Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

[Snoofman]

How much of the Loroi menfolk populace is enrolled within the Nedatan order?

[Arioch]

How much of the Loroi menfolk populace is enrolled within the Nedatan order?

I'd guess that less than half of the males are in some kind of philosopher order, and as the largest such order, the Nedatan has maybe half of those. So, perhaps 20% of the male population.

[Urist]

It's been explained that a very large percentage (the majority, IIRC) of loroi civilians are ones who went through warrior training but failed their diral trials. That makes sense for most of the warrior castes, but what happens to prospective Teidar/Mizol who wash out?

Are there loroi civilians out there who can still kick hundreds of pounds around with their minds, or with serious sanzai-fighting strength?

[Arioch]

It's been explained that a very large percentage (the majority, IIRC) of loroi civilians are ones who went through warrior training but failed their diral trials. That makes sense for most of the warrior castes, but what happens to prospective Teidar/Mizol who wash out?

Are there loroi civilians out there who can still kick hundreds of pounds around with their minds, or with serious sanzai-fighting strength?

Most civilian Loroi wash out some time during training, rather than at the trials, during which bands are usually passed or failed as a group, and failing doesn't prevent the group from trying again. But that doesn't address the point of the question.

There are some civilian Loroi who have psychokinetic abilities. Some may have jobs that directly benefit from or even require such abilities. However, Loroi with unamplified PK power at lethal levels is very rare, and such a powerful Loroi is unlikely to wash out of military training. However, even if very rare, such Loroi civilians do exist. There is no rule against a civilian having such power, but amplifiers are not available to civilians, and you can bet that the local constabulary keeps a very close eye on such an individual.

High-powered telepathy is a more common asset among civilians; they won't have access to Teidar-style amplified attacks, but Mizol-class abilities do not require amplification. Civilians won't have access to advanced Mizol training, but civilians can and do set up their own schools of telepathic techniques. As long as they observe the law and the rules of society, this isn't a problem... but they had better be very careful how they use their abilities, because I expect that the military government reacts very strongly to any use of force by civilians.

[Zorg56]

I assume Loroi dont like grenades that much?

[Arioch]

I assume Loroi dont like grenades that much?

Loroi like grenades just fine, but I think they have limited use in combat aboard ship.

[SaintofM]

I assume Loroi dont like grenades that much?

Loroi like grenades just fine, but I think they have limited use in combat aboard ship.

Besides the typical grenades people think of that use meant to kill such as using the shockwave of the explosion or shrapnel, what about other varieties? Flash Grenades, smoke grenades? Maybe something more chemical like poison gas or an alien equivalent to pepper spray/bear spray? Incendiaries?

[Arioch]

I assume Loroi dont like grenades that much?

Loroi like grenades just fine, but I think they have limited use in combat aboard ship.

Besides the typical grenades people think of that use meant to kill such as using the shockwave of the explosion or shrapnel, what about other varieties? Flash Grenades, smoke grenades? Maybe something more chemical like poison gas or an alien equivalent to pepper spray/bear spray? Incendiaries?

In shipboard combat it's reasonable to expect that both sides will be wearing protective suits (as depressurization is frequently the first thing that happens as the attacking side breaches the defenders' ship entrance(s)), so most specialty grenades (poison, chemical, flashbangs) aren't going to have much effect. Concussion or fragmentation grenades powerful enough to penetrate combat armor will usually make a mess of the ship interiors, which is usually not desired by either side (one side is trying to protect the ship, the other to capture it intact). Same goes for incendiaries.

There may be instances in which special-purpose explosives can be useful, such as breaching charges, or something esoteric like laser-obscuring aerosol... if you happen to know that your enemy is going to be using lasers and you aren't. "Smoke" grenades (which would need to be of a special kind to blind IR and radar as well as optical) might be useful if your enemy needs to see but you don't, but that would be unusual.

[Bamax]

Would Loroi ladies freak out if they saw a ridiculously muscled over masculine guy on par with Gigachad man?
Would they be intimidated lol? Slightly lust after him (fringe Loroi I know, since they prefer boyish looking types, not some overmuscled gigachad)?

Reactions would vary by individual.

Most Loroi are used to seeing Barsam and other aliens which are much larger and more powerful than any human, so I doubt they would find a muscled man intimidating. (Also, Loroi are not known as brawlers anyway.)

In terms of attractiveness, the typical ideal is more like what you suggest, but not everyone has the same tastes. Some human men find female bodybuilders repulsive, but there are others who find them attractive.

