barrayarmods: (Default)
For Barrayar mods ([personal profile] barrayarmods) wrote in [community profile] forbarrayar2017-02-18 03:21 pm

[ february ii log ]

Who: Everyone
What: Traitors exposed, celebrations had, sleight hands passing cards under the table. And so begin the preparations for what is soon to come.
When: February 18th - 28th
Where: Barrayaran camp / Cetagandan base
Warnings: Torture (interrogations thread)

Quick links:
Riverfall
Barrayar: Barrayaran camp / Party / Missions
Cetaganda: Cetagandan base / Moon-poetry party / Missions


The harsh weather rages on, which temperatures still averaging far below freezing, and the wind is still strong. But things are a little less dire for the outsiders, and for the exotics -- well, they have their own chills to deal with.

riverfall
Riverfall village is your typical Dendarii mountain village, which means it's small, humble, and mostly poor. This is the most rural of the rural around here, a little backwater even by Barrayaran standards. Most of the villagers live in houses of wood and stone built themselves or by ancestors. Despite the cold, there are plenty of people outside at any given time -- working, mostly, because the daily grind stops for no one, but even the occasional group of children taken over by fits of cabin fever. The village is built up against a rocky mountain face, from the top of which the eponymous waterfall flows into the river that borders the west edge of the village and continues down the mountain. The place isn't exactly hidden, but if you don't know your way around, it'd be hard to find without a native guide.

The villagers are wary of the outsiders at first, even more than the soldiers had been -- the rural Dendarii are as superstitious as they come -- but, slowly convinced of their good intentions, start to warm to them. They're a blunt, hardy people, largely uneducated and tending toward the most extreme of Barrayaran sensibilities, but they are undeniably fierce. The General Count trusts them, so they'll be more or less civil (by Barrayaran standards, anyway), but you might catch the occasional scrutinizing, watchful stare. With Cetagandans in camp and exotics among them, they border on hostile, especially those who are visibly nonhuman. They keep their heads down enough to keep from getting into trouble with the soldiers, but they do not like you at all.

Not everyone in Riverfall speaks English -- Russian is everyone's first language, and only about half the village has any passable command of English. Thankfully, the village's Speaker Yakiv Gura speaks English, if heavily accented. They're clearly stretching to the limit to help the camp, but to the Dendarii, there's no higher act than one in the Count's service, especially when it comes to fighting this war.

barrayar
Even after scoring themselves a little extra food, morale in the camp is at an all-time low. The miserably dangerous weather hasn't let up, food is still heavily rationed, and everyone is still at least a little tired, cold, and hungry all of the time. It doesn't help that they've lost a few soldiers in the last couple of weeks, and in Riverfall, too, some villagers have died of the cold despite their relative warmth and safety, mostly children. This is hardly the first harsh winter they've faced, but that doesn't stop the inexorable loss that comes with it. Some villagers may be somberly putting their loved ones to rest in the village graveyard when the outsiders are in town.

But Piotr finally calls Negri out as a spy sent by his aide-de-camp Captain Ezar Vorbarra, partly to deliver a message and partly to test Piotr, because Ezar loves coy bullshit. However, he does learn that both Ezar and Prince Xav Vorbarra, Olivia and Sonia's father, are en route to Vorkosigan's District with relief supplies from Beta Colony secured by Xav's ambassadorial connections and tireless lobbying. Once Piotr judges it safe to release this information, it bring with it a bit of hope -- and to seal the deal, Piotr and Olivia arrange a celebration of sorts in the village.

Finally outing the ring of reason in the camp helps to bolster morale, too. Vorhalas is interrogated, and the names of his co-conspirators are revealed: Lieutenant Boris Vortala, who killed himself in disgrace shortly after his fast-penta interrogation at ghem-General Zefyst's hand, and their commander Captain Aaron Vorbataille. Vorbataille has, of course, already started to make his escape -- but with the help out of the outsiders, he won't get very far. Once Piotr is satisfied with Vorbataille's interrogation as well, both men are put to execution, but not by beheading as Doctor ghem-Miko: the sentence for treason is death by public starvation and exposure, and in this weather, it doesn't take long. They are publicly and emphatically denounced as traitors with no honor to speak of, sending a very clear message. Although this might seem like a gruesome sight to the outsiders, to the Barrayarans this is simply how it goes, and very few of them are sorry to see these traitors suffer, particularly as Vorhalas was the one responsible for their food shortage in the first place.

