Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

[Snoofman]

If a low ranking civilian of a guild receives better pay and accommodations than a warrior of analogous rank, I’m surprised that the state has managed to hold onto its warriors at all. I understand that warriors fight for honor and duty but Wouldn’t a warrior who realizes that a civilian is getting more than her become jealous? Or even disillusioned with military life? What would compel her to stay other than duty and the possibility of climbing the ranks to a seat of power?

Perhaps that is a subject which Eighth Dawn and Greywind didn’t agree upon; about the ‘unfair’ distribution of wealth and uneven salaries between warriors and civilians.

Hasn’t it been said that warriors lead exotic lives? Because it almost sounds like the civilians have the better deal. With the exception of high-ranking warriors being the rulers and policy makers.

[gaerzi]

If a low ranking civilian of a guild receives better pay and accommodations than a warrior of analogous rank, I’m surprised that the state has managed to hold onto its warriors at all. I understand that warriors fight for honor and duty but Wouldn’t a warrior who realizes that a civilian is getting more than her become jealous? Or even disillusioned with military life? What would compel her to stay other than duty and the possibility of climbing the ranks to a seat of power?

Define "getting more". Getting more what? Wealth? Comfort? Such things a warrior craves not.

In the end, more than wealth, what matters is power. In our civilization, power is achieved through wealth, so people crave wealth. In Loroi culture, power is achieved through glory, and glory is not obtained through a lavish and indulgent lifestyle.

That that I would expect the majority of civilians to be wealthy. A select few probably are, but the majority are probably just at the threshold of comfort for a civilization of their tech level. We're talking after all about a militaristic society which is engaged in a total war for survival against a genocidal enemy. There's not going to be much of the nation's production capacity that is dedicated to excessive comfort, most of the resources will be spent on the war effort and anything a civilian own can be requisitioned without compensation if there's a need for it.

[Cthulhu]

Thanks for the detailed answers, and Merry Christmas!

[Arioch]

If a low ranking civilian of a guild receives better pay and accommodations than a warrior of analogous rank, I’m surprised that the state has managed to hold onto its warriors at all. I understand that warriors fight for honor and duty but Wouldn’t a warrior who realizes that a civilian is getting more than her become jealous? Or even disillusioned with military life? What would compel her to stay other than duty and the possibility of climbing the ranks to a seat of power?

The Loroi state provides most services for a warrior that a civilian would have to pay for out of her own pocket, so the latter is not "wealthier" just because she receives a larger monthly sum. The rank and file warrior and civilian worker have roughly similar standards of living. If one is averse to personal danger and values comfort above all else, then becoming a warrior probably doesn't seem like a good deal, but that's not how young people in a martial culture think.

In today's modern prosperous consumer economy, we seem to place a lot of important on wealth, and personal income has become perhaps our most important status symbol. But in much of our history, the wealthiest individuals (merchants and traders) had some of the lowest social status. Then as now, the most effective way to make money was by moving money around, but in many ancient and medieval societies this means of obtaining wealth was detested by both noble and commoner. Especially in the East, merchants sometimes had a social status even below the common laborer. Ethnic minorities associated with finance were some of the most hated, both in the East and West. Merchants were tolerated for the goods and services they could provide (even when some, such as moneylending, were illicit if not illegal in Christian and Muslim cultures), and their wealth was envied, but there weren't a lot knights or samurai volunteering to renounce their vows to become merchants. There were many in the upper classes who did make it a priority to amass as much wealth as they could, but a martial culture that becomes focused on personal comfort doesn't stay very martial for long. Warfare is an excessively uncomfortable business.

Loroi warriors can and do drop out of the warrior class, most often before or during the warrior trials, but this means becoming an outcast to friends and family. An adult warrior who has earned warrior status with her blood and sweat does not lightly give it up just for a better paycheck.

Hasn’t it been said that warriors lead exotic lives? Because it almost sounds like the civilians have the better deal. With the exception of high-ranking warriors being the rulers and policy makers.

Not sure what you mean by "exotic."

[Bamax]

Let me put it to you this way... if the law said unless you join the miltary you can never ever have sex with a female would you join?

