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[Mayhem]

1) the Soia just stumbled across at least two planets ( earth and the Nibiren home world.) with interesting species and studied the physical properties of our distant ancestors. Then loosely copied these physical properties in a completely different medium but did nothing with the two natural species (which would have been 1000’s of times easier).

I’m a big believer in occam’s razor and option one just has too many whys and leaps in logic for me.

Your assumption that altering the structural template species would be 1000's of times easier isn't necessarily valid and hence maybe misleading you when you apply Occam's Razor.

Loroi do not have DNA they have... XYZ.

Indeed so if the Soia are experts at XYZ manipulation and have never encountered DNA before it would surely be easier for them to construct specific physical properties in a XYZ based engineered species than learn DNA and modify an existing species to their requirements.

To look at it from a software development perspective they took the UI ideas they wanted and built a clean purpose specific implementation rather than hack around inside the Big ball of mud that is an evolved alien (to them) species.

To continue with the software development analogy - if you are a Java expert you are probably better of looking at the UI and borrowing the general ideas, than modifying the Lisp program to your purposes when you have never encountered the language before.

Only for some unknown reason these two species naturally evolved to look even more like the “man made” ones.

This isn't a field I am particularly knowledgeable about, but precisely how much of structural evolutionary are we talking about?
Insider suggests to me that the Soia engineered the Loroi between 500,000 and 275,000 BCE.

Glancing at wikipedia gives

genetic studies now suggest that the functional DNA of modern humans and Neanderthals diverged 500,000 years ago

and

Anatomically modern humans first appear in the fossil record in Africa about 195,000 years ago, and studies of molecular biology give evidence that the approximate time of divergence from the common ancestor of all modern human populations was 200,000 years ago.

So if the Loroi were engineered near the end (relatively speaking) of the Soia Empire then modern humans aren't necessarily vastly different (structurally speaking) from the hypothetical template species the Soia could have encountered.

explains things like why do humans seem to have higher psychic potential then loroi

Insufficient information to support this supposition.

• We have a single data point of 1 out of 1 humans tested are not detectable by Loroi telepathy.
• At 200+ light-years human space maybe too far away for the Loroi farseers to detect.
• The farseers sense (when amplified) may have a directional component and the humans approach was undetected as it was from such an unexpected direction.
• We don't know what any farseer outside of the Naam system sensed about the human approach.
• There is no evidence of human psychic ability other than "invisibility" which may not actually be a psychic ability.

it’s simply the fact we’re a newer model.

The Soia weren't subtle when manufacturing other species so why be so subtle when altering a species so far off the beaten path (so to speak)?

[icekatze]

hi hi

Our farsensing device should have been able to detect the approach of your vessel long before it entered this system. We should have been able to detect you and your crew within this system...

- Tempo

This leads me to believe that it is not just limited to Alex.

[bunnyboy]

Two different species could look as one, if they are answer for same evolutionary needs.
If the needs changes, the result can be seen clearly as fast as 2 generations.
But that don't make yet any evolutionary changes, it's only changes the active parts in dna.

Some recent changes, what human are gone as race.

Dietary changes to prepared food, resulted:
- smaller stomach
- more energy to brains
- pairing (woman makes dinner for hunting man)
- smaller jaws

Clothing
- lesser hair on bodies

Tools
- muscular changes for better use of tools

The changes how humans use information (language, writing, abstract thinking, internet)
- changes of throat to produce sound
- changes in brain

By the way. Did you know that couple of years ago scientist found out that the habit, how humans are using fingers are changing.
Old people use mostly their index finger, but young people use more their thumbs.
But I don't think that cellphone typing speed are driving evolution need.


The loroi could be evolved slightly differently on different planets, but traffic and breeding between populations are mostly nullied any differences.
And the way how they use technology is very similar to us, so if they have same basic shape than humans, they are evolved to same direction.

[Mjolnir]

1) the Soia just stumbled across at least two planets ( earth and the Nibiren home world.) with interesting species and studied the physical properties of our distant ancestors. Then loosely copied these physical properties in a completely different medium but did nothing with the two natural species (which would have been 1000’s of times easier). Only for some unknown reason these two species naturally evolved to look even more like the “man made” ones.

As I mentioned before, though they had visibly distinct results, the actual changes in external form weren't that complicated, and could even have been forecast with some expectation of accuracy given the trends in more gracile, erect homnids with larger forebrains being more successful. Even if they weren't trying to match our evolution hundreds of millennia down the road, their own pressures in designing a spacefaring species would largely parallel the evolutionary forces acting on our ancestors.

