Cluros

Though said to have no honour, to be barbaric and savage, the Orion people do however have the concept of cluros, a code of conduct that attempts to impose self-control and restraint upon their often brutal excesses, though without really altering their behaviour. Cluros translates to 'cold' or 'coolness', and the concept is akin to 'keeping one's cool'. It means keeping one's head in even the most devastating or infuriating circumstances.

By the rules of cluros, one must always speak formally and levelly to one's opponents, whether armed or not. Those who are disarmed and powerless are always treated with respect and courtesy, since they are harmless. One must not forget details or allow distractions, setbacks or suffering to interfere with one's smooth demeanor. One must not reveal that they have been injured (whether financially, professionally or emotionally), nor to reveal the source, and to downplay it otherwise.

There is said to be great nobility in cluros, even that it is the highest expression of Orion civilization. Examples of great cluros are of a shipowner shrugging after losing a billion credits worth of cargo, of a pirate grinning in the face of enemy guns as his ship lies helpless, of a father calmly burying his son while he plots revenge on his killers. A humiliated slave girl who happily pleases her master while plotting his downfall can equally be said to have cluros.

To maintain their cluros, Orions can go to great lengths to conceal their sense of loss, grief, rage or frustration. They will do this to save face or to get close enough to get revenge upon without alerting those who wronged them. To lose one's temper, to shout or scream or cry, or to use more force than necessary indicate a lack of cluros, and an Orion who spurns it risks being shamed and losing the respect of friends, enemies, neutrals and dependents, and worse still elevates his or her enemies.

The highest goal of cluros is to force one's enemies to lose it, by baiting them and being maddeningly polite in the face of provocation, to infuriate their tormentor into losing control. In this sense, it can be a bloodless weapon.