Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

[Mk_C]

Isn't Alex reading Fireblade currently or is it something else?

Maybe it's just her involuntarily leaking her dreams, which in the light of the latest comment would imply that what is happening now is different from normal sanzai.

Or, it could be indeed something else. In any case S U S P E N C E I N T E N S I F I E S

[Werra]

Loroi can send to other races, albeit with less ease than to Loroi. Maybe the human resistance to telepathy becomes the opposite, a very open mind once a threshold of telepathic strength has been reached.

[MBehave]

Maybe, but the Loroi know when they are sending normally and they apparently have no idea(FireBlade) is sharing personal crap she would not want to share with an alien.

Unless its all a test... including the Historian App.

Loroi can send to other races, albeit with less ease than to Loroi. Maybe the human resistance to telepathy becomes the opposite, a very open mind once a threshold of telepathic strength has been reached.

[Sweforce]

Either they missed Sol, or explored past it (or didn't head Coreward all that deep)

It would be interesting if the wreckage of an old exploration ship where found somewhere deep into humanity space. It could be useful as a plotpoint in a fanstory at least. By chance the old wreck are techlevel at the same level as the then current human technology...

[jterlecki]

Either they missed Sol, or explored past it (or didn't head Coreward all that deep)

It would be interesting if the wreckage of an old exploration ship where found somewhere deep into humanity space. It could be useful as a plotpoint in a fanstory at least. By chance the old wreck are techlevel at the same level as the then current human technology...

I would would totally read that. Could be fun as well if stasis pods are a thing and somehow still functional!

[Sweforce]

Either they missed Sol, or explored past it (or didn't head Coreward all that deep)

It would be interesting if the wreckage of an old exploration ship where found somewhere deep into humanity space. It could be useful as a plotpoint in a fanstory at least. By chance the old wreck are techlevel at the same level as the then current human technology...

I would would totally read that. Could be fun as well if stasis pods are a thing and somehow still functional!

A variant could be that some of the explorers where unknowingly in the beginning of pregnancies when they took of and where lucky enough to produce more then one male when they ended up stranded somewhere. I doubt stasis pods if they exist could be made at that tech level and even if that they would function that long. Cryogenic freezers maybe and since the loroi are a designed species they could be made to survive being frozen.

[Mk_C]

stasis pods

A variant could be that some of the explorers where unknowingly in the beginning of pregnancies when they took of and where lucky enough to produce more then one male when they ended up stranded somewhere.

You're thinking human. Loroi can straight out live for multiple centuries - the sheer longevity means that there's nothing impossible or even unusual about a stranded crew from the time before Eighth Dawn and contact with the Hierarchy surviving until the current day, given they can abstain from stomping each other and have the means of supporting themselves.

[Werra]

A variant could be that some of the explorers where unknowingly in the beginning of pregnancies when they took of and where lucky enough to produce more then one male when they ended up stranded somewhere.

Genetic bottlenecks need longer to kill a population with inbreeding. The danger of inbreeding is in reduced genetic health. But the effects should only appear after a few generations, if the starting stock is healthy. So any amount of males would be enough to keep such a Loroi crew going for a few centuries. With their general genetic quality and awareness of genetics, founding a proper breeding population might even be possible in time.

[Krulle]

The danger would be more in the engineered bodies itself.
Since any biosphere they might decide to settle in might be able to support the biogineered bodies, but germs would not be specific to their bodies and thus no effective pressure for genetic health would be there.
On a very long time scale this might play.

But as pointed out above, single Loroi can survive for centuries straight away.
No need for second/third generation survivors of a stranded mission.

[jterlecki]

stasis pods

A variant could be that some of the explorers where unknowingly in the beginning of pregnancies when they took of and where lucky enough to produce more then one male when they ended up stranded somewhere.

You're thinking human. Loroi can straight out live for multiple centuries - the sheer longevity means that there's nothing impossible or even unusual about a stranded crew from the time before Eighth Dawn and contact with the Hierarchy surviving until the current day, given they can abstain from stomping each other and have the means of supporting themselves.

I was thinking not in terms of lifespan, but in terms of supplies (food/water/breathable air) which I could easily see running out before power does.

[Mk_C]

I was thinking not in terms of lifespan, but in terms of supplies (food/water/breathable air) which I could easily see running out before power does.