That is what Loroi are up against.... only reversed.

As a child I could care less, but I would rapidly change my mind as an adult that's for sure.

It's only a matter of weighing risk versus reward and how bad you want the reward.

For many Loroi.... it's worth it.


Humans already restrict themselves in all sorts of ways in all sorts of religious and political groups for whatever figurative carrot at the end of the stick they believe they will get in return... even if it is only a myth and not even true.

People literally sacrifice their lives over stuff like this.


Given how close Loroi are to us in mindset, it should not surprise if warriors restrict themselves in life in order to have the right to bear offspring and protect their space empire.

[spacewhale]

Not sure what you mean by "exotic."

They get to undress alien navigators and probe them. I assume it's more like go off-world and fight, not end up toiling in a field producing food units for the central authority.

Unrelated note, did anyone commission some Xmas stuff this year?

[Arioch]

Unrelated note, did anyone commission some Xmas stuff this year?

Yes.

[Bamax]

I can probably safely assume the Loroi and others use room temperature super conductors a lot... which means they can transfer electrical power with zero resistance at room temperature. Normally that resistance is lost as waste heat using resistant conductors. Superconducting does not totally eliminate the issue of waste heat, it just shifts it elsewhere away from the superconducting cable or wire I read. Meaning that the waste heat will eventually end up in non-conductive areas.

I say that based upon what I read online if it is true, and I think it likely is as it does not sound too good to be true and that gives it a seeming resemblance to truthfulness:

The second issue is that electric energy in a superconductor does not stay around forever. Superconductors have no resistance, but there are other effects which will matter. Whenever you have a loop, you have an inductor, and inductors "couple," which means energy is slowly shared between them via magnetic effects. This can transfer the power to non-superconductors, which then burn that energy out via resistance.

Taken from: https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com ... t-a-planet



Room temperature superconductors are important for the design of stuff like oh I dunno... particle beam blaster pistols and most things that require high energy at a moment's notice.

[Quickdraw101]

Pretty sure I asked this before, but I just want some clarification. Aliens are allowed on Loroi worlds, right? It's just that most Loroi, military and civilian alike won't like them being there?

[Bamax]

Pretty sure I asked this before, but I just want some clarification. Aliens are allowed on Loroi worlds, right? It's just that most Loroi, military and civilian alike won't like them being there?

Not so true! Not every Loroi is a raving xenophobe.

Any alien can live in Loroi territory but would be subject to their laws.

I have read that Neridi get along good with the Loroi... the Barsam either manage to make some Loroi converts or otherwise annoy them.

The others I am less familiar with.

[Arioch]

Pretty sure I asked this before, but I just want some clarification. Aliens are allowed on Loroi worlds, right? It's just that most Loroi, military and civilian alike won't like them being there?

Aliens require a visa to visit or establish residence on a Loroi-controlled world. How easy or difficult that is to get depends on the local regulations.

Frontier colony worlds tend not to be very fussy about who lives there, as long as they have the proper registrations and abide by local rules.

For the core Loroi worlds, including Deinar, it's usually not too hard to get a visa to visit or to engage in trade; the orbital stations and spaceport cities usually have facilities and infrastructure for alien visitors. Aliens who wish to reside on a Loroi world for commerce or diplomatic activities will need to get the appropriate permissions and licenses (which will not always be easy to get, as some Loroi nations still operate under a form of mercantilism and have not full embraced free markets), and some cities such as Toridas on Deinar have "diplomatic districts" or "trade districts" in which there are significant numbers of alien residents. While aliens with appropriate visas are usually permitted to go most places on a Loroi world (obvious exceptions being certain military installations), they are encouraged to reside in the districts provided for them. Non-telepathic aliens trying to live in a Loroi residential area would find difficulties for both themselves and their Loroi neighbors, not just of Loroi unease at the presence of outsiders, but also in practical matters of not being able to easily communicate with many of the locals. However, there are exceptions to every rule, and there are a few alien expats living deep inside Loroi communities.

