grow back but a wound will close fast.
But a genetic disease won't be healed because it's about DNA and the soil of Felarya doesn't correct that.

(And more stuff)

Ah, but Cliff never said the genetic sequence would be healed. He said the tumor would be combated. There ARE systems in place in the body to eliminate tumors. They are usually just insufficient. However, if that were to change, cancer itself would pose less of a problem. The CAUSE of cancer would not be cured, but perhaps the symptoms would be.

True. Autoimmune disease would not be healed. Cancer, however, does not fall under the same category, and should be examined more closely in this context.

ZionAtriedes wrote:

Ah, but Cliff never said the genetic sequence would be healed. He said the tumor would be combated. There ARE systems in place in the body to eliminate tumors. They are usually just insufficient. However, if that were to change, cancer itself would pose less of a problem. The CAUSE of cancer would not be cured, but perhaps the symptoms would be.

True. Autoimmune disease would not be healed. Cancer, however, does not fall under the same category, and should be examined more closely in this context.

But he's mistaken about how the body's natural immune system responds. The way cancer gets away with things as it does is because it starts with healthy cells that mutate into unhealthy daughters that survive to reproduce again; the reason it's deadly is because cancer can merge into organs which is a rather unique item for cells. Generally speaking, a cell is a cell is a cell; it doesn't and cannot change what it is (some cells obviously break this rule, like stem cells - cancer is another). Additionally, cancer can occur inside the immune system - indeed, this is a common type - in which case, Felarya's bonus to your natural defenses again because your worst enemy.

While the mechanics are still limited to theories, the most predominant ones have it that as a cell mutates and survives shed bits of antigen that identify them as mutated cells mixed within the bits of protein that are shed by normal cells that are attacked by the immune system. At some point, the cells either occur faster than the immune system response or the immune system winds up missing the markers of malignant cells, or the cancer cells hide their mutations by putting out conflicting items making the immune system fail to respond.

It is extremely rare to see the body actually form antibodies against the cancer though (because the body doesn't associate it with a foreign entity, merely a 'malfunctioning' cell), instead what you have happening is the mutated daughters are being attacked by macrophage, natural killer cells, and cytotoxic t cells when the immune system identifies them in order to prevent system failures. The antibody approach is something to be associated with being attempted by us ('natural immunity' is very rare) and is usually coupled with toxins, drugs, or radioactive substances in order to intentionally target specific items.

Other attempted approaches would be the 'teaching' of the immune system to respond to mutated cells or the use of mice to do DNA responses - again though, all of these are external items that have to be applied through foreign means to the body's system. Nature does not generally take this course naturally, in fact nature generally chooses cancer. This is another reason why cancer is so dangerous - if you remove a cancerous mass from the body it can continue to survive and thrive in a petri dish outside of the body. Indeed, this is one of the places that realization of how telemerase worked came from. Additionally, when you do remove a cancerous mass from the body all the nodes that have expanded from the 'brain' you removed become 'brains' themselves, extending further nodes and more rapidly killing the person.

It is far more likely therefore that with cancer the chances of that person surviving rely on them getting advanced medicinal or magical healing, something that can remove the root cause directly and isn't just a whole body bonus effect. Yes, you could boost the immune system and that would probably have an affect on certain types of cancer, or perhaps stave off the effects/damage of others, but the more genetically aligned cancers, those that attack immune systems, or those that deliver effective responses to the immune system will not be cared for by Felarya's soil/water. Which is... quite a few cancers. Given that cancer was the #2 killer, and constituted 25% of the entirety besides, I'd say the absolute most Felarya's affects could knock that number down (without additional help of some sort from science/magic) to say 12~20% instead.

My question is, why the hell are we complicating this so much?

Felarya has a healing factor.

You won't age, or suffer any of aging's negative effects. You are effectively immortal, although you can die of injuries just fine. Your body also heals itself a little bit faster than it should.

You also can't get sick, except for poisons, venoms, parasites and magical curses.

...why does this require so much extra thinking? Why not just keep an unexplainable magical field eminating from the world itself simple? Psuedo-science in a fantasy setting can be fine. Overanalyzing things in unnecissary detail is just a waste of time.