Reports from those soldiers and outsiders who were in the village at the same time as the Cetagandan field science team present the General Count with another troubling problem, however: the implications of the Cetagandans building a device that could control this phenomenon are terrifying, particularly to this threadbare resistance movement. But sabotage seems hardly a worthy solution, either. This is the only lead they have on sending the outsiders home, and so many of them have already put their lives on the line for the cause of a planet that otherwise nothing to most of them. There would be no honor in robbing them of their only chance to return home. But whether they should continue to allow the Cetagandans to proceed with their research or try to find a way to copy their plans themselves, a dubiously possible venture at best, weighs heavily on his mind. It only complicates his strategic concerns further, but by his military orders in the next couple of weeks, at least one thing is clear: he wants Cetagandan bodies.

camp
Morale is critically low among the soldiers, particularly after a few casualties during a recent skirmish with a Cetagandan patrol, but spirits definitely begin to lift with news of relief. The soldiers are now more or less accustomed to the outsiders' place in the camp, and they're even starting to become a little friendlier toward them, particularly those who've been involved in the war effort. They might invite outsiders to play card or dice games with them, or share a conversation over an admittedly meager meal, or better still, bond with them in the true Barrarayan form: over a lot of alcohol.

Negri has more or less built himself a niche in the camp, and doesn't look like he's going anywhere any time soon. But he isn't the only spy around. They desperately need a man on the inside, particularly with the troubling news about the wormhole device, and right now, that man is Byerly Vorrutyer. Starting next month, Piotr is sending him on assignment to infiltrate the Cetagandan base under the cover of a cowardly collaborator.

party
By the time they have the party on the 21st, the villagers have warmed up to the outsiders a little, but they don't really bond until the party. With what little they have to share, they scrape together as much of a feast as they can: not much, but by this month's standards, any hot meal prepared with fresh ingredients seems absolutely decadent. And because this is Barrayar there is, of course, plenty of liquor, that Barrayaran moonshine maple mead not the least among them, and there's no shortage of wine or vodka, either.

The hillfolk light lanterns all around the village and raise large tarps to cover the open center of the village where they usually hold gatherings. Inside, protected from the wind and lit by the bonfire and braziers placed around the perimeter, it's actually almost warm. Every villager who's ever laid hand to an instrument seems to gather there to play music all night long, an energetic mix of lively folk music and raucous drinking songs. Anyone with any musical talent would be welcome to join them as well. There's plenty of dancing, too, very little of it formal or complicated, but everyone's having a good time for the first time in weeks, maybe months, and the mood is infectious. By the end of the night, morale seems to have risen overall, and people in camp have something real to look forward to. The partygoing visitors are put up in warmed tents within the tarped village center or in the villagers' homes where they have room. Come morning, they'll head back, but for just one night, it's almost like there isn't even a war on.

missions
Outsiders have been assisting with moving supplies between the camp and Riverfall all throught he rest of the month, and it mostly goes smoothly. Vorbataille is caught on the 20th, although he and Vorhalas aren't publicly executed until a few days later, when Piotr is satisfied with the intelligence he's extracted. By the time he gets Vorbataille's name out of Vorhalas, the traitorous Captain has already fled -- but thanks to Carolina, Duv and Zarya, he's dragged back to camp for his interrogation.

That evening, Maine and William have the misfortune of encountering a dragon -- Darkstalker is on a mission with a Cetagandan patrol, and they run right smack into each other. A fight breaks out, but ultimately Darkstalker and the Cetagandans come out on top, and the outsiders and Barrayarans are forced to retreat -- but not before managing to kill a Cetagandan soldier or two, just barely escaping with one of the bodies.

Miles finds himself in a terrible position when a guard patrol shift goes horribly wrong in a skirmish against some Cetagandans, resulting in the death of their squad leader and a very ugly aftermath.

Zarya, William, Beth and Miles are in Riverfall with some Barrayaran soldiers on a supply run when a Cetagandan field science team arrives with a few exotics in tow. This is a rare chance to learn more about the Cetagandans' scientific exploits, and among other things, they find out that whatever it is that brought them here, the Cetagandan scientists are convincede it has something to do with the wormhole that collapsed 700 years ago.

The unabridged mission writeup is here.

cetaganda
The Cetagandans are a notoriously tight-lipped bunch, but they're blowing away most of the smoke surrounding their wormhole science research. As has been alluded, they're currently working on a device to harness the phenomenon that brought all the exotics here in the first place, and hopefully find a way to send them all home with it. They invite any exotics with scientific expertise to a series of interviews about neurology, astrophysics, and mechanical engineering. None of the advisement they receive helps to solve one of their most critical problems -- that of generating a Necklin field to match the one that must have surrounded each exotic -- but it certainly puts them closer to their goal, particularly in the area of neurology, and they're hardly going to stop there. But it's clear that the mathematicians and astrophysicists on base don't have sufficient expertise to solve the most complex equations before them. But on the brighter side of things, in the interest of this scientific exchange, they're letting the lab techs help a little more beyond just grunt work.

