Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

[GeoModder]

Armor-piercing, of course. And ideally in a very high-powered rifle. You're not going to be able to kill it at point blank with a gun that can't kill a watermelon from three miles away.

3 miles away? Isn't that way over the horizon (of Earth) for about all combat circumstances?

[discord]

ice: against teidar, hyper velocity long range sniper ftw. first shot is the only one with a reasonable chance, and the farther away you are the better the odds of the target not noticing you.
or heavy artillery strike.

[Southern Cross]

Or use lasers (at least to blind the Teidar first) plus robot weaponry...

[Grayhome]

So I have been wondering, Arioch what made you decide to make the Loroi not want to share meals with Alex? Communal eating is a very big part of the human experience, historically and politically.

See It's ok to be Smart for details: "Why Do We Cook?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wpfwu__PF7Y

[Arioch]

So I have been wondering, Arioch what made you decide to make the Loroi not want to share meals with Alex? Communal eating is a very big part of the human experience, historically and politically.

Communal eating is significant to the Loroi as well, but males and females are divided into different segments of society, and do not share a sense of family. There are sets of taboos that govern how males and females interact, and the eating thing is just one of them.

The idea came from reading about the Maasai, who also have a gender-segregated warrior society. The male warriors are not supposed to eat in front of the females.

See It's ok to be Smart for details: "Why Do We Cook?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wpfwu__PF7Y

Another element that he didn't mention is that the muscles that power those large ape and early hominid jaws also restrict skull growth; as we cooked food and made it easier to chew, our jaws and jaw muscles grew smaller, which eased the restriction on our braincases getting bigger, and the extra nutrition helped power that growing brain. And the cycle fed in on itself.

As an aside, the Maasai don't traditionally cook their food; their diet was mainly blood and raw milk from their cattle, neither of which really gains huge nutritional benefits from being cooked. So there's more than one way to do it.

[icekatze]

hi hi

You'll often hear a similar story from dedicated athletes, that at some point during their training, eating shifts from being eating food to refueling. Just trying to get enough calories to replace those lost during workouts can be difficult, and after cramming enough burgers and pizza, eating doesn't have quite the same zest. It can feel more like a chore. A number of Olympic coaches have commented on the difficulties, when their athletes would rather nap than eat. (Marathon runners and swimmers can burn 8000 calories in a regular training day, easy.)

While it certainly isn't a volume thing for the Loroi, since if I recall they eat less than humans because their engineered biology is more efficient, I feel like there may be a sliver of similarity there. Eating can be a purely mechanical sort of process for some people.

[wasp609]

I dont know if it has been asked yet but what is the loroi psychic amps made from.

[Arioch]

I dont know if it has been asked yet but what is the loroi psychic amps made from.

Rainbow dust and unicorn tears.

Seriously though, I don't currently have a clear explanation for how amps work. I had a notion that there might be a biological element to it, but I'm not sure that makes sense. It's not something that's currently addressed in the story.

[discord]

unobtanium or for that matter plotholium could be the active ingredient.

[RedDwarfIV]

It could be celery.*


*Honor Harrington reference

[Zakharra]

I can see the Loroi being able to make the amp with some sort of biological component. Something like an artificially grown brain (severely limited in scope and scale and not intelligent) that's hooked into computer augmentation units/power sources to direct it so it acts like the amplifier/battery. This would limits its ability, but allow the user to augment their own abilities without being overpowered. The older Soia artifacts can be much more powerful, like what the Tempest of legend and lore found and used. (I believe it was Tempest, yes?). Those older artifacts could be completely mechanical/computer made, but still beyond the ability of the Loroi to copy. All they would be able to do was make very inferior cheap knock-off copies that are still better than anything else they can make. Those copies could now be the mainstream amplifiers used. Decent manufacture and make, but very inferior to the Soia amplifiers.

I can also seeing the Loroi making sure that the Historians do -not- get access to the Soia amplifiers or technology. Specifically so the Historians can't use it against the Loroi.

[Karst45]

was going to say something similar but my post got bugger (something about this thread not existing :S)

What i said was:

It obivious that the Amp are akind to electrical transformator. But instead of copper wire coil around an iron core, it artery coil around an core brain

[Suederwind]

Do Loroi celebrate personal things like birthdays or namedays?
Are gifts common at such or other occations and what are the most popular gifts among Loroi (Don't tell me one of those tree climbing squid things?)?
Did the Loroi ever tried to find out where the they have originated?

