Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

[inxsi]

When mizols from different nations meet for diplomatic negotiations, do they use sanzai or spoken words with their counterparts?

[Dan Wyatt]

When mizols from different nations meet for diplomatic negotiations, do they use sanzai or spoken words with their counterparts?

I'd wager in both forms, however, they are always on guard so as to not spill the beans from their brains.

[Snoofman]

I understand if this question goes unanswered for the sake of avoiding spoilers, but what sort of person is Emperor Greywind? What can be said about her background, her birthplace, personality and history? Will there be a profile set up in the Insider Dramatis Personae section for her?

[Dan Wyatt]

I understand if this question goes unanswered for the sake of avoiding spoilers, but what sort of person is Emperor Greywind? What can be said about her background, her birthplace, personality and history? Will there be a profile set up in the Insider Dramatis Personae section for her?

1. Background
She's former Loroi CIA chief, so probably a BIG GIRL

SpoilerShow

for you

2. Birthplace
Perrein
3. Personality
Stalin on steroids, but with good intentions(probably); too many kids in mid-life. Probably doesn't trust other Taben loroi.
4. History
There's a coup against her after her "selection" to Azerein, may have done Mizol shenanigans to get selected, so yeah VOTER FRAUD
Anyone who went to the coup against her probably got a free helicopter ride.

[Snoofman]

I understand if this question goes unanswered for the sake of avoiding spoilers, but what sort of person is Emperor Greywind? What can be said about her background, her birthplace, personality and history? Will there be a profile set up in the Insider Dramatis Personae section for her?

1. Background
She's former Loroi CIA chief, so probably a BIG GIRL

SpoilerShow

for you

2. Birthplace
Perrein
3. Personality
Stalin on steroids, but with good intentions(probably); too many kids in mid-life. Probably doesn't trust other Taben loroi.
4. History
There's a coup against her after her "selection" to Azerein, may have done Mizol shenanigans to get selected, so yeah VOTER FRAUD
Anyone who went to the coup against her probably got a free helicopter ride.

Wow! This is the greatest biographical story of our generation. Seriously, it's as if I was there!

[Arioch]

Will there be a profile set up in the Insider Dramatis Personae section for her?

Yes.

Stalin on steroids, but with good intentions(probably); too many kids in mid-life.

Stalin killed millions of his own people, including a large part of the officer corps right before his country was invaded by Germany, and did his level best through military incompetence to lose that war (though he was playing OP Russia, so they won anyway ). Not a very good analogue for Greywind. She did give the leaders of the coup attempt against her "free helicopter rides," but that's not Stalinism... that's called "rule of law."

And Greywind had four daughters, which is not an unusual number for someone of her age and status. It was her mother who had seven.

[Mk_C]

She did give the leaders of the coup attempt against her "free helicopter rides," but that's not Stalinism... that's called "rule of law."

Well, that's exactly how Our Saint Wario of Georgia justified his policy, too. With exactly the same logic to it - that relying on an untrustworthy military command amidst a war is just asking for a disaster, something that the guy literally saw happen with his own eyes, with Nicolas II being abdicated the fuck out by his own faithful headquarters, and about a good dozen similar coups and uprisings happening to a great success or failure all across the Interbellum world. Himself and his regime being products of what can be considered a successful example of one such uprising. And since Ramarinzil ascended not prior to a conflict, but right in the middle of it, it can be argued that she sure found an even better time for her little purge.

And that's the gist of it - it's kinda hard to make a good distinction between "an inhumanely cruel tyrant indulging in megalomaniacal delusions" and "an efficient leader forcing great sacrifices for the sake of the law and a higher goal". Because they are exactly one and the same thing seen from different perspectives, with lots of supporting arguments either way, neither usually being a full picture, and both vastly overestimating how much individual control and freedom in exercising it any single person might possess.

Which is close to what we anticipate of Greywind: a mind-bogglingly powerful individual walking on entire rivers of blood - that of her servants and her enemies - perpetually radiating lethal danger all around her, and at the same time largely entirely reasonable in her merciless wielding of that power, at times maybe even sympathetically powerless in the face of the circumstances and her obligations.

[Dan Wyatt]

Arioch, two specific questions:
1. What would be the effect of "Memetics" on the Loroi psyche? Does it stick around? What would be their reaction if they "accidentally" stumble upon the earth's "Meme Culture", (Because as of now, these are everywhere, so I'd wager memes would be widespread in 2160 AD).
2. Are there any "Conspiracy theory" among the Loroi populace? What would be the effect of myriad human origin conspiracy theories that the Loroi may inadvertently stumble upon?

[Dan Wyatt]

She did give the leaders of the coup attempt against her "free helicopter rides," but that's not Stalinism... that's called "rule of law."

Well, that's exactly how Our Saint Wario of Georgia justified his policy, too. With exactly the same logic to it - that relying on an untrustworthy military command amidst a war is just asking for a disaster, something that the guy literally saw happen with his own eyes, with Nicolas II being abdicated the fuck out by his own faithful headquarters, and about a good dozen similar coups and uprisings happening to a great success or failure all across the Interbellum world. Himself and his regime being products of what can be considered a successful example of one such uprising. And since Ramarinzil ascended not prior to a conflict, but right in the middle of it, it can be argued that she sure found an even better time for her little purge.