Water an air are already assumed to be ≈ 100% recyclable in a spaceship environment - it's perfectly achievable even at our tech level (though are consumables for recovery run bad rather quickly - but we're talking about top-notch equipment of a civilization that was way ahead of even XXII century mankind for a long, long time now), and having to deal with any significant amount of waste water and building up carbon dioxide on a months-long spaceflight is bonkers, compared to recovering it. Plus:

I'm not so sure that a 3-month supply of water is out of the question, but regardless, a spacecraft is a closed system. The only way you could "lose" water is if you dump it overboard. The vast majority of consumed water is going to come out with the waste, and this is all recoverable.

Food is trickier, buuuuut:

Starships at this tech level no doubt have very effective methods of food preservation, but fresh food is probably still going to be desirable. Large ships like Tempest can afford space for a small garden for growing small amounts of fresh food; in particular, fungi would be an ideal food to grow on board ship, allowing you to turn waste into food without even requiring sunlight. I do have a short scene planned in the Tempest grow room where they have these huge, phosphorescent Perrein fungi all over the place.

I also have another scene planned where they try to introduce Alex to the Loroi equivalent of coffee.

Agreed, I think the vast majority of food aboard a starship would be preserved, and it would probably be pretty decent. But a little fresh vegetable would always be welcome, and the fungi seems essentially "free", except for the space allocated and the water (which is recoverable), it seems like a good use of waste products.

A Loroi spaceship is likely to have an arboretum, which can probably be greatly expanded if the ship ends up stranded.

[Sweforce]

The danger would be more in the engineered bodies itself.
Since any biosphere they might decide to settle in might be able to support the biogineered bodies, but germs would not be specific to their bodies and thus no effective pressure for genetic health would be there.
On a very long time scale this might play.

But as pointed out above, single Loroi can survive for centuries straight away.
No need for second/third generation survivors of a stranded mission.

My idea was that the technolgy in their exploration ship are at the same level as that humanity possess when they find them so they may need to go back a bit longer.

Speaking of that, how come that in fiction with similar things happening with mixed crews the different speed of aging are forgotten? Star Trek Enterprise due to an anomaly meet up with its time lost twin. Old T'Pol seem older then she should have been. And in World of Warcrafts first expansion the high elves that had been stuck in Outland still look young but the dwarves have aged just as much as the humans.

[Arioch]

Speaking of that, how come that in fiction with similar things happening with mixed crews the different speed of aging are forgotten? Star Trek Enterprise due to an anomaly meet up with its time lost twin. Old T'Pol seem older then she should have been. And in World of Warcrafts first expansion the high elves that had been stuck in Outland still look young but the dwarves have aged just as much as the humans.

Well, writers (especially those in a shared universe) often don't really internalize the implications of the rules of the setting (especially as they pertain to non-human characters) and have a tendency to fall back on the norms of their own society. Though neither World of Warcraft nor Star Trek: Enterprise are examples of what I would consider good writing.

[Sweforce]

Speaking of that, how come that in fiction with similar things happening with mixed crews the different speed of aging are forgotten? Star Trek Enterprise due to an anomaly meet up with its time lost twin. Old T'Pol seem older then she should have been. And in World of Warcrafts first expansion the high elves that had been stuck in Outland still look young but the dwarves have aged just as much as the humans.

Well, writers (especially those in a shared universe) often don't really internalize the implications of the rules of the setting (especially as they pertain to non-human characters) and have a tendency to fall back on the norms of their own society. Though neither World of Warcraft nor Star Trek: Enterprise are examples of what I would consider good writing.

If happens to roleplayers as well. Years ago when I was active on an World of Warcraft roleplaying server. We had, naturally, people forgetting that their nightelven character romancing a human really is a bad idea. Some nightelves are tens of thousands of years old and even with a young elves and their lost immortality they are still expected to live for a millenia or so. I remembered playing an nightelf having an in game, in character attempt to explain the futility of such a relation. In reality however it was pretty much obvius that the involved players forgetting this basic part of the lore. Finding good roleplaying in WoW are extremely difficult due to there being absolutely no rewards for actual roleplaying nor penalties for failing to roleplay. As such the roleplaying servers are swamped by non roleplayer disturbing the immersion for actual roleplayers.

