Not enough. But I do know that the scalp bleeds a lot when cut, that cartilage (i.e. in the nose and ears) is easily infected, that the tongue and eyes are extremely sensitive to pain, and that the skull is harder than reputed.

I just have a MC, whom I want to have suffer from headaches, as a result of a head injury he sustained when he was young. I am not sure what kind of injury would result in this symptom, however.

Well his neck could have been wrenched and thus injured in the spine, which would cause loads of headaches for the rest of his life until treated properly (with something similar to chiropractics). It would have to be something more blunt or like whiplash to do it, and it would also result in difficulty with good posture and pain in other areas as well.

Which is why zombies wouldn't be able to eat brains.

Could metaphysical energy actually cause enough damage to kill a person? Or is that to vague?

Define metaphysical energy.

Okay...I'll give that some thought. Thanks.

Magic, to put it simply. I'm thinking it looks like the emerald energy from Green Lantern, transparent with a colored tint and sort of gel-like.

It depends entirely upon the magic. You can choose your own strength on that score.

Okay, thanks.

I come bearing another question!

I have an evil character that sneaks up behind another elf and slices the aforementioned elf's throat. Is it realistic for the dying elf to drown in his own blood?

Yes... but he would die before that from lack of blood to the brain.

Oh well.

How long would it take for him to die after having his throat slit? Would he be able to make some resistance/struggle/etc...?

No, he would go unconscious in a matter of seconds, and die within the minute.

That is close range. If it is a mounted crossbow (not a carried one) it would likely go directly through him if he is not armored. Puncturing his lung is likely, causing hemorrhages, coughing up blood, infections, difficulty breathing, extreme pain, difficulty moving that side of his upper body or sitting upright. It would need to be bound tightly and he would need to rest for a long time (weeks to months very likely). It could easily become life threatening if it gets infected (likely in a medieval setting). It would be excruciating, because he would be constantly coughing, which wracks his injury.

Does that help?

If it's healed by magical means, then he should be fine, of course. If it's a carried crossbow, it probably won't go all the way through him, especially if he's wearing armor. Puncturing the lung is still possible. Severe pain in that side of his upper body would result, and sudden difficulty breathing and spasms of his diaphragm I think would also follow. He would be coughing up blood too.

Ok. *will rewrite that scene*

Thanks.

O Sir? Do you mind if I post a question for my sister?

Okay, a sixteen-year-old boy gets chomped on the upper thigh by a crocodile, right near the pelvic joint. He loses a lot of blood, because he is left unattended all night. He does not die.
What would be the result? Is it likely to damage whatever important nerve runs through there? How hard do crocs bite, anyway?

No problem.

If the crocodile bites him from the outside, then he might lose the leg, but that would be through infection not nerve damage. The thigh is pretty protected with bone and muscle. If he gets bit on the inside of the thigh, however, he'll die, period. There is a massive artery (or vein, not sure which) that goes through there which springs back up into the pelvic cavity when severed, making it impossible to tourniquet or stanch. The person will die in minutes if not immediately attended by an expert, and even then it's a slim chance.

Very hard.

Thank you. And now another question.

Remember that character who got squished by a log? Well, I changed it so that the log falls on her chest, squishing her into the mud, and breaks three ribs. (Plausible, right?) So, do you, or anybody, know what the recovery process for broken ribs is like?

I know a bit, but here's a link which explains more. Not sure how accurate it is, but it's something to start with anyway.

http://firstaid.about.com/od/shortnesso ... atment.htm

Okay, thank you very much! So, broken ribs are a little more serious than I thought, and it really, really hurts to breathe. Thanks for finding that for me.

No problem.

Actually, a quite good way to kill someone with a knife would be to slice through the carotid artery behind the left ear -- that sends blood straight to the brain, and is probably the quickest way to kill someone with a knife.

So I have a questionish thing I've been pondering -- two related ones, actually.

If someone experienced an electric surge from inside the heart that opened up the valves so that they wouldn't close, how soon would they die? (currently in the book it's a matter of minutes)

On the other hand, if a person's heart was ruptured from the inside, would they be able to live an hour or so before dying?

(finds it slightly concerning that she enjoyed reading this thread so much )

Hmmm.... that's a very cool way to die...

Ahem, sorry. I would suppose the effect would be very similar to blocking the carotid arteries. I would give the person thirty seconds at the most to remain conscious, and two minutes to survive. I extended it a bit beyond what would happen with a throat choke because there is more blood available for the brain this way, I think.

Ruptured... meaning severe internal hemorrhages draining the blood directly from the main source... probably not hours I would think. More likely shock would set in after only a minute or less due to extreme loss of blood, and they would die soon after, I am guessing.

I'll remind you of that, Jay, if you ever experience it. *shakes head *

Thank you, your thoughtfulness is much appreciated. You know... "that's cool" sounds like some fun last words...

Ri-ight... Memorable, anyways.

*reads the new posts and finds himself laughing and nodding in agreement to them all*

When I read this I was thinking, "How horribly sadistic!" but then I had to realize, "Oh wait, I'm even worse."

Well, in one story I have electronic implants in the heart which can either burst to rupture the heart or can simply shut down. I have one case where one guy's Implant was detonated and he's supposed to still be alive (coughing blood and all that) to say some last words when another character arrives back from a place a mile or two away. I guess maybe I can speed things up though.

So far my most cool and ingenious form of death is a disease in which a congenital bacteria eats away the lymphatics for a very slow and painful death.

Ouch.

Nice.

I have a carnivorous plant that kills it's victims by injecting it with an overdose of sedative. I think I have all the death basics for this down (thanks to Grace ), but I might come back sometime to ask for specifics.

Now that is cool, from a botany standpoint.

Well it makes sense to me. They could patch up the stomach wound by packing it with various things (you can read up on that, what they pack into stomach wounds), and be fighting infection and fever, and then the fever breaks. Yay! But.. several symptoms which had been masked by the fever (hallucinations, maybe, or stiffness in the joints or pretty much anything actually) still remain. This gives them the clue that he was poisoned. So they get the arrow and double check it to discover that it really is poisoned. And so they panic because it took so long for them to realize it, and so they are afraid it's too late to administer the antidote. But it isn't. Only by a hair, of course, but that's obvious.

I love this thread XD The evil smileys are killing me.

Y'all are having waaaay too much fun in here. I believe I'm watching the creativity of Holy Worlds at its finest . . .
Just kidding.

Wow, I can't believe I never saw this before. I'm going to have a lot of catching up and note taking to do now.