Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

[Arioch]

What is the maximum Loroi can achieve with telekinetics? Both in power and in control. Can the best Teidar lift a horse/car/house? Can the best Mizol open a bottle/thread a needle/catch a fly?

Fireblade is near the top end of Loroi in terms of psychokinetic power (at peak performance she can lift about 3 tons), but there is no hard cap on power. PK users with high skill (like Tempo) can perform pretty much any manual feat that a dexterous person could do with her hands.

Is Alex inborn Lotai achievable for Loroi?

There are no Loroi born without a telepathic signature, if that's what you're asking. Even someone born with severe brain damage and who was a telepathic mute would still have a signature.

I am sort of curious about those with good telekinetic ability but lacking the other requirements teidar or mizol. Do they get a chance to use their ability as well? A gallen could probably make use of an invisible extra third arm for example. Anyone working with tools could probably relate to this.

I understand that loroi lotai require active concentration. That should impare the ability to do other complicated tasks.

A Loroi with sufficient PK power (when amplified) to apply lethal force will usually be made Teidar.
A Loroi with any PK who also has high unamplified telepathy power will usually be made Mizol.
A Loroi with low power in both will usually be assigned to the family's traditional caste as usual; this ability may be useful, but it's not common enough that there are formal training practices to maximize PK use for that specialty (though you may be able to find a mentor). It's common enough that in any large gathering of "ordinary" Loroi there's a fair chance that one of them has some PK ability; this is why games like dice are not popular, because you never know for sure whether someone is secretly screwing with the pieces. If the ability is latent, the PK may not consciously know herself. (PK Ouija board games can get freaky.)

[Zamballo]

There are no Loroi born without a telepathic signature, if that's what you're asking. Even someone born with severe brain damage and who was a telepathic mute would still have a signature.

In the Insider you describe Lotai as hiding ones signature, which, while rare and difficult is possible for Loroi. So I was wondering if Alex with his presumably perfect Lotai is something the Loroi have themselfes or if he's more like a unicorn to them. If the former, Stillstorms behaviour appears far more reasonable.

[Arioch]

There are no Loroi born without a telepathic signature, if that's what you're asking. Even someone born with severe brain damage and who was a telepathic mute would still have a signature.

In the Insider you describe Lotai as hiding ones signature, which, while rare and difficult is possible for Loroi. So I was wondering if Alex with his presumably perfect Lotai is something the Loroi have themselfes or if he's more like a unicorn to them. If the former, Stillstorms behaviour appears far more reasonable.

It is possible to learn to consciously disguise one's telepathic signature, but there are not Loroi who are simply born without one.

[Zamballo]

Can a Loroi then learn to become undetectable even when the other Loroi is right in front of them? Like Alex seems to be to Tempo on the bridge.

[Sweforce]

Can a Loroi then learn to become undetectable even when the other Loroi is right in front of them? Like Alex seems to be to Tempo on the bridge.

I doubt that is possible and if it is it would probably require absolute concentration. This is what makes Alex such a freak. A Loroi with Alex lotai would probably be considered to be an holographic projection or perhaps a robot.

[Siber]

It occurred to me recently that the "seems to be" construction of polite Loroi speech has the feature of allowing the speaker to be contradicted by someone else without it being directly interpertable as being an accusation of falsehood. I wonder if that's an intentional aspect of it, or Arioch's part, or just a happy accident?

[orion1836]

It occurred to me recently that the "seems to be" construction of polite Loroi speech has the feature of allowing the speaker to be contradicted by someone else without it being directly interpertable as being an accusation of falsehood. I wonder if that's an intentional aspect of it, or Arioch's part, or just a happy accident?

It sounds a lot like the face-saving language style of the East. Nice cultural touchstone and realistic for a society where emotion is conveyed with language.

[cacambo43]

this is why games like dice are not popular, because you never know for sure whether someone is secretly screwing with the pieces.

How could they not know, unless that player is using lotai, in which case everyone would be suspicious of them anyway?

CJSF

[Arioch]

Can a Loroi then learn to become undetectable even when the other Loroi is right in front of them? Like Alex seems to be to Tempo on the bridge.

No. The closer you are, the harder it is to disguise or hide your signature. Trying to hide your signature when the other Loroi can clearly see you would serve no purpose.

It occurred to me recently that the "seems to be" construction of polite Loroi speech has the feature of allowing the speaker to be contradicted by someone else without it being directly interpertable as being an accusation of falsehood. I wonder if that's an intentional aspect of it, or Arioch's part, or just a happy accident?

It's a little of both. I was initially using "seems" instead of "is" because the latter wasn't in the lexicon yet, but it occurred to me that it was an appropriate polite form (as it's an obfuscation).

this is why games like dice are not popular, because you never know for sure whether someone is secretly screwing with the pieces.

How could they not know, unless that player is using lotai, in which case everyone would be suspicious of them anyway?

Lotai is the ability to hide or disguise one's telepathic signature. There are skills to detect PK use, but not everyone has them, and they have nothing to do with telepathic signature.