Meanwhile, the genetics project that seems so strange and arcane to the exotic carries on, largely behind the scenes, although Diya is increasingly at odds with her husband and even some of her senior staff, particularly the precocious Amai ghem-Soren. But there is very real purpose behind it -- and far more than just one -- and Diya d'Zefyst is a woman of great ambition. And more than anything else, she is haut.

Unfortunately, the relative peace on base is abruptly broken when Daryl, Lakshmi and Wash all manage to escape in a wild breakout attempt on the 25th. York and Ratchet are left behind, and as a result, some of their privileges revoked. They're now being watched a little more closely as a result.

base
Overall, despite simmering tensions under the surface and the miserable weather, life on base seems to be going more or less smoothly around them. The Cetagandans have had some recent victories against the Barrayarans, so morale is high. Unfortunately, after the breakout they begin cracking down on security with the exotics -- going back to treating the exotics a little more like they did when they first arrived. They aren't under guard, but after the 25th, they are being watched.

They still maintain that insistent veneer of civility, however, breaking only in cases where they feel the need or security risk is significant enough. The ghem on base remain overall cordial and courteous to the exotics as they ever were, which is to say considerably and always with a touch of smug superiority. With her success at the party earlier this month followed by her performance in the moon-poetry garden, the often-sequestered Amai ghem-Soren is seen more around the base.

moon-poetry party
The moon-poetry party is about three hours long and steeped in ceremony, each participant taking their turn to recite. This is, apparently, not a recitation of one's own work, but rather selections of classical Cetagandan poems, and in so referencing something culturally ubiquitous, each makes a statement in its mere selection and juxtapositions. If you pay close enough attention, you might notice that each participant has very subtly coordinated their outfits to further complement the theme of their recitation. Although there is a definite dignity to the party, it doesn't take much to pick up on the fact that this is yet another arena ghem use to try and socially one-up one another. Among the participants are both the Chief Medical Officer Colonel Faro ghem-Naru and Doctor Amai ghem-Soren, whose performance was especially well-received, the theme apparently being something about subtle passions.

missions
The science interviews with the exotics go more or less well, although not quite so hopeful as the Cetagandans were hoping. They do, however, learn some things about FTL travel in other worlds as well as other kinds of neural implants.

On the evening of the 21st, York, Natasha and Kaidan accidentally bear witness to what is clearly some kind of travesty: clearly a human being, but both overgrown and underdeveloped, and exhibiting powers of hydrokinesis and psychic empathy, referred to only as a ba.

On the 23rd, Jasper, Lapis, Pearl and Darkstalker accompany some soldiers and a field science team to Riverfall village, coinciding with a visit from some outsiders and soldiers. They encounter some outsiders while there but also pick up a bit on what it is the Cetagandans are doing -- that the Necklin field problem still remains their biggest problem, and they've been getting conflicting orders from the higher ups lately.

The unabridged mission writeup is here.

Note: Negri and Zahal are available for threads by request only this round. Please hit up Madi or Ammay respectively if you want threads with either of those NPCs. You can also request a thread with Village Speaker Yakiv Gura if you want, in which case hit up Madi.
komarran: (excited and slightly nerdy)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-03-02 03:35 pm (UTC)(link)
I wouldn't order him, it would be a request, [ he clarifies. Duv is well aware that his rank from home means nothing here. ]

He might want to know you are awake and well.
shri: (» sit and watch you wiggle)

[personal profile] shri 2017-03-03 12:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, if you feel like requesting, I - [ a inhale, the nervousness of being in her cell, again, of being trapped and there was nothing, nothing else but waiting to die. Sitting there in mindlessness of that moment.

Daryl had saved her from that.
] - I owe him much.
komarran: (THIS CONTINUES TO BE RUDE)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-03-03 06:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He nods firmly. He understands the perils of being in captivity, of clinging to that one link to another reality than the one you're trapped in. It was part of why he and Miles had finally bonded. ]

Once I leave here, I will seek him out and let him know.
shri: (» and I made a little prison)

[personal profile] shri 2017-03-04 07:50 am (UTC)(link)
[ She gives him a smile, her head politely bowing with it in her thanks, and with it comes an easiness. ]

And what may I do for you in return?
komarran: (life is looking up for duv galeni)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-03-04 05:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He holds up a hand and shakes his head. ]

You need not worry. Though I may come to you if I find myself with a hole needing to be repaired.
shri: (» and you ask and they don't know)

