Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

[Keklas Rekobah]

So . . . mainstream Loroi cuisine would closely resemble Bedouin cuisine -- flatbreads, grains, fruit, and veggies.  I somehow have the impression that Perrien cuisine would include all of the forgoing, plus foods resembling what might be found in the Amazon rainforest (except that some of it would eat you if you do not eat it first).

@ARIOCH: Is this generally correct?

[Arioch]

Loroi are gonna like human food then. Will probably make them fat though.

They don't have rising bread.... so no donuts, hamburger buns, or sliced bread sandwiches. And no cakes.... at least what we think of as a cake (birthday cake).

Misesa is a genetically engineered super-food; it has a higher caloric value than wheat. Which I guess makes misesa flatbread kind of like elvish lembas... it doesn't take much to survive on.

Keep in mind that since the rediscovery of starflight, the modern Loroi have access to dozens of worlds, each with its own unique biome and culture of food. They're no longer limited to misesa and sibreg and the other Soia-Liron foodstuffs... though that is still most of what they eat, partially because they're used to these traditional foods, and partially because these foods are specifically engineered to be practical for storage, high caloric value per mass unit, etc.

[Bamax]

Loroi are gonna like human food then. Will probably make them fat though.

They don't have rising bread.... so no donuts, hamburger buns, or sliced bread sandwiches. And no cakes.... at least what we think of as a cake (birthday cake).

Misesa is a genetically engineered super-food; it has a higher caloric value than wheat. Which I guess makes misesa flatbread kind of like elvish lembas... it doesn't take much to survive on.

Keep in mind that since the rediscovery of starflight, the modern Loroi have access to dozens of worlds, each with its own unique biome and culture of food. They're no longer limited to misesa and sibreg and the other Soia-Liron foodstuffs... though that is still most of what they eat, partially because they're used to these traditional foods, and partially because these foods are specifically engineered to be practical for storage, high caloric value per mass unit, etc.

I see... so if you wanna be healthy eat native food, but if you eat alien food you may get fat and it may take more to get the nutrional value you would get if you ate less native food.

If their food is nutrionally dense then it should have strong flavor to humans, and it may make less nutrionally dense human foods seem bland by comparison except for foods that already have strong flavors.

In other words, if Loroi are invited for dinner then you would probably have to add extra spice or sweetness or else they will complain it is bland.

It may not be that way and it would be far more enjoyable for Loroi if they are not so limited in taste.

I presume eating human and alien foods may be like eating lots of fiber.

Cannot digest all of it, but it cleans the intestines out like oatmeal at least.

[Keklas Rekobah]

If I remember right, Alex had problems when just taste-testing Loroi foods.

Also, if I remember right, someone once said he had it on good authority that capsaicin is a deadly neurotoxin to Soia-Liron species.  If this is true, then it may be likely that some Soia-Liron foods might have similar effects on humans.

[Cthulhu]

Page 216 says that the "external" duration of a jump could be as long as an hour. But is there any pattern to gauge the time? Are shorter jumps necessarily shorter, or is it random? What are the upper/lower limits?

Also, if I remember right, someone once said he had it on good authority that capsaicin is a deadly neurotoxin to Soia-Liron species. If this is true, then it may be likely that some Soia-Liron foods might have similar effects on humans.

That was just a joke on my part... or not?

[Arioch]

Page 216 says that the "external" duration of a jump could be as long as an hour. But is there any pattern to gauge the time? Are shorter jumps necessarily shorter, or is it random? What are the upper/lower limits?

It's proportional to the distance traveled, though there is a chaotic element to it, so it's difficult to exactly predict (not that predicting it precisely would be very useful, since you can't communicate that information to the destination). An hour would represent the longest safe jump (usually ~10 light years), and shorter jumps would have an average time that's proportional to the shorter distance.

[Keklas Rekobah]

@ARIOCH: How old is Tenoin Narrat Nonnos (Spiral)?  There are few hints (such as Talon being older than average diral age at graduation).

[Arioch]

@ARIOCH: How old is Tenoin Narrat Nonnos (Spiral)?  There are few hints (such as Talon being older than average diral age at graduation).

