Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

[GeoModder]

i remember a concept of the empress and she had really long hair, does longer hair relate to a higher place in loroi society or is that a personal preference.

Yes, wearing hair long is a warrior custom, and longer hair is a sign of seniority and status. Warrior girls grow their hair long as children, but then it is shorn off as part of the ritual of graduation into adulthood; having short hair (as many of the young Loroi characters in the story do) is a sign of being a newbie. Wearing one's hair impractically long is a sign of seniority; most of the very high-ranking officers you will see (Greywind, Silvermist, Sunfury, Duskcrown) have hair that reaches down to the floor.

Stillstorm has unusually short hair for someone of her age and rank; she cut it off as a symbol of her grief after the catastrophic collapse of the Semoset offensive, in which she was seriously injured.

Civilian females keep their hair cropped very short or even shaved.

So, is there a market for wigs then in certain segments of Loroi society? I'm specifically thinking of the Mizol operatives here. Those not wearing their normal caste uniform in the course of their function.

[Hālian]

Points to GeoModder for thinking of something no-one else did.

Negative points to everyone else for not thinking about it.

[icekatze]

hi hi

I would think that in most cases, wigs would seem like a dishonesty. Makes me wonder just how hard it is for a Loroi to keep a secret. I mean, stuff that you don't think about is one thing, but secrets have a way of making you think and worry about them.

[wasp609]

hmm hair that reaches the ground seems like it would be bad for the neck, ok another question do loroi get tattoos. and if so would it be a military thing or would some civilians get them.

[Arioch]

Are we talking polished Bruce Willis chrome dome shaved or quarter inch shaved ?

All of the above. There are many variations.

So, is there a market for wigs then in certain segments of Loroi society? I'm specifically thinking of the Mizol operatives here. Those not wearing their normal caste uniform in the course of their function.

A wig doesn't seem like something that would pass very close inspection, especially in an ultra-tech environment. A Mizol trying to pass as someone with longer or different-colored hair would probably need something like a hair weave and/or dye. A Mizol trying to pass as a civilian would probably need to actually cut her hair.

I can imagine that there might have been past subcultures in which wearing wigs was a fashionable thing with certain upper echelons of society (as with ancient Egypt, or Renaissance Europe), but I don't think that's something that would be popular in the present day.

hmm hair that reaches the ground seems like it would be bad for the neck, ok another question do loroi get tattoos. and if so would it be a military thing or would some civilians get them.

The way I draw hair makes it look huge, but I don't think real hair weighs very much. In this example, 4 feet of hair weighs less than half a pound.

Tattoos and other skin adornments are known in some subcultures (Talon and Spiral have them), but it's not a typical military thing the way it is in some Western military cultures.

[wasp609]

ok so they don't do tattoos, long hair means a higher status in loroi society, i'm gonna go out on a limb and say jewelry is a sign of either wealth like ours or it is used to for higher status. also do they use ceremonial swords like out militaries.

[Karst45]

ok so they don't do tattoos, long hair means a higher status in loroi society, i'm gonna go out on a limb and say jewelry is a sign of either wealth like ours or it is used to for higher status. also do they use ceremonial swords like out militaries.

well still storm had one such dagger no? page 62

[Arioch]

ok so they don't do tattoos, long hair means a higher status in loroi society, i'm gonna go out on a limb and say jewelry is a sign of either wealth like ours or it is used to for higher status.

The high-status component of Loroi society is military, who wear uniforms. Though the Loroi are style-conscious, most forms of jewelry are not compatible with military decorum, and so a Loroi officer is limited to adornments on the head -- hairstyle, pins and hair clips, and sometimes piercings (though these are not common). Also, members of the warrior class are not supposed to own anything beyond simple personal belongings, and so ostentatious displays of wealth are not welcome.

also do they use ceremonial swords like out militaries.

Some, yes. As Karst mentions, Stillstorm is wearing a dagger.

[saint of m]

Would the Loroi or their allies be fans the use of assassins if available, either in wars past or present?

