Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

[Keklas Rekobah]

↑ That makes more sense.  Not a good idea to send people to Officer Candidate School if they wash out of Basic Training.  Better to hire them into the Department of Defense in a non-combatant role, or at least into a military contractor to support the war effort.

Did Fireblade enter her training at a later age than other teidar?  If so, would this have been due to having been a POW during the occupation of Seren?

[kfcroc18]

Can a warrior who passed the trials end up as a civilian or only by failing the trials and once you become a warrior you are always one?

[Tamri]

Can a warrior who passed the trials end up as a civilian or only by failing the trials and once you become a warrior you are always one?

IIUC, in order to fly out of the military caste into the civil one, and not immediately to the grave or to clean up shit for life, you need to do something completely unimaginable - on the one hand, more than just a disciplinary offense (for which a warrior can be sent to clean up shit for a long time), on the other hand, not enough to deserve execution.

[Arioch]

A warrior can be expelled from the warrior class, but it would have to involve an unusual circumstance. A crime severe enough to warrant dishonorable discharge would usually be punished by execution instead. It's not that being a civilian is that bad, but even a criminal warrior is considered to have earned the dignity of a warrior's death, and the establishment doesn't like the optics of ex-warriors wandering around the civilian community.

I think the most common use of warrior "excommunication" would probably be when the individual is convicted in absentia, when the authorities can't get their hands on her.

I suppose a warrior might voluntarily choose to renounce her own class, but I don't think this would even occur to most Loroi warriors. I'm reminded of a line from Blade Runner 2049 in which the lieutenant asks K is he's refusing an assignment, and he replies, "I wasn't aware that was an option."

[Cthulhu]

I've come to realize that working from home can be both a blessing and a heavy burden that needs constant efforts to keep everything in (waist)line.

How are the Loroi in that regard? Do they need to work out, are they prone to gaining weight, and are the Loroi ships equipped with gyms (and what are they called)? The Loroi are genetically engineered, after all, so perhaps it is not really an issue, especially if they were designed as ship crews? On the other hand, with their warrior culture, physical fitness would be very important.

[Bamax]

I am not Loroi and can eat virtually anything and not become fat. Fast metabolism.

The price I pay is that I become hungry often enough.... and tend to get hangry too if I have not had any food for a day or two.

[Cthulhu]

I am not Loroi and can eat virtually anything and not become fat. Fast metabolism.

The price I pay is that I become hungry often enough.... and tend to get hangry too if I have not had any food for a day or two.

From an evolutionary standpoint, this is actually not optimal. Normally, we store as much as possible. For a primitive hunter-gatherer, food is always in short supply, starvation is always a real threat, and preservation techniques are almost nonexistent. The fact that there seems to be no upper limit on how much we store was not really a problem, as food was seldom plentiful enough for any prolonged stretch of time.

The Loroi are not naturally evolved, however, they were designed for an ultra-high-tech environment where the availability of food should be the least of any worries. So, it makes sense that they would be optimized for maximum efficiency instead, not obsolete reserve endurance. They just need to maintain a healthy, hard-wired ratio of muscle and body fat, while discarding any surpluses. Therefore, a genetic template similar to yours should be the preferable one.

[Arioch]

Loroi can gain weight if they eat too much... fat reserves may not be useful if you're sitting in a chair in front of a monitor, but they are useful if you're on deployment and supply is not always guaranteed. Also, the Loroi spent many thousands of years as hunter-gatherers after the fall of technology, and food was not always plentiful.

As you might expect in any military organization, fitness is very important, and so Loroi warriors exercise regularly. Larger ships will have dedicated fitness rooms with exercise equipment and the largest ships (like carriers) will have spaces large enough for team sports, but as with modern submarines, crewmembers exercise in whatever space is available. The corridors of Tempest are unrealistically large enough that the crew can jog the corridors or even play some sports up and down them.

[Cthulhu]

Loroi can gain weight if they eat too much... fat reserves may not be useful if you're sitting in a chair in front of a monitor, but they are useful if you're on deployment and supply is not always guaranteed. Also, the Loroi spent many thousands of years as hunter-gatherers after the fall of technology, and food was not always plentiful.

So there were no built-in fail-safes to limit body weight, better adjust the feeling of hunger or maintain a certain muscle-fat ratio? Aww, but no pain, no gain, I guess. I simply wondered that this could be a part of optimizing their metabolism as well.