2) the shape and abilities are part of a template the Soia used when ego engineering a planet.

While somehow not leaving any evidence of the planet being "geo engineered".

I’m a big believer in occam’s razor and option one just has too many whys and leaps in logic for me. While option two is simple and explains things like why do humans seem to have higher psychic potential then loroi, it’s simply the fact we’re a newer model.

Option 2 is not at all simple, and only raises more questions. It doesn't even try to explain why they would have engineered a species and ecosystem to appear completely natural, why they left said species as unfinished primitives in a situation where they barely managed to survive on their own, etc. As for the second point, you're putting it forth as an explanation for an assertion that contradicts everything we know. As far as we've seen, most humans have psychic potential slightly higher than your typical lump of rock. Aside from our essentially total lack of functioning telepathy, we're physically weaker for our size, we're much shorter lived and also slow maturing and fast aging, we have notably less efficient metabolisms and far more inconvenient reproductive cycles...and you think this means we're a newer model?

[dex drako]

I haven't checked the time-lines, but I think that humans are the base species for the Loroi. I think the soia re-wrote the genes of species with interesting abilities into their own "template" genetic code, maybe through some degree of trial and error, but once they had a viable species "copy" (or perhaps mirror image) they knew very well the ins and outs of this specific genetic template and could alter things to their advantage. Perhaps they used the "inward" focus of human psionics and turned it outward in tweaking the loroi. I have no love for the 40k milieu but there are some strong similarities in my mind between the old ones and the soia at least as they've been presented (minus the fact that we don't know if there is a specific threat that actually caused the Soia collapse).

Why go through all that trouble, why not just mod that specie?

But specking about the time line there's an interesting possibility.

We’re all making a big assumption no where does it say it was the Soia that made the Loroi we just know they were part of the Soia empire. But The Dreiman and Delrias empires existed for who knows how long before the Soia empire ever came into existence and the time line says the Dreiman did extensive terraforming projects

Almost all pre-cataclysm records were lost so who’s to say it wasn’t those dreiman terraforming projects that made all Soia-liron genotypes maybe even our own.

Just because the Loroi home world hasn’t been found didn’t mean it didn’t exist. The soia empire last 300,000 plus years that’s more then enough time for a planet to become inhospitable to higher life forms or even be distorted leaving only colonies planets behind.

[Mayhem]

Speciation occurs when you can no longer have viable children between two organisms. If one were to do the nasty in the pasty with Homo Heidelbergensis (you sick bastard ) you could, conceivably have a child together, but that child would not be not be viable in the same sense that a liger is not viable.

Given that (IIRC) modern Homo Sapiens is believed to be the offspring of early Homo Sapiens and Homo Neanderthalensis, I wouldn't want rule on viability of such children without someone (else) engaging in experimental testing.

My sensible thought was that - while viability may not be expected - genetics is a sufficiently complex subject that - without testing - we can sometimes get these things wrong.

My silly thought was the following skit:
1: "A research proposal for cloning (from fossil records) and raising a female Homo Heidelbergensis to disprove the separate species classification by means production of viable offspring."
2: "I told you he had gone a bit... strange."
3: "He has tenure so that option is out."
1: "The proposed budget is cheaper than long term psychiatric care"
2: "And we will all be retired before he gets to the second stage of testing"
3: "Indeed"
1: "Well then grant approved. Next is a proposal to..."

[icekatze]

hi hi

As an artist, I can vouch for the fact that sometimes the challenge is reason enough. As a human being who has mastered physical sciences beyond the grok of other life forms on earth, I can attest to the fact that sometimes I just don't even think about what goes on inside all the technology I use.

But since we're kind of grasping at straws for what kind of motivations the Soia might have had, how about this one:
"Oooh, mommy mommy, look at those things down on that planet, can I have one pretty please?!? I wanna take some home mommy!"

"Sweetie pumpkin, it'll cost too much to feed one of those, how about I make you one that looks just like it though? I know your favorite color is blue..."

"Yay!"

[Mayhem]

2) the shape and abilities are part of a template the Soia used when ego engineering a planet.

While somehow not leaving any evidence of the planet being "geo engineered".

I didn't spot "ego" as a typo for "geo".
I was visualizing the Soia going round modifying species not for practical reasons but to flatter their ego and one-upmanship.

