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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: (» i'm slipping out of reach)

[personal profile] shri 2017-01-03 01:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ Hope you had a full life.

His words draw her silence, draw something she strangles in her throat that is laughter and sobbing. Hysterical, a high endLondon Doctor would say. But she feels it - why she comes to detest this camps distrust of her is not because it is unreasonable for them to do, but she cannot stand this idleness, she has never before had the luxury of looking back on - on this -

This full life. Oh, there was no contesting it was that. From one end of an Empire to another, from one battlefield to another, from the beautiful halls of the Fortress of Jhansi where she and her ladies would throw spears and her adopted son would grip to her leg and beg for a sweet - to cradling a half-dead man in the worst back streets in the filth of the Thames, to watching Lycans rip the helpless limb from limb, to the starving, the poor, the disenfranchised that ate hope because they had nothing else to hang onto. The children of Purebloods that did not look like monsters, who were fair skinned, freckled children, that she had shot anyway.

That was the problem, wasn't it? A full life. What a curse a full life could be. How numbing, how exhausting.
] It has been. It continues to be, I can say that much is true. [ Words at odd with her face, older than she is. Given without explanation because she offers neither apologise not explanations anymore. She does, she acts, she is. ]

[ She is quiet, for a time. Her fingers busying with the chains, in the intricate way they link together, once to the piercing in her ear, then up to the chain on her crown, hooked in together, and why she needs help, not difficult, merely fiddly and something, more than anything, what she can feel in control over.

Perhaps there is their difference even in mutual understanding.
]

I did not do it for spite. They were my people, and I am theirs, I did not serve them as ashes. [ A sobering breath, in through her nose, out through her mouth, as her father taught her to keep her head when such things felt overwhelming. With it, her eyes are down again, but it's nothing lady-like, no demure bride or fair maiden, a habit of shutting away her own emotions when there is neither time nor place for them and she never has either.

She has been fighting since she was a young woman, and she fights still.

Because in her choice to do so, did she really spare them anything? She cannot know, perhaps she might have been better put to the flames.
]
dendarii: (cocky lil bastard)

[personal profile] dendarii 2017-01-03 01:36 am (UTC)(link)
That's comforting, at least. And familiar. Miles' smile in response to Zarya's offer is entirely genuine.

"Signing up to be the bodyguard of a man you hardly know?" he says, his expression warm. "That's extremely kind of you."
shri: (» i'm done with it)

[personal profile] shri 2017-01-03 01:41 am (UTC)(link)
"Perhaps you will be able to use it soon for its purpose, seeing as we are apparently in the middle of a war." Amusing, except it's not, except there is nothing else to laugh about.

"Not at all. Nor yelling at soldiers when you find yourself frustrated. One of my own men pulled me out of the field once because my attention was needed elsewhere and I nearly opened him belly to chest for daring to do so." And she is glad to be in company that does the same.
littlemissfutility: (46)

[personal profile] littlemissfutility 2017-01-03 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
A backwater's a nice name for it. [Beth snorts. Once, she'd had a deep allegiance to home--nearly as much as her sister--but if the farmhouse is still standing, it's crawling with the undead. Earth's only been home lately because nobody can leave it.

She doesn't know a thing about what he's talking about, but she suspects she's going to need to learn if she wants to get out of here. So, with a shrug, she admits just how ignorant she is in this area.]


I always thought wormholes were, like, Star Trek things. You know...not real.
dendarii: (solpadeine107)

[personal profile] dendarii 2017-01-03 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
[ Differences, surely, but not on that point. Miles has people of his own to serve, in particular those who are like him. As future Count, he will do much to end this particular prejudice in his district. Must do as much as he can, for the opportunity will not arise again ... And there are still plenty of hillfolk who have children the old-fashioned way. No gene cleaning for them.

He's quiet for a moment, thinking about that as he continues to attend to her. Holding the chains as directed, or simply holding the original one in place. ]


We serve no one as ashes. [ He says, with a gravity that belies his supposedly common background. ] Or as dead bodies. We must needs do all we can with what we can claw out for them.

