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.
sibearian: <user name=gay4zarya site=tumblr.com> (:})

[personal profile] sibearian 2017-01-03 07:13 pm (UTC)(link)
His plan may be accidentally foiled. She just crouches down next to him and cocks an eyebrow.

"Come now, I have faith in your ability to hoist yourself up."
vorrutyer: (Backpfeifengesicht 2)

[personal profile] vorrutyer 2017-01-03 11:33 pm (UTC)(link)
"I can't," he moans pathetically. He does pathetic quite convincingly, incidentally: he stays limp and boneless, and his color is convincingly pallid. Long experience actually being pathetic really helps him out here.

"But I don't want help back. A Vor lord is too proud for help."
sibearian: <user name=gay4zarya site=tumblr.com> (r u kidding me)

[personal profile] sibearian 2017-01-04 08:49 pm (UTC)(link)
"Fine, fine," she grumbles, crouching down.

Byerly will find two hands under his arms, lifting him - in his entirety - up off the ground. Her grip is surprisingly gentle, considering she's holding him a few inches off the ground.

"You are lighter than you look."
vorrutyer: (hung over 1)

[personal profile] vorrutyer 2017-01-04 09:13 pm (UTC)(link)
"Thank you," he slurs in response, once he's recovered from his startlement at her - largeness. General largeness. Well. "It comes of a purely liquid diet, you see. You may put me down now."

He smooths back his