Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

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Argron
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by Argron »

Well, I don't know how violent the Loroi are as a society, we know that as a civilization they are not warmongers. Do members of the warrior castes usually solve problems and disagreements with blood and violent coups? I would expect the caste system would make loroi in the same caste more peaceful towards each other, while relationship between castes, particularly those that are close in function would ignite sparks, but not continuous fighting as maybe such things bring shame to their whole caste. But dunno.

Regarding attrition, is it systemic or something to do with the Umiak? because we know the Loroi evacuated everyone they could from the colonies and front lines while their warriors delayed the Umiak, so you can bet the first ships to leave were full of males. I kind of also expect high ranking females of civilian castes to be the next to be evacuated, then normal civilians, with warriors last, except for maybe the Torrai that aren't directly needed in the fighting and would by their status receive the highest preference in evacuation. Or maybe not, if that is considered dishonourable.
Most of those that stayed would be massacred and this was repeated all along the front lines, so maybe that's the reason for the relatively higher amount of males.

In the long term though, they would return to population control and I think the system would continue to work the way I mentioned, after all wars would be uncommon, and against most other galactic powers, also brief and less bloody -for the loroi, that is-.

Turrosh Mak
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by Turrosh Mak »

I don't think this question has ever been asked. What do Loroi smell like? Is the smell described in #48 (smoky and sweet like smoldering vanilla candles) the natural scent of Loroi?

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Arioch
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by Arioch »

Argron wrote:Well, I don't know how violent the Loroi are as a society, we know that as a civilization they are not warmongers. Do members of the warrior castes usually solve problems and disagreements with blood and violent coups? I would expect the caste system would make loroi in the same caste more peaceful towards each other, while relationship between castes, particularly those that are close in function would ignite sparks, but not continuous fighting as maybe such things bring shame to their whole caste.
In the current era, violent internal conflict happens but it rare. When it happens it is usually at the higher levels and is due to a schism in the leadership. Three of the four Emperors came to power under violent circumstances (Loremark and Eighth Dawn rose to power in civil wars, and Greywind had to put down a rebellion immediately after rising to power). But I guess three civil wars in 750 years isn't too bad of a record. (Though there were also four foreign conflicts during that span.)

There is some rivalry between castes, but it rarely becomes violent (aside from the odd bar brawl). Duels between individuals are illegal, but they do happen from time to time.
Argron wrote:Regarding attrition, is it systemic or something to do with the Umiak? because we know the Loroi evacuated everyone they could from the colonies and front lines while their warriors delayed the Umiak, so you can bet the first ships to leave were full of males.
Beryl said 1 in 8 just because she thinks in a base-8 system, kind of like how we would say 1 in 10 even if the actual number was 12%. But it's true that Loroi females would have a higher mortality rate than makes, just as human males have a higher mortality rate than human females. We do more dangerous things, have more dangerous jobs, etc.
Turrosh Mak wrote:Is the smell described in #48 (smoky and sweet like smoldering vanilla candles) the natural scent of Loroi?
Yes.

Argron
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by Argron »

Arioch wrote:
Turrosh Mak wrote:Is the smell described in #48 (smoky and sweet like smoldering vanilla candles) the natural scent of Loroi?
Yes.
"Ok, people, final pre-production check of the new courtesan race.
10 females per male: check, almost everyone prefers females, good efficient ratio.
Pretty, young looking all their lives: yes, check.
Blue: duh, check.
Varying hair and eye colours: check, customization is a prerequisite.
Telepathic: check, they will know exactly the most intrincate desires of their masters.
Telekinetic: whu... why? *gets whispered something in the ear* oooh kinky, check!.
Vanilla smell: check, we are going to save a gold mine in sensual scented candles.
Pointy ears: ... DID XABAT SLIP HIS FETISH IN AGAIN? where is that idiot? ... well whatever, it's going to be a pain to undo this so we'll just call it a minor production error. And someone get me Xabat, I'm going to have some words with him..."

