"Ah. Do you really not know?" By touches his lips curiously. "The Cetagandans have given you a very partial view of the planet, haven't they?"
He drops his hand and lifts his eyebrows. "Many-many hundreds of years ago, settlers came to the uninhabited planet Barrayar, to begin a new life here. Or, well - it wasn't called Barrayar back then, it was X-773-something-something-something - who can remember. They came, they settled...the wormhole that allowed interstellar travel collapsed, cutting all of them off from civilization. They organized a new governmental system that was neo-feudalist in form and repressive in nature. There was an Emperor, and there were the Vor - servants that he elevated to noble status. Nowadays, the planet is ruled by these two forces: the Emperor at the top, and the noble Vor underneath him. And below them, the proles, poor creatures."
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He drops his hand and lifts his eyebrows. "Many-many hundreds of years ago, settlers came to the uninhabited planet Barrayar, to begin a new life here. Or, well - it wasn't called Barrayar back then, it was X-773-something-something-something - who can remember. They came, they settled...the wormhole that allowed interstellar travel collapsed, cutting all of them off from civilization. They organized a new governmental system that was neo-feudalist in form and repressive in nature. There was an Emperor, and there were the Vor - servants that he elevated to noble status. Nowadays, the planet is ruled by these two forces: the Emperor at the top, and the noble Vor underneath him. And below them, the proles, poor creatures."