You don't age or get sick in Felarya. But you can get poisoned, cursed or die of injuries. Why not just leave it at that?

aethernavale wrote:

Given that cancer was the #2 killer, and constituted 25% of the entirety besides, I'd say the absolute most Felarya's affects could knock that number down (without additional help of some sort from science/magic) to say 12~20% instead.

In any case, it is a reduction, which is precisely what I had said. I never said for sure that cancer would be eliminated, I only said that the healing factor complicated things. Given the large amount of text you typed to make the point, I'd say that's been vindicated as well.

ZionAtriedes wrote:

In any case, it is a reduction, which is precisely what I had said. I never said for sure that cancer would be eliminated, I only said that the healing factor complicated things. Given the large amount of text you typed to make the point, I'd say that's been vindicated as well.

Actually, you never stated anything of the sort. You piggybacked onto something else and stated that it:

ZionAtriedes wrote:

Ah, but Cliff never said the genetic sequence would be healed. He said the tumor would be combated. There ARE systems in place in the body to eliminate tumors. They are usually just insufficient. However, if that were to change, cancer itself would pose less of a problem. The CAUSE of cancer would not be cured, but perhaps the symptoms would be.

True. Autoimmune disease would not be healed. Cancer, however, does not fall under the same category, and should be examined more closely in this context.

...which is not the same thing. Cancer itself does not pose less of a problem, the problem posed is exactly the same as before. Indeed, given the unique properties of the environment and minerals in various regions of Felarya, there might even be regions where temperature inversions could lead to death by natural radiation dose. The difference is in the numbers of those that would be affected, and more probably cancer would still occupy a leading cause of death (if not the leading cause given the much more drastic reduction we'd see in many heart problems) in Felarya. The 'human twinkie' theory as some call it would probably only account for say 10~20% of the population deaths, with higher timespan peaks when say a tribe is wiped out.

What you did state was that this needed to be examined more closely in context, which is exactly what I did.


So why people ask 'Why are we doing this' when the answer is right there, I find very curious. Ask and you shall receive, is that not the intent of this thread?

aethernavale wrote:

Cancer itself does not pose less of a problem, the problem posed is exactly the same as before.

If by "before", you are referring to a non-Felaryan world (Earth being the most probably example) where the healing factor is not present... I present this statement: According to the World Health Organization, more than 30% of cancer is due to tobacco use, being overweight or obese, low fruit and vegetable intake, physical inactivity, alcohol use, sexually transmitted HPV-infection, urban air pollution, indoor smoke from household use of solid fuels.

Many of those factors are either less common or practically nonexistent in Felarya. Also according to the WHO, 20% of cancer deaths in low-income counties and 9% in high-income countries. It states that 70% of cancer is in low-income countries... and while I shall leave the number-crunching to someone who takes more joy in mathematics, 20% of 70% and 9% of 30% should make these infection-related cancers a sizeable portion of cancer-related deaths worldwide. This portion can be completely removed.

Combining both of these points leads me to believe that quite a few causes for cancer we see on Earth would be of reduced or no consequence in Felarya. So then this statement

aethernavale wrote:

Cancer itself does not pose less of a problem,

Should be called into question. The additional causes of cancer formation should be compared to the eliminated and reduced causes, as well as the small percentage of cases where the cancer would be stopped by an enhanced immune system.

aethernavale wrote:

The difference is in the numbers of those that would be affected, and more probably cancer would still occupy a leading cause of death (if not the leading cause given the much more drastic reduction we'd see in many heart problems) in Felarya.

You are correct in that the difference would be in the numbers even if the percentages remained the same. While it'd still be a relatively common death, the general human population of Felarya is just not the same as Earth's. However, I still dispute the idea that the causes of cancer would equal out. The soil would at least have an indirect effect by eliminating infection-caused cases, and the pollution-related ones would be reduced by the low-industry nature of Felarya.

Okay, I was away for the duration while you guys spoke those last few entries, so I wanted to chime in by saying that you can reattach limbs in our real world life as long as you react within about 15 minutes. In felarya, that time period would be drastically longer, and with the regeneration abilities, I'm sure it'd be relatively easy to reattach a limb and regain full control. It's actually not that far fetched.