[cacambo43]

OK, maybe I meant wouldn't the other players know what the "cheater" was thinking, or is it the case with sanzai that if you're not "talking" no one "hears" you?

CJSF

[Arioch]

OK, maybe I meant wouldn't the other players know what the "cheater" was thinking, or is it the case with sanzai that if you're not "talking" no one "hears" you?

Ordinary Loroi can't automatically read each others' minds. The nature of telepathy makes it difficult to lie about the current subject being discussed, and skilled telepaths can use an open telepathic connection to catch extra hints or outright sneak into someone's mind, but a Loroi's private thoughts are not normally open to everyone. If one Loroi asked another a telepathic question, it would be very difficult for the Loroi to answer convincingly with a telepathic lie (though she could refuse to answer, which would be telling in itself); but if no one asks her the question, it is not a lie to keep the truth to herself.

If two Loroi have a touch link, then it becomes very difficult to for one to conceal information that is sought by the other without actively blocking the other. Touch link can be an intimate sharing of contact between friends, but it's also what a stronger telepathic opponent may do to use some nasty abilities against you.

In the modern Loroi military in which everyone is (nominally) on the same side, there is a certain level of trust, and it is considered rude and a sign of deceit to speak instead of using telepathy. If you introduced a dice game to modern Loroi as an entertainment, they would probably find it interesting. But as for developing dice games themselves, these are the kind of games that develop very early in a society's history, and they often involve trying to win money from players you may not know well or like. In ancient Loroi societies in which armed conflict was often only one insult away, there was often little trust in a group that might gather to try to win each others' money in a game like dice, in which there is a monetary incentive to cheat.

To go back to a question that was put earlier in the thread (why doesn't Fireblade speak?): it is traditional for all Teidar to use telepathy instead of speech whenever possible. The first reason is as mentioned above: it's considered rude and indicates a lack of trust or an attempt at deceit. The second reason is that it's considered cowardly; you refuse a telepathic connection when you're trying to prevent a potentially unfriendly Loroi from penetrating your telepathic defenses. Teidar are "Unsheathed", ready for a fight at all times, and are not supposed to betray any fear or doubt in their own psionic abilities. This is why Teidar trainees are prohibited from speaking: so they have to develop their telepathic defenses. Therefore, when a Teidar speaks aloud to you (in a case where she could use telepathy insead), it is an open declaration of hostile intent, usually in the form of a challenge or an ultimatum.

[Hālian]

Solution: Trouble-style dice poppers?

[Arioch]

Solution: Trouble-style dice poppers?

Is the plastic bubble some kind of psionic barrier that I don't kinow about?

[Hālian]

Yes, it's very very special historian-made psi-proof plastic. That's why Trouble retails for the equivalent of $100 at our Toridas location.

[JQBogus]

Loroi random number generation for games, if needed, could be provided by drawing (identical to the touch) numbered chits from a bag.

I don't think psychometry is a thing they can do, is it?

[raistlin34]

Therefore, when a Teidar speaks aloud to you (in a case where she could use telepathy insead), it is an open declaration of hostile intent, usually in the form of a challenge or an ultimatum.

Which may become a problem, since humans like Jardin usually feel rattled about the lack of verbal communication, and tend to poke the other person into talking them back.

[dragoongfa]

Not replying to someone when directly adressed is seen as a grave insult here in Greece at least, quite possibly almost everywhere in the world from what I have observed.

It is essentially a declaration of considering the individual talking to you as beneath you, to the level of considering them an 'unperson'. Proper decorum due to culture not withstanding a human is expecting a form of responce when addressing someone.

So yeah, a Teidar not replying in any way will be seen as an insult.

[raistlin34]

Not replying to someone when directly adressed is seen as a grave insult here in Greece at least, quite possibly almost everywhere in the world from what I have observed.

It is essentially a declaration of considering the individual talking to you as beneath you, to the level of considering them an 'unperson'. Proper decorum due to culture not withstanding a human is expecting a form of responce when addressing someone.

So yeah, a Teidar not replying in any way will be seen as an insult.

Fun fact: When cops "interview" (an euphemism for interrogation) a suspect, they sometimes give him the silent treatment in order to make the guy talk to them just to break the tension (a natural reaction, specially after several hours). The more he talks (about anything, really), the more possible the detainee ends saying something it can be used against him in Court.
That 's why the first advice any lawyer will give to you when dealing with police is "keep your mouth shout".

[Razor One]

I had a mate of mine learn that one the hard way. He went for a police interview and got a bit chummy and conversational with the police, mentioned that he enjoyed action films. The contents of said conversation were then used in court against him at a later date.

Fortunately, combination of numerous character witnesses, statements, no prior record and a good solicitor and judge got him off with a six month good behaviour bond which he breezed through. Worst case scenario would have been three years in prison.

Never. Trust. A cop.

[Hālian]

What is depicted in the ceiling of Erebas' (Tempest's) bridge lobby? (page 49 panel 2)