From some hypothetical Soia playground:
"Well my engineered species could beat up your engineered species"

[dex drako]

Indeed so if the Soia are experts at XYZ manipulation and have never encountered DNA before it would surely be easier for them to construct specific physical properties in a XYZ based engineered species than learn DNA and modify an existing species to their requirements.

To look at it from a software development perspective they took the UI ideas they wanted and built a clean purpose specific implementation rather than hack around inside the Big ball of mud that is an evolved alien (to them) species.

To continue with the software development analogy - if you are a Java expert you are probably better of looking at the UI and borrowing the general ideas, than modifying the Lisp program to your purposes when you have never encountered the language before.

this could work but why go through the trouble of copy the body shape when it should be of no importance to any psychic ability

This isn't a field I am particularly knowledgeable about, but precisely how much of structural evolutionary are we talking about?
Insider suggests to me that the Soia engineered the Loroi between 500,000 and 275,000 BCE.

Glancing at wikipedia gives

genetic studies now suggest that the functional DNA of modern humans and Neanderthals diverged 500,000 years ago

and

Anatomically modern humans first appear in the fossil record in Africa about 195,000 years ago, and studies of molecular biology give evidence that the approximate time of divergence from the common ancestor of all modern human populations was 200,000 years ago.

So if the Loroi were engineered near the end (relatively speaking) of the Soia Empire then modern humans aren't necessarily vastly different (structurally speaking) from the hypothetical template species the Soia could have encountered.

The flaw here as I pointed out in another post we have no clue when the loroi came ino being. but even so Neanderthals (which are not directly related to us more of cousin) are more then different enough to stand out. lets me just point up Neanderthals did not have the vocal mechanism needed to talk in the complex way we can speech do today.

nsufficient information to support this supposition.

• We have a single data point of 1 out of 1 humans tested are not detectable by Loroi telepathy.
• At 200+ light-years human space maybe too far away for the Loroi farseers to detect.
• The farseers sense (when amplified) may have a directional component and the humans approach was undetected as it was from such an unexpected direction.
• We don't know what any farseer outside of the Naam system sensed about the human approach.
• There is no evidence of human psychic ability other than "invisibility" which may not actually be a psychic ability.

we have 85 data point in fact, the loroi saw no one on the bell in system or before it hit the system. Which is a good sign that all humans have that ability and as for signs of other psychic abilities Alex saw fireblade while out cold and he talked about old stories which is a clear sign of foreshadowing if I've ever heard one.

[Mjolnir]

Why go through all that trouble, why not just mod that specie?

Because it's a poorly studied wild and alien biochemistry, and you've already got a highly-reengineered, optimized, and extremely well understood biochemistry that you can bend to your whim. Working with homnid genetics would require largely starting over from scratch and doing a vast amount of research and development before getting beyond simple selective breeding.

We’re all making a big assumption no where does it say it was the Soia that made the Loroi we just know they were part of the Soia empire. But The Dreiman and Delrias empires existed for who knows how long before the Soia empire ever came into existence and the time line says the Dreiman did extensive terraforming projects

It's not really our assumption, or one without evidence. The Soia-Liron biochemistry has its name because the species that have it are associated with traces of the Soia empire.

Just because the Loroi home world hasn’t been found didn’t mean it didn’t exist. The soia empire last 300,000 plus years that’s more then enough time for a planet to become inhospitable to higher life forms or even be distorted leaving only colonies planets behind.

That we have been found is evidence enough that the Loroi homeworld (in the sense of a world that Loroi evolved on) didn't exist, because they clearly didn't evolve naturally to look as similar to us as they do. And the Barsam and Neridi have the same biochemistry, but otherwise do not seem at all related.

[Mjolnir]

this could work but why go through the trouble of copy the body shape when it should be of no importance to any psychic ability

For the same reason they did so with the Barsam, and presumably with the Neridi.

The flaw here as I pointed out in another post we have no clue when the loroi came ino being. but even so Neanderthals (which are not directly related to us more of cousin) are more then different enough to stand out. lets me just point up Neanderthals did not have the vocal mechanism needed to talk in the complex way we can speech do today.

Trade dates back to the Soia empire, the Loroi would need to speak it. Given they were being engineered from the ground up, giving them better vocal apparatus is not hard to imagine. And again, the external differences are not of a particularly complex nature, being minor adjustments in build, posture, and skull shape, and human convergence with the tweaks to the human form made in the Loroi is not particularly unlikely.

we have 85 data point in fact, the loroi saw no one on the bell in system or before it hit the system. Which is a good sign that all humans have that ability and as for signs of other psychic abilities Alex saw fireblade while out cold and he talked about old stories which is a clear sign of foreshadowing if I've ever heard one.