Archmage_Bael wrote:

Okay, I was away for the duration while you guys spoke those last few entries, so I wanted to chime in by saying that you can reattach limbs in our real world life as long as you react within about 15 minutes. In felarya, that time period would be drastically longer, and with the regeneration abilities, I'm sure it'd be relatively easy to reattach a limb and regain full control. It's actually not that far fetched.

Well yeah, but only if you reattach the existing limb. A whole new one won't grow back, like the way lizards regrow their tails.

well no, regrowing a limb would be impossible, albeit I'm sure advanced magical medical aid might be able to, or at least make a prostetic limb look and feel real and be able to feel again.

That's if you completely loose your arm, like if a giant pred decides to be really sadistic and bites your arm off.

Archmage_Bael wrote:

Okay, I was away for the duration while you guys spoke those last few entries, so I wanted to chime in by saying that you can reattach limbs in our real world life as long as you react within about 15 minutes. In felarya, that time period would be drastically longer, and with the regeneration abilities, I'm sure it'd be relatively easy to reattach a limb and regain full control. It's actually not that far fetched.

Severed limbs die because of blood loss and the lack of oxygen and nutrients getting to the cells. The healing factor isn't going to help with that.

It moderately speeds up the body's healing processes (broken bones heal in weeks instead of months). It doesn't make someone Wolverine.

If you get a limb severed, you still have a very likely chance of bleeding out unless you get medical care right there on the spot. Reattaching the limb is the least of your worries.

I'd have to agree with the others on the whole limb ordeal. One can't regrow it (unless they are one of those taurs whose animal halves are known to be able to, though even that might not be possible for the giant taurs), and the healing factor won't make it easier to reattach.

- - -

This question just occurred to me, but given the literal shadowy nature of darkness elementals and wandering nightmares, would it be possible for dusk nymphs to bind themselves with them as they would with ordinary shadows?

True, but it's still a concern, the most important thing in that situation would be to cut the circulation. Though like I said, you CAN reattach a limb, it just requires concentration, and of course a medical expert. Or magical, granted Felarya. My point still stands though.

Well, if you stop the bleeding, protect the wound, and treat for shock (hey, I skipped "start the breathing")... a limb could be reconnected if recovered in time.

Ah, but my numbers come directly from the 2007 US report on deaths, and I used only the US specifically because of the amount of data available for such a thing. I do not know how the WHO compares in data collection to NVSS, but we can at least say that the US is a high developed nation, yes? If you desire to break down the types of cancer, then we shall. You'll find though it presents a slightly different picture than what you're painting - specifically because certain things are left out of the statistics. One of the major ones is lung cancer - yes, any death caused by malignant neoplasm of the lung, trachea, or bronchus is excluded from separate listing. If lung cancer were to be included as it's own listing, it would alone, by itself rank 3rd on the list, right behind the other cancers; but it is important to note that the other cancers combined are still #2. This is why I allowed my estimate to fall as low as 12% from an initial US rating of 23~25%. Motor vehicle accidents would rank 10th, by themselves. However, the way the listing is determined by NVSS is that these categories are subsumed into much broader categories (lung cancer into malignant neoplasms, and automobile accidents into unintentional injuries.

Direct copy paste of the rankings for neoplasms in the US:

# Malignantneoplasms
18 Malignant neoplasms of lip, oral cavity and pharynx
19 Malignant neoplasm of esophagus
20 Malignant neoplasm of stomach
21 Malignant neoplasms of colon, rectum and anus
22 Malignant neoplasms of liver and intrahepaticbile ducts
23 Malignant neoplasm of pancreas
24 Malignant neoplasm of larynx
25 Malignant neoplasms of trachea, bronchus and lung
26 Malignant melanoma of skin
27 Malignant neoplasm of breast
28 Malignant neoplasm of cervix uteri
29 Malignant neoplasms of corpus uteri and uterus ,part unspecified
30 Malignant neoplasm of ovary
31 Malignant neoplasm of prostate
32 Malignant neoplasms of kidney and renal pelvis
33 Malignant neoplasm of bladder
34 Malignant neoplasms of meninges, brain and other parts of central nervous system
Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, hematopoietic and related tissue
35 Hodgkin’s disease
36 Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
37 Leukemia
38 Multiple myeloma and immuno proliferative neoplasms
39 Other and unspecified malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, hematopoietic and related tissue
40 All other and unspecified malignant neoplasms
41 Insitu neoplasms, benign neoplasms and neoplasms of uncertain or unknown behavior



So with this listing, the ones we would see insignificant/no change or a worsening of on Felarya would be: 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 37, 38.

