barrayarmods: (Default)
For Barrayar mods ([personal profile] barrayarmods) wrote in [community profile] forbarrayar2016-12-19 09:43 pm

[ january i log: barrayar ]

Who: Everyone
What: Arrival on Barrayar and what follows
When: January 2nd - January 17th
Where: Barrayaran guerrilla camp
Warnings: None (at the moment)


welcome to barrayar.
It's the dark of night when you come to in the foothills. Snow on the ground, chill winter wind whistling. A steep mountain range towers just ahead, its peaks illuminated by the light of two moons. Whatever you last remember, it isn't how you got here, and you feel oddly jetlagged, slightly queasy.

And you're not alone. There are nine other people close by, all looking equally lost and confused. But before any of you have a chance to figure out what's going on, the soldiers arrive.

They're dressed in weather-worn green uniforms, bearing swords and bows, and they surround you immediately, poised to attack. But they quickly realize you're not their enemy, the ones they call Cetagandans. They're just as confused as you are, but rather than hanging around to puzzle it out, they start shepherding you toward their camp in the mountains while it's still dark. There's a war on, they say, and you unlucky bastards have just been dropped right smack in the middle of it.

the guerrilla camp
It's a few hours' hike through the mountains to get to their hidden camp, set up in a clearing framed by dense, hard forestry and backed against a rock face. Daylight is finally dawning when you make it there. You and your fellow sudden arrivals are ushered to an empty tent on the far end of the camp, just big enough to fit all ten of you. You can't help but notice they've posted guards all around it. You aren't under arrest – they just don't know what else to do with you.

You are able to glean, from hearsay and what the soldiers are willing to share with you, that you are on a planet called Barrayar, and this is their home, and ten years ago they were attacked without warning by the Cetagandan Empire. They've been holed up in the mountains fighting against their invaders ever since, outgunned and outmanned, but scoring little victories where they can. They don't tell you much more than that. Some dialect of Russian seems to be one of the predominant languages of the camp, but for the most part they all speak English too, if with an accent. They're gruff and wary, and if you look a little less – or more – than human, they'll eye you with suspicion, maybe even make obscure hex signs at you that seem intended to ward off evil or disease. But they aren't hostile to you, not unless you start something with them.

the outsiders' tent
It's not in the greatest shape, but if you look around the camp, the rest aren't much better off. It's cramped, but you've at least been provided with bedrolls and heavy wool blankets to ward off the frozen chill, and if you're in need of clothing, they'll provide it, although it probably hasn't been washed in…a while. The soldiers bring you food at mealtimes -- not very good food, mostly tough meat and groats, and they keep you your own campfire, just to keep you warm. They've also hastily dug you your own latrine area at the edge of the perimeter, just behind the treeline. No private bathroom stalls in this outfit, unfortunately. The entire camp seems tense and wary, and the soldiers are alert, but they don't talk much. You could try sneaking past them, but you probably won't get far.

Well, at least you've got each other for company: the outsiders on Barrayar.
shri: (» oh I'll leave you for dead)

[personal profile] shri 2017-01-16 08:29 am (UTC)(link)
He's a thing to see at his full height. Half that of a Lycan but more than a normal man. He'd been something to see fall too. Like giants of the stories her father told her once, come crashing down. She hoped not to see it again. Instead, she waits, like it comes easy, as he goes through the motions, taking stock of his surroundings, what's available to him.

See what he'd do, maybe he would go out swinging, she wouldn't blame him. It feels an easier option than handling this mess. But he just seems to look, elects to do otherwise, and -

Reaches down to her. She regards it momentarily, he far too easily dwarfs her as her hand slips up, grips hard to his forearm and lets herself be pulled. Granted, she probably weighs nothing to him, it's not like she'd be much of a burden. It gives her an excuse, stumbling forward into him as she comes up, a too wide step as she gets her footing that tumbles closer than perhaps she need be.

It gives her the excuse she wants, murmuring soft and low to his ear for a half second. "They've got no firearms, just swords, but ability enough in them. They say there is a war on." A quick relay of information and her own assessment, one soldier to another - since apparently this group is together now. "Might be worth waiting until we know more."
Edited 2017-01-16 08:30 (UTC)
littlemissfutility: (23)

[personal profile] littlemissfutility 2017-01-16 04:41 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not going to fall behind.

[Said with a set jaw and stern eyes. She knows better than to make herself a burden to people with swords. Cold as it is--and it's about as far from Georgia's muggy heat as she can imagine--if she just keeps walking, she'll get through it. We have to be going somewhere. They wouldn't just walk us to death.