[ Miles has not paid the same costs as her, but his life has not been easy either. Far from it. ]
dendarii: (solpadeine106)

[personal profile] dendarii 2017-01-03 01:47 am (UTC)(link)
[ Miles, in turn, blinks rather owlishly back at her. Star Trek? What? ]

Oh no, they're quite real. [ A beat. ] Where on Earth do you live that you've never heard of them?
sibearian: <user name=gay4zarya site=tumblr.com> (feels bad man)

[personal profile] sibearian 2017-01-03 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
"We are in this war together, my friend. That sort of attitude towards anyone will only serve in lower morale and possibly lowering numbers. I have played this game many times."

And she's only 28!
dendarii: (for real?)

[personal profile] dendarii 2017-01-03 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
Many times ... he looks her up and down, coming to much the same conclusion.

"You seem rather young for that."
changeth: (♛ I'll give you a love that cannot last;)

[personal profile] changeth 2017-01-03 01:51 am (UTC)(link)
There's a subtle something to Olivia's demeanor, and more to the point the demeanor of those around her. Arthur, brought up in a palace since birth, has a keen eye for it; for the sort of bearing that comes with authority, knowing one may go wherever one pleases (needs to be), and address whomever as an equal -- or lesser. When he approaches her, he nods with a certain amount of respect if without deference.

"My lady."
sibearian: <user name=gay4zarya site=tumblr.com> (feels bad man)

canon is so unclear on when exactly she enlisted so pulls this out my ass

[personal profile] sibearian 2017-01-03 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
"I was not very old when I enlisted. Many problems I have seen in my platoon were merely conflicting beliefs and all they did was push us apart when we needed to be together more than ever."

She always tried to avoid the drama... but you can't all the time.
littlemissfutility: (34)

[personal profile] littlemissfutility 2017-01-03 01:55 am (UTC)(link)
Georgia. [She always assumes her accent gives it away, if anything does, but Earth sounds astoundingly unimportant around here. He might not know a Southern accent from a hole in the ground.] Last time anybody took off from the Earth and landed someplace else, though, it was the moon. If we had wormholes, you'd think NASA would've gotten people out at the turn.
sibearian: <user name=gay4zarya site=tumblr.com> (upset)

[personal profile] sibearian 2017-01-03 01:56 am (UTC)(link)
"If I have to, I will. I do not particularly want to fight on a side I know nothing about, but if I can do anything to help protect the innocent caught in the crossfire, then I will."

Zarya is sure there's good reasons, but wars have a lot of political background more often than not, and she's none too keen on picking sides when she's just shown up.

"You were in a position of command?" she asks, eyebrow quirking. Not in a way that might be condescending, just pure curiosity.
dendarii: (solpadeine107)

WORKS

[personal profile] dendarii 2017-01-03 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
Miles can sympathize. He's been in the regular military in addition to his mercenary days, so he's seen quite a wide spread of people.

"I would agree with that," he says with a soft sigh. "You do all you can. Some are simply irreconsilable." A pause. "Or just too damn stubborn."
sibearian: <user name=gay4zarya site=tumblr.com> (that sure is a squint)

[personal profile] sibearian 2017-01-03 01:58 am (UTC)(link)
"You see my point now?" she replies with a little chuckle of her own.

"Where are you from yourself? I would say your accent is... Canadian?"
dendarii: (solpadeine130)

[personal profile] dendarii 2017-01-03 01:58 am (UTC)(link)
[ This expression clearly says "where the hell is Georgia?" Because he's definitely thinking it. ]

I - er - turn? You've only visited the moon? What year is it?
sibearian: jacked from <user name=ogonpogotovnosti> (fire at will)

[personal profile] sibearian 2017-01-03 02:00 am (UTC)(link)
"Yes, definitely. And now that we are uninvited guests on this planet, in this war..." She shakes her head again. "It is not the time for personal issues to hinder moving forward. This is why I would be happy to help you if another guard decides they need to make an issue out of something that should not be."
dendarii: (for real?)

[personal profile] dendarii 2017-01-03 02:02 am (UTC)(link)
"You may find many here with that opinion," he says by way of warning. "As long as you're prepared for that."

She seems like a woman who doesn't mind the occasional brawl, but ... well, it's worth warning.

