Disclaimer: much like @Zibbobz, I will completely reframe the problem (and solution). Not everybody may want to come, some people may even prefer to die rather than abandon their loved ones, and even ...
Feng Shui! In the traditional Chinese Architecture: The main gateway entrance into the courtyard house had two red doors; it was located on the eastern part of the south side conforming to the ...
Survivor Bias All vampires who refused their change, and fought against drinking blood, died. Early. As a result, there is a strong survivor bias here: only those vampires who adapted to drink blood ...
TL;DR: Ft. Knox is the best place to put it. Secure. Super villains break it about every year. That's costly. Still better than Joe random breaking it every month! At least, in Ft. Knox, ONLY super ...
I will not expend why a big flat vehicle is structurally challenging on land. As @Ceiling Gecko said, you need to revisit your assumptions and design a solution from scratch. What does an aircraft ...
So the cities are somewhat disconnected. I think you are not considering the consequences of this assertion strongly enough, and the impact on this has on "skipping town". Firstly, if the ...
Bull's Eye Lighthouses Lighthouses have been in use since Antiquity. The idea is relatively simple: a stone tower, build at the top of a hill, guarantees that the light at the top is visible from ...
Scientific progress. A very steam-punk approach is a mad scientist discovery suddenly enabling a mode of travel which was previously impossible. For example, imagine that there are very strong ...
Facts Before we delve into designing the fortress, it seems best to remember a few facts about the period itself: recreational climbing/exploration wasn't a thing, most people in a medieval era ...
Mens sana in corpore sano The manta of wizardry is mens sana in corpore sano: the younger wizards wish the attract a partner, the older ones wish to stay alive, all have a direct incentive to stay ...
Untraceability is basically impossible Make such phone completely untraceable to other 3rd parties. In security, absolutes are rare. When talking about security, you talk about attack vectors and ...
In the shadow of... The Young Dashing Prince, accompanied by his attendants among which a certain commander, won several wars. Look how smart and good looking the future King is! His polished and ...
Beware of D&D, it is highly unrealistic. Specifically, the character's progression is exponential. From Calibrating Your Expectations, and specifically in the ANALYZING ARAGORN section, you can ...
Nothing More Also known as Blood is thicker than Water. Noble marriages in the past were not too dissimilar, if you think about it. Sure, our nobles didn't use poison as a sport, but there was quite a ...
By funneling conflict. Backstory Prior to The War, there were constant skirmishes and conflicts between the various Dukes and Counts. Waging war on your own territory is costly: Villages are razed, ...
Administration LC has always had a small population and few natural resources. The only reason they have survived so far is because they are ruthlessly efficient about everything they do. Even ...
There's been a lot of good ideas thrown around, there's also been ideas whose feasibility is questionable. The main challenge we face really is those 500 years. A lot can happen in that time, from ...
Towing. After too many incidents with space-ships ramming space stations deck because they could not sync with the rotation rate properly and given the reluctance of space ships owners to allow ...
The easiest source of energy is undoubtedly: muscles. human muscles can power bicycles, of course, but do not forget cycle tuktuks which are very popular in Asia horses, of course, but also all kind ...
The Wastes: A Testament to the Madness of War The war has not always been cold. Indeed, once upon a time, a knight-sorcerers led army met a dragon-led army in the middle of contended lush plains, to ...
I'll go against the grain here and say that yes, indeed, you can perfectly build a door which does require hands. I would not use a pedal either, though, as balancing can be tricky, especially while ...
Frame Challenge I'm trying to write a story where the two main characters decide to stow away with some travelers who come through their village annually, and I want the travelers to realize that ...
Do you know of Jim Butcher's Aeronaut's Windlass? In this world, those with "magic" power all end up mad. Not necessarily evil mad, but mad nonetheless. So here is my proposal: mana burns. The ...
Walls and Bells A medieval population will be mostly composed of farmers/fishermen/... that's a lot of people scattered throughout during day time who, if not warned early enough, will be caught by ...
What about a matriarchal society? In Mayotte (Indian Ocean), it is customary for a family to build a house for each of their daughters1, where they will establish their family. As a result, the house ...
There are cities, today, which suffer from nighttime illumination: those close to the Arctic Cycle. The cities of Iceland or Scandinavia for example. Our bodies are conditioned for a specific light ...
That's what evolution would do. Due the law of energy conservation, magical energy is obtained by converting food, lots of food. Smaller monsters' metabolisms require relatively little energy, and ...
Notoriety There are two kinds of notoriety: Fleeting: who will remember Justin Bieber 10 years hence? "Eternal": Cleopatra, Leonardo da Vinci, ... Any kind of temporary designation allows ...
A 700 square meters island is smallish (20m * 35m), but it is a good start. If you wish to build a castle, and extend your influence, you will: have to increase your revenue streams extend the ...
I will second here the idea of studying other languages and get inspiration from their structures. You need not even go too far: in German, for example, the verb generally comes last in relative ...