Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thread

[Arioch]

Is there political division among the Umiak? If so, what regions of Umiak territory have diverged from the dogma of the Hierarchy?

The military Umiak that outsiders most commonly come into contact with are manufactured and educated by the state. If there is internal Umiak division, these individuals don't know any details about it.

[toyota corolla]

New here, hi.
Is there an in-universe reason why the Historian Emissary acts so blatantly rude and untrustworthy (not only does this sabotage his effectiveness in arguing any particular point, it sabotages the reputation of Historians as it serves as their public face), or is that just following genre tropes?

[Bamax]

New here, hi.
Is there an in-universe reason why the Historian Emissary acts so blatantly rude and untrustworthy (not only does this sabotage his effectiveness in arguing any particular point, it sabotages the reputation of Historians as it serves as their public face), or is that just following genre tropes?

If the Historian talks rather in a patronizing or condescending way toward the Loroi it is seems to be in character for the historian view of Loroi... at least when speaking to them directly.

It also fits genre tropes of a higher but know-it-all race.

Remember the weapons the Loroi fight the war with are based off design schematics given from the Historians.

The Historians have seen a lot happen and go down, and likely are familiar with the old human adage or at least some alien variation of it: "The story of history belongs to the victors."

[spacewhale]

New here, hi.
Is there an in-universe reason why the Historian Emissary acts so blatantly rude and untrustworthy (not only does this sabotage his effectiveness in arguing any particular point, it sabotages the reputation of Historians as it serves as their public face), or is that just following genre tropes?

They get cranky being stored in their little flower pots, like little electronic spyware genies.

[Snoofman]

New here, hi.
Is there an in-universe reason why the Historian Emissary acts so blatantly rude and untrustworthy (not only does this sabotage his effectiveness in arguing any particular point, it sabotages the reputation of Historians as it serves as their public face), or is that just following genre tropes?

If the Historian talks rather in a patronizing or condescending way toward the Loroi it is seems to be in character for the historian view of Loroi... at least when speaking to them directly.

It also fits genre tropes of a higher but know-it-all race.

Remember the weapons the Loroi fight the war with are based off design schematics given from the Historians.

The Historians have seen a lot happen and go down, and likely are familiar with the old human adage or at least some alien variation of it: "The story of history belongs to the victors."

The loroi seem to respect strength. So while politeness seems like the most logical language of diplomats, perhaps the Historians need to display dominance in certain aspects. As if to say, “We are allies, but we are not your subjects.” A display of kindness is beneficial in diplomacy, but showing kindness to an ally that has committed what should be construed as a war crime would be akin to an American diplomat sweet talking Putin into easing up. It just doesn’t work.

Also remember due to the cost of the war, in resources as well as lives, a lot of races are being pushed to their limits. The loroi do not seem popular or regarded fondly for their genocide of the Tithric at the moment. It’s a miracle they haven’t devolved into civil war yet, even with Greywind’s iron fist.

[Arioch]

Cosmic Pillar asks:

Arioch, we've heard a lot about the Loroi and what they believe in, what do the Umiak believe in? Why do they fight? Is there any way that anyone could coexist peacefully with the Umiak?

Umiak individuals are mostly polite, well-socialized and humbly dedicated to the welfare of the group, but they are also deeply obsessive-compulsive, sometimes to the point of becoming manic. Umiak society simultaneously exploits and copes with this tendency by trying to make sure that individuals are always busy, and Umiak philosophy tries to soothe their mania with small repetitive rituals and the message that they are measuring up to what’s expected of them. A distressed or idle Umiak may be heard chattering mantras to itself that translate essentially as “it just doesn’t matter.” Umiak philosophy seems bleak and nihilistic to outsiders, but it helps the task-obsessed individual not to freak out at every minor mistake, and in a military context provides some comfort to the soldier who knows that he’s about to be killed.

