Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

[Razor One]

It's more probably a case of their long lives and caste system enforcing a more traditionalist and rigid culture than you'd find in humanity. New ideas only get to be tried and tested once the old guard are removed from power, at which point the technology that inspired those new ideas has matured. Even if you get the rare Loroi entrepreneur who comes up with a new idea, the traditionalist way of thinking probably keeps it out until new leadership arises and looks to prove itself. Since Loroi lifespans max out at 400 without medical intervention, this would seem to track.

[Arioch]

Whats with airships and balloons? Did the Loroi use them on any of the sisterworlds?

I can imagine them experimenting with steam-powered airships, but I think they would have come to the same conclusion we did: airships are too vulnerable to the weather to be viable transports or weapon platforms. Balloons could have been used for battlefield observation, as they were in the American Civil War, but they're not useful for much else.

The only environment I can think of in which airships could be interesting would be a planet with a very dense atmosphere. This would allow an airship to be quite heavy, mounting armor and heavy weapons and a powerful drive system.

So, they are less adventurous than we are, I guess?

They are less eager to pursue advancement for its own sake. They have a conservative, rigid culture, long lifespans, and mental abilities that made many early technologies seem irrelevant and not worth pursuing. For example, early missile weapon were of little use against units with telekinetic officers, and so there was not a lot of effort put into experimenting with them. Moreover, the warrior elite was not crazy about developing weapons that could put power into the hands of untrained civilians. The Loroi on Deinar were still using ranked melee infantry well into their industrial age.

One might think, "well, shouldn't a martial culture be eager to advance technology? Better technology means better weapons." Except that there were many martial Earth cultures that actively resisted the advance of technology, the most obvious example being Japan during the Edo period from 1600-1868. Martial cultures tend to be conservative, and interested in maintaining the status quo. Most important scientific breakthroughs come without a specific application in mind, and so for regular advancement you have to have a culture that values research for its own sake, and a scientific establishment that is constantly pursuing it.

[dragoongfa]

This has been bothering me for a while and I just can't stop myself from asking.

Are all of the skulls in the Tempest fresco really Loroi?

http://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider050.html

Because three of them are clearly different.

[Sweforce]

This has been bothering me for a while and I just can't stop myself from asking.

Are all of the skulls in the Tempest fresco really Loroi?

http://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider050.html

Because three of them are clearly different.

Those three seem to show the underside of the skulls, an non common angle in skull depictions. What worries me thou is that one of them is clearly smaller then the rest. That have some unfortunate implications. What we do not know if Tempest slew all those people or if they are her people and she is out for revenge or something like that.

[Razor One]

Sweforce is right, it's the underside of the Loroi skulls. Compare with the underside of a Human skull, all the holes are in the right place.

[dragoongfa]

In my defense, I never saw the underside of human skulls before

[Razor One]

In my defense, I never saw the underside of human skulls before

That's fair, even I hadn't really looked at skulls from that angle before, and it really did look completely alien to me too until I read Sweforce's post, rethought, and then checked to make sure. Skeletons at most any angle, yes, but the underside of a human skull? Never. It's always depicted facing forward or they're always in piles relatively upright... you never get to see the underside, so the first time you see it you think 'what is this?!' instead of 'oh, underside of a skull, ho hum'.

And now I just caught myself googling about for those churches, ossuaries and other religious sites made of bones, skulls and other human remains and wondering if the Loroi ever did the same thing. And if they didn't, then damn humans, you macabre.

[Argron]

Sweforce is right, it's the underside of the Loroi skulls. Compare with the underside of a Human skull, all the holes are in the right place.

What has been seen, cannot be unseen man that was creepy.

What are the next few steps in weapons development in the Outsider known universe? will those be continuous advancements in plasma weaponry? making the wave-loom weapons more efficient (it seems like there is massive room for improvement there but also interesting possibilities)? what kinds of weapons come even after that?

[Grayhome]

I was curious, Arioch, what in general does the philosopher's caste do? I believe you said that they were all/mostly male? Could we have a general run down of their activities and goals?