When the Soia's Dreadstars/tonsillat/moon-ships are described as "moon-sized," is there a more accurate estimate for their scale? Since at least for the Sol system, we've got moons ranging in diameter from ~12 kilometers (Deimos, over Mars) up to ~5,300 km (Ganymede, over Jupiter). While even a 12-km size would still be safely into the category of "Wow, that's a big ship" by the scales of Outsider warships, something closer to Ganymede may be a bit more appropriate for an empire that apparently lasted several hundred thousand years.

The sources for the existence of the dread-stars are all ancient legends, which mostly lack specific measurements (and those which are more specific are almost certainly unreliable). I think the most credible thing that the various sources have to say about the scale of the dread-stars is that some describe them as "moons," and others as "flying cities." Make of that what you will.

The comparison is not the same though, when you mention men's view of female bodybuilders. My revulsion for female bodybuilders stems entirely from the fact that they look more like men than they do females, since I am heterosexual (to the degree that anything beyond regular sex grosses me out regardless of the genders giving or receiving involved).

With Loroi it won't be the same. Overly masculine gigachad men WON'T look remotely female, and we already know homosexuality among the Loroi is not seen as common or normal.

Thus the knee jerk revulsion some men get from looking at female bodybuilders because they resemble men will not be the same feeling female Loroi get upon seeing them.

Coincidentally, there are homosexuals who like female bodybuilders precisely because they look more like men lol.

[Arioch]

I'm not sure that men attracted to muscular women has anything to do with homosexuality... but my point was that different individuals of the same species can be attracted to different things. There are all kinds of sexual peccadillos which have no specific reproductive logic to them and aren't easily ascribable to some sort of latent homosexual tendency, like the attraction to fat people. Or the strange attraction of some men to pregnant women... that seems particularly unhelpful in biological terms.

[Bamax]

I'm not sure that men attracted to muscular women has anything to do with homosexuality... but my point was that different individuals of the same species can be attracted to different things. There are all kinds of sexual peccadillos which have no specific reproductive logic to them and aren't easily ascribable to some sort of latent homosexual tendency, like the attraction to fat people. Or the strange attraction of some men to pregnant women... that seems particularly unhelpful in biological terms.

Not all men are but some definitely are... pregnant women though? I dunno lol. Maybe it's the upper part (you know what I mean). As for why men are attracted to fit atheletic type females that is easy enough. It makes them appear to be a capable mate who could raise children.

Fat people I have no idea, though a relative used to joke that it is was just more to love. And a guy I work with who talks as if he were Don Juan in HS has been all over the block so to speak, and claims he enjoyed his time with fat ones (he's stocky not fat) Assuming he's not making stuff up as he is a joker.

[SaintofM]

I'm not sure that men attracted to muscular women has anything to do with homosexuality... but my point was that different individuals of the same species can be attracted to different things. There are all kinds of sexual peccadillos which have no specific reproductive logic to them and aren't easily ascribable to some sort of latent homosexual tendency, like the attraction to fat people. Or the strange attraction of some men to pregnant women... that seems particularly unhelpful in biological terms.

Humans are weird in a number of areas compared to most other animals out there. We seek thrills, ranging from scary movies to rollercoasters to extream sports like skydiving, when nearly every other animal is geared to avoid danger (as the ones that don't typically end up as lunch).

Sexual attraction is another. If you don't mind Sex Ed With a Mormon for a bit, sexual attraction is one part genetic and one part social. Do I like-like women that can kick my butt because I am naturally geared that way, or do I like them because I am heterosexual who was raised on a diet of good female charecters that just happen too kick ass (GIJOE, Beast Wars, Thunder Cats, Batman: The Animated Series, Spiderman, X-Men, Ironman Cartoon, Star Wars, Star Trek, Xena: Warrior Princess, Conan Movies, Gargoyles is still my jam, Final Fantasy, Mulon, Pokemon, Sailor Moon, Card Capter Sakura, Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, to list a few). Did this only get furthered in this "indoctrination" in my teenage years (Gundam Wing, Underworld, Slayers, Naruto, Beach, One Peice Yu-Gi-Oh, Magic the Gathering, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Armored Core, Warhammer, Aliens, Alien Vs Predator, Kill Bill, Tomb Raider, Record for the Lodos War, Pat Labor, Hellsing, etcetera)

As for the muscle bound folk, there is a point I think both extremes of the Gender binary need to go: Too much, too much! Especially in body building. There is a point where it becomes as unhealthy as the belly fat I am trying to loose. This gets worse when you look at some of the women that do the weight lifting competitions or the guys in strong man competitions, and compare them to those that perform in body building competitions and see the vast difference in how they look.