The ones that would more than likely see a decent reduction: 18, 19, 24, 25. I attribute this mainly to the fact that tobacco products would be difficult to acquire outside of Negav where the gate to other realms exist.

Ones I am not certain of: 35, 36, 39, 40, 41.





So nope, gonna have to keep going with Felarya's cancer rate is still a decent one, and you could probably tack on a few new cancers we've never even heard of before. Granted, this is all data on the US which is typically of a sort you would not find in Felarya, given technology and medical sciences bases. I do think however that you could say mortality rates lower for cancer based on offworld accessible treatment programs. I also think that yes, you could see reductions in cancers that are initiated by infectious disease, but these numbers are already lower in the US because of our medical programs when compared to third world countries.

Take it to another thread guys, and if a mod could split the discussion, that's be great too.

Once again...

- Healing factor
- No aging past your prime (26-28 for humans, ~50 for preds)
- Enhanced, quicker healing (bones heal in weeks instead of months)
- Entirely possible to still die of injuries, but individuals are effectively immortal
- Only sicknesses are poison/venom, curses and parasites (and possibly some allergic reations)

...Why do we need to launch into paragraphs and paragraphs to try and complicate this? Or to determine individual diseases that would cheat around it? The healing factor works fine as it is. You guys are overthinking this way too much.

Ok I got a question

Can Preds both Hybred and Non-Hybred detect the smell of a human and if so can said human wheather it be a adventurer,a Mage,or a Navy SEAL, Ect... hide their scent and thus avoid being detected even if they are less then 30ft from said pred?

It really is time to wrap this up. We're not accomplishing much, are we? Very well, I'll try to bring this to a close.

aethernavale wrote:

If lung cancer were to be included as it's own listing, it would alone, by itself rank 3rd on the list, right behind the other cancers;

Now, correct me if I am mistaken, but aren't the majority of lung cancers caused by airborne carcinogens, such as tobacco smoke, asbestos, and other pollutants? Lung cancer isn't usually a genetic one. If that's the case, it supports my claim that a major cause for the occurrence of cancer (or malignant neoplasm, as it has been so eloquently named) would be practically eliminated, or at least reduced.

aethernavale wrote:

18 Malignant neoplasms of lip, oral cavity and pharynx

Once again, usually caused by carcinogens in tobacco products. There's a possibility that a lack of nutrition and the presence of infections may increase the risk of oral cancer. This means that the Earth causes of oral cancer can be mostly ruled out, with a few tobacco-related and several malnutrition ones remaining.

aethernavale wrote:

19 Malignant neoplasm of esophagus

While this one can also be chalked up to a myriad of outside factors, there's a good percentage of genetic problems also involved, so I'd assume this one would still remain a threat to those with acid reflux and Barrett's.

aethernavale wrote:

20 Malignant neoplasm of stomach

A lot of this is genetic. So I'd assume there'd be cases of stomach cancer around. Huh, ironic.

aethernavale wrote:

21 Malignant neoplasms of colon, rectum and anus

Oftentimes aided by aging and the deterioration of the body, this one is often genetic as well. I'd imagine some cases would remain, but the risk would be less than on Earth.

aethernavale wrote:

22 Malignant neoplasms of liver and intrahepaticbile ducts

Intra-whatnow? Kidding, kidding. Hepatocellular carcinoma is often caused by alchohol abuse or diseases, though some case are due to autoimmune diseases. So, the reduction causes by eliminating diseases may make a small dent, but we're in agreement that autoimmune diseases are still problematic, and alcohol abuse would still remain a solid possibility.

aethernavale wrote:

23 Malignant neoplasm of pancreas

The leading risk factor is age, which is moot. A decent percentage is genetic, but by no means a majority. The rest are due to poor diet, alcohol, and tobacco, which would all be present in Felarya... but seeing as how the number of pancreatic cancer cases in young people is very low, we can assume that a rejuvenation effect would greatly reduce the risk of it.

aethernavale wrote:

24 Malignant neoplasm of larynx

Once again, age is a major factor, but that could be due to the amount of exposure to carcinogens, and not the health of the body itself. Smoking, drinking, and industrial pollution are major causes. That third one is almost nonexistent in Felarya, meaning that through a combination of prolonged youth and lack of pollution, we could expect a decrease in risk, but not elimination.

aethernavale wrote:

25 Malignant neoplasms of trachea, bronchus and lung

While lung cancer is several times more common than trachea cancer, both are usually associated with smoking and pollutants. I refer to my earlier statement about lung cancer for all of these here.

aethernavale wrote:

26 Malignant melanoma of skin

Sun, sun, sun. Everyone knows this one. Okay, I'll give you this: any offworlder who didn't pack suntan lotion may be at serious risk for this bad boy right here. I'd imagine most natives would have developed melanin-rich skin over time and be at less risk for lesser skin cancers (melanoma is still a possibility!). All in all, I'd imagine that this one is still present among those who aren't careful about sun exposure. Do remember that much of the jungle is in shade, though, as would be many urban areas in Negav.

aethernavale wrote:

27 Malignant neoplasm of breast

Genetic, genetic, genetic. I'll give you this one, though it's worth noting that older women are much more likely to get it. Perhaps the soil would cause some reduction, but that cannot be said for sure.

aethernavale wrote:

28 Malignant neoplasm of cervix uteri

Infection, infection, infection. HPV is no problem here. Out of the park, there.

aethernavale wrote:

29 Malignant neoplasms of corpus uteri and uterus ,part unspecified

Obesity and age are major factors here, which I imagine are less of a problem in Felarya. There are some genetic cases, however, so those would be present.

aethernavale wrote:

30 Malignant neoplasm of ovary

This one's usually genetics. This will be around, especially since the immune system is not good at fixing this particular cancer.

aethernavale wrote:

31 Malignant neoplasm of prostate

Age age age age, age age age age! AAAGE! AAAGE! AAAGE!!! That was my impression of church bells, there. Gotta keep the humor during these dry dissections, right? Genetics can increase risk, yes, but the vast majority of cases are from men past their prime. I think we know what that means. Severely reduced risk.

aethernavale wrote:

32 Malignant neoplasms of kidney and renal pelvis

This one's genetics, hypertension, and smoking. I'll say this one passes.

aethernavale wrote:

33 Malignant neoplasm of bladder

Cigs, chemicals, infections and radiation. Only the first and last are a problem. Reduced risk, I would say. Perhaps a few chemical cases, as not all are strictly industrial.

aethernavale wrote:

34 Malignant neoplasms of meninges, brain and other parts of central nervous system
Malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, hematopoietic and related tissue

These were grouped under the same number, so I assume we'll treat them singularly. While exposure to chemicals increases risk, a lot of it is genetic or radiation. This one will be present.

aethernavale wrote:

35 Hodgkin’s disease

Ooh, ooh, I know this one! My mother had it when she was my age. Would have died from it, if it weren't for experimental procedures. While the main causes are a big fat mystery, EBV and HIV are thought to contribute, though my mother had neither. She did, however, have a super-serious case of mononucleosis only a few years before. Maybe that contributed? In any case, it's hard to say if this would be of reduced risk.

aethernavale wrote:

36 Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

Infections and age are considered to be major factors. Reduced risk, but not eliminated.

aethernavale wrote:

37 Leukemia

R-r-r-r-r-r-RADIATION in the house! There's the Big Bad in this case. While I doubt atomic bombs go off regularly in Felarya, radiation's still around. Some infections and smoking can cause it, but we all know radiation's the star of that sick theater show. Possibly a reduced risk, but a definite possibility.

aethernavale wrote:

38 Multiple myeloma and immuno proliferative neoplasms

You're making half of these words up, I swear it. No, but really, bone marrow cancer may be affected by age, but I find it interesting that it's a result of overactive antibody-producers. Maybe the soil would actually make this shit worse. This may actually be of INCREASED risk, though I don't see it being common.

aethernavale wrote:

39 Other and unspecified malignant neoplasms of lymphoid, hematopoietic and related tissue

Unspecified? You are not giving me much to work with here, bro. These causes are most probably varied or unknown.

aethernavale wrote:

40 All other and unspecified malignant neoplasms

Gwwuuuuuuh, more of the same from the last one.

aethernavale wrote:

41 Insitu neoplasms, benign neoplasms and neoplasms of uncertain or unknown behavior

If they're benign, they're probably not a problem.

aethernavale wrote:

So with this listing, the ones we would see insignificant/no change or a worsening of on Felarya would be: 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 37, 38.

The ones that would more than likely see a decent reduction: 18, 19, 24, 25. I attribute this mainly to the fact that tobacco products would be difficult to acquire outside of Negav where the gate to other realms exist.

Ones I am not certain of: 35, 36, 39, 40, 41.

While I don't feel like checking over every single one, I do believe we agree on most of these. 21 and 23 seem to be points of contention, since I maintain that a lack of significant aging would reduce their risk.

aethernavale wrote:

So nope, gonna have to keep going with Felarya's cancer rate is still a decent one, and you could probably tack on a few new cancers we've never even heard of before.

See, there's the main point of argument. You're arguing rate, I'm arguing individual risk. I mean, I'd assume that cancer still happens, and due to a lack of other causes of death, it would still rate high. You're right there. What I am trying to say is that, for a given individual, cancer in itself is still much less likely to occur in Felarya than on Earth due to lack of airborne carcinogens and taxation of the body caused by age.

If you actually agree on that last point, then I see no reason to continue, and this is wrapped up.

luke112 wrote:

Ok I got a question

Can Preds both Hybred and Non-Hybred detect the smell of a human and if so can said human wheather it be a adventurer,a Mage,or a Navy SEAL, Ect... hide their scent and thus avoid being detected even if they are less then 30ft from said pred?

Well as stated in the manga, Felaryan pred's have a special "predator sense" that lets them detect nearby prey from a certain distance. But to block such a send it appears that you need some really powerful and rare magical artifacts to do so, and even then you have to avoid the predator's natural senses by doing things such as chamoflage, moving really quietly, using natural sources to hide your scent, ect. But yeah hiding from preds can be hard

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Well as stated in the manga, Felaryan pred's have a special "predator sense" that lets them detect nearby prey from a certain distance

Only NAGAS and FAIRIES (and a small handful of other magically sensitive pred species) have this.

It functions by sensing the magical field of living things. Sentient beings, especially mages, show up more than wild animals most of the time. The Predator sense was never meant to be applied to other species. It is a magical equivalent of a snake's heat sense. Fairies have it too because they are extremely magical by nature and can sense magical fields (maybe their antenna?). Out of the two of them, nagas have the slightly stronger version.

It isn't radar. It isn't pinpoint accurate. All it does is let NAGAS and FAIRIES, sense that "hey, there's someone around here somewhere". It is entirely possible to be passed over if your hiding place is good enough.

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But to block such a send it appears that you need some really powerful and rare magical artifacts to do so

No, any mage can be trained to lessen their magical signature. It just takes concentration, since you have to actively suppress your magic beyond its normal levels. You would still emit some magic, but when its at such low levels, you fade into the background. Every living thing has some form of magical field, mages (and sentient beings in general) just shine brighter unless they actively try to hide it.

Lea's artifact is something entirely different. It completely masks her 100% (which nearly no mage could actually do) and it does it without any input from the user. Lea is a novice mage, at best. Its quite likely she has no idea how to hide her magical signature without the aid of that amulet (mainly because she has no reason to actually learn).

What function does the halo of red light of dusk nymphs (a.k.a. a glowing red ring encircling their waists) serve? One would think that that would make them stand out and be easily detected by their prey and predators before they can bind with a shadow.

Not sure. I thought that was a cosmetic thing that someone drew them with and it just stuck. o: