Au Ra physiology and other lore.

[SuzakuCMX]

Here's mine! Plan on switching from Fem Highlander to Au'ra.

[Viridiana]

There will be a difference between a cook and an infantryman, however we're not discussing those, we're discussing tribal groups with war. Focusing on their war parties specifically, training tends to be far more uniform and the need for troops to be prepared for all situations is much higher. If the Xaela presented themselves as a modern military force, then your claims would hold a good bit of ground! However, this isn't the case due to the whole nomadic tribe description, anyone who will be in their combat troops will need to be as well trained as their peers, least a whole weakest link in the chain scenario occur. Outside of completely barring girl Xaela from their war parties, I'm not sure how they function so well. If that is the case though, I can't help but feel disappointed in SE.

While a muscle slider would be nice, the addition of a greater height range of at least a foot+, as opposed to the current 4 inches with the girl Au Ra, would seem to be best. The wild sexual dimorphic that occurs with the Xaela in particular makes incredibly little sense.

I mean, it really depends what their role is. I don't really see nomads doing the old-style line-against-line war like you see in the Answers video. Archery and magic are one option, but so is light cavalry. Heck, maybe they have access to guns that make physical strength secondary. There are a number of options for war that don't involve a straight contest of muscular strength. They'd all be helped by strength, sure, but in a number of them it becomes secondary.

I do agree though, that I'm not thrilled with how short the females are, or that there's no muscle slider. I already feel like midlander females are a smidge short.

[Belhi]

Being big doesn't necessarily make you better in battle, particularly when you take into consideration terrain. It provides brute strength yes and the ability to carry heavier weapons and armour but it comes at the cost of endurance and stability.

Further a large fighter often has greater issues with unstable or uneven ground. In highly muddy or unstable ground a heaver fighter will seriously struggle in keeping their feet making manoeuvring even harder. Further, enclosed spaces often cancel out a lot of the advantages size can give particularly if the larger fighter cant stand up straight. In narrow low ceiling tunnels a Roe would really struggle to fight effectively against a armed Lalafell.

However in truth the differences in gender would be genetic probably. No amount of training will change that. Unless the Au Ra specifically engaged in a breeding program to make bigger females you wouldn't see much difference in size regardless of condition. More likely Xaela culture would have adjusted roles in combat and such to match each genders size and strength. As I pointed out above, there are plenty of roles which smaller females would probably manage better than the males.

[WyrahFhurrst]

However in truth the differences in gender would be genetic probably. No amount of training will change that. Unless the Au Ra specifically engaged in a breeding program to make bigger females you wouldn't see much difference in size regardless of condition. More likely Xaela culture would have adjusted roles in combat and such to match each genders size and strength. As I pointed out above, there are plenty of roles which smaller females would probably manage better than the males.

As a factor that affects genetics, food allocation would also play a role in growth of the two genders. If, perhaps, the males received more food than the females (perhaps because they're the warriors of the tribe or some other reason), then the males would be significantly larger than females.

Secondly, height could be a gender-related gene for the Au Ra. This would mean that the women would be highly genetically predisposed to shortness while the males, having the male y-gene and its associated height-gene, would be significantly taller.

Just a couple of possibilities. We can bemoan the height difference all we want, but it's unlikely that it'll change. I for one like the sexual dimorphism. The Au Ra have some of the most pronounced gender differences of any race so far, and I think that's neat.

[Samcaesar]

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Oh yeah, I doubt nomads do the line-against-line esque thing. Guerrilla, war parties, and hit and run tactics are probably more more in line with that sort of combat, but none of those count out the important of muscular strength. I doubt that strength ever becomes really secondary, after all, I'm sure those designated tank commanders or snipers in modern militaries also need to worry about maintaining top physical strength. The same applies to war parties, strength will always be important in battle, even if not the first it's likely the second, especially in situations where melee combat will be involved.

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Repeated muscular training leads to stronger muscles, which means endurance becomes much less of an issue.

Well, seeing as how the Xaela come from steppes, unever or unstable ground is much less of an issue, unless if they all live smack dab in the middle of a marsh. Mud and unstable ground going to cause issues, large fighter or smaller one. The thing is I highly doubt the Xaela would be fighting in enclosed spaces, they come from steppes, which are wide, flat, and open. In a open area, those worries about cramp environments aren't an issue. Strength comes back to play, especially in one on one conflicts.

That's the thing, the way evolution works the Xaela girls would never be that small or "moe" in the first place. The most adaptable type of Au Ra would be able to survive the best, and the most ideal Au Ra in a situation where they are warring, hunting, and living like nomads is one that would be perceptive and at peak physical prowess, the latter requiring a body that isn't the one girl Xaela have. Even if Xaela society dictates "Women will be rogues/mages. Men will be warriors." that sort of thing would never last long, it segregates fighting forces and leaves massive gapes to the point where fights become rock/paper/scissors.

Groups don't last long with flaws that massive and exploitable, especially not ones constantly engaged in war.

[Belhi]

A small person with the same amount of training will have on average higher stamina than a large person. That's simply because as you get larger you lose efficiency in the use of energy. This is a pretty common truth in Martial Arts and in sports. Stronger muscles also doesn't neccesarily mean bulk. It depends if your muscle strength is based around burst strength or endurance strength.