[Arioch]

Do Loroi celebrate personal things like birthdays or namedays? Are gifts common at such or other occations and what are the most popular gifts among Loroi (Don't tell me one of those tree climbing squid things?)?

Most warrior subcultures celebrate a naming day, which commemorates passage into adulthood and official recognition of the warrior's spoken name; since all the members of a child-band graduate on the same day, this is usually celebrated communally with other members of the same band. Each planet has its own unique calendar, so the frequency with which holidays are celebrated can vary; some subcultures may follow the home calendar, some follow the current local calender, and some may follow the official calendar.

Some subcultures do celebrate holidays with the exchange of gifts, and the nature of such gifts would vary greatly according to location and individuals. Among most warrior subcultures, most gifts would tend to be practical items (food, clothing, tools, weapons).

Did the Loroi ever tried to find out where the they have originated?

Yes, there has been much study in an attempt to answer this question, without much conclusive result. Transplanted Soia-liron organisms are found on many worlds in the Local Bubble, but extensive surveys have not found a world on which such organisms are native. It is generally believed that Soia came from outside the Local Bubble, but archaeological sites don't provide many clues as to where they came from. There have been very few Union expeditions outside the Local Bubble, for practical and geopolitical reasons (Umiak territory blocks passage up-arm, and Nissek territory blocks passage down-arm).

[Alexandr Koori]

I have two a bit strange questions.
First - does can group of loroi become a one, single holistic person?
*Something like in "Masters of Time"*

Second - supposing a situation - little loroi ship crash on Earth in present day. To await arrival of rescue ship (20 years, for example) they need to find a work In order to have a livelihood. What job in our society in general system of values of loroi will be 1. worthy 2. acceptable 3. non worthy 4. beyond the bounds of morality?

[Arioch]

I have two a bit strange questions.
First - does can group of loroi become a one, single holistic person?
*Something like in "Masters of Time"*

No. Close telepathic contact can be very intimate, almost equalling the sharing of thoughts. But it's not a mind-meld; the participants do not become a shared entity.

Second - supposing a situation - little loroi ship crash on Earth in present day. To await arrival of rescue ship (20 years, for example) they need to find a work In order to have a livelihood. What job in our society in general system of values of loroi will be 1. worthy 2. acceptable 3. non worthy 4. beyond the bounds of morality?

1. Military, Police, Emergency services, Medicine
2. Government administration, transportation, industry, engineering, chemistry
3. Trade, Entertainment, Academia, Sanitation
4. Law, Journalism, Advertising, Evangelism, Pornography

[Alexandr Koori]

Why Academia (teaching?) on 3 and law on 4?

[Arioch]

My answers presume that the ship which crashed is military, and that the crew are all female warriors.

Why Academia (teaching?) on 3 and law on 4?

The Loroi warrior class would agree with the maxim "Those who cannot do, teach." They realize that education and training are necessary and important, in the same way as they realize that sanitation is necessary and important, yet still do not consider hauling garbage to be a worthy pursuit.

Lawyers are a necessary evil for a system in which the rule of law and protection of personal rights are the foundation of society, such as ours. The Loroi system, however, is a military oligarchy, with few enumerated personal rights, in which laws and regulations are, for the most part, subject to interpretation by those in positions of authority. Further, it is a telepathic society, in which the written wording of a rule is not especially relevant; the Loroi do not revere documents the way our system does. The concept of a profession whose job it is to dispute the rulings of the government, to subvert the intent of a statute based on details of wording, or to aid criminals in escaping punishment because of legal technicalities or improper procedures, would seem bewildering and immoral to those of the Loroi warrior class.

[Alexandr Koori]

"Those who cannot do, teach." Sound strange... "If I teach you, I smarter (more experienced) than you" - it's more logical for me...

And why journalism? Journalist now - warrior of information war.

[Arioch]

"Those who cannot do, teach." Sound strange... "If I teach you, I smarter (more experienced) than you" - it's more logical for me...

The meaning of the maxim is that sometimes teachers have little or no direct experience or talent in the subjects they are teaching (as the most experienced or talented people in a certain job can usually be found actually doing that job). (I'm not saying that I agree with that maxim, just explaining what it means.)

And why journalism? Journalist now - warrior of information war.

Journalists are a necessary evil in a free society in which transparency and freedom of speech are critical, and in which dissenting voices must be heard. Though there is a certain amount of inherent transparency in a telepathic culture which prizes honesty very highly, Loroi society is also military dictatorship in which dissenting voices are not appreciated and transparency is not considered an asset. The Loroi are also not a mass media culture; they don't watch 24-hour news channels as a form of entertainment.