Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

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JQBogus
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by JQBogus »

Concerning Loroi and games : Alex was the academy chess champion (pg 94) so maybe he will introduce the game to the loroi on the long shuttle trip. A good game for Loroi as there are no dice to be telekenetically manipulated. Though, unless Tempo is along, I wouldn't worry about that. Fireblade might be able to crush the dice, or push them through a bulkhead, but I doubt she has the control to subtly manipulate their outcome.

Speaking of which.. can Loroi detect the use of telepathy (specifically subtle tk) by other Loroi?

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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by fredgiblet »

The Loroi have a chess-like game called Crossfire that Alex will be introduced to at some point in this chapter unless plans have changed.

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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by fredgiblet »

Arioch wrote:The conversation from before was:
Search first, ask questions later. Thanks.

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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by fredgiblet »

How does the average Loroi civilian feel about the genocides?

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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by Trantor »

fredgiblet wrote:How does the average Loroi civilian feel about the genocides?
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by fredgiblet »

Party line.

I'm talking about civilians, not the government.

EDIT: And/or the rank-and-file soldiers

VictorValor
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by VictorValor »

It seems to me the Loroi people know what they're told. So my guess is their beliefs will range from "We did what we had to do." to "they had it coming!"

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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by Arioch »

Sprawl63 wrote:How densely packed are Loroi cities? Is there anything that can compare to modern American/Asian cities, much less future ones? I'd imagine, given their disposition towards personal space, cities would be more European. Shallow but spread out. I have a hard time imagining Loroi bumping into one another and walking shoulder to shoulder as happens in larger cities.
I think there's some variety. I imagine Deinar as being fairly European in urban character, but there are probably lots of locations that require higher density. Shipboard Loroi have to live in pretty close quarters.
JQBogus wrote:Concerning Loroi and games : Alex was the academy chess champion (pg 94) so maybe he will introduce the game to the loroi on the long shuttle trip. A good game for Loroi as there are no dice to be telekenetically manipulated. Though, unless Tempo is along, I wouldn't worry about that. Fireblade might be able to crush the dice, or push them through a bulkhead, but I doubt she has the control to subtly manipulate their outcome.
For this very reason, dice-style games won't be popular with the Loroi, nor will the sort of card games in which you need to keep your hand hidden from the other players. Even in games of strategy like chess, a significant part of the challenge will be keeping your plans secret from the other player.
JQBogus wrote:Speaking of which.. can Loroi detect the use of telepathy (specifically subtle tk) by other Loroi?

Telepathy can be detected, but it's not automatic, especially if the user is attempting to conceal it. Psychokinesis can only be detected by individual with specific skills to detect it.
fredgiblet wrote:How does the average Loroi civilian feel about the genocides?
The Tithric are viewed by the Loroi as traitors who were aiding and abetting the enemy when the Loroi were at their lowest point and on the verge of collapse and annihiliation. Sunfall's successes in the Tithric campaign were the first unqualified Loroi victories in five years of war that had been one disaster after another. The incident was cause for great celebration among the Loroi. Even if individual Loroi were inclined to be troubled by the loss of life, most believe that the Loroi had few alternatives.

The Mannadi purge is now more than 600 years in the past, so it's probably not much on the minds of current Loroi. Loroi history tells of the Mannadi as aggressive jerks who constantly attacked their neighbors, were a thorn in the Loroi side for 130 years, and at the very end were even terrible losers. Most of which was pretty true.

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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by Victor_D »

Sprawl63 wrote:How densely packed are Loroi cities? Is there anything that can compare to modern American/Asian cities, much less future ones?

I'd imagine, given their disposition towards personal space, cities would be more European. Shallow but spread out. I have a hard time imagining Loroi bumping into one another and walking shoulder to shoulder as happens in larger cities.
Uhm, a few things about this: first, Europeans don't have more personal space than Americans. The average flat sizes in Europe are much smaller than those in America, and the same goes to houses. Second, European cities usually lack the skyscraper-packed skylines of their American counterparts, but most of them actually have greater population density. This is because in Europe, people actually *live* in the cities, as opposed to America where people (those who can afford it, anyway) live in suburbs/exurbs and *commute* to cities for work/entertainment. Due to the somewhat lacking public mass transportation in most American cities, cars are a necessity, and once you rely on your car, why should you live in the inner city (another American phenomenon) at all? In Europe, the situation is reversed - you want to stay close to the city centre so that your commuting time via bus, tram, or subway isn't too long. Not that we don't have suburbs at all, but those are very rarely as sprawled out as in America.