He saw a powerful psychic in direct skin contact trying her hardest to probe his mind with the assistance of several others. His experiences and those old stories are more consistent with occasional above-average individuals in a population of individuals with an near-total lack of ability than with humanity being of higher telepathic ability than the Loroi.

[dex drako]

As I mentioned before, though they had visibly distinct results, the actual changes in external form weren't that complicated, and could even have been forecast with some expectation of accuracy given the trends in more gracile, erect homnids with larger forebrains being more successful. Even if they weren't trying to match our evolution hundreds of millennia down the road, their own pressures in designing a spacefaring species would largely parallel the evolutionary forces acting on our ancestors.

but why?

why copy the cosmetic features I and copy the wings of a firefly for a robot without copying the whole body shape. I can understand the why copy the mind but the body makes no sense to me unless it’s like the reason electric cars look like internal combustion cars.

it’s just how someone thought something with this function should look.

While somehow not leaving any evidence of the planet being "geo engineered".

Thanks for pointing that out I’ll fixed it. But to answer the question is it been hundreds of thousands of years so unless they left a something on the moon there wouldn’t be any evidence left.

More so if it was not the Soia but one of the older empires that came before them.

Option 2 is not at all simple, and only raises more questions. It doesn't even try to explain why they would have engineered a species and ecosystem to appear completely natural, why they left said species as unfinished primitives in a situation where they barely managed to survive on their own, etc. As for the second point, you're putting it forth as an explanation for an assertion that contradicts everything we know. As far as we've seen, most humans have psychic potential slightly higher than your typical lump of rock. Aside from our essentially total lack of functioning telepathy, we're physically weaker for our size, we're much shorter lived and also slow maturing and fast aging, we have notably less efficient metabolisms and far more inconvenient reproductive cycles...and you think this means we're a newer model?

If you empire has lasted hundreds of thousands of years and can wait for the time needed to terraform whole planets to meet your needs. Then Why not terraform the natural species to meat you needs as slaves, labor or even weapons. This was the idea behind the “Master of Orion” video game which this comic is loosely based on.

Most of the races in the games were failed experiments of one ancient race or another left to evolve on there own (only to become what the ancients wanted millennia later). The same could have happened here with humans. Someone tried to make a stronger loroi saw the flaws you pointed out and abandoned the project. Never bothering to find out that for all the flaws that they did have more powerful psychic power

And show where I’m getting that from Arioch has shown were strong enough to block three powerful loroi at once and that Alex could see fireblade in his mind. the only known way to fight psychic attack is to be stronger psychic then the one attacking you as shown by the loroi themselves. Plus there was that little bit of foreshadowing about old human stories.

[dex drako]

He saw a powerful psychic in direct skin contact trying her hardest to probe his mind with the assistance of several others. His experiences and those old stories are more consistent with occasional above-average individuals in a population of individuals with an near-total lack of ability than with humanity being of higher telepathic ability than the Loroi.

the firstly time Alex saw fireblade was when he on in the med bay and she was not in contact with him. As for The stories it could also be above-average individuals that taped into abilities that all human has but has forgotten how to use.

I fully expect now that Alex is in contact with a psychicly active race to start flexing his own mental power sooner or later.

[osmium]

The Loroi asked for information they would have pried from Alex's brain if the scan interrogation were successful.

It is unclear if Alex is just a particularly powerful psychic (defensively at least) or if humans in general are stronger. From descriptions of the story I don't think it's particularly material so likely will be left unanswered...

Clearly most humans have lotai, or being more true to statistics those selected for the scout program have a very high likelihood of having said trait as the couple hundred in the scout ships and support tanker have gone under the radar.

We don't know if loroi farseeing is accurate enough at 200+LY distance to detect large populations, or if it is below background noise. (this is sort of like you can't tell the difference between and explosion and a large spotlight blowing out at miles away [at night] but you can still tell that something put off a lot of light in a quick flash.) I'm of the opinion that if humans were detectable the farseers would be able to see earth. Now there are a ton of occupied planets that are far enough off that the Loroi are uninterested and if they don't see much "movement" i.e. ships ferrying people to and fro maybe they don't bother investigating.

Alex first "saw" fireblade in his "mind" as he was waking up from his unconsciousness in the sickbay.