*270.000 years later, two Loroi rest after a long sparring session*

-"Truly we were designed to be the best warriors in the galaxy"
-"Indeed"
-"Healthy bodies, excellent coordination and detection through telepathy, and don't even start me on our telekinesis!"
-"Yeah, nobody can compare"
-"Still, what the fuck is up with that annoying smell of vanilla candles?"
*uneasy silence*

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dragoongfa
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by dragoongfa »

Arioch wrote: Yes.
So the alien, genocidal, telepathic warrior race that looks exactly like attractive elf women smells like the candles that half of the women I...dated with... used to set up the mood?

If any of the below actually happens to be canon I will blow a brain artery.

http://www.well-of-souls.com/forums/vie ... 966#p17966

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NuclearIceCream
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by NuclearIceCream »

Argron wrote:"Ok, people, final pre-production check of the new courtesan race.
10 females per male: check, almost everyone prefers females, good efficient ratio.
Pretty, young looking all their lives: yes, check.
Blue: duh, check.
Varying hair and eye colours: check, customization is a prerequisite.
Telepathic: check, they will know exactly the most intrincate desires of their masters.
Telekinetic: whu... why? *gets whispered something in the ear* oooh kinky, check!.
Vanilla smell: check, we are going to save a gold mine in sensual scented candles.
Pointy ears: ... DID XABAT SLIP HIS FETISH IN AGAIN? where is that idiot? ... well whatever, it's going to be a pain to undo this so we'll just call it a minor production error. And someone get me Xabat, I'm going to have some words with him..."

*270.000 years later, two Loroi rest after a long sparring session*

-"Truly we were designed to be the best warriors in the galaxy"
-"Indeed"
-"Healthy bodies, excellent coordination and detection through telepathy, and don't even start me on our telekinesis!"
-"Yeah, nobody can compare"
-"Still, what the fuck is up with that annoying smell of vanilla candles?"
*uneasy silence*
Humanity would have the best time with propaganda if they ended up fighting loroi.

Namaphry
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by Namaphry »

If anybody wants a more prosaic explanation for the Loroi scent, there's always the 'life on a space warship' bit. If you live on a space warship, body odour is one of the worst problems you can have short of enemy action and mechanical failure. Even as bad as bland rations. I know if I was designing a race that was going to spend more hours in turbolifts and maintenance passages than out on the open prarie, I'd do something about it, for sure.

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Hālian
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by Hālian »

What does the Loroi Imperial Fleet look like right now, in the year 2015? What warship classes and weapons do they have now that will be obsolete in 145 years, and what does the fleet of 2160 have that the present-day one doesn't?
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GeoModder
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by GeoModder »

Carl Miller wrote:What does the Loroi Imperial Fleet look like right now, in the year 2015? What warship classes and weapons do they have now that will be obsolete in 145 years, and what does the fleet of 2160 have that the present-day one doesn't?
Interesting question. Weapons are a bit too 'volatile' in their development cycles to make a fairly accurate guess, but some ship classes mentioned in the Insider jump out at first glance.

I'd say the Skymaster (Laimollei), an earlier version of the Halberd (Lerrir) battleship, Catapult (Demen) carrier and Cutlass (Binessit) cruiser ship/classes are pretty sure to be fielded as of now.
Less certain are the Typhoon (Naleil) carrier class, Eye of Heaven (Dostei Sizet) sector command ship, and maybe a first generation Scimitar (Nezatin) heavy cruiser ship/classes.
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Arioch
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by Arioch »

Carl Miller wrote:What does the Loroi Imperial Fleet look like right now, in the year 2015? What warship classes and weapons do they have now that will be obsolete in 145 years, and what does the fleet of 2160 have that the present-day one doesn't?
2015 was in the late phase of Seren sector expansion, and was just 20 years after the civil war that brought Eighth Dawn to power and restored central control to the empire.

The Loroi ship classes of 2015 look very similar to the pre-Semoset classes (Halberd, Starblade, Cutlass, Catapult, Curved Knife), armed with particle beams, lasers and fighters, and using similar drives and ship systems. An early version of the Halberd class would be one of the only current classes already in production at that time; all the other 2015-era classes would have ceased production by the start of the Umiak war (being upwards of 120 years old), and the ships of those classes still in service did not survive the first 20 years of the war. The major difference between the 2015 fleet and the modern one was that there were still a number of hybrid cruiser-carrier classes, with fighters figuring prominently in tactics. The only major armed conflict of that era was Loroi-vs.-Loroi. There was also a larger number of classes, as the empire had been split into multiple factions under Azerein Swiftsure, with separate production facilities, and most of the command ships were one-off designs built specifically for individual flag officers (the top brass having had too much free time on their hands during the long peace prior to the civil war).