Therefore, since Deinar is not even close to being as densely populated as Earth, I'd actually expect the Loroi to enjoy more space than Europeans today. I can imagine cities being built around Soia-era ruins, something akin to modern-day Rome, in some cases.

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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by JQBogus »

Arioch wrote: For this very reason, dice-style games won't be popular with the Loroi, nor will the sort of card games in which you need to keep your hand hidden from the other players. Even in games of strategy like chess, a significant part of the challenge will be keeping your plans secret from the other player.
Loroi games that require a random element would, perhaps, rely on drawing numbers randomly from a bowl then, or on using a computerized RNG.

The Loroi may or may not like Alex as a Crossfire opponent, once he picks up the game. It depends on if the telepathic element is considered an integral part of the game, or just a side effect of in person play. If telepathy is integral, then he wont even be able to play, if it is a side thing, it will be just like playing by mail, except in person.

VonWolffe
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by VonWolffe »

Apologies if the following have already been covered; I had a couple questions about the Loroi and how they handle loss, since it seems that they have abundant opportunity to experience it.

Looking at Talon's bio she is one of only two survivors of her squadron that have been in service for less than nine months. It's getting so bad that they have put her on shuttle duty just so that she can live long enough to train some new recruits, and she's only 13 years old. As a military man myself this blows my mind, I get that this is total war but being a sole survivor of a group of people that you know closely and trained with and came up into the military with would be devastating. I get that Stillstorm has had a very long time to collect battle scars, but to me Talon has yet to have the chance to harden herself to that kind of thing. If you wiped out 90% of my unit in front of me, as it would have been for her, it would certainly effect me.

Anyway, my questions;
- Do Loroi drink? Alcohol is paramount in the military mess, and is as important for enjoying one's off time with comrades as it is for toasting the lost. From the passing of Port and the traditions that come with it to the CO toasting the Queen at Mess Dinners. Do Loroi have a similar relationship with alcohol? Would our alcohol be poisonous to them ref. Alex and the Vomitorium? Do they dance? Do they appreciate music? How do they blow off steam?

It seems that many of the Loroi are in a position like Talon; they could die at any time at any day and they are watching their friends die around them all the time. They seem to be dying so fast that there wont be anyone left to even remember them as replacements take their place. Maybe finding some new pink friends will mean something to them from a morale standpoint.

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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by bunnyboy »

I think they could play dice games with cup. It is harder to affect the unseen objects with telekinesis and you can't use that after the dices are stopped the moving and cup is removed. But I think that loroi wouldn't like much of games of pure luck as it can be seen tempting of fate and jinx. Coin or dice throwing could be still used in extreme situations to find out luckiest and sacrifices. Example, who could survive last in suicide missions, to give her the most important job.
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by fredgiblet »

VonWolffe wrote:Looking at Talon's bio she is one of only two survivors of her squadron that have been in service for less than nine months. It's getting so bad that they have put her on shuttle duty just so that she can live long enough to train some new recruits, and she's only 13 years old. As a military man myself this blows my mind, I get that this is total war but being a sole survivor of a group of people that you know closely and trained with and came up into the military with would be devastating. I get that Stillstorm has had a very long time to collect battle scars, but to me Talon has yet to have the chance to harden herself to that kind of thing. If you wiped out 90% of my unit in front of me, as it would have been for her, it would certainly effect me.
But here's the other key difference. Stillstorm grew up in an era of unquestioned Loroi dominance, Talon grew up during a period of total war. I'm not saying it'll be EASY for Talon to accept the losses, but she's grown up her entire life knowing that losses were going to be high, Stillstorm didn't.

I would expect that Talon is far harder than Stillstorm was a year or two into the war.

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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by VonWolffe »

fredgiblet wrote:But here's the other key difference. Stillstorm grew up in an era of unquestioned Loroi dominance, Talon grew up during a period of total war. I'm not saying it'll be EASY for Talon to accept the losses, but she's grown up her entire life knowing that losses were going to be high, Stillstorm didn't.

I would expect that Talon is far harder than Stillstorm was a year or two into the war.
I see where you are coming from fred, I suppose having that expectation would give someone a chance to steel themselves to what was coming. Having your instructor tell you that only a certain percentage of a graduating class will be alive at the end of the year or something like that (10% and there's three months left on that year).