I'm not sure that men attracted to muscular women has anything to do with homosexuality... but my point was that different individuals of the same species can be attracted to different things. There are all kinds of sexual peccadillos which have no specific reproductive logic to them and aren't easily ascribable to some sort of latent homosexual tendency, like the attraction to fat people. Or the strange attraction of some men to pregnant women... that seems particularly unhelpful in biological terms.

Not all men are but some definitely are... pregnant women though? I dunno lol. Maybe it's the upper part (you know what I mean). As for why men are attracted to fit athletic type females that is easy enough. It makes them appear to be a capable mate who could raise children.

Fat people I have no idea, though a relative used to joke that it is was just more to love. And a guy I work with who talks as if he were Don Juan in HS has been all over the block so to speak, and claims he enjoyed his time with fat ones (he's stocky not fat) Assuming he's not making stuff up as he is a joker.

Depends on the time and society. Having body fat on you for the longest time meant you were wealthy enough to not need to do as much manual labor and or eat well regularly. You still see this in a lot of areas heavily affected by AIDS as being skinny was more likely to mean you are wasting away from the disease than not. One of the History of Everything Shorts on Youtube/Facebook explained thin being beautiful developing in western culture, was due to death by Consumption (AKA Tuberculosis) as there would be a wasting away. Combined the a number of people being highly intelligent and poetic, and the tragedy of the situation and this happened.

But there are other things that get people into each other. The best response as to why hot ladies go for ugly guys: We make them laugh. It keeps their eyes closed enough.

Being funny, being a good cook, havening pets (I used to go on walks with my cat when she was a kitten during the lockdown, everything that fronted female went AWWW when I did that), being good with babies, and so on. There are a number of things that get people attracted to each other than good looks. I repeatedly say when I see this video of an Asian woman just inhaling Cotton Candy to win a completion as: Marriage material, and I am only partially kidding.

Other times we see someone that is physically on a scale of 1-10 an out of our league until they open their mouth and then it drops into the negative.

On the other hand, someone that is considered a Butterface or otherwise not that hot by conventional standards does something that she outshines all the Women in their prime that were Laura Croft was based off combined.

Or you have people that are Asexual, Demi Sexual, Grey Sexual, or other people that are geared to feel little to no sexual attraction to people, and when they do its for other factors (in the case of Demi Sexual from my limited understanding, they have to form a strong emotional bond with someone first).

The more we find out how a person works, the more questions than answers we have.

Its weird, and the more we look into it gets weirder.

[Bamax]

Arioch... dd you intend for Loroi to have a sense of taste we as humans do not? I say this because I loomed at the panel where Alex was writing down descriptions of Loroi food

It either smelled bad, had no flavor, or made him puke, and the clear packet I can't blame him for avoiding because I probably would too.

It is known that several animals have a sense of taste geared to their lifestyle.

For example, cats have no sense of sweetness, yet they eat ice cream because they are eating and tasting the fat.

Or is it that Loroi foods taste good to them but awful to Alex because they are a designer species as the designers wisely thought it best to only grow food specific to the Loroi and other races they may have made, so some random other conquering race would not be able to live off the land without literlally terraforming it and importing their own flora and removing the the native plant food.

[Arioch]

Arioch... dd you intend for Loroi to have a sense of taste we as humans do not? I say this because I loomed at the panel where Alex was writing down descriptions of Loroi food

It either smelled bad, had no flavor, or made him puke, and the clear packet I can't blame him for avoiding because I probably would too.

It is known that several animals have a sense of taste geared to their lifestyle.

For example, cats have no sense of sweetness, yet they eat ice cream because they are eating and tasting the fat.

Or is it that Loroi foods taste good to them but awful to Alex because they are a designer species as the designers wisely thought it best to only grow food specific to the Loroi and other races they may have made, so some random other conquering race would not be able to live off the land without literlally terraforming it and importing their own flora and removing the the native plant food.

I assume as a matter of course that aliens will have food standards which are different from our own. Whether this is due to preference or physiological difference is probably an open question, as it may be either or both... we seek out foods that we're adapted to, but we adapt to plentiful foods that we're not. Within our own species, different human cultures have very different ideas about what is tasty. I think that some aversions are known to be physiological, like lactose intolerance or abhorrence of cilantro, but most are probably just a case of what that culture is used to. Loroi are the same... what one Perrein Loroi may find tasty could be disgusting to Loroi from some other areas. But I don't think of it in broad characterizations like "Loroi can't taste sweet."

[Bamax]

Arioch... dd you intend for Loroi to have a sense of taste we as humans do not? I say this because I loomed at the panel where Alex was writing down descriptions of Loroi food

It either smelled bad, had no flavor, or made him puke, and the clear packet I can't blame him for avoiding because I probably would too.

