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Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 12:46 pm
by GeoModder
Arioch wrote:..., so they're gradually going to lose usable water.
Image

Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2019 8:55 pm
by Zorg56
On page 135 one of the loroi says "this is no safe heaven"

Do loroi have religion?

Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2019 9:07 pm
by SVlad
Zorg56 wrote:On page 135 one of the loroi says "this is no safe heaven"
Have you meant "haven"?

Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2019 9:18 pm
by Zorg56
Oh i misreaded that, sorry.

Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2019 7:17 pm
by Werra
There's an Emperor. Are there also lower ranks of nobility for the Loroi?

Would say the position of secretary of state come with a (nominal) duchy?

Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2019 7:29 pm
by Arioch
Werra wrote:There's an Emperor. Are there also lower ranks of nobility for the Loroi?

Would say the position of secretary of state come with a (nominal) duchy?
There's no hereditary aristocracy; all titles including the Emperor are appointed.

Some titles do have special privileges and property attached.

There are powerful families, which at times rose almost to the level of local aristocracies, but their influence has been curtailed by law since the conclusion of the Splinter Wars and the establishment of the Imperial government.

Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2019 8:47 pm
by boldilocks
Arioch wrote:but their influence has been curtailed by law since the conclusion of the Splinter Wars.
Long live the foot clan

Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 9:43 pm
by Werra
Do Loroi think of ships as something with a gender, like humans do?
Arioch wrote:There's no hereditary aristocracy; all titles including the Emperor are appointed.
This is propably difficult to answer, but would appointments of a certain level be comparable to being given a title of nobility* or would they feel more like a modern promotion to director?


*Which were regularly non-heritable in our history as well, btw.

Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 12:12 am
by Arioch
Werra wrote:Do Loroi think of ships as something with a gender, like humans do?
Among Loroi, ships are usually thought of as feminine. But kind of for the opposite reasons from our own history.
Werra wrote:This is propably difficult to answer, but would appointments of a certain level be comparable to being given a title of nobility* or would they feel more like a modern promotion to director?
Without the title being hereditary, I'm not sure there's all that much difference between the two.

Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 10:28 pm
by SVlad
Do Loroi emergency suites have some kind of build-in toilet?

Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 11:36 pm
by Arioch
SVlad wrote:Do Loroi emergency suites have some kind of build-in toilet?
There would be some provision for urine (which I don't plan to detail), but not for solid waste. It's a flight suit, and not designed to be worn for that long.

To get an idea, here's an article about how such things were dealt with by pilots wearing pressure suits in the SR-71: https://theaviationgeekclub.com/how-to- ... blackbird/

Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2019 7:57 am
by Sweforce
Arioch wrote:
SVlad wrote:Do Loroi emergency suites have some kind of build-in toilet?
There would be some provision for urine (which I don't plan to detail), but not for solid waste. It's a flight suit, and not designed to be worn for that long.

To get an idea, here's an article about how such things were dealt with by pilots wearing pressure suits in the SR-71: https://theaviationgeekclub.com/how-to- ... blackbird/
Speaking of, do starship crews eat more compact food then planetbound people in order to reduce these needs even further?

Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2019 5:30 pm
by Arioch
Sweforce wrote:
Arioch wrote:
SVlad wrote:Do Loroi emergency suites have some kind of build-in toilet?
There would be some provision for urine (which I don't plan to detail), but not for solid waste. It's a flight suit, and not designed to be worn for that long.
To get an idea, here's an article about how such things were dealt with by pilots wearing pressure suits in the SR-71: https://theaviationgeekclub.com/how-to- ... blackbird/
Speaking of, do starship crews eat more compact food then planetbound people in order to reduce these needs even further?
Most of the crew on a starship don't have a regular need to wear pressure suits for long periods, and starships have adequate toilet and waste storage systems, so this is not really a consideration. Though it is true that Loroi eat and drink less per day than humans normally do.

Loroi small craft that are capable of very long duration missions will usually have some kind of toilet facility (as the shuttle does). Even if you're wearing a pressure suit, you can get out of it far enough to take care of business. Unless the cockpit has depressurized, in which case something has gone wrong, and you won't be able to eat or drink, either.

