Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread
Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2024 2:37 pm
How much of the Loroi menfolk populace is enrolled within the Nedatan order?
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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.
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.Urist wrote: ↑Tue Mar 05, 2024 11:58 pmIt'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?
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.SaintofM wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2024 8:07 amBesides 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?
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).Arioch wrote: ↑Fri Feb 16, 2024 6:50 amReactions 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.
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.Urist wrote: ↑Fri Feb 16, 2024 5:35 amWhen 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.
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.Arioch wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2024 6:47 pmI'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.
Arioch wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2024 6:47 pmI'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.
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.Bamax wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:09 pmNot 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.Arioch wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2024 6:47 pmI'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.
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.
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 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 17, 2024 12:34 amArioch... 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.
Then maybe the Loroi were giving him bland food on purpose since as an unknown alien they thought to just give him the basics.Arioch wrote: ↑Sun Mar 17, 2024 1:44 amI 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 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 17, 2024 12:34 amArioch... 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.
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 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.Arioch wrote: ↑Sun Mar 17, 2024 6:27 amThe 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.
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.Snoofman wrote: ↑Tue Mar 19, 2024 4:41 pmI 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?