I hope.
]


I don't want you to be cold on my account, anyway.
shri: (» and drawn our lines)

[personal profile] shri 2017-01-17 05:28 am (UTC)(link)
[ The scarf lowers, frown stitching herself on her brow and it's - a scarf, its a bare piece of warmth and it's a small kindness amongst strangers, little as can be afforded. It doesn't warrant so much fuss. ]

I won't be. [ curt, whatever she means. ] Why don't you wish to take it?
vorrutyer: (condescending aka default)

[personal profile] vorrutyer 2017-01-17 06:38 pm (UTC)(link)
"I'm tempted," he says mildly, fingers tracing his lower lip, "to ask your surname." The corner of his mouth lifts. No, if she hasn't introduced herself yet, she probably doesn't want to. And he - Well. He would like to enjoy a little bit of mystery. So he drops his hand and says, instead - "No, I've a much better question. Do you dance?"
littlemissfutility: (46)

[personal profile] littlemissfutility 2017-01-17 08:11 pm (UTC)(link)
In this weather? [She looks dubious. A few extra layers, pretty or otherwise, aren't likely to keep the woman warm out here. She's pretty sure, looking at them, that they aren't that warm. Means the woman should keep them.

The fact that the logic is a convenient way to avoid taking anything from her is something she'd rather not think too hard about. She definitely isn't going to bring up any of the twistier, less reasonable explanations, like there was a woman called Dawn--

She shakes her head.]
I'm warm enough. Thanks.
Edited 2017-01-19 02:25 (UTC)
sibearian: <user name=gay4zarya site=tumblr.com> (hi five)

[personal profile] sibearian 2017-01-18 12:35 am (UTC)(link)
"As long as you are comfortable," she comments. Zarya is happy to offer translation to any of the new arrivals, but of course she doesn't want to make them feel like they must accept her service. That would be... well, weird.

"Siberia. A very small town in the mountains, where the winters were always like this. I'm sure you can imagine. What about yourself?"
sibearian: <user name=gay4zarya site=tumblr.com> (upset)

[personal profile] sibearian 2017-01-18 12:38 am (UTC)(link)
"Metal. My father always said I would be a good metal worker. Apparently you need to have a certain mind for it. I still don't know what this mind is, but according to him I have it," she confirms with a little laugh. Honestly? Her dad could've been joking about it and she wouldn't know. It's kind of laughable how much she doesn't know about it.

"Ach, they are too controlling. The best thing to do is to let you do what you think is right! It needs a... woman's touch!"
sibearian: <user name=gay4zarya site=tumblr.com> (upset)

[personal profile] sibearian 2017-01-18 12:44 am (UTC)(link)
"I see. I am sorry if I seemed skeptical of your experiences - it is just a surprising thing to hear. There is a lot today that doesn't add up; suddenly appearing on a snowy hill in the night only being one of them," she says. She feels more than a little bad, honestly.

"I am sorry you have had to experience that. Perhaps there will be some answers here?"
sibearian: <user name=gay4zarya site=tumblr.com> (ah... yeah)

[personal profile] sibearian 2017-01-18 12:49 am (UTC)(link)
Okay... now she's just confused. Wouldn't carny folk understand the idea behind sustenance over taste?

"Ah, I see. Perhaps they could. I would never doubt what another person could teach me about something I have never experienced."
truevor: (pic#10925366)

[personal profile] truevor 2017-01-19 07:04 am (UTC)(link)
Solely in command? That causes a small, ironic smile to flit over Olivia's face. "That depends," is her response, eyes bright as she gives the other woman a more searching look, "there are none here who can rival my social ranking, but there is very little in the way of parties to plan and events to attend. My husband, however, is the sole military commander of these forces."

She's long since come to accept Barrayar's antiquated gender roles, although they pull and chafe at her still -- she's grown thicker skin, and found that there are more ways than just wielding a sword to get things done. Although there were times that, Olivia had to admit, a blade was the better option.
shri: (» we are the hearts)

[personal profile] shri 2017-01-19 09:33 am (UTC)(link)
She stays impassive and calm, simply content to learn and to keep asking what she needs to know and what was within reason. Not so much to put the Countess on her backfoot. So she nods and listens.

A brave woman, nothing less than to stand here in a war camp and face such things when it seemed no one thought a woman capable of that. A smile parts, brief and understanding for what it's worth. "And in his absence, it falls to you?" Or is she simply to abide where it is safe? Couches it carefully, to see what there relationship was like. If she was here simply because he preferred her where she was safe. "I ask only as things are... different to my home. I would not wish to risk offence by misunderstanding who I am to offer my services too."
shri: (» so we pull our feet through)

[personal profile] shri 2017-01-19 09:40 am (UTC)(link)
[ She doesn't answer it, of course she doesn't, because she never explains herself, never asks for forgiveness or permission. Just does as she wills.

But to this - her eyes roll. More motherly than anything else, words half-bidden on her lips. I will get colder looking at you. But if the girl wishes to be stubborn? Then that is her business.