Pilots of Loroi small craft that don't have toilet facilities will be in a situation analogous to the SR-71 pilot in the above linked example. He said that he personally never had to use the urine system; he just limited his intake of fluids. And if you poop before the mission, that shouldn't be a problem either. But in the worst case scenario, you just go in the suit.

Note that these are flight suits, not full EVA suits like Alex's. The latter would probably need more robust waste systems.

Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2019 6:03 pm
by icekatze
hi hi

One of the thing that always makes me roll my eyes is when I hear news about some company's brand new cool space suit, and when I look at it, it's an IVA suit, not an EVA suit. Not really fair to boast about how much less bulky it is than an EVA suit. :P

Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2019 8:39 pm
by Werra
Arioch wrote:Among Loroi, ships are usually thought of as feminine. But kind of for the opposite reasons from our own history.
Is Trade a gendered language in which every subject has a genus, like German and French for example?
Arioch wrote:Without the title being hereditary, I'm not sure there's all that much difference between the two.
There are a lot of differences, but most aren't readily apparent to a modern person, since we don't think in those categories anymore.
The most important difference is propably that nobility is not something one does, it's what one is. A director can clock out of work and be otherwise an ordinary citizen. A noble can not.
Nobility is far more a judge of character than a job is. A good comparison might be the respect the US pays its veterans. Once attained that respect is bound to the person and losing it would require a truly public disgrace.

It's likely the Lorois understanding of nobility -if they have one- is hugely different. But let's say they have. Where would nobility start for them? What rank/position does one need to attain?

Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2019 9:22 pm
by Arioch
Werra wrote:
Arioch wrote:Among Loroi, ships are usually thought of as feminine. But kind of for the opposite reasons from our own history.
Is Trade a gendered language in which every subject has a genus, like German and French for example?
No, Trade is mostly gender neutral, as you might expect of an interspecies lingua franca. But in the English translations I'll be using feminine pronouns.
Werra wrote:
Arioch wrote:Without the title being hereditary, I'm not sure there's all that much difference between the two.
There are a lot of differences, but most aren't readily apparent to a modern person, since we don't think in those categories anymore.
The most important difference is propably that nobility is not something one does, it's what one is. A director can clock out of work and be otherwise an ordinary citizen. A noble can not.
Well... people in high corporate or political office don't get to "clock out" of their jobs either. If there's a crisis at 3 AM, you're getting a phone call. If you get caught in a compromising situation, it doesn't matter that it happened outside of office hours. The same can be said of pretty much any public servant or member of the military; I don't think it has much to do with the positions being hereditary.

What it does mean is that you can quit or get fired, and that you have to demonstrate some kind of qualifications to get the job in the first place.
Werra wrote:Nobility is far more a judge of character than a job is. A good comparison might be the respect the US pays its veterans. Once attained that respect is bound to the person and losing it would require a truly public disgrace.
There are plenty of historical examples of aristocrats acting like complete barbarians; I don't buy that they're inherently "noble" in character. I think that's largely a modern affectation. In a world where modern aristocrats have very little political power, of course the courtly trappings and manners and reputation concerns of their class become paramount.
Werra wrote:It's likely the Lorois understanding of nobility -if they have one- is hugely different. But let's say they have. Where would nobility start for them? What rank/position does one need to attain?
The warrior class itself is a sort of hereditary "upper class," in a sense, similar to the samurai class of Japan or what the knightly landed class eventually became in Europe. Warriors are held to a strict code of conduct, and they can be demoted if they do not adhere to that code. Members of the military do not "clock out"

And as I mentioned, there are still powerful families. Ashrain certainly has more influence than her rank demands because she is related to the currently serving Emperor, and as we will see, the Emperor's nephew gets to do things that a male would not normally be allowed to do. But that only goes so far. The Loroi mostly idolize heroes for their abilities and accomplishments rather than their parentage.

Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2019 7:09 am
by Krulle
Arioch wrote:And as I mentioned, there are still powerful families. Ashrain certainly has more influence than her rank demands because she is related to the currently serving Emperor, and as we will see, the Emperor's nephew gets to do things that a male would not normally be allowed to do. But that only goes so far. The Loroi mostly idolize heroes for their abilities and accomplishments rather than their parentage.
This tidbit here is why I read your replies.
So, we are going to see a Loroi male.
And he does things a normal warden of the state would not be allowed to do.
And it spoils the outcome of the hiding in system: somehow they will be rescued.