[spacewhale]

Probably way more hands in the pot with Enterprise, can't imagine the writer is closely guiding the person doing makeup for elderly Vulcans.

[Sweforce]

A variant is that the lone survior of a mixed crew are the long lived species now terribly alone after the others died of unless they managed to repriduce. If they did had children then the last survivor are an old relic surrounded by the descendents of the people this person arrived with. Both variants could be used for plot points in stories. https://youtu.be/_i3Ax4YJySg

[dragoongfa]

If happens to roleplayers as well. Years ago when I was active on an World of Warcraft roleplaying server. We had, naturally, people forgetting that their nightelven character romancing a human really is a bad idea. Some nightelves are tens of thousands of years old and even with a young elves and their lost immortality they are still expected to live for a millenia or so. I remembered playing an nightelf having an in game, in character attempt to explain the futility of such a relation. In reality however it was pretty much obvius that the involved players forgetting this basic part of the lore. Finding good roleplaying in WoW are extremely difficult due to there being absolutely no rewards for actual roleplaying nor penalties for failing to roleplay. As such the roleplaying servers are swamped by non roleplayer disturbing the immersion for actual roleplayers.

That actually depends on the individual preferences and how one party perceives the other. As you said, an extremely long lived individual such as a night elf will have heavy qualms about seeing a human as a serious romantic partner for a "lifelong" attachment as an equal in the way our romantic relationships are 'supposed' to go. In this case I remember the 'Blue Rose of Ilium' sideplot from mass effect; where a Krogan was trying to woo an Asari who was getting cold feet about a relationship with him. The Asari explained that getting in a relationship with a Krogan was nowhere near as easy as getting in a relationship with the other species as the Krogan can live as long as the Asari themselves; she liked that particular Krogan but couldn't help it but think how much else she might end up losing by tying herself to him. Yes, losing her short lived lovers (and fathers of her children) would be painful but she wouldn't be as attached to them as to someone who she would end up spending several centuries if not a millenium together.

It would all come down to what each side expects of the other; in Warcraft's case if the Elf/Nightelf simply wanted something short term (by their standards) then a short living partner would be ideal, even if said short living partner ends up having on said Elf/Nightelf partner as their sole partner in their life. Comparing the lifespans said relationship could be parallel to a weekend getaway for the long living partner; no real harm done to them, they had their fun and made some good and bad memories along the way.

In romance it all depends on each individual's preferences; the majority, if not the vast majority, may see such romances as beneath them but there are always outliers and we all know how humans are when they believe that there is a 1 in a 1000 chance of getting what they want. In fact I would see the human insistence in 'scoring' an 'elf/nightelf' despite said elves being vehemently against the concept due to the age differences as an example of realistic roleplaying as it's in human nature to pursue the 'exotic' and 'hard to get' fruit.

[MBehave]

This is a general weapons question for Plasma/Particle weapons...
Do they lose cohesion after they strike solid matter like real plasma/particle beams due to charged particles causing dissonance?

[Arioch]

This is a general weapons question for Plasma/Particle weapons...
Do they lose cohesion after they strike solid matter like real plasma/particle beams due to charged particles causing dissonance?

In order to damage a target, the beam or projectile must impart some of its energy (the more the better) to the target, so by definition the beam or projectile must be disrupted in some way by striking the target (a beam which passes with no effect through a target does not damage that target).

A beam or projectile might be so powerful vs. its target that it blows right through (as depicted in the first strike on Bellarmine), but there is essentially no chance that it could damage a second target, unless the second target was so close as to be considered part of the original target.

[MBehave]

So it dissipates rapidly after striking the first target like real world plasma/particle weapons.(lasers to if they are not pulsed)

So if it hit a .1mm steel plate 100km behind the plate the beam would have dissipated due to charged particle interactions?

This is a general weapons question for Plasma/Particle weapons...
Do they lose cohesion after they strike solid matter like real plasma/particle beams due to charged particles causing dissonance?

In order to damage a target, the beam or projectile must impart some of its energy (the more the better) to the target, so by definition the beam or projectile must be disrupted in some way by striking the target (a beam which passes with no effect through a target does not damage that target).

A beam or projectile might be so powerful vs. its target that it blows right through (as depicted in the first strike on Bellarmine), but there is essentially no chance that it could damage a second target, unless the second target was so close as to be considered part of the original target.