Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

[Zakharra]

Interesting thought, Sweforce. It might take awhile for such a song to be popular. It might be faster if it was an epic poem/saga that is spoken/chanted rather than sung. Of course the current Emperor wouldn't like it (Stillstorm was a supporter of the other contender for Emperor), but I don't think ti would be forbidden, especially if it raised moral. Now what Stillstorm might think about it is something else entirely. She dislike it as an attempt of flattery and she doesn't seem like the type that likes being flattered.

I think there are numerous sub cultures in the Loroi society. There's numerous warrior ones alone. Plus differences between the different worlds and castes. Then the civilians have their own sub cultures depending upon the different worlds and castes, and even age groups(I think). As long as they don't interfere, the sub cultures are tolerated because they help the Loroi way of doing things. Being a telepathic race makes it very easy to keep out traitors and subversives.

[Mr.Tucker]

I think the Loroi are tolerant of subcultures as long as said subcultures are not disruptive to their society, or don't keep their citizens or soldiers from doing their jobs. They already have subcultures from the original sister worlds. At the same time their telepathic abilities would push them towards a greater degree of homogenity. Your average Jane may not want to stand out. And the higher the rank, the more likely social norms are stricter. Civilians? I think they can believe in whatever they want as long as they report to the office.

[dragoongfa]

Minor questions:

Would a mutilated Loroi, someone missing both arms for example, have difficulty in the Telepathic field? Would they have the same telepathic stability?

Do the Loroi have regenerative medical technology? As in, can they regrow limbs?

[Arioch]

The various Loroi cultures do not have much of a tradition of vocal music. There are a few Loroi musical traditions that include some vocals, but most are not "verbal" in the sense of containing lyrics; they are derived from ancient battlefield war chants that are mainly shouts with little or no language content.

As a modern culture, the Loroi are not completely unfamiliar with the concept of singing, as they have been exposed to numerous alien cultures that have song, and many Loroi listen to alien music. In particular, the Barsam have a strong vocal music tradition (Barsam prayers and sermons are sung). There are Loroi converts to the Barsam Church and Loroi who are interested in alien cultures, and so there are no doubt Loroi who sing, or who even compose their own vocal music. But this would be considered a small minority.

Would a mutilated Loroi, someone missing both arms for example, have difficulty in the Telepathic field? Would they have the same telepathic stability?

Loss of a limb does not affect telepathy. Although telepathy is not well understood, it definitely has something to do with brain function. Brain damage can impair psionic function, and psionic amplifiers must normally be worn on the head.

Do the Loroi have regenerative medical technology? As in, can they regrow limbs?

Yes.

[Karst45]

And, in China, removing the child prior to washing enhances the parents' chances at elderly care after said child joined the workforce.

but i save time. i clean the baby AND do the laundry at the same time!


and yes i use the hair drier in the shower

[GeoModder]

And, in China, removing the child prior to washing enhances the parents' chances at elderly care after said child joined the workforce.

but i save time. i clean the baby AND do the laundry at the same time!

The only time you'd save is that you only need to launder the baby once.

[Senanthes]

Sudden curiosity strikes me...

Do the Loroi have large scale, organized crime syndicates akin to the Mafia or Mob? If so, do any stand out? And what about those that are more on the fringe of society like smugglers and bounty hunters? I'd imagine just about anyone has law breakers as well as law makers, but is it on a truly large scale within the Union?

[Mr.Tucker]

If I were a betting man, I'd say no. Organized crime relies on secrecy, and there is very little of it in Loroi society (after all, the DA, the lawyers, the arresting officers, even the jury can hear your thoughts). Also, organized crime does not readily flourish in heavily militarized societies (or societies with a tribal mentality, which is what all Loroi experience in their childhood). What you CAN get is different flavors of corruption (with the exact definition of corruption being dependent on individuals and the society; lobby groups are legal in the US and most western countries, but represent, in essence, traffic of influence).