There are some worlds that are partially controlled by the Loroi and partially by another factions (usually Neridi or Pipolsid). These function as separate terrestrial nations such as we have on Earth, and each has its own customs and immigration systems.

[Snoofman]

Love the new concept images in the Insider section. I also find the Nedatan caretaker’s outfit intriguing. What is that headpiece she wears? A coif of some kind? And why the baggy pants?

[Arioch]

Love the new concept images in the Insider section. I also find the Nedatan caretaker’s outfit intriguing. What is that headpiece she wears? A coif of some kind? And why the baggy pants?

A Nedatan residence is part monastery, part college dorm, and part brothel, so I figure that it would be useful to have hazmat attachments for the caretaker uniform in their role as nurse/maid/den mother/mama-san. Plus it has kind of a "nun" look to it, which seems thematically appropriate.

The Loroi typically put pockets or pouches on their hips, and this is just that turned up to 11.

[Quickdraw101]

It's a pouch for when small cranky Loroi boys need to take a nap.

[gigachad]

What would be the reaction of Loroi if humanity were not just unreadable, but it would create a field of emptiness completely denying and literally turning off telepathy and ability associated with telekinesis, moreover at an arbitrary distance, would it be a fear of disgust? Or all at once?

[Bamax]

I know Loroi medical tech is advanced.


And gravity field generation is a useful scifi conceit

But if a Loroi vessel saved the power it puts inti gravity generation and spent on either engine or weapon output... I actually think Loroi would be fine.

I realize the damage done from extended stays of weightlessness is irreversable for us... but with Loroi med tech.... maybe not?

So what I am saying is... Loroi could... at the expense of comfort... forgo gravity generation, becuause their medicl can repair any damsage they take from weightlessness.

[Arioch]

What would be the reaction of Loroi if humanity were not just unreadable, but it would create a field of emptiness completely denying and literally turning off telepathy and ability associated with telekinesis, moreover at an arbitrary distance, would it be a fear of disgust? Or all at once?

That would obviously be a serious problem, but how Loroi would react would depend on the context. Hypotheticals are problematic because they require a lot of assumptions.

[gaerzi]

What would be the reaction of Loroi if humanity were not just unreadable, but it would create a field of emptiness completely denying and literally turning off telepathy and ability associated with telekinesis, moreover at an arbitrary distance, would it be a fear of disgust? Or all at once?

Given how so far 100% of all surviving human protagonists* have started to develop their own telepathic powers after prolonged contact with the Loroi, I think this hypothesis is quite unlikely to be the way the plot is going to go.

* okay, sure, the sample size is too small for accurate statistics

[Snoofman]

How aggressive or violent are loroi males to their female counterparts?

If males are typically gentler, is it reasonable to say that males have a pacifying effect on females? Do they encourage or discourage violence in loroi society?

Also have there ever been any males with strong telekinesis? I understand males are prohibited from entering the military, but could a telekinetic male have some use to the military?

[Arioch]

How aggressive or violent are loroi males to their female counterparts?

Not at all. A Loroi male is not any kind of physical threat to a female.

rain_vs_frostbite_size_comparison.jpg (62.92 KiB) Viewed 40601 times

If males are typically gentler, is it reasonable to say that males have a pacifying effect on females? Do they encourage or discourage violence in loroi society?

Violence is certainly not permitted around the males, but individual Loroi females (excepting the caretakers) don't spend a large percentage of their time around the males, so this really doesn't have much impact on female violence. Loroi culture is a warrior culture, and males have an active role in promoting this culture (through the keeping and retelling of the heroic myths, among other things), so while males don't active engage in violence, they aren't generally promoters of pacifism.

Also have there ever been any males with strong telekinesis? I understand males are prohibited from entering the military, but could a telekinetic male have some use to the military?

Males are as likely as females to have telekinetic abilities, but since there are fewer males than females the numbers are correspondingly smaller, and since psionic amplifiers are not used on males (for safety reasons, and because the amps are military items), males with lethal psychokinetic power are very rare. Males are strictly forbidden from joining the military, but as with civilian females, there are non-military applications for psychokinesis.