Also would they enjoy the use of sniper riffles?

And A few posts back, I was thinking of the Colorado bombings. I got him mixed up with he serial killer I think ( and crap spelling).

[Arioch]

Would the Loroi or their allies be fans the use of assassins if available, either in wars past or present? Also would they enjoy the use of sniper riffles?

Covert operations teams and snipers would be part of any competent military force, so the Loroi certainly have them. Covert Mizol operatives may work alone or with teams, sometimes in conjunction with other Teidar or Soroin special forces. Regular infantry units will also have special weapons teams, including "hunter" teams, which are the ultra-tech equivalent of snipers.

Most such teams would not use "sniper rifles." Beam weapons don't require long barrels to be accurate, so a well-built beam assault rifle will be just as effective in most instances as a dedicated long-range weapon, and will be more flexible at closer ranges. The job of a hunter team is to find, spot and designate targets -- if circumstances permit, they may engage the target themselves, but often it will make more sense to engage a distant or hardened target with some other kind of weapon called in from somewhere else -- nearby armor, artillery or aircraft, portable missiles, or even orbital strikes.

Since there is limited access to enemy territory, aside from the few planetary invasions, most use of Loroi covert operations and special forces have been in friendly territory against insurgents, criminals, or rival factions (as in the Bluecrest Insurrection, the coup attempt against Greywind and its aftermath).

[fredgiblet]

I can imagine that there might have been past subcultures in which wearing wigs was a fashionable thing with certain upper echelons of society (as with ancient Egypt, or Renaissance Europe), but I don't think that's something that would be popular in the present day.

I'm now picturing Loroi politicians wearing the wigs that British judges used to wear...

[wasp609]

i was reading some scifi novels the other day and in a few of them some substances on earth such as nutmeg or ginger were addictive to certain alien races, is there anything on earth that would effect the loroi in a similar manner

[Arioch]

i was reading some scifi novels the other day and in a few of them some substances on earth such as nutmeg or ginger were addictive to certain alien races, is there anything on earth that would effect the loroi in a similar manner

Not that I'm aware of.

[icekatze]

hi hi

Let's hope the reverse isn't true. It would be an unfortunate twist for Alex if some of the Loroi food was randomly addictive. While I suspect that they have at least some basic idea of what is safe or dangerous for him, based on their initial medical analysis, looking at the chemical compounds in someone's blood and dissecting their brain to see how it works are two different things.

[wasp609]

i was reading some scifi novels the other day and in a few of them some substances on earth such as nutmeg or ginger were addictive to certain alien races, is there anything on earth that would effect the loroi in a similar manner

Not that I'm aware of.

too bad it would have been funny watching a loroi get hooked on crapi suns.

[JQBogus]

The Loroi have plenty of brains to dissect already. Page 60, Tempo says they recovered 57 bodies. Maybe a bit damaged, sure, but with that many specimens, they can probably get a pretty good idea.

[RedDwarfIV]

The Loroi have plenty of brains to dissect already. Page 60, Tempo says they recovered 57 bodies. Maybe a bit damaged, sure, but with that many specimens, they can probably get a pretty good idea.

Why dissect? Sure, autopsy is good for finding out how something died... but they have a living, cooperative specimin who would probably let them do medical scans if they asked. They already did at least preliminary scans when they found him:

Better than working with bodies that are fatally damaged and in the initial stages of decay.

[icekatze]

hi hi

There is very likely a limit to how much information they can get from a scan. Getting a brain tissue sample would likely be necessary to start analyzing its chemical structure.

[JQBogus]

And a limit to how much they could gain from a dissection. The idea is that doing both will produce the maximum amount of data.

[Karst45]

i was reading some scifi novels the other day and in a few of them some substances on earth such as nutmeg or ginger were addictive to certain alien races, is there anything on earth that would effect the loroi in a similar manner

on the forum we had some people claim that chocolat would be quite addictive and that with that substance Humaniti was able to pacify the loroi race