[dragoongfa]

If I were a betting man, I'd say no. Organized crime relies on secrecy, and there is very little of it in Loroi society (after all, the DA, the lawyers, the arresting officers, even the jury can hear your thoughts). Also, organized crime does not readily flourish in heavily militarized societies (or societies with a tribal mentality, which is what all Loroi experience in their childhood). What you CAN get is different flavors of corruption (with the exact definition of corruption being dependent on individuals and the society; lobby groups are legal in the US and most western countries, but represent, in essence, traffic of influence).

On the hand I think that the above sounds reasonable but on the other I wonder if there are civilian guilds whose members wouldn't mind dirtying their hands a little bit. After all Loroi civilians are considered to be 'failed' warriors and as such second rate citizens when compared to warrior castes.

[Mr.Tucker]

On the hand I think that the above sounds reasonable but on the other I wonder if there are civilian guilds whose members wouldn't mind dirtying their hands a little bit. After all Loroi civilians are considered to be 'failed' warriors and as such second rate citizens when compared to warrior castes.

Well, the Loroi basically live under perpetual martial law, so I'd expect most of the law enforcement to be done by members of the armed forces, and most tribunals to have a military flavor, even in civilian society. Under such heavy scrutiny I'm not sure clandestine dealings of any kind would be possible, at least on the Loroi worlds themselves. If you're thinking about such affairs, the your closest friends would find out, next their friends, and eventually it reaches the, ah... ears of the authorities.
That's actually a pertinent question: are Loroi policing forces military in nature?

[dragoongfa]

I think that it would depend heavily on who the target was and what kind of backing the guild itself would have.

For example, what's the possibility of a Loroi guild acting like an unscrupulous modern PMC? Let's consider that a client race of the union (any race) has a certain internal 'rebellious' problem on one of it's colonies and that it wants that problem go away.

The race's government itself cannot do it for a variety of reasons and they contact a Loroi guild, telling them that those 'rebels' are free game to do with as you wish and if they were to disappear quickly enough there would be a bonus involved.

Would the Loroi government care what happened in a 'third rate' colony or would they consider it a job well done since the client race's government welcomed whatever the guild did on that colony despite any possible public outcry?

[Mr.Tucker]

Ok, I was hoping to repress my urge for walls of text, but no such luck .

I think that it would depend heavily on who the target was and what kind of backing the guild itself would have.

I'm not sure, but from what I've gathered, ALL the civilian populace is under scrutiny.

I think that it would depend heavily on who the target was and what kind of backing the guild itself would have.

For example, what's the possibility of a Loroi guild acting like an unscrupulous modern PMC? Let's consider that a client race of the union (any race) has a certain internal 'rebellious' problem on one of it's colonies and that it wants that problem go away.

The race's government itself cannot do it for a variety of reasons and they contact a Loroi guild, telling them that those 'rebels' are free game to do with as you wish and if they were to disappear quickly enough there would be a bonus involved.

Would the Loroi government care what happened in a 'third rate' colony or would they consider it a job well done since the client race's government welcomed whatever the guild did on that colony despite any possible public outcry?

Ok, there are 2 ways of looking at this, depending on your meaning:
In this specific example I think the Loroi would simply send a detachment of their conventional armed forces. A PMC on Earth is staffed by former members of the military. Being a soldier is a profession for a human, but a CASTE for the Loroi. There is no retiring from being a warrior. And to allow a civilian guild to do, what is essentially, warrior business (the business of making war) is something I don't see the proud military doing.

The second meaning I get is whether a single guild can accrue enough power (official or otherwise) to do such a thing on their own. That would be a no. It's been mentioned that the Loroi economy is, in essence, state economy. They're monitored, and so are their activities. If a guild/company/corporation/lobby group grows too powerful those in charge remove it (see the succession of Loroi emperors), or get removed by it.It's all in the open, that's the Loroi way.
And even assuming that such a guild is set up by the government, and the military allows such an operation.... well, if it's state sanctioned it's not technically illegal is it ? At most it's a case of crony capitalism (a flavor of corruption), similar to the situation of United Fruit in South America during the 1950s.