I didn't mean to compare the two as though one had more to lose, it just seems to me that Talon's squadron is a special case. Or at least I hope it is. I hope that Tenoin are not getting blown away by the dozens every other day. Heck, how many did Talon lose in that last fight alone? And then you know that the point defense squadron are going to be kicking themselves for letting the Winter Tide sink.

Another question; How common is it for a Tenoin assigned to a point defense squadron to 'take one for the team' by flying into an incoming missile? You see it in movies all the time where they run out of ammo and all they've got left is their fighter plane, and when the alternative is the sinking of a ship with hundreds of people aboard... Is there a term that they would use for such a thing? 'Don't be a hero' or something along those lines?

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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by JQBogus »

/Nitpick ON

Talon is actually the more senior of the two members of her squadron remaining, not the sole survivor. Given that the Tempest carries 8 fighters, that means that Talon's unit has suffered 75% losses, not 90%. Unless Tempest carries more than significantly more than 8 pilots for its 8 fighters.

Your point, of course, still stands. This is a nitpick :)

/Nitpick OFF

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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by VonWolffe »

JQBogus wrote:/Nitpick ON

Talon is actually the more senior of the two members of her squadron remaining, not the sole survivor. Given that the Tempest carries 8 fighters, that means that Talon's unit has suffered 75% losses, not 90%. Unless Tempest carries more than significantly more than 8 pilots for its 8 fighters.

Your point, of course, still stands. This is a nitpick :)

/Nitpick OFF
Ah, my mistake. I am not entirely sure where I got 20 from... Sorry.

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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by fredgiblet »

VonWolffe wrote:I didn't mean to compare the two as though one had more to lose, it just seems to me that Talon's squadron is a special case. Or at least I hope it is. I hope that Tenoin are not getting blown away by the dozens every other day. Heck, how many did Talon lose in that last fight alone? And then you know that the point defense squadron are going to be kicking themselves for letting the Winter Tide sink
IIRC fighter losses are very high, which is why they aren't used nearly as often as they used to be.

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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by VonWolffe »

fredgiblet wrote:IIRC fighter losses are very high, which is why they aren't used nearly as often as they used to be.
Of course, I can see that they would respond to these losses. My original question was more concerning how they deal with losing so many close to them using Talon as an example as she is so young and has nearly lost everyone in her squadron and so quickly.

Do they drink? Is that even acceptable aboard ship if they do or would they have to wait until they made it back to port? What would they think of human drinking and would our drinks be poison to them? Not that drinking is the only way to blow off steam :? . What do they do?

On another note, do Loroi units (ships/ground forces/etc.) have a version of Colours (That tapestry?) that collect battle honors for the engagements they participate in or distinguish themselves in? Do they have medals? Considering that they are a less formal military body, what would they think of flags/medals/saluting?

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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by Arioch »

VonWolffe wrote:
JQBogus wrote:/Nitpick ON

Talon is actually the more senior of the two members of her squadron remaining, not the sole survivor. Given that the Tempest carries 8 fighters, that means that Talon's unit has suffered 75% losses, not 90%. Unless Tempest carries more than significantly more than 8 pilots for its 8 fighters.

Your point, of course, still stands. This is a nitpick :)

/Nitpick OFF
Ah, my mistake. I am not entirely sure where I got 20 from... Sorry.
You got it off the Cast page and it's correct, so there's no need to apologize. Talon and Spiral are the last two survivors of the original squadron of 20 that was deployed to Strike Group less than a year ago; Tempest only carries 8, and the rest of the squadron are carried by other vessels in the group, but the squadron deploys and fights as a unit. The squadron has been reinforced with younger replacements since, which is why Talon and Spiral are now the most senior.

Talon's attitudes toward dealing with loss are directly discussed in the comic (and soon) so I won't go too deep into it now except to say that fredgiblet is essentially correct; Talon and her compatriots grew up and came of age in an environment in which they were well aware that their chances of survival were not good.

Intoxicating drugs are a problem for Loroi, especially for those with abilities that could do serious harm if uncontrolled. But I think many Loroi will need some kind of chemical crutch to lean on in very difficult times. I suspect they will use sedatives and tranquilizers when they've just had too much as need to "turn it off."

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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by Trantor »

Hm, it´s the LOROI q&a-thread, but one question on the Barsam:

Please tell me that for their appearance you weren´t inspired by this:

ImageImage
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