( She'll just... keep an eye on her, irritable little noise. )
]

As you wish.
prorenataa: (hand in hair tense)

[personal profile] prorenataa 2017-01-19 03:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Having come up against a solid wall of ‘nope’ from the guard, Adrien’s mood was not particularly friendly. Well, to be honest Adrien’s mood was never friendly but it was a bit sharper than usual and his head came around, breath drawn as he was about to give Beth and quick quip.

He managed to bite off whatever comment had been on the tip of his tongue and instead, exhaled a deep breath and nodded at her.

“You get all that on the way here?” He motioned, indicating the head wound and arm.
truevor: (pic#10925383)

[personal profile] truevor 2017-01-19 06:35 pm (UTC)(link)
A Vorrutyer. Olivia herself has no quarrel with any of the family -- beyond what bitterness might remain for her father's legitimization and her grandfather's marriage to her grandmother once the Vorrutyer Empress had passed. They have always been an odd family, if the right hand of the Emperor for centuries. And old Count Pierre Vorrutyer had taken no small number of Cetagandans with him when he finally went. How much that dedication stand with this Vorrutyer remains to be seen.

But that would not stop her from being unfailingly polite to him until he proves one way or the other. The dip of her head is shallow, but respectful. "Very well, Byerly Vorrutyer." She does not, however, introduce herself. Even recovering from a hangover, Olivia figures that any Vorbarr Sultana Vor worth their salt can deduce who the High Vor woman with Count Vorkosigan is, even if she hasn't been in the public eye for ten years. "If it was your intention to fight, perhaps you would do well to appeal to Count Vorkosigan himself and present yourself in short order. We can always use another pair of hands." It's said as neutral as possible, but there's a sharp glint in her eyes.

If there's a moment of weakness, Olivia will strike. They cannot afford missteps, not now, and she'll be damned before she lets herself be the cause of one.
truevor: (pic#10925358)

[personal profile] truevor 2017-01-19 07:35 pm (UTC)(link)
"In his absence it falls to his officers," for a moment it seems as if that's all Olivia will say as she studies the woman before her. Different? Possibly like Beta Colony, then -- but if so, then she's right to be cautious -- Piotr's soldiers are hardly as forward thinking as their general, and even then her husband only bows to reason and not to galactic example. Ah, Barrayarans. The hint of a smile becomes stronger still, although her face remains carefully neutral. All of those officers are susceptible to a certain amount of pressure, if it comes from a particular source.

So instead she folds her hands in front of her, and continues. "I assume the services you offer are military in nature? Why else would you be so curious as to the structure of command here?" That would be a fight that would take more than the power Olivia has at her disposal, but-- "General Count Vorkosigan has the final word on those matters, and if that is your wish it will take more than one audience with him to accept your offer." If it's something the other woman truly wants, Olivia will do her best to see that Rani is given the best chance, but she will only offer if the woman is willing to accept a difficult fight.
littlemissfutility: (35)

[personal profile] littlemissfutility 2017-01-19 08:15 pm (UTC)(link)
"Before." The when doesn't matter much when they're so far from the where. And anyway, if he's not going to answer her question, she doesn't feel like volunteering too much information herself. She lets the word hang for a moment before she says, "If they show you where it is, maybe you could tell me."

She doesn't want him to have to break any rules on her account--they don't know each other beyond "another outsider"--but it can't hurt to mention something like a location to her.
truevor: (pic#10925366)

[personal profile] truevor 2017-01-19 08:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Her sister's disregard for proper protocol has only ever bothered Olivia when it matters -- it so rarely does these days, and never between them -- that instead of a frown she greets her sister with a smile. Setting aside the letters she'd been making her way through and clearing a space on the small table that serves the entire tent, Olivia gestures for her sister to join her.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was brewed with a more than recommended amount of that damned plant," muses Olivia. She'd seen the effect of it when chewed, and while it had some merit, she can't help but remain healthily skeptical of the overall drawbacks of a chewed plant that discolored one's entire mouth.
vorbratta: (say there's something better)

[personal profile] vorbratta 2017-01-19 08:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Sonia wrinkles her nose. "Ew, no. Not that foul gumleaf stuff. I wouldn't drink that if you paid me." She sets the kettle down with care and extracts two battered but intact cups from the satchel, along with a few small, maple-flavored tea cakes she'd managed to procure. "There's a weed up in this part of the mountains the Riverfall folk use for brewing tea. It's sort of week, but it's kind of minty."

The tea is only a pretext, anyway. She diligently pours her sister a cup and then one for herself, taking it and a seat on Olivia's cot. "So, what do you think of our new friends?"
shri: (» and if that's true)

[personal profile] shri 2017-01-19 11:34 pm (UTC)(link)
As much as she needs to see. She nods, again, and taps her fingers idly by her side.