EDIT: there was a period in Loroi history when the economy was somewhat more liberal. Just before the war. Then, when the emperor died, the new, more militaristic emperor was elected, crushed the opposition within the Axis, and enforced the centralized system. Militaristic governments do not like competition from guilds, mafias or environmental lobby groups .

[bunnyboy]

Suddenly I thought that most loroi perceive vocal singing as this:

Animalistic sounds with restricted capacity of transfering information, intent or emotion.

[Arioch]

Do the Loroi have large scale, organized crime syndicates akin to the Mafia or Mob? If so, do any stand out? And what about those that are more on the fringe of society like smugglers and bounty hunters? I'd imagine just about anyone has law breakers as well as law makers, but is it on a truly large scale within the Union?

The short answer is no; the existence of large-scale crime syndicates relies on high-level, widespread corruption, which is problematic under the Loroi system (for reasons I will elaborate on below). However, any system will have some level of corruption, and as Tucker mentioned, that corruption can take many forms, both quasi-legal as well as overtly illegal.

That's actually a pertinent question: are Loroi policing forces military in nature?

Yes. Government, police and emergency services are almost all military agencies. And so the Loroi are technically always under "martial law," but at present they are operating under an even more restrictive set of emergency rules instituted by Greywind in 2140. Being both a telepathic and an authoritarian society, the Loroi do not have many rights or expectations in terms of privacy.

It's also important to note that criminal behavior in Loroi individuals (military or civilian) is simply not tolerated in well-established Loroi societies. Punishments for repeat offenders are severe, including corporal and capital punishment in place of incarceration. A Loroi juvenile delinquent who did not respond to rehabilitation efforts would probably not survive to adulthood. So most criminal activity tends to involve crimes of opportunity committed by normal members of society, rather than career crime committed by a criminal underclass.

A PMC on Earth is staffed by former members of the military. Being a soldier is a profession for a human, but a CASTE for the Loroi. There is no retiring from being a warrior. And to allow a civilian guild to do, what is essentially, warrior business (the business of making war) is something I don't see the proud military doing.

In addition to this, all members of the warrior class must follow strict rules regarding what they may own, and what forms of income they can accept. Warriors are forbidden from owning or receiving income from businesses of any kind, and their personal finances must be made part of the public record. High-ranking warriors receive a variety of cushy perks, but these must come through official military channels to be legal. Coupled with the high regard that warriors have for honesty as a point of honor, and the direct nature of telepathy, it becomes very difficult (and dangerous) for any civilian to offer a bribe to a warrior, and very difficult for any warrior to conceal any money or assets received through unofficial sources.

While civilian guilds are not allowed to form private military companies or militias, they can sometimes accrue great power and influence, or at times act in questionable or controversial ways. In the early part of the war, though the Loroi were losing, the weapons manufacturing and shipbuilding boom had led to great profits for many civilian (and alien) companies. Some of these captains of industry joined with Greywind's political (warrior) opponents in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent her from taking office as Emperor, aware that she intended to place restrictions on their ability to profit from the war.

There have also been conflicts of interest between rival military entities, at times escalating into outright civil war. Because Loroi institutions and customs tend to be rigid, sometimes change can only come through violent upheavals.

Still, crime does exist. In addition to small-time criminal activity on well-established worlds, there are opportunities for crime on frontier worlds or on planets ravaged by war (such as Seren and Mosi), on which the authorities may not be in perfect control.

Finally, organized crime on established worlds is possible, but it would have to remain deep underground, and able to maintain absolute secrecy. There are telepathic abilities that make this possible, but it's difficult for such a deep-secret organization to do widespread business without giving up that secrecy. Great skill and care would have to be taken in scouting and recruiting potential members with the proper proclivities and talents, removing them from the official system that would eventually destroy them, and training them covertly. And so any such organizations might have more in common with an assassin's guild or a secret society than to our idea of a crime syndicate.