There would be plenty of uneven and unstable ground on the steppes though maybe not swamp like. Even loose soil on a slope is more difficult for larger people. Mud would also cause a greater issue. The reason is weight vs surface area of your footing. The pressure a larger persons feet is greater thus the ground is more likely to give way under their footing. It is true though that there wouldn't be many cramped places but that was just a general point.

As for evolution, your missing the fact that combat isn't the only survival issue the Xaela would be evolved for, even assuming things like cultural tendencies had been established long enough to create profound shifts in the physical builds of the Xaela. Just as important for survival and even more important for size would be the availability of food. Steppes are generally relatively infertile and food poor land. Again there is a reason most human races that originate from that type of landscape are generally small. To grow large and to maintain that size requires greater quantities of food. The Xaela are nomadic meaning they would lack the agricultural methods of mass producing food and short of them eating grass there is a limit to the access of food stuffs. Realistically speaking the other Au Ra clan should be the larger one due to a higher access to protein. Size would effectively be a survival flaw. Evolution would be making the Au Ra males smaller, not the other way round. Being a powerful warrior doesn't help if you starve to death between battles or are weakened due to hunger.

[Grayve]

Wow, this thread got all real... Uh... I just want them to be taller/more like the males, cause that's what I like to play. Its a game where lala's can fight Roe's and not be stepped on, so I don't think to hard about it.

[Belhi]

Wow, this thread got all real... Uh... I just want them to be taller/more like the males, cause that's what I like to play. Its a game where lala's can fight Roe's and not be stepped on, so I don't think to hard about it.

Sorry. Its too late. Having considered the realism of it I'm afraid its clear we now need to make the Xeala males short to match the females instead. :P

[Samcaesar]

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Even in the case of endurance sports such as biking, do you see people with hardly any muscles though? Muscles compound with continual growth, it's why those who take anabolic steroids, which just expedites natural muscle growth, bulk up massively. It's no wonder why something like steroids are such a problem in sports, including endurance sports such a biking. Plus endurance training still bulks a person up, not as massively as someone who focuses on strength training.

Snip

Ah, that's the thing though, steppes are notably flat, inclines and declines wouldn't be a problem. And the pressure from a larger person's foot compared to a smaller persons is hardly an issue. In fact I'd say the opposite is more of a problem, there's that saying about a woman in high heels will do more damage to a tile floor than an elephant would which has some relevancy here. Plus, even if that would be the case, what do they do on rainy days then? "Sorry guys, looks like only the girls will be fighting today, don't want you guys sinking into the mud!" is kind of a hilarious thought though.

Snip

Well, nomadic groups do follow food sources, and they generally don't waste any possible food. Doing a little bit of research also seems to tell me that groups such as the various tribes of plains Native American, nomadic as well, were still the same height as Europeans and Australian people on average, an inch or so shorter in some cases. I'd actually say the opposite is the case most groups tend to fight for resources. The larger and more physically powerful groups of Xaela would dominate the smaller and weaker ones, dominating those groups means they have more food to eat for themselves. The second one group of Xaela begins to gain more power, which I'm sure would occur, their resources increase. Though I suppose you could be right if scarcity were an issue!

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Hah, well like I said, I adore immersive lore and debating plausibility. Though I definitely share your sentiment on the way you want the Au Ra girls.

Snip

Hah, I wouldn't be opposed to the males being as petite and waifish as the girls are :P Heck, in my perfect world Xaela would be more akin to the men's heights and structure, while the Raen would be as petite and waifish like the girl's are.

This has been a ton of fun, heh <3

[Belhi]

I'm terrible at editing my posts and it would be a wall anyway if I tried so Im just going to number my responses to your points:

1. A valid point. I'll be honest, the Au Ra females don't look to be particularly well muscled. However there is a really noticeable difference between endurance and burst strength in bulk. The Au Ra males are actually probably pretty accurate I suspect in muscle definition.

2. From personal experience I can tell you outright that in muddy conditions being large makes movement far more difficult and risky than being smaller. Its simple physics really. I think my point though was that a smaller foe can use conditions and terrain to their own benefit. Smaller doesn't necessarily mean worse in combat unless the difference is huge. Smaller can also sometimes mean being a smaller target.

3. Are you talking about in modern times or historically. The average high of humans has been increasing steadily since the Agricultural revolution. Simple reality is more food means bigger people and not just fatter. The extra protein during youth substantially increases growth and size. We are also talking about a resource poor landscape. I cant speak for the Native Americans but if we look at Mongolians which lived in a terrain closer to what the Xeala are supposed to live in then we see a short group of people. In fact even their horses were short. The reality of Hunter Gatherer societies was they simply had far less food supply due to the effort it took to acquire it and burned far more energy in the process of acquiring it.

4. Im going to be honest here. It actually wouldn't bother me if the Au Ra females were bigger. We know that SE made them that way because they felt they would appeal to a larger audience. I just lept into the debate because I like arguing over technicalities in logic. :P

5. You clearly haven't known many farmers or labourers if you think the Raen wouldn't be buff. And this is a time prior to machines to help with the labour. I actually think it would be more fun to have the thin, waifish ones the bloodthirsty types but that's just me. :P