And now I feel stupid, as it occured to me I am taking the wrong conclusion: "we will see" does not necessarily mean "graphically shown", it might just be a story told by either of the present Loroi to pass the time. Or as reaction (from beryl) to a proposal by Alex the others decline because it comes from a male (or would endager the male).

Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2019 10:26 am
by Absalom
Arioch wrote:
Werra wrote:Nobility is far more a judge of character than a job is. A good comparison might be the respect the US pays its veterans. Once attained that respect is bound to the person and losing it would require a truly public disgrace.
There are plenty of historical examples of aristocrats acting like complete barbarians; I don't buy that they're inherently "noble" in character. I think that's largely a modern affectation. In a world where modern aristocrats have very little political power, of course the courtly trappings and manners and reputation concerns of their class become paramount.
It's an affectation, but not a particularly modern one. As I understand it, the idea basically pops up every time that entry into the nobility becomes restricted, both to justify that limitation, and to justify the nobility of the members of the noble class. Nobility itself has seemingly always been about being allowed more immunity in your relations with others; it historically was basically just an entry on the outlaw/slave/commoner/noble/sovereign scale, where you get a waiver for poor treatment of lower classes for being in a higher class. The ancient systems of e.g. the Saxons seem to have basically been a sort of "de-facto tribe" system, where just being a merchant with a certain number of ships (and thus employees) was enough to qualify you for nobility.

Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Posted: Sat Apr 20, 2019 8:28 am
by Sweforce
Krulle wrote:
Arioch wrote:And as I mentioned, there are still powerful families. Ashrain certainly has more influence than her rank demands because she is related to the currently serving Emperor, and as we will see, the Emperor's nephew gets to do things that a male would not normally be allowed to do. But that only goes so far. The Loroi mostly idolize heroes for their abilities and accomplishments rather than their parentage.
This tidbit here is why I read your replies.
So, we are going to see a Loroi male.
And he does things a normal warden of the state would not be allowed to do.
And it spoils the outcome of the hiding in system: somehow they will be rescued.

And now I feel stupid, as it occured to me I am taking the wrong conclusion: "we will see" does not necessarily mean "graphically shown", it might just be a story told by either of the present Loroi to pass the time. Or as reaction (from beryl) to a proposal by Alex the others decline because it comes from a male (or would endager the male).
I get the impression that the loroi hangups on males are restricted to their own species, they are probably very aware that their own 1/8 sex ratio are unique for a two sex species. They find Alex odd because that he is so similar to themselves, yet there are these odd differences. An Orgus Alex would not have been considered odd speaking of a 1/1 sex ratio and male warriors.

Re: Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

Posted: Sat Apr 20, 2019 10:29 am
by Arent
Absalom wrote:
Arioch wrote:
Werra wrote:Nobility is far more a judge of character than a job is. A good comparison might be the respect the US pays its veterans. Once attained that respect is bound to the person and losing it would require a truly public disgrace.
There are plenty of historical examples of aristocrats acting like complete barbarians; I don't buy that they're inherently "noble" in character. I think that's largely a modern affectation. In a world where modern aristocrats have very little political power, of course the courtly trappings and manners and reputation concerns of their class become paramount.
It's an affectation, but not a particularly modern one. As I understand it, the idea basically pops up every time that entry into the nobility becomes restricted, both to justify that limitation, and to justify the nobility of the members of the noble class. Nobility itself has seemingly always been about being allowed more immunity in your relations with others; it historically was basically just an entry on the outlaw/slave/commoner/noble/sovereign scale, where you get a waiver for poor treatment of lower classes for being in a higher class. The ancient systems of e.g. the Saxons seem to have basically been a sort of "de-facto tribe" system, where just being a merchant with a certain number of ships (and thus employees) was enough to qualify you for nobility.
I think the problem here is the conflicting definitions of "aristocracy". Plato envisioned a true aristocracy, where the actually best rule. In reality, aristocracies were often just a privileged group, which was established by force - when one tribe conquered another & the conquerors were generally treated better than the subjects.

In fact, the 'nobility' often started as 'barbarians'. The idea of a 'rule by the best' is completely distinct from that.