As you might expect in any military organization, fitness is very important, and so Loroi warriors exercise regularly. Larger ships will have dedicated fitness rooms with exercise equipment and the largest ships (like carriers) will have spaces large enough for team sports, but as with modern submarines, crewmembers exercise in whatever space is available. The corridors of Tempest are unrealistically large enough that the crew can jog the corridors or even play some sports up and down them.

Do they play laser-tag, or would they prefer sword-tag instead?

[Arioch]

So there were no built-in fail-safes to limit body weight, better adjust the feeling of hunger or maintain a certain muscle-fat ratio? Aww, but no pain, no gain, I guess. I simply wondered that this could be a part of optimizing their metabolism as well.

The Loroi metabolism is very efficient and they normally only eat one meal per day, but I think that overspecialization past a certain point can be counterproductive. Adaptability is often more important than efficiency in natural selection, and whatever their origins, the Loroi have been subject to natural selection for quite some time.

[Cthulhu]

Then, how good are they at gaining muscle mass, and how pronounced would it usually be? Are there any Loroi bodybuilders, and how would they react to a human one, or just a very muscled human?

[Bamax]

I am not Loroi and can eat virtually anything and not become fat. Fast metabolism.

The price I pay is that I become hungry often enough.... and tend to get hangry too if I have not had any food for a day or two.

From an evolutionary standpoint, this is actually not optimal. Normally, we store as much as possible. For a primitive hunter-gatherer, food is always in short supply, starvation is always a real threat, and preservation techniques are almost nonexistent. The fact that there seems to be no upper limit on how much we store was not really a problem, as food was seldom plentiful enough for any prolonged stretch of time.

The Loroi are not naturally evolved, however, they were designed for an ultra-high-tech environment where the availability of food should be the least of any worries. So, it makes sense that they would be optimized for maximum efficiency instead, not obsolete reserve endurance. They just need to maintain a healthy, hard-wired ratio of muscle and body fat, while discarding any surpluses. Therefore, a genetic template similar to yours should be the preferable one.

To be brutally honest... I get slightly hangry if I miss my main meal of the day.... but I can suppress the angry side.
But after a day or two? Not so much.

[Tamri]

If it's a man, it's strange. About how the people of the 19th century reacted to the Amazon bodybuilder.

It seems like, even now, most will find such a spectacle limitedly attractive (although there are those who like it, yes), but then, in an age of active patriarchal sexism ... Hmm.

In the case of Loroi, simply inverting our gender stereotypes is not enough. In the end, over the last century and a half, we have gradually come to the conclusion that we are all equal - regardless of race, gender, age, etc. And for about a hundred years now we have been living in a world where this is a fact, despite the fact that this is not the case everywhere and the situation has not yet fully stabilized.

Society as a whole has already accepted this fact.

Loroi live in a society that is NOT equal. They don't consider the loroi of the other sex or caste... non-loroi, at least I think so - when you can literally feel the other, there should be little room for such fundamental prejudices. But for them, the very idea that civilians are equal to warriors, and men are equal to women, should cause a reaction from laughter to disgust. She is WILD for them.

And since we are very similar to them, it is very likely that they will transfer this attitude to us. And the fact that they are not perceive us mentally will not help the situation at all.

[Bamax]

So there were no built-in fail-safes to limit body weight, better adjust the feeling of hunger or maintain a certain muscle-fat ratio? Aww, but no pain, no gain, I guess. I simply wondered that this could be a part of optimizing their metabolism as well.

The Loroi metabolisms is very efficient and they normally only eat one meal per day, but I think that overspecialization past a certain point can be counterproductive. Adaptability is often more important than efficiency in natural selection, and whatever their origins, the Loroi have been subject to natural selection for quite some time.

I guess I already live like a Loroi... since I often subsist off one big meal a day.

If I started to work out with weights I no doubt would require more meals.

And I agree with you that adaptability is better than efficiency... we need not look further than the difference between animals and humans.

Namely that animals are marvels of efficiency...m but humans are marvels of adaptable ingenuity.

They cannot run like a horse, but they can build a bicycle or car... and they may overheat faster than a cold blooded reptile or insect, bit at least they are warm blooded enough to survive both the cold and the hot environments.