And that's the gist of it - it's kinda hard to make a good distinction between "an inhumanely cruel tyrant indulging in megalomaniacal delusions" and "an efficient leader forcing great sacrifices for the sake of the law and a higher goal". Because they are exactly one and the same thing seen from different perspectives, with lots of supporting arguments either way, neither usually being a full picture, and both vastly overestimating how much individual control and freedom in exercising it any single person might possess.

Which is close to what we anticipate of Greywind: a mind-bogglingly powerful individual walking on entire rivers of blood - that of her servants and her enemies - perpetually radiating lethal danger all around her, and at the same time largely entirely reasonable in her merciless wielding of that power, at times maybe even sympathetically powerless in the face of the circumstances and her obligations.

I wonder if we will ever see her "Humane" side in this comics if she has one.

[Arioch]

1. What would be the effect of "Memetics" on the Loroi psyche? Does it stick around? What would be their reaction if they "accidentally" stumble upon the earth's "Meme Culture", (Because as of now, these are everywhere, so I'd wager memes would be widespread in 2160 AD).

The Loroi are not a media culture, so I think they'd find much of our popular mass-media culture perplexing. But perplexing perhaps in a way of simply ignoring it, rather than perplexing as in being driven mad by it.

It's problematic to try to answer hypothetical questions that are about what somebody might do in the event of something that hasn't happened yet, or that assume facts not in evidence. So I generally don't.

I'd be very surprised if in the real future 2160 human culture looks anything like we expect it to today. Luckily, future human culture is not really the focus of this story.

2. Are there any "Conspiracy theory" among the Loroi populace? What would be the effect of myriad human origin conspiracy theories that the Loroi may inadvertently stumble upon?

viewtopic.php?p=39344#p39344 and a few subsequent posts

[gaerzi]

1. What would be the effect of "Memetics" on the Loroi psyche? Does it stick around? What would be their reaction if they "accidentally" stumble upon the earth's "Meme Culture", (Because as of now, these are everywhere, so I'd wager memes would be widespread in 2160 AD).

Internet memes are just a media-specific incarnation of a much older phenomenon, that has always existed. Like, say, the "Killroy was here" graffito which people drew just because they had seen it drawn...

Imitation and repetition are very important parts of the human psyche, it's both how we learn and how we show that we belong in our group.

[Dan Wyatt]

Emergent properties of complex systems can be difficult to study. One example is secondary social behaviors in large populations; very simple individual organisms can sometimes exhibit complex collective behaviors, and why one species exhibits a particular group behavior while another similar species doesn't can be very difficult to determine.

Mind or consciousness is an emergent property of the operation of the physical brain, and it has limitations based on the physical properties of the brain, but it's very difficult to simply look at the brain and understand how consciousness works. Telepathy is an emergent property of the mind, so there's a double-abstraction there. Since all Loroi have telepathy and no non-Loroi do, there is clearly something about the structure of the Loroi brain or how it operates that makes telepathy possible, but no one yet has been able to figure out what that might be. I suppose a truly vast intellect (alien or artificial in nature) might be able to figure it out, but none of the known species who have tried it have had any luck so far. To paraphrase a famous quote: if the brain were simple enough that we could easily understand how it works, we'd be so simple that we couldn't.

So is it possible that a non-Loroi brain could be taught to be telepathic? Maybe, if you truly understood how telepathy works, and you had psychiatric techniques that could mold consciousness at will (or create an artificial consciousness to spec), and whatever brain or computer or whatever had the requisite qualities required. But neither the Loroi nor anyone they know of yet has this knowledge or expertise, despite millennia of study and experimentation.

So it can be assumed that Psychic disciplines can be imparted on non-psychic brains? Just like Alex is now dream-walking, being telepathically connected to Fireblade?

[Arioch]

Telepathic effects can affect non-telepathic aliens, yes.

[boldilocks]

I'm looking forward to see whether he's actually dreamwalking, ie, going into her dream, or if her dream is being imprinted on him.

[Dan Wyatt]

I'm looking forward to see whether he's actually dreamwalking, ie, going into her dream, or if her dream is being imprinted on him.

lol, just imagine pranking Fireblade in her dreams!

[Quickdraw101]

I'm looking forward to see whether he's actually dreamwalking, ie, going into her dream, or if her dream is being imprinted on him.

lol, just imagine pranking Fireblade in her dreams!

Be a good way for Alex to get slammed into a wall a few more times.

[Dan Wyatt]

I'm looking forward to see whether he's actually dreamwalking, ie, going into her dream, or if her dream is being imprinted on him.

lol, just imagine pranking Fireblade in her dreams!

Be a good way for Alex to get slammed into a wall a few more times.

Absolutely Worth it!
Alex should then sue her on Loroi military court and get reparations
He will win, as none can be convinced that he is psychic in nature, thus furthering Fireblade's removal of male privilege

[Quickdraw101]

lol, just imagine pranking Fireblade in her dreams!

Be a good way for Alex to get slammed into a wall a few more times.

Absolutely Worth it!
Alex should then sue her on Loroi military court and get reparations
He will win, as none can be convinced that he is psychic in nature, thus furthering Fireblade's removal of male privilege

Why you gotta be mean to Fireblade? She's been through quite enough as it is.

[inxsi]

Reupping this question (in case it was missed):

When mizols from different nations meet for diplomatic negotiations, do they use sanzai or spoken words with their counterparts?

Beryl is a listel tozet on the Tempest - did anyone report to her?

[Mk_C]

Why you gotta be mean to Fireblade? She's been through quite enough as it is.

Because she exists for being tenderly bullied by someone universally weaker than her.