2160 ships have plasma weapons (which were not available prior to 2142), newer and more powerful blasters, better-miniaturized lasers, and improved armor and defensive screens. They tend to be faster than their 2015 counterparts. They are also more uniform and mass-produced.

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Hālian
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by Hālian »

Interesting. :o
Arioch wrote:2015... was just 20 years after the civil war that brought Eighth Dawn to power and restored central control to the empire.
The loroi timeline says that was in the 1790s, not the 1990s. :?:
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Hālian
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by Hālian »

Also, could you tell us more about the Interspecies Convention?
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Arioch
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by Arioch »

Carl Miller wrote:
Arioch wrote:2015... was just 20 years after the civil war that brought Eighth Dawn to power and restored central control to the empire.
The loroi timeline says that was in the 1790s, not the 1990s. :?:
Right you are. Misread me own timeline. So the Loroi fleet hadn't fought anybody for quite some time in 2015.
Carl Miller wrote:Also, could you tell us more about the Interspecies Convention?
The Interspecies Convention was an international group with ambitions of being a sort of League of Nations, that first met in 1311 right after the Loroi colonization of Maia, when tensions were running high between the Neridi, Pipolsid and Mannadi, and the Loroi and Mannadi were at war with the Nissek. The Convention met regularly and included delegates from all of the known independent nations at that time (Loroi, Neridi, Pipolsid, Mannadi, Barsam, Nissek, and Arekka). Like most such international organizations, the Convention had no real independent authority, because none of the powerful nations was willing to cede its individual sovereignty.

The Convention failed to prevent the Loroi-Mannadi wars, but that didn't stop them from continuing to meet. After the end of the third war when the Loroi occupation of Mannadi territory started to get really nasty, the Convention was able to rally international public opinion to pressure the Loroi to stop. Azerein Loremark did not respond positively to this pressure, and it looked for a moment as if there would be a general war. The compromised that was reached was the formation of the Loroi Union, in which, essentially, the other races agreed to live in a Loroi-dominated system, in return for having the Loroi refrain from killing everyone that they didn't like. The Convention was dissolved and replaced by the Union Assembly.

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Mr.Tucker
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by Mr.Tucker »

Arioch wrote:
Carl Miller wrote:
Arioch wrote:2015... was just 20 years after the civil war that brought Eighth Dawn to power and restored central control to the empire.
The loroi timeline says that was in the 1790s, not the 1990s. :?:
Right you are. Misread me own timeline. So the Loroi fleet hadn't fought anybody for quite some time in 2015.
Carl Miller wrote:Also, could you tell us more about the Interspecies Convention?
The Interspecies Convention was an international group with ambitions of being a sort of League of Nations, that first met in 1311 right after the Loroi colonization of Maia, when tensions were running high between the Neridi, Pipolsid and Mannadi, and the Loroi and Mannadi were at war with the Nissek. The Convention met regularly and included delegates from all of the known independent nations at that time (Loroi, Neridi, Pipolsid, Mannadi, Barsam, Nissek, and Arekka). Like most such international organizations, the Convention had no real independent authority, because none of the powerful nations was willing to cede its individual sovereignty.

The Convention failed to prevent the Loroi-Mannadi wars, but that didn't stop them from continuing to meet. After the end of the third war when the Loroi occupation of Mannadi territory started to get really nasty, the Convention was able to rally international public opinion to pressure the Loroi to stop. Azerein Loremark did not respond positively to this pressure, and it looked for a moment as if there would be a general war. The compromised that was reached was the formation of the Loroi Union, in which, essentially, the other races agreed to live in a Loroi-dominated system, in return for having the Loroi refrain from killing everyone that they didn't like. The Convention was dissolved and replaced by the Union Assembly.
Hmm....interesting. I thought the Nissek did not involve themselves. Was that a shooting war? Also, the other species giving up their independence sound a bit of to me. After all, if the Loroi were afraid enough to consent, that means they could do some damage. Sound like they just surrendered before the war even started (talking about the Union races).