It is known that several animals have a sense of taste geared to their lifestyle.

For example, cats have no sense of sweetness, yet they eat ice cream because they are eating and tasting the fat.

Or is it that Loroi foods taste good to them but awful to Alex because they are a designer species as the designers wisely thought it best to only grow food specific to the Loroi and other races they may have made, so some random other conquering race would not be able to live off the land without literlally terraforming it and importing their own flora and removing the the native plant food.

I assume as a matter of course that aliens will have food standards which are different from our own. Whether this is due to preference or physiological difference is probably an open question, as it may be either or both... we seek out foods that we're adapted to, but we adapt to plentiful foods that we're not. Within our own species, different human cultures have very different ideas about what is tasty. I think that some aversions are known to be physiological, like lactose intolerance or abhorrence of cilantro, but most are probably just a case of what that culture is used to. Loroi are the same... what one Perrein Loroi may find tasty could be disgusting to Loroi from some other areas. But I don't think of it in broad characterizations like "Loroi can't taste sweet."

Then maybe the Loroi were giving him bland food on purpose since as an unknown alien they thought to just give him the basics.

Still.... you'd think not all of it would be awful unless Stillstorm did it out of spite.

[Arioch]

Then maybe the Loroi were giving him bland food on purpose since as an unknown alien they thought to just give him the basics.

Still.... you'd think not all of it would be awful unless Stillstorm did it out of spite.

The Loroi have no way of knowing what Alex can even digest, much less find tasty. They're hoping for something that he can derive nutrition from and not die... being delicious is not the primary concern.

I think jalapeno peppers are delicious... but I sure as hell wouldn't give one to an unknown alien I was trying to feed.

[SaintofM]

Then maybe the Loroi were giving him bland food on purpose since as an unknown alien they thought to just give him the basics.

Still.... you'd think not all of it would be awful unless Stillstorm did it out of spite.

The Loroi have no way of knowing what Alex can even digest, much less find tasty. They're hoping for something that he can derive nutrition from and not die... being delicious is not the primary concern.

I think jalapeno peppers are delicious... but I sure as hell wouldn't give one to an unknown alien I was trying to feed.

I also have to wonder what other effects or ways to test. The aliens and even the humans probably have ways of testing allergies to this or that (as we do) but there is also going to be foods that are safe and sane for one species and literally death to another. Alot off the things we humans eat are dangerous to our pets, namely dogs and cats (avocado, grapes, chocolate, onion to name a few). Others effect them as they do us (there are birds that eat so much fermented fruit they end up piss drunk, and of course the drunk monkeys at the resort towns in the tropics) Or they have similar phenomena to other plants (alot of cats and catnip for instance). In fiction we sometimes see this as well. Martian Manhunter of DC comics likes Oreos because they are his equivalent to beer. At least one alien had a bad reaction to chocolate on Ben-10. Right now I think the blue space babes are just happy they didn't give Jardin the equivalent of the cactus juice from Avitar: the Last Airbender.

As for the smell bad: We have that all the time on our planet. A number of cheeses have strong smells to them, and from what I understand the Durian fruit smells of death but tastes of heaven. So it makes sense the blues would have something that does the same as well.

[Snoofman]

I understand that all Loroi males are wards of the state and therefore provided for. And this next question perhaps does not apply to the Nedatan order, but are there any menfolk involved in business? Are there any rich male tycoons or magnates? Male entrepreneurs?

[Arioch]

I understand that all Loroi males are wards of the state and therefore provided for. And this next question perhaps does not apply to the Nedatan order, but are there any menfolk involved in business? Are there any rich male tycoons or magnates? Male entrepreneurs?

As they are technically civilian, Loroi males aren't subject to the blanket prohibition of the warrior class against engaging in commerce. However, it's not as simple as that, as this is a potentially huge loophole to allow the female warrior clans to amass commercial wealth through their related males. Specific rules vary by location, but a male's personal wealth is usually placed in some kind of managed trust, and there are a variety of restrictions on how and when he can do business and how those proceeds are spent, which puts a damper on how effective he can be as a businessman.

The other obstacle is social; like an upper-class human female of our pre-industrial era, there are a variety social restrictions on how Loroi males can spend their time and with whom. Some of these are enforced by social pressure, but some are enforced by law, depending on the locality. So, in general, if a male wants to run a business, he has to do it from behind the scenes. There must be some who have been successful at this, but there probably aren't many, and they will want to avoid publicity.

[Said2k]

what is Loroi television and movies like? do they have romantic movies or something similar? Or is something movies and television something that Loroi have done away with entirely as a more primitive form of entertainment.