[bunnyboy]

I guess most equivalent of loroi mafia would be corrupted military unit,
which use violence to extort money and services from the civilians they should protect or
start piracing their allies transports for need or greed (enemies ofcourse should be free to plunder).

Tough mafia isn't only about crime. For civil castes, there is lot of grey area to do 'noncriminal' things by
creating trustees & monopols and making deals that are better not to reject.

[Sweforce]

About Loroi hearing and sight. Do they have the same visual spectrum as humans and do they hear the same frequencies? If not Loroi music may be partly inaudible for humans and the other way around. We may see two different colours when the Loroi see just one and vice versa. I know a largely color blind person an it shows. It is like with red green color blindness. Red and green are the same thing for these people and this guy I know have it even worse.

[Arioch]

About Loroi hearing and sight. Do they have the same visual spectrum as humans and do they hear the same frequencies? If not Loroi music may be partly inaudible for humans and the other way around. We may see two different colours when the Loroi see just one and vice versa. I know a largely color blind person an it shows. It is like with red green color blindness. Red and green are the same thing for these people and this guy I know have it even worse.

They are both in a similar range.

Human music isn't anywhere near the top frequency range of our hearing; I would think that would be very unpleasant. Some animals do have vocalizations that are very low or very high frequency, so it's possible that some alien species might have song that is inaudible to us. But the interactions of most everyday physical objects (such as musical instruments might be made of) make sounds that are well within our hearing range, so I'm doubtful that a lot of instrumental alien music would be human-inaudible.

[Sweforce]

About Loroi hearing and sight. Do they have the same visual spectrum as humans and do they hear the same frequencies? If not Loroi music may be partly inaudible for humans and the other way around. We may see two different colours when the Loroi see just one and vice versa. I know a largely color blind person an it shows. It is like with red green color blindness. Red and green are the same thing for these people and this guy I know have it even worse.

They are both in a similar range.

Human music isn't anywhere near the top frequency range of our hearing; I would think that would be very unpleasant. Some animals do have vocalizations that are very low or very high frequency, so it's possible that some alien species might have song that is inaudible to us. But the interactions of most everyday physical objects (such as musical instruments might be made of) make sounds that are well within our hearing range, so I'm doubtful that a lot of instrumental alien music would be human-inaudible.

I got a high frequency hearing disability myself that leads to me miss hearing things. And almost constant tinnitus. One gets used to it. Anyway I was not it really thinking about silent music but rather missing tones making a tuns sound odd.

[Arioch]

I got a high frequency hearing disability myself that leads to me miss hearing things. And almost constant tinnitus. One gets used to it. Anyway I was not it really thinking about silent music but rather missing tones making a tuns sound odd.

Sorry to hear that; I can empathize. For several years after standing much too close to the stage at a rock concert, I had some loss of hearing at higher frequencies -- loud sounds at high pitches would sound "broken up" and could cause physical discomfort. I was lucky in that it seems to have mostly recovered, though I do still often have ringing in my ears... though that can be caused by many different things.

But what we're talking about in my case (and presumably yours) is damage to the ears, rather than a natural range of hearing. I suppose it's possible that an alien might have naturally occurring gaps or distortions in their hearing range, but it would take some unusual environmental conditions for that to be an advantage instead of a disadvantage. Many Earth animals have hearing ranges that are higher or lower than humans', but I've never heard of any having gaps within that range.

[Mr Bojangles]

This popped up over in dragoongfa's story thread and a search of the forum didn't turn up anything. What exactly are the glowing blue panels we see on Loroi ships? Suggestions I've seen over there include heat dissipation panels; sensors; windows; or fake, painted-on windows.

The first two suggestions make quite a bit of sense. I think the last two may have been facetious suggestions...