My notes say that she was between 10 and 12. Probably toward the younger end of that range, as the Soroin Paset is a sort of "midshipman" position, that hasn't completed the full training cycle for that caste (and so hasn't yet earned the right to wear that caste's armor). Soroin cadets are sometimes yoinked out of the academy to fill needed lesser-skilled roles, and complete their training on the job.

[Keklas Rekobah]

@ARIOCH: Are you implying that Spiral was given a field promotion from Soroin Paset to Tenoin Narrat?  Would such a field promotion be any less legitimate than Alex's "field promotion" to Plenipotentiary Ambassador?  Am I even making sense here?

(. . . 3 hours sleep . . . no coffee . . .)

[Arioch]

@ARIOCH: Are you implying that Spiral was given a field promotion from Soroin Paset to Tenoin Narrat? 

No. If she had been promoted, she would have been wearing the appropriate uniform. It may happen that an officer , through the chain of command, finds herself in a role for which she is of insufficient rank, but that's not the same as a promotion. Whether she remains in that position when the dust settles will depend on many factors. What posthumous honors Cloud might be accorded is really the last thing on their minds right now.

Would such a field promotion be any less legitimate than Alex's "field promotion" to Plenipotentiary Ambassador?  Am I even making sense here?

The Loroi aren't very concerned about Alex's formal rank (Beryl has been telling everyone that he's Bellarmine's captain, and Tempo has instructed her not to ask, since as the last survivor he has to be reckoned the commander anyway), but even if he were a civilian, diplomatic etiquette requires that he be accorded the appropriate deference as a foreign dignitary.

[Keklas Rekobah]

Okay, I think we talked past each other there. Has Spiral always bee of the Tenoin caste?

My manually-scraped data seems to lend affirmation, but something you posted earlier seemed to imply otherwise.

[Arioch]

Okay, I think we talked past each other there. Has Spiral always bee of the Tenoin caste?

My manually-scraped data seems to lend affirmation, but something you posted earlier seemed to imply otherwise.

Ah, sorry... you wrote "Spiral" but for some reason I read "Cloud."

Spiral and Talon graduated from a Tenoin-focused diral and a Tenoin academy. They were always Tenoin.

[Keklas Rekobah]

 
@ARIOCH:

Q1. Is it possible for "Seers" to have telekinetic ability?

Q2. Are "Seers" able to send thoughts, or do they need a Mizol to relay their findings?

[Arioch]

Q1. Is it possible for "Seers" to have telekinetic ability?

Assuming that you mean "Farseers" and not "Seers" (Nedatan Timadi); it is "possible" that any Loroi may have telekinetic ability, but it's extremely unlikely that someone with telekinetic ability would be used as a Farseer.

Q2. Are "Seers" able to send thoughts, or do they need a Mizol to relay their findings?

While inside the amplification chamber, a Farseer's telepathic transmissions tend to be reflected back at her, so she uses a neural link (similar to what the fighter pilots use) to communicate with her operator. No, the operator doesn't need to be Mizol.

[Keklas Rekobah]

@ARIOCH:↑ Thank you.

On another matter, the "Kinetic Force and Damage by Psychokinetic Power Rating" table on the  "Forum Digest: Psychokinesis"  page is discontinuous and seems to be otherwise non-linear, as well.  I have tried to plot out the data on a graph to determine how the values may have been derived, but so far no luck.

By what methods did you derive the data?

[Arioch]

On another matter, the "Kinetic Force and Damage by Psychokinetic Power Rating" table on the  "Forum Digest: Psychokinesis"  page is discontinuous and seems to be otherwise non-linear, as well.  I have tried to plot out the data on a graph to determine how the values may have been derived, but so far no luck.

By what methods did you derive the data?

It's from GURPS: Psionics.

[Keklas Rekobah]

Page 19. Got it. Thanks!

[Bamax]

Given the fact that Teidar can fly like superman and some like Mothwing can actually hover, I wanted to know during the early days of Loroi civilization if any flew nearly into space through PK?

I say nearly because realistically they would pass out along the way from lack of oxygen and either fall to their death or wake up to fly straight instead of splattering all over the ground.