A lizard civilization could never conquer lands like Alaska or anywhere far north without a modern technology level due to being so cold blooded they would freeze solid.

[Arioch]

Then, how good are they at gaining muscle mass, and how pronounced would it usually be? Are there any Loroi bodybuilders, and how would they react to a human one, or just a very muscled human?

Any fitness experts here are welcome to correct me if I'm mistaken, but my impression is that there's a limit to how bulked up human females can get without taking hormone and steroid supplements, and I would expect Loroi females to be similar. Bodybuilding competitions don't seem to me to be something that would gain widespread public interest or acceptance in Loroi society, but there's no particular limit to the weird things that individual Loroi might decide to do. A really huge human bodybuilder would seem alien to most Loroi... heck, I'm a human and they seem alien to me.

[Bamax]

Then, how good are they at gaining muscle mass, and how pronounced would it usually be? Are there any Loroi bodybuilders, and how would they react to a human one, or just a very muscled human?

Any fitness experts here are welcome to correct me if I'm mistaken, but my impression is that there's a limit to how bulked up human females can get without taking hormone and steroid supplements, and I would expect Loroi females to be similar. Bodybuilding competitions don't seem to me to be something that would gain widespread public interest or acceptance in Loroi society, but there's no particular limit to the weird things that individual Loroi might decide to do. A really huge human bodybuilder would seem alien to most Loroi... heck, I'm a human and they seem alien to me.

That is correct. Females actually have thinner skin, which is why all it takes is mere glance for a man to recognize a man who dresses female.

By the way... steroids ruin the woman like they do to men.

Shrinks the chest and makes them buff. With guys they get man boobs, and may.. at least what I saw in locker rooms.... shrink you 'downstairs'.

[kfcroc18]

The Loroi only eat one meal a day! Is it in the morning, afternoon, or the middle of the day? How big is the meal? And do they snack? Sorry for asking so many questions.

[Bamax]

The Loroi only eat one meal a day! Is it in the morning, afternoon, or the middle of the day? How big is the meal? And do they snack? Sorry for asking so many questions.

My guess is it depends on the circumstances.

With myself I skip breakfast and my lunch and dinner are one and the same.

Ideally a human should have breakfast, lunch and dinner.... but when have have ideal circumstances ever persisted?

[avatar576]

The Loroi only eat one meal a day! Is it in the morning, afternoon, or the middle of the day? How big is the meal? And do they snack? Sorry for asking so many questions.

If I had to guess, for ship-based warriors, it would be before they go on watch so they reach their peak energy state during watch when they need to be alert and focused (and not thinking about a rumbling stomach). Since it's taboo for a warrior to eat alone, I think each watch would probably muster in the ship's chow hall, have their meal, and then go to their stations. This way, there's some regularity to it, since a starship wouldn't really have any meaningful reference for "day" or "night".
They might also have a commissary of some kind for munchies when they're off watch, depending on supply levels. I'd imagine eating or snacking while on duty is verboten.
For civvies, it's probably far less regimented. They'd eat whenever it's convenient for them.

As for the size of the meal, I would think that it would be a equivalent to a moderately-sized human supper. I'm basing this guess on the fact that Loroi females are comparable in size to Human females (so they probably have similarly-sized stomachs), and also on size of the plate shown in the Chapter 2 cover page. Looks big enough for a main course and a side or two.

[Cthulhu]

Any fitness experts here are welcome to correct me if I'm mistaken, but my impression is that there's a limit to how bulked up human females can get without taking hormone and steroid supplements, and I would expect Loroi females to be similar. Bodybuilding competitions don't seem to me to be something that would gain widespread public interest or acceptance in Loroi society, but there's no particular limit to the weird things that individual Loroi might decide to do. A really huge human bodybuilder would seem alien to most Loroi... heck, I'm a human and they seem alien to me.

Also, there wouldn't be much use to have very strong soldiers in a high-tech setting. In ancient times, the Loroi fought as heavy infantry, thus needing more strength to wear armor and wield melee weapons. In the current timeline, though, most battles are fought from the comfortable seat of a ship's bridge. Some moderate workout to keep the crews in shape should be enough.

The only warriors that need to be buff would be the ground troops, then. By the way, how heavy is a standard marine or even ground trooper's equipment (combat armor, particle rifle, etc.)?