Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

[Nemo]

... Also, though eidetic memory is rare, there are other traits that are more rare...

I would have figured the Loroi to be the type to be willing to engage in selective breeding to enhance those odds. At least in peace time, or whatever passes for such.

[GeoModder]

... Also, though eidetic memory is rare, there are other traits that are more rare...

I would have figured the Loroi to be the type to be willing to engage in selective breeding to enhance those odds. At least in peace time, or whatever passes for such.

I'm pretty sure that selective breeding is ongoing as we speak. At the very least in the more affluent/influent portions of Loroi society. And the results thusfar are what we observe in some individuals' capabilities.

[icekatze]

hi hi

I'm not 100% sure on this, but I seem to recall hearing that there was an unusually low correlation between the telepathic ability of the parent and the child, which made selective breeding for such traits difficult.

[Nemo]

Now that you mention it, that does ring a bell.

[discord]

'difficult' means they tried, and probably tried hard.

[sunphoenix]

'difficult' means they tried, and probably tried hard.

... or at least frequently and ardently!

[Grayhome]

Hey Arioch, when the Loroi do that mind rapey thing to the Golim, are the Golim capable of becoming scientists? Can a Loroi mind rape a Golim to go learn the science of say, plasma cannon physics and then send that Golim off to "innovate" a new upgrade for the plasma cannon? Or does the process kill any and all ability of the Golim to be creative at all?

[Arioch]

Hey Arioch, when the Loroi do that mind rapey thing to the Golim, are the Golim capable of becoming scientists? Can a Loroi mind rape a Golim to go learn the science of say, plasma cannon physics and then send that Golim off to "innovate" a new upgrade for the plasma cannon? Or does the process kill any and all ability of the Golim to be creative at all?

A Golim in the presence of a Loroi becomes mesmerized and dominated by the will of that Loroi. The Golim mind still functions, but it's not a state of mind that's especially conducive to critical thinking or innovation. The Golim wouldn't be able to do anything that it couldn't do normally, and it certainly wouldn't be able to invent anything that the Loroi couldn't.

[Grayhome]

Ok so, hypothetical question time then, if the Loroi encounter a race of entities that are to them as they are to the Golim, would the Loroi be as willing to "submit"? Curious since Loroi society seems to be "those who have the power deserve to rule", so let's say a race emerges and gives out a broadcast which "demands" that the Loroi willingly submit their race to be labor slaves, as the Loroi have enslaved the Golim. Would the Loroi comply? I mean if the range of control was limited and all they received was a large scale broadcast, would Loroi outside of "puppeteer" range willing pack their bags and move over to be mind raped into drooling obedience?

All Loroi Telepathic defenses prove useless in this hypothetical situation.

Also, if one Loroi did what the Loroi do to the Golim to another Loroi, how tolerated is that amongst Loroi society?

[Arioch]

Ok so, hypothetical question time then, if the Loroi encounter a race of entities that are to them as they are to the Golim, would the Loroi be as willing to "submit"? Curious since Loroi society seems to be "those who have the power deserve to rule", so let's say a race emerges and gives out a broadcast which "demands" that the Loroi willingly submit their race to be labor slaves, as the Loroi have enslaved the Golim. Would the Loroi comply? I mean if the range of control was limited and all they received was a large scale broadcast, would Loroi outside of "puppeteer" range willing pack their bags and move over to be mind raped into drooling obedience?

All Loroi Telepathic defenses prove useless in this hypothetical situation.

Also, if one Loroi did what the Loroi do to the Golim to another Loroi, how tolerated is that amongst Loroi society?

The Loroi are very uneasy about the relationship. The telepathic enthrallment of the Golim is a passive effect; it happens whether or not the Loroi is consciously trying to influence the Golim. Most Loroi dislike the presence of aliens, detest the idea of both slavery and slave-taking, and find the unconscious telepathic synchronicity to be creepy at best, but the Golim are so useful as hostile-environment labor that the Loroi would be foolish not to exploit the situation. The Golim also has little choice in the matter; the enthrallment is automatic within a certain range of a Loroi (depending on individual telepathic power). The only way to avoid it is to stay physically distant from all Loroi. Many Golim choose to keep this distance, and the Loroi have cooperated by establishing safe havens where Golim can live without Loroi interference. However, many Golim find this enthrallment to be pleasurable and even spiritual, and so voluntarily put themselves within proximity of Loroi, and deliberately take jobs on Loroi planets, stations, and ships. It's worth pointing out that the Golim are not technically slaves -- they must be compensated for their labor according to standard Union rules. But it is true that if a Loroi ordered a Golim to walk out of an open airlock, it would obey.