On the level of local government and leadership, this racial character has a number of effects. On the one hand, Umiak individuals follow orders well and are inclined to believe whatever they are told. But on the other hand, their obsession with ritual can make it difficult to change how they are doing something if they believe it is the correct or most efficient way, and their need to stay busy can put pressure on leadership to make decisions that may place the short-term needs of the followers rather than the accomplishment of long-term goals. It has also led to a decentralized approach to leadership, both improving productivity and satisfying low-level leaders by giving them some autonomy in how they accomplish their tasks. In civilian contexts this sometimes manifests as reckless use of environment for short-term production gain, and in military contexts it manifests as a need to be constantly on the attack – Umiak crews sitting idle on defense gradually lose effectiveness as they slowly drive themselves crazy, sometimes to the point where they have to be sent on suicide attacks just to be rid of them. In the context of leadership, instructions from higher authority are sometimes deliberately vague to allow for local autonomy, with sometimes messy results. At times group leader A doesn’t know -- or care -- what group leader B is doing, and a group leader ordered to defend may instead attack, if it interprets attack as the best way to accomplish the objective of defense in the current situation.

On a higher level of government, the current leadership has channeled these energies into expansion and advancement. The command philosophy has been that this is not only expedient but also necessary to the geopolitical situation. Umiak civilization rose in the context of a long rebellion against the perceived oppression of a more advanced sister-species (the Tizik-tik), focused on the need to constantly play technological and cultural catch-up. The Umiak collective psyche is afflicted with an inferiority complex and is deeply paranoid. This has manifested in a series of pre-emptive “defensive’ wars against perceived potential threats, culminating in the current war against the Loroi.

Under the current leadership structure, the only way for another political entity to coexist with the Umiak is to become part of the Hierarchy and essentially submit to their total control. Any other form of peaceful coexistence would probably require a change of leadership, at the very least. And since Umiak leadership is decentralized, that is easier said than done.

[GeoModder]

This begs the question how local Umiak society somewbere inside the territory copes with all that. They don't have an exterior border to pour their energies in. All they can do is muscle the local alien population or transfer expedionary fleets outwards.

[Arioch]

This begs the question how local Umiak society somewbere inside the territory copes with all that. They don't have an exterior border to pour their energies in. All they can do is muscle the local alien population or transfer expedionary fleets outwards.

Civilian workers don't have much trouble keeping busy. Someone has to build all that war materiel that the Umiak are so famous for throwing at the enemy. One does not have to personally crack skulls to be an important part of the war effort.

[GeoModder]

Since Umiak leadership is decentralized, hasn't it happened yet at the say province level that the way leaders get appointed changes, or the focus of a new batch of leaders is turned from military production to another worthy goal (say the Umiformation of a low-gravity world)?

[Arioch]

Since Umiak leadership is decentralized, hasn't it happened yet at the say province level that the way leaders get appointed changes, or the focus of a new batch of leaders is turned from military production to another worthy goal (say the Umiformation of a low-gravity world)?

Local systems are not autonomous; they are given specific goals (such as production quotas) but left mostly to their own devices as to how those are met. They are generally not permitted to ignore the assigned goals and do something else (unless they make a really good argument as to why what they're doing is a better choice). A leadership group that regularly misses its assigned goals won't be in charge for very long.

I think the main challenge is overcoming inertia in order to change direction. The bureaucratic nature of the levels of command can make sometimes make it slow for changes in orders to trickle down to the appropriate levels, and it may be difficult to get teams to do something other than what they've become used to doing (especially if it has become a manic ritual). It's a minor problem if the team producing Part A keeps producing something that still looks an awful lot like Part A after you told them to switch to Part B, but a more serious problem if a military unit does something that can't be undone.

The system works well when it allows capable local leaders to act promptly to adapt to a situation without waiting for instructions from higher authority. It works less well when less capable local leaders make bad decisions or fail to aggressively police their subordinates, or when two local leaders decide to do two contradictory things. In the former category you have a Kikitik-27 returning from a suicide assault with a substantial part of its fleet intact. In the latter you have the confused response to the Loroi Semoset offensive, when some local commanders were continuing to launch attrition attacks while others were falling back to regroup.