Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

[Snoofman]

The Loroi seem to have a history of endless bloodshed and struggled to establish rules and laws meant to keep their people in check. How often do Loroi youth get into interpersonal fights? Do adults allow the youth to 'vent' their aggressions and frustrations? At what point do adults intervene to break up a fight?

My speculation could be wrong, but the way I see it, since Loroi are a warrior culture, perhaps the adults allow some fights among youngsters in order to teach their youth the importance of standing up for one's self. A warrior after all cannot allow herself to be a pushover in the line of duty.

While we're on the subject of the Loroi youth, how do adults treat bullying?

[Arioch]

The Loroi seem to have a history of endless bloodshed and struggled to establish rules and laws meant to keep their people in check. How often do Loroi youth get into interpersonal fights? Do adults allow the youth to 'vent' their aggressions and frustrations? At what point do adults intervene to break up a fight?

My speculation could be wrong, but the way I see it, since Loroi are a warrior culture, perhaps the adults allow some fights among youngsters in order to teach their youth the importance of standing up for one's self. A warrior after all cannot allow herself to be a pushover in the line of duty.

While we're on the subject of the Loroi youth, how do adults treat bullying?

Fighting is against the rules and duels are illegal, but they happen anyway. I think there is a limited degree to which adults can control the interpersonal relationships between children, and this is especially so in the diral system, in which the children are frequently without any adult supervision. I think this is counterbalanced by the fact that the diral has to work as a team, and they're relying on each other at times just to survive. However, some personal conflicts are inevitable, and occasionally these may resort to violence. Fighting is not sanctioned and will lead to disciplinary action if uncovered, but there is an unwritten code of silence among the children (as I think there also is in our own culture), as groups tend not to appreciate either tattletales or sore losers. (The fact that Teidar have protocols for how personal challenges are issued should indicate how common such conflicts are, despite being against the rules.)

Similarly, bullying is something that adults have very limited ability to control. The diral system is a disincentive; there is no lunch money to steal, and a lone bully who is making life more difficult for the team may find herself ganged up on. Power cliques are probably more of an issue, but this is counterbalanced by the fact that there is an appointed leadership hierarchy within the band that is accountable to outside authority, and so cliques of "mean girls" may have to contend with the diral leadership (or the administrators, if the mean girls are themselves the leaders). The added wrinkle is that telepathy offers unique ways to intimidate and coerce others in ways that may be undetectable to third parties.

[Demarquis]

"The added wrinkle is that telepathy offers unique ways to intimidate and coerce others in ways that may be undetectable to third parties."

Even when the third parties themselves are telepathic? I would think that this opportunity gives the adults an unparalleled level of discipline and control.

[Arioch]

"The added wrinkle is that telepathy offers unique ways to intimidate and coerce others in ways that may be undetectable to third parties."

Even when the third parties themselves are telepathic? I would think that this opportunity gives the adults an unparalleled level of discipline and control.

Telepathic messages can be sent privately. A skilled telepath can intrude upon the thoughts of a target individual, but generally not of an entire group of students at the same time. In the case of the diral, much of the time the adults are not anywhere nearby.

[Snoofman]

"The added wrinkle is that telepathy offers unique ways to intimidate and coerce others in ways that may be undetectable to third parties."

Even when the third parties themselves are telepathic? I would think that this opportunity gives the adults an unparalleled level of discipline and control.

Telepathic messages can be sent privately. A skilled telepath can intrude upon the thoughts of a target individual, but generally not of an entire group of students at the same time. In the case of the diral, much of the time the adults are not anywhere nearby.

This is news. So while sanzai is direct and truthful, a Loroi can choose whether to broadcast the message openly or keep it exclusive between herself and one other. Hence how two Loroi might be able to keep a secret.

[GeoModder]

This is news. So while sanzai is direct and truthful, a Loroi can choose whether to broadcast the message openly or keep it exclusive between herself and one other. Hence how two Loroi might be able to keep a secret.

... until your friendly neighbourhood Mizol comes along ...

[Hālian]

This is news. So while sanzai is direct and truthful, a Loroi can choose whether to broadcast the message openly or keep it exclusive between herself and one other. Hence how two Loroi might be able to keep a secret.

Two loroi can keep a secret if three of them are dead.

[Snoofman]

This is news. So while sanzai is direct and truthful, a Loroi can choose whether to broadcast the message openly or keep it exclusive between herself and one other. Hence how two Loroi might be able to keep a secret.

Two loroi can keep a secret if three of them are dead.

Are you sure it's not the other way around?

[QuakeIV]

Perhaps it is simply a reference to their past warlike nature

[Demarquis]

"The added wrinkle is that telepathy offers unique ways to intimidate and coerce others in ways that may be undetectable to third parties."

Even when the third parties themselves are telepathic? I would think that this opportunity gives the adults an unparalleled level of discipline and control.