-O

[Mjolnir]

but why?

why copy the cosmetic features I and copy the wings of a firefly for a robot without copying the whole body shape. I can understand the why copy the mind but the body makes no sense to me unless it’s like the reason electric cars look like internal combustion cars.

Asking why is irrelevant to the topic at hand, it's quite obvious that they did so.

Thanks for pointing that out I’ll fixed it. But to answer the question is it been hundreds of thousands of years so unless they left a something on the moon there wouldn’t be any evidence left.

There would be plenty of traces. Mines, roads, cities, landfills...all of these would leave very distinctive traces in the geological record, containing materials and preserved objects that could not be of natural origin.

If you empire has lasted hundreds of thousands of years and can wait for the time needed to terraform whole planets to meet your needs. Then Why not terraform the natural species to meat you needs as slaves, labor or even weapons. This was the idea behind the “Master of Orion” video game which this comic is loosely based on.

No reason why such a civilization wouldn't try to do that sort of thing. That doesn't get around the total lack of evidence of it having been done.

And show where I’m getting that from Arioch has shown were strong enough to block three powerful loroi at once and that Alex could see fireblade in his mind.

That's like talking about a deafmute having a powerful ability, because no matter how hard you shout you can't disturb him, and no matter how hard you strain your ears, you can't make out what he's signing to another deafmute.

the only known way to fight psychic attack is to be stronger psychic then the one attacking you as shown by the loroi themselves. Plus there was that little bit of foreshadowing about old human stories.

Showing this claim to be wrong is trivial: an alternative is to not be a psychic, to have telepathic senses and presence so dim that only vague traces of the strongest efforts get through. This isn't an option for the Loroi, but all evidence indicates it is the case for humans. Given the sparseness and unreliability of those "old stories" which are the only evidence of human telepathic ability, a simple lack of ability is a far simpler and more consistent explanation for Alex's "lotai" and the inability of Loroi Farseers to spot our spacecraft.

And immediately after Alex woke up, Fireblade was standing immediately next to him with one arm partially extended. If she hadn't in physical contact with him, she was quite close. He was able to detect an already-powerful and amplifier-wearing Teidar in immediate proximity and possible skin contact who was actively trying to pry open his mind, and was oblivious to anything else. Everything we have is consistent with him not having any Lotai at all, but instead simply being so close to totally non-telepathic that one would be superfluous.

[Mayhem]

this could work but why go through the trouble of copy the body shape when it should be of no importance to any psychic ability

Soia needed a physical form for the psychic servant species they where planning to make, looked around, saw Homo whatever, said "that'll do", played with their test tubes and low-and-behold, the Loroi exist.

Perhaps the Soia where technically brilliant but artistically weak so just copied useful structures from around them.

So if the Loroi were engineered near the end (relatively speaking) of the Soia Empire then modern humans aren't necessarily vastly different (structurally speaking) from the hypothetical template species the Soia could have encountered.

The flaw here as I pointed out in another post we have no clue when the loroi came ino being.

Not really a flaw then.
Merely unsupported.

Neanderthals (which are not directly related to us more of cousin) are more then different enough to stand out. lets me just point up Neanderthals did not have the vocal mechanism needed to talk in the complex way we can speech do today.

I am not suggesting the Soia looked at Neanderthals but the immediate ancestors of modern Homo Sapiens.

Anatomically modern humans first appear in the fossil record in Africa about 195,000 years ago, and studies of molecular biology give evidence that the approximate time of divergence from the common ancestor of all modern human populations was 200,000 years ago.

In analysis:

1. 195,000 years old fossils of anatomically modern humans
2. fossil line diverged modern human line 200,000 years ago

Therefore it is reasonable to assume anatomically modern humans existed over 200,000 years ago, less than 75,000 years after the fall of the Soia Empire.

So at the fall of the Soia Empire the hypothetical template species would less than 75,000 years from being anatomically modern and 225,000 years from their common ancestor with Neanderthals.

I would expect them to be noticeably more like us than to be like Neanderthals.

we have 85 data point in fact, the loroi saw no one on the bell in system or before it hit the system.

Signature Detection: this is the ability to detect the presence of living minds in one’s vicinity. In most Loroi this ability has a range of only a few meters, but especially sensitive individuals, enhanced by amplification devices, can detect the presence of minds at very great (read: interstellar) distances. This ability to know the location of enemies in both tactical and strategic situations is, of course, one of the key Loroi advantages. The ability to consciously hide oneself from such detection, referred to as lotai, is very rare and difficult, even among Loroi.