Answers: May not be forthcoming and I can understand why.... little is told about the Soia era.

My guess is during that time the Loroi were under Soia rule, and that being the case they were literally born into a technological world... with stuff like Dreadstars. Massive vessels the Soia lived on.

Something tells me that a Dreadstar if it wanted to, could easily enforce a no-fly zone for Loroi trying to fly into space through PK. Likely zapping them out the air like flies.


On the other hand after the fall when Loroi had to build their own civilization I reckon there were those bold Teidar or PK enpowered Loroi before Teidar became a caste who tried to fly into space to test their limits or win on a dare.

You cannot tell me when feuding BFF's like Talon and Spiral exist that such never occurred.

[Arioch]

Given the fact that Teidar can fly like superman and some like Mothwing can actually hover, I wanted to know during the early days of Loroi civilization if any flew nearly into space through PK?

I say nearly because realistically they would pass out along the way from lack of oxygen and either fall to their death or wake up to fly straight instead of splattering all over the ground.

As you say, it's not possible without some kind of breathing apparatus. A Loroi PK in a pressure suit with power sufficient to lift herself could theoretically attain any kind of altitude, as she's holding herself up. Flying to the moons or some other destination would require achieving orbital velocity, which is theoretically possible but would be hazardous.

In the technological interregnum after the fall of the Soia empire, someone with unamplified lethal psychokinesis probably has enough power to lift herself, and so could attempt to fly very high. Since she would inevitably pass out, even if she regained consciousness in time to avoid hitting the ground, she probably wouldn't understand why she failed. Cultures living in mountainous regions might understand the connection between altitude and low air pressure, but lowland cultures would be perplexed by this mysterious force, and I can easily imagine superstitions growing up around this phenomenon. "If you fly too high, the Air Grue will get you!"

Loroi knowledge of their pre-fall ancestors is limited to their heroic mythology, in which technological references have mostly been lost (since they were passed through tens of thousands of years of retelling by cultures that had lost high technology). There is a Loroi saga that reads somewhat similar to the Icarus myth, of a flying hero (Testimel, "Comet") who went too high and too fast, and was consumed by flame. (Modern Loroi scholars propose that she achieved sub-orbital velocity, but then either unconscious or just exhausted, she burned up during reentry.

[Bamax]

Given the fact that Teidar can fly like superman and some like Mothwing can actually hover, I wanted to know during the early days of Loroi civilization if any flew nearly into space through PK?

I say nearly because realistically they would pass out along the way from lack of oxygen and either fall to their death or wake up to fly straight instead of splattering all over the ground.

As you say, it's not possible without some kind of breathing apparatus. A Loroi PK in a pressure suit with power sufficient to lift herself could theoretically attain any kind of altitude, as she's holding herself up. Flying to the moons or some other destination would require achieving orbital velocity, which is theoretically possible but would be hazardous.

In the technological interregnum after the fall of the Soia empire, someone with unamplified lethal psychokinesis probably has enough power to lift herself, and so could attempt to fly very high. Since she would inevitably pass out, even if she regained consciousness in time to avoid hitting the ground, she probably wouldn't understand why she failed. Cultures living in mountainous regions might understand the connection between altitude and low air pressure, but lowland cultures would be perplexed by this mysterious force, and I can easily imagine superstitions growing up around this phenomenon. "If you fly too high, the Air Grue will get you!"

Loroi knowledge of their pre-fall ancestors is limited to their heroic mythology, in which technological references have mostly been lost (since they were passed through tens of thousands of years of retelling by cultures that had lost high technology). There is a Loroi saga that reads somewhat similar to the Icarus myth, of a flying hero (Testimel, "Comet") who went too high and too fast, and was consumed by flame. (Modern Loroi scholars propose that she achieved sub-orbital velocity, but then either unconscious or just exhausted, she burned up during reentry.

Cool!

I bet that was a dare gone too far.

"I dare you to touch the moon!"

"I'll show you!"

High Five was was never seen again.... unless that was her in the fireball... oh dear! And she was named Comet ever since.

This would be fun fanfic material. The air grue monster myth would be fun too... myths to compensate for a lack of knowledge.