Telepathic messages can be sent privately. A skilled telepath can intrude upon the thoughts of a target individual, but generally not of an entire group of students at the same time. In the case of the diral, much of the time the adults are not anywhere nearby.

This is news. So while sanzai is direct and truthful, a Loroi can choose whether to broadcast the message openly or keep it exclusive between herself and one other. Hence how two Loroi might be able to keep a secret.

News indeed. I can suddenly see how conspiracies among the Loroi can exist. It also implies that one Loroi could try to influence/manipulate Alex's thoughts without the rest knowing.

[CatColonist]

Private sendings aren't really new information. The insider page on telepathy describes it. The articles says that they can be intercepted, but I'd imagine that requires specialized training. Not something students in a diral, or even the average adult warrior, might have. Even if someone does have the training to do so, I doubt they'd be eavesdropping on every private message they can. Most messages are just not worth the effort.

[Demarquis]

To this point, it has been part of the world building, but not included in the narrative. What's esp. intriguing is speculating who in the team right now might be private messaging with whom about what, and why they need to keep it private. Will the others figure this out, learn the secrets, and what effect might this have on the story?

The main antagonists of the story may not be the Umiak, after all. Secretly hostile Loroi would be far more dangerous to Alex right now.

[Hālian]

This is news. So while sanzai is direct and truthful, a Loroi can choose whether to broadcast the message openly or keep it exclusive between herself and one other. Hence how two Loroi might be able to keep a secret.

Two loroi can keep a secret if three of them are dead.

Are you sure it's not the other way around?

Yes.

[Urist]

Question: Do Loroi space-suits have any sort of (emergency) thruster system, as something to have in case personnel get ejected from a ship/station by anything from battle damage to accident? The TCA suits that we see in Chapter 1 have what look to be thruster packs on the back, but I don't see any equivalent on the Loroi suits that we see in Chapter 3.

I can imagine that any telekinetic Loroi could maneuver herself around with little problem (someone as strong as Fireblade would probably need to take care not to slam herself against bulkheads/the hull, though), but what happens if some poor non-teek out doing external maintenance loses her footing on the ship?

[Arioch]

Question: Do Loroi space-suits have any sort of (emergency) thruster system, as something to have in case personnel get ejected from a ship/station by anything from battle damage to accident? The TCA suits that we see in Chapter 1 have what look to be thruster packs on the back, but I don't see any equivalent on the Loroi suits that we see in Chapter 3.

I can imagine that any telekinetic Loroi could maneuver herself around with little problem (someone as strong as Fireblade would probably need to take care not to slam herself against bulkheads/the hull, though), but what happens if some poor non-teek out doing external maintenance loses her footing on the ship?

The Loroi have a variety of space suits designed for different purposes; the ones we see in the comic include marine armor (Fireblade), pilot flight suits (Talon), regular sealable duty armor with helmet (Beryl), and an emergency pressure suit (Alex). None of these are designed for extra-vehicular work or long-duration use outside a vehicle, and so they don't have thrusters or a very large air supply. Proper EVA suits would have a large backpack with a better air supply and some maneuvering thrusters.

[Snoofman]

This seems more a technical question than a Loroi related one, but since it pertains Loroi tech and communication, are digital transmissions within a star system instantaneous regardless of distance? Or is there a delay?

I.e. As I understand it, it would take about thirteen minutes to transmit a digital message from Earth to Venus. So that's quite a long time to wait for a response. So say the Deinarid Loroi transmitted a message to Mezan, does it take a couple bimas to get a direct response?

[D-503]

This seems more a technical question than a Loroi related one, but since it pertains Loroi tech and communication, are digital transmissions within a star system instantaneous regardless of distance? Or is there a delay?

Normal lightspeed delay, as Beryl states:
https://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider124.html

I.e. As I understand it, it would take about thirteen minutes to transmit a digital message from Earth to Venus.

Only if Venus is in upper/superior conjunction (sun is exactly between earth and venus).
Light travels from sun to earth in 8 minutes.

[Arioch]

This seems more a technical question than a Loroi related one, but since it pertains Loroi tech and communication, are digital transmissions within a star system instantaneous regardless of distance? Or is there a delay?

I.e. As I understand it, it would take about thirteen minutes to transmit a digital message from Earth to Venus. So that's quite a long time to wait for a response. So say the Deinarid Loroi transmitted a message to Mezan, does it take a couple bimas to get a direct response?

Regular electromagnetic signals are limited to the speed of light, and so experience lag according to the distance between sender and receiver. Beryl mentions on page 124 that the "live" sensor data is subject to lightspeed delay, and the discussion of the courier network talks about lightspeed delay between CCN nodes.

[Snoofman]

Can Farseers be male or female?

[Arioch]

Can Farseers be male or female?

The Farseers deployed aboard ship are exclusively female, because the duty is hazardous. There are males (notably the Nedatan Timadi) that have similar capabilities, but they are used domestically in a safer way.