"What is your name, anyway? I didn't catch that."
changeth: (♛ I'll give you a love that cannot last;)

[personal profile] changeth 2017-01-03 02:08 am (UTC)(link)
By now, Arthur's had time to acclimate somewhat to the situation at hand. There's not a familiar face to be found round these parts, which -- means, surely, that his people are safe. His men, Guinevere, Merlin, his uncle...and if it's only he who's to be brought into this war, then so much the better. Agravaine can rule Camelot in his stead, leading the people with hands far more experienced than his own. Some manner of sorcery is clearly at work to spirit all these people here; and while he's suspicious, naturally, he's yet to find anyone who'd seem to be the cause.

Sonia is difficult not to notice, as much time as she spends looking after the lot of them. Arthur notices her presence more than once, and more often than not bearing supplies. It's more coincidence than subterfuge when he runs into her the next time, accepting an armful of extra clothes.

"These will be much appreciated," he says by way of thanks.
shri: (» the colours disappear)

[personal profile] shri 2017-01-03 02:08 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's brief, as she works, afforded in the gestures as she works, it means nothing more than a brush as she's working and he helps her - but her fingers brush against the back of his hand - because it is too much to say it is understood, that it is appreciated, that is met evenly.

Instead, it's said where words do not cover such a thing, her calloused, worn fingers against the back of his knuckles and a sweep, as she begins to gather up her hair. As much as needs to be affected upon.

Because she has never been prone to long bouts of reflection, and she has no interest in it now. Though she feels again the pang to get out of this camp - not to go anywhere, but simply to move.
] If you are of this place, you must tell me, does this weather ever clear, or will I be cursing such snowfall every day I find myself in its company?
littlemissfutility: (41)

[personal profile] littlemissfutility 2017-01-03 02:09 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah--back when my dad was young.

[The look on his face draws a smile out on hers. It's nice not to be the only one missing a few pieces of the puzzle spread out before them.

Of course, that means she has to try and fill in what he lacks, and the answers she has aren't anywhere as concrete as either of them deserve.]


It was 2010 at the turn, and I think it's been about two years. So...2012? It's this...this sickness. If you die and nobody stabs you in the head, your body wakes back up without you. All that's left is a monster. [She pauses, then shakes her head.] Tell me about the Nexus?
dendarii: (eidetics 160)

[personal profile] dendarii 2017-01-03 02:15 am (UTC)(link)
[ Even that small touch is comforting even so. He finds himself looking down at her long hair and iron spine and thinking of Quinn. God, he misses her desperately. Their breakup was more inevitable than messy, but ...

Not the time to think about that. Breathe, Miles. Talk about the weather. ]


Winter is long and cold here, yes. Especially in the mountains. [ A bit of a fond smile. He loves his shitty planet, shitty weather and all. ] But we will see days without snow here and there. Just not many of them.
dendarii: (frakkingcylon 192)

[personal profile] dendarii 2017-01-03 02:18 am (UTC)(link)
[ Dear god. So she is from the distant past. He can't even rattle off the current year, himself, mostly because he isn't quite sure. And his own year is ... significantly past that.

That's almost as concerning as the - what is that? A zombie plague? When the fuck did that happen? ]


I - er - I don't think that ever happened. I'm quite certain it would have been in the history books.
shri: (» the storm of the unknown)

[personal profile] shri 2017-01-03 02:25 am (UTC)(link)
"Isn't that how it always starts?" Don't sound old and bitter now, Lakshmi, but - "you are right, of course, it is not our business, and I doubt it is as clear as either side will present itself to be."

She shakes her head brief before carrying on. Picking her words carefully, around the edges. "I was yes, all my life. For little as that means now."
shri: (» tragically we fall like the arrows)

[personal profile] shri 2017-01-03 02:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's as much as she can afford, and she affords so little anymore. Not commented on or mentioned, nor will she speak of it if he asked - not her way. ]

Such a thing to look forward to. [ Could she sound more irritated - not sulky, she doesn't sulk, a queen never did. ] I suppose it's different to London's streets, at least it is snow, not perpetual drizzle, I will give it that.

[ she cringes slightly. ] Unless that counts as summer here, too?
dendarii: (solpadeine111)

[personal profile] dendarii 2017-01-03 02:39 am (UTC)(link)
[ London? She's from Earth then? Huh. He's been there himself, but it's a bit different in his own time. ]

It's its own sort of beautiful. The moonlight on the snow during Winterfair is one of my favorites. [ A soft sigh. ] But no, we get plenty of sun in summer. Even gets a bit hot, depending on where you are.