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Arioch
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by Arioch »

Mr.Tucker wrote:Hmm....interesting. I thought the Nissek did not involve themselves. Was that a shooting war?
The Loroi participation in the Mannadi-Nissek war did not involve any direct combat of Loroi forces, but it was a "shooting war" for the Mannadi. The Nissek had also fought real wars with the Barsam and the Ninnil peoples on the other side of Nissek territory. The Nissek have on numerous occasions attempted to take neighboring territory by force, though mostly unsuccessfully on the now-Union side of space.
Mr.Tucker wrote:Also, the other species giving up their independence sound a bit of to me. After all, if the Loroi were afraid enough to consent, that means they could do some damage. Sound like they just surrendered before the war even started (talking about the Union races).
At this point the Loroi had become the lone superpower of the region; the Neridi and Pipolsid were staunch allies, and the Loroi were currently at war with the Arekka and fighting an insurgency against the surrendered Mannadi (who were being wiped out). The Barsam and Nissek were strong nations, but no match for the new Loroi empire. No one had any stomach for war with the Loroi; it would have meant almost certain defeat, and history had shown that defeat by the Loroi meant complete subjugation or worse. The odds would not have been attractive even if they had all banded together, which would never have happened -- the Barsam and Nissek hated each other, and the Neridi and Pipolsid governments would never have turned on their longtime allies and benefactors. When the Interspecies Convention made noises about war crimes tribunals, Azerein Loremark knew it was a bluff and called it. The Loroi had little desire for further conquest, but were very cranky after a century of war with the Mannadi, and were not to be trifled with. The Loroi take perceived betrayal very seriously, and they don't do things by half-measures.

Since the Neridi and Pipolsid were already essentially client states, and the Arekka and Mannadi were already beaten and facing occupation or extermination, the only nation that lost some independence in joining the Union was the Barsam, who were instrumental in making the deal work. Though it was the Barsam who had objected most strongly to the Loroi "war crimes," the Barsam abhor violence and so were not eager to fight a war that they would almost certainly lose. When faced with a growing militaristic empire and the danger of a widening war, it seemed sensible to the Barsam to use what peaceful diplomatic influence they had with the Loroi and their allies to end the war and convert the empire into some semblance of an international representational government. And from the Barsam point of view, the Union was a success; the war was ended, the Arekka and Mannadi were spared from further occupation and extinction, those living in the Loroi shadow gained a formal say in the affairs of the state, and the pacifistic Barsam were not overly sorry to have to give up the larger part of their defense forces. The Nissek did not formally join the Union, and so the only thing they gave up was their ambition of further expansion into the Local Bubble, which they had already long since decided was impractical.

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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by Sweforce »

I guess that this is more or less one of those questions that can be answered with a yes or no while I supply a theory.

Pointy ears, why does the loroi have them? Well it is my understanding that the Soia at some point investigated life on earth and cracked the code for how DNA works. Armed with this they probably used a translation program to translate human DNA to Soia-liron genetic code. When you are at it, prior to conversion you better remove lots of junk code and debug the genome. During this process they found that humans indeed have the genetic code for pointed ears, like most earth mammals have. Primates, of some reason however have lost their pointed ears, probably due to a bug that prevent the pointed ears from forming. Traces of this can be seen in people that actually DO have somewhat pointed ears when some of the code is active. The soia noticed the bug that shut of the "pointy ears" genes in primates and fixed the bug. Hench why the loroi have pointy ears. Or maybe it was just Xabat having a fetish :P

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Arioch
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by Arioch »

Sweforce wrote:Pointy ears, why does the loroi have them?
There's no way for anyone to know.

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dragoongfa
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by dragoongfa »

They have pointy ears because Arioch thinks they are cool, sexy and wanted space elves in the story :mrgreen:

Namaphry
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by Namaphry »

The Soia-Liron empire fell a very, very long time ago, at a time when there were still several species of humans on Earth, and modern humans were neither the most dominant nor the most widespread. So, if the Loroi genome is based on a human species, it could have been a psi-powered, pointy-eared race we drove to extinction a hundred thousand years ago! After all, why mess around with the formation of giant heads when nature can do it for you?

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Onaiom
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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Post by Onaiom »

If you put Alex, Stillstorm and 10 Golim in a room, they would try to kill Alex ?

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