[personal profile] shri 2017-03-05 12:06 am (UTC)(link)
[ She tilts her head back in a brief bright laugh, content with that. ]

If I knew how few of you could sew yourselves I would have opened business for myself the day I arrived.
komarran: (oh for fuck's sake)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-03-05 02:05 am (UTC)(link)
[ He smiles at that. Laughter is a much better look for her. ] I'm afraid it's not an art cherished in my time. [ Not with the technology they had available to them. ] With the lack of women around the camp, I'm unsurprised most here don't know.
shri: (» but if we go we go together)

[personal profile] shri 2017-03-05 04:16 am (UTC)(link)
I would hardly say cherished, but it is most certainly needed. Soldiers usually don't have women about. I cannot believe one of them seems to know how to make themselves look neat.

[ Her eyes roll, it's nothing she would have in her armies, that is most certainly sure. Her forces always ensured to be present themselves neatly to her. But... this isn't her army, after all. ]
komarran: (and another drinking icon probably)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-03-05 06:19 am (UTC)(link)
No, they don't. I've had the good fortune of being able to replace worn clothing in the past.

[ It's his excuse anyway for never learning needlework. Thank god for his desk job back home. It was a small luxury he would miss here. ]
shri: (» our hands are tied if we stay)

[personal profile] shri 2017-03-05 10:52 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's a luxury of a completely different kind as she looks him. Blinking in a sort of horror. ]

How many sets of clothes do you have?
komarran: (no one ever listens to me)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-03-05 05:28 pm (UTC)(link)
At home? [ That's... an odd question. ] Enough to get me through. Here I only have what's been given to me.
shri: (» now they whisper it)

[personal profile] shri 2017-03-06 06:01 am (UTC)(link)
How many does 'enough' refer too? [ She's just left blinking. Good lord, do they just have... clothes lying around? Do they have a slew of over-worked wives doing it for them? ]

What you are given is as much as people will have for ten years.
Edited 2017-03-06 06:05 (UTC)
komarran: (insert something dry and sarcastic)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-03-06 06:07 am (UTC)(link)
I don't keep count of my wardrobe, [ he responds dryly. His uniforms accounted for much of it and all of his clothes were fabricator-made rather than tailored, like much of the Nexus. ]

I'm aware that's how it works on planets such as these.
shri: (» and if that's true)

[personal profile] shri 2017-03-06 06:12 am (UTC)(link)
[ Her nose scrunches up a little in distaste and 'planets like these' is not something she quite understands. ] So far the only people I know that can boast having so much are nobility and over-stuffed merchants. Where you come from does not matter much. [ Don't grumble Lakshmi because you miss having at least clean clothes every day. ]

And that is... that is normal for you? Is your family very well off?
komarran: (oh fuck me there goes my career)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-03-06 06:16 am (UTC)(link)
It's normal for most. My father squandered our wealth decades ago, [ there's resentment in his voice, not directed at Lakshmi. It's a feeling he often keeps buried down.

What a different life he could have led had Barrayaran not taken over Komarr when he was four and his father hadn't wasted their money and ruined their family with revenge. ]


Everything I have, I've worked for.
shri: (Default)

[personal profile] shri 2017-03-06 06:26 am (UTC)(link)
And you... took your earnings to purchase many clothes for yourself?

[ She's trying, the information about his father is filed away, an offer of condolences to be given once she's gotten her head around it. Trying to imagine how it is when clothes are cheap. They can't be, do people just... have more money then? ]
komarran: (how many icons are there of duv drinking)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-03-06 06:35 am (UTC)(link)
[ He sighs lightly and tries to explain, ]

Handmade isn't the only way we make our clothing. Machines have made them cheaper.
shri: (» but nothing ever hits home)

[personal profile] shri 2017-03-06 06:41 am (UTC)(link)
[ Curious more than anything, she watches him. ]

Like the... cotton mill factories?
komarran: (dramatic side look)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-03-06 06:53 am (UTC)(link)
[ He falters slightly. ]

I'm afraid that is too far back in human history for me to compare, but they might be similar. Ours produce full garments made to measurements that it takes.
shri: (» I'll never be more)

[personal profile] shri 2017-03-06 06:57 am (UTC)(link)
[ How strange, to be talked about things she knows as the very latest in technology as too far back. She smiles pleasantly and nods, the best she can do. ] I see.

[ She still can't, but... ] Well, I hope that... that means the poorer families can outfit themselves better. I worried every winter over them.
komarran: (how many icons are there of duv drinking)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-03-07 01:39 am (UTC)(link)
It depends entirely on the planet, but most of what I've seen has them faring better than you would see in the rural parts here.

[ There's a reason Barrayar is viewed as a backwater planet. ]