"I suspected so much, the men that I encountered so far... did not seem taken with the notion of a woman who knows their blades as well as they do." She tries not to be - to dismissive. It's nothing she hasn't heard before. Perhaps taken for granted when she ruled. But her men had seen her in the lines with them, day in, day out. Blade in her hand, eating as they ate, bleeding as they did.

All she supposed she asked, is the chance to do the same, now. Her smile pulls. "My father is the one who put the blade in my hand as a child to teach me, and it is he who told me that perseverance is how such things are truly won. I do not see why that will serve me now." Yes, she will fight for her right. The thing she was so wholly turned into. If they wouldn't let her, she would dress herself as a man, and she would do it anyway. Her words to Zarya - men were fragile things, at times, best to do what must be done and sort it out later.

Because Miles had made it clear to her, this war must be over and she must be able to go home. That was it.

She clears her throat a moment, considering. It depended on their relationship, in truth, but... if there was any amount of respect between husband and wife. "Whatever you can do to assure that, my lady, I will be in your debt for such." An offer, that if she needed her, she would give it in turn.
traitorous: (pic#10475828)

[personal profile] traitorous 2017-01-20 06:04 am (UTC)(link)
Maine doesn't know much about Earth's territories, but he knows enough to know that Siberia is part of Russia. So she is from Earth. He's only met a small handful of people from Earth, over the years.

NOT EARTH, he writes. KEPLER-62. WE'RE NEIGHBORS.

Neighbors that live 1,200 light years away from each other.
traitorous: (LISTEN.)

[personal profile] traitorous 2017-01-20 06:21 am (UTC)(link)
Miles stares at his name for so long that Maine starts to add an I'M to the front of it before he finally seems to catch on. He nods at his reply, and then stamps a foot in the dirt to clear the neat, thick-lined scribble away —

THE NEXUS? BETA COLONY?

— only to immediately write more questions in its place. Sorry, Miles. Hope you're feeling chatty. Beta Colony could possibly be a reference to the Beta Eridani or Beta Hydri systems. Both systems are within 100 light years of Earth, and so far Earth seems to be the only common denominator between him and Miles.

The Nexus, though. He's never heard that term — or place? tech, maybe? — before.
dendarii: (eidetics 52)

[personal profile] dendarii 2017-01-20 11:32 am (UTC)(link)
Ironically, Maine's asking more questions than some of the people who can talk. Miles has to crouch in the dirt after a while to save his aching legs. (Which just puts a crick in his neck, because looking up at this huge man is even worse at this level.)

"Beta as in second. Alpha Colony was lost." He doesn't know the specific star system off the top of his head, only that it was one of the closest planets available for supporting life. As for the Nexus ... He begins to sketch out a crude version of this map, starting with Earth, tracing a route to Barrayar, and then adding systems as he can.

"Each of these lines is a wormhole route," he says, tapping each one in turn. "That's how you get between stars quickly."
traitorous: (OH LAZARUS.)

[personal profile] traitorous 2017-01-21 06:18 am (UTC)(link)
Okay, that absolutely wasn't the answer he was expecting.

Maine has to work very hard to keep his expression neutral and not look at Miles as if he's speaking and drawing in another language. He might as well be, really. What he's saying makes sense in theory, but the diagram he sketches is hardly recognizable as the galaxy that Maine is familiar with.

There's Tau Ceti, and Earth is part of Sol. At least they have two systems in common.

YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT SLIPSPACE. INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL.
Edited (WRONG WORD my bad) 2017-01-21 06:23 (UTC)
dendarii: (TW_S1_E2_0447)

[personal profile] dendarii 2017-01-21 12:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Combined with Beta Colony's system, that means three systems that are definitely in their galaxy. Otherwise ... Miles sure couldn't tell you where the hell these other ones come out at. For all he knows his homeworld is in another universe entirely. Not relevant here.

"Just so," he says, rocking back on his heels once he's done. "Which is why distance is not the primary form of measurement for us. It's all about how many wormhole jumps it takes to get somewhere."
traitorous: (LISTEN.)

[personal profile] traitorous 2017-01-21 05:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Maine nods, solemn.

Travel via slipspace worked somewhat similarly for the UNSC and all man-made ships. While the invention of the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine was revolutionary for mankind, the technology was far from perfect, and their ships almost never exited a jump in the correct location. Time spent in slipspace mattered more than distance traveled because their measurement of distance often wasn't reliable.

He again rests his chin on his hand and draws a lazy sideways smiley face in the dirt by his feet, followed by a TY that he immediately crosses out and replaces with a full THANKS. Just in case.

WHERE WERE YOU BEFORE?

His writing is getting sloppier as time goes on, possibly due to his hand cramping and also a little because it's fucking tedious, carefully carving each letter into the dirt. Maine corrects a couple of the sloppier lines with a rumbling sigh.

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