If some entity had a similar power over Loroi, I think that it's unlikely that most Loroi would welcome the enthrallment, and so most would seek to avoid it. I'm sure there would be exceptions, just as there are some humans who seek liberty at all costs and others who seek the comfort of a master. Loroi are proud... they respect force and order, but I think most would not react well to a loss of free will.

Powerful Loroi telepaths have limited ability to affect the minds of some aliens and other Loroi, but nothing as broad or effortless as experienced with the Golim. Mind control is possible with sufficient power and skill, but is usually limited to touch range and requires intense concentration to maintain. Most Loroi have telepathic defenses that make establishing such control very difficult. The moment such control is broken, the subject regains full autonomy, and in the case of a Loroi vs. Loroi control attempt, violence would probably ensue.

[Grayhome]

Are there any technologies around that would enable aliens to interpret/understand Telepathy or broadcast it themselves? It would seem to be a priority for merchants especially who wanted to interact with Loroi customers, or scholars who wanted to learn their history.

[GeoModder]

AFAIK, its a unique ability of the Loroi.

[Arioch]

Are there any technologies around that would enable aliens to interpret/understand Telepathy or broadcast it themselves? It would seem to be a priority for merchants especially who wanted to interact with Loroi customers, or scholars who wanted to learn their history.

There are devices that can amplify or dampen telepathy, but none that can record or translate its content (hence the need for Listel).

[Hālian]

Has there been any discernable progress in that field?

[Arioch]

Has there been any discernable progress in that field?

No.

[GeoModder]

There are devices that can amplify or dampen telepathy, but none that can record or translate its content (hence the need for Listel).

Interesting. So the Umiak at Naam could, theoretically, have brought a 100% telepathy dampener with them so the Farseers couldn't detect them?

[cacambo43]

Interesting. So the Umiak at Naam could, theoretically, have brought a 100% telepathy dampener with them so the Farseers couldn't detect them?

I believe that could be true, hypothetically, but I find it unconvincing that the Umiak's ability to evade the Farseers is separate from humanity's appearance on the Galactic scene. That's a heavy bit of alluding Arioch would seem to have done for nothing, if it's all coincidental.

CJSF

[Zakharra]

There are devices that can amplify or dampen telepathy, but none that can record or translate its content (hence the need for Listel).

Interesting. So the Umiak at Naam could, theoretically, have brought a 100% telepathy dampener with them so the Farseers couldn't detect them?

Apparently they have developed something that blocks the Farseers abilities to a large degree. I don't know if it completely hides the Umiak (it seems like it can), but it can apparently severely degrade the Farseers abilities to detect life forms at range. The Umaik commander did mention that several powerful Umiak fleets were using it to launch an attack at the Loroi stronghold planets and intend to -pass- them to strike for the Loroi heartland systems. If it succeeds, it will seriously hurt the Loroi war effort. Even if every Umiak ship is destroyed, it's a victory for the Umiak who can replace the losses a lot faster.

[fredgiblet]

If it completely blocked Farsight then the Loroi wouldn't have known to be there, so I think it's pretty clear that it didn't, however that doesn't mean that the Umiak don't have a BETTER version/setting available that they weren't using in the Naam system that could render them invisible.

[projekcja]

My understanding was that the Loroi didn't detect the Umiak fleet through far-sensing, but through normal sensors, despite those being hampered by the proplyd. Since Alex told us that he purposefully withheld the information that there were 4 additional Humaniti scoutships, I expect this to be important, in that one of the other scoutships' encounter with the Umiak somehow resulted in the Umiak far-sensing immunity.

Possible explanations that crossed my mind:
1) The Umiak have some kind of telepaths from one of their allied races on their ships (do they?) which recognized Humaniti's Lotai, and figured out a way to use it.
2) An Umiak ship that took some Humans prisoners noticed that the Loroi were acting as if they're invisible, and eventually figured out that having a Human in your ship makes your ship invisible to far-sensing.
3) Alex himself is the reason Umiak cant be sensed - his presence in one of the ships of the Loroi fleet is enough to distract and confuse all Loroi far-sensing crew, and the Umiak claims to have developed a shield and to have used it to send fleets to Azimol are lies designed to use the fact that this particular Loroi fleet did not seem to notice them.
4) The far-sensing invisibility is the result of a precursor artifact (precursor meaning of any old origin, soia or otherwise), and Humaniti's recent arrival really is a coincidence, just like the Bellermine's destruction at the hand of a 3rd party right before their first encounter with the Loroi/Umiak.