Data points

• We have no information about what any Loroi outside the Naam system - farseer or otherwise - may have detected or not about the Human scout fleet
• The Loroi on the Tempest do not detect Alexander at a range of a few metres despite Alexander not making a concious effort to hide himself
• While the Loroi fleet was engaged in combat the farseer with the 51st strike group did not detect the Bellarmine arrive in the system
• The farseer with the 51st strike group did not detect the Bellarmine when it was approaching the Naam system (from Galactic North)
• Unamplified signature detection works all around a Loroi, Amplification may or may not imply a directional focus

While I personally believe all Humans are invisible to signature detection and mind reading, the available information does not require it.
Nor does this invisibility and resistance necessarily imply Humans possess untapped psychic abilities.

Alien brain structure and thought patterns vary widely, and so alien susceptibility to Loroi telepathic techniques also varies greatly from race to race. Loroi can read some species very easily, and others hardly at all.

as for signs of other psychic abilities Alex saw fireblade while out cold

Fireblade was standing over him and may have been trying to probe his mind when he woke up - possibly even touching him.
This would be consistent with later mind probe attempt.

With only a few exceptions, Loroi can detect the presence of all alien minds. Loroi can establish direct physical link with an alien subject via touch; even resistant aliens will notice the telepathic contact.

I fully expect now that Alex is in contact with a psychicly active race to start flexing his own mental power sooner or later.

I expect Alexander to have no psychic abilities what so ever.

he talked about old stories which is a clear sign of foreshadowing if I've ever heard one.

Or a red herring.

[Mjolnir]

Perhaps the Soia where technically brilliant but artistically weak so just copied useful structures from around them.

Are sculptors artistically weak for copying the human form instead of making up their own?

I think it more likely was a demonstration of technical ability. They could have gotten a "good enough" body structure by modifying existing Soia-Liron organisms to vaguely human shape and proportions, but they instead took the time to replicate our structure in great detail, something much more difficult than just copying the overall form. Lack of creativity doesn't explain why they'd go through so much extra effort, and they certainly made other significant changes. They proved they *could* copy humans exactly, but gave them more colorful and fancier hair, pointed ears, and created a wildly different society out of them...

Or perhaps they saw it as a sort of non-violent conquest. Provide a replacement that the target population could accept as being "them" or "close enough", and which they could accept as being Soia. Wait for your long-lived, fast-reproducing, generally less fragile and more adaptable engineered versions outcompete the originals. Maybe the basis species of the Neridi didn't much care for the idea and took the Soia empire down.

It doesn't matter for the subject at hand, though. These species are clearly highly engineered, while their non-Soia Liron counterparts are clearly not. After creating the Loroi and other Soia-Liron species, Loroi version 2 would not be an almost unmodified wild species that's physically weaker, shorter lived, eats more and needs more room, and can't actually use its supposedly awesomely powerful telepathic abilities.

[icekatze]

hi hi

Perhaps the nabbed some humans for an immediate problem and then slowly "improved them" over time after their use had become institutionalized.

[Ktrain]

Maybe the Soia did it for the LOLZ!

But in all seriousness, what is the source of your physical superiority claim Mjolnir, because I don't see anything specifically referencing this in the Insider.

Perhaps the Loroi themselves have been adapted to be telepathically sensitive to the species/precursor species within their vicinity, and humanity/our biosphere lied outside the area where the Soia were dominant/active so they never engineered the Loroi to be telepathically sensitive to our biology. This would make sense if the Soia engineered the Loroi to maintain control of their territories, but does not explain the physical similarities. My guess is that some "Intelligent Entity" created both humanity and Loroi in his image in order to facilitate confusion/social awkwardness, but there is no evidence of this Perhaps the physical resemblance is nothing more than a coincidence due to similar evolutionary conditions; we do live in a vast universe and anything is really possible.

[Mjolnir]

But in all seriousness, what is the source of your physical superiority claim Mjolnir, because I don't see anything specifically referencing this in the Insider.

Discussion on the old forums...can't find it and it may have been lost in one of the forum purges. Anyway, the Loroi have been engineered to have lower body temperature with human-equivalent high temperature tolerance and more efficient metabolisms. I seem to recall it being mentioned that Loroi are about on par with humans in raw strength despite their smaller average size, but even if their makers for some reason didn't make any raw strength enhancements while doing all the rest, just the more efficient metabolism and wider temperature range would help.