[Arioch]

What are the next few steps in weapons development in the Outsider known universe? will those be continuous advancements in plasma weaponry? making the wave-loom weapons more efficient (it seems like there is massive room for improvement there but also interesting possibilities)? what kinds of weapons come even after that?

I try to avoid commenting on what might happen in the future of the story.

I was curious, Arioch, what in general does the philosopher's caste do? I believe you said that they were all/mostly male? Could we have a general run down of their activities and goals?

The philosopher class is all male, and has two main roles: to preserve, interpret and disseminate the ancient Loroi telepathic sagas, and to minister to the spiritual well-being of the populace. The largest of the philosopher orders is the Nedatan, which contains a numbers of sub-specialties, chiefly:

Nedatan Ninzadi: scholars, usually the offspring of Listel, who serve as a living repository of the sagas, which are not written down.

Nedatan Tiret: counselors who recount the sagas and discuss their meaning, in both public and private sessions, and who offer spiritual and psychological counsel. These discussions may involve direct telepathic contact via touch (even in public sessions), and the private sessions may also include sexual contact. (Insert Catholic Priest joke here)

Nedatan Timadi: sensitive telepaths who remotely monitor the distribution and well-being of the populace. They use similar techniques and devices to those also used by the Farseers.

[Hālian]

How long ago did the loroi invent the first device that we would recognize as a (1) computer (2) personal computer? Do they use materials and technology similar to human computers (silicon, transistors, integrated circuitry)? If not, what sort of materials and technology do they use?

[Arioch]

How long ago did the loroi invent the first device that we would recognize as a (1) computer (2) personal computer? Do they use materials and technology similar to human computers (silicon, transistors, integrated circuitry)? If not, what sort of materials and technology do they use?

As with humanity, the first Loroi computers came as anti-aircraft ballistic calculation devices in response to the rise of airpower, but aircraft came to the Loroi much later along the technological curve. For Humanity, the TL6-TL7 era spanned 100 years in the midst of two world wars and a postwar arms and space race. For the Loroi, TL6-TL7 spanned roughly 300 years during a period of relative peace and prosperity.

The first Loroi minicomputers were TL7 integrated circuit devices around 620 CE (as opposed to the human TL6 "zinc-plated, vacuum-tubed" efforts). The Loroi mostly skipped the TL7 personal computer and went straight to TL8 mobile computing devices, around 700 CE.

These are Deinar timelines. The southern Taben Loroi cultures had some fairly sophisticated computers that were reverse-engineered from Soia examples, but very late in their tech calendar (as they did not fight very much amongst themselves). The Perrein cultures had no computers prior to reunification.

I wouldn't wish to speculate on exactly what materials and processes were used for early Loroi semiconductors.

[Onaiom]

How advanced was the Perrein technology prior to reunification ?

[Arioch]

How advanced was the Perrein technology prior to reunification ?

Perrein civilization was in sorry shape around 800 CE; after a series of wars that included the use of atomic weapons, the city-states became isolated and regressed to TL5 (early industrial).

Perrein had always been a bit backward technologically, as there were no precursor ruins there to follow, but prior to the atomic wars, some nations had reached as high as TL7 and had developed flight.

[Hālian]

I wouldn't wish to speculate on exactly what materials and processes were used for early Loroi semiconductors.

Why not?

[Arioch]

I wouldn't wish to speculate on exactly what materials and processes were used for early Loroi semiconductors.

Why not?

I have only so much RAM in my head... some things I have to choose not to care about.

[Hālian]

Obviously you need to download more RAM.

[Sweforce]

Obviously you need to download more RAM.

RAM are not downloaded, it is physical but there is RAM management software. That can be downloaded, or it could if it isn't for our human lotai, no point asking Beryl for help now, well there is but not of that reason.

[icekatze]

hi hi

You wouldn't download a car... would you?

Speaking of downloading more RAM though, I wonder, can Loroi telepathy help them pool their mental resources at all?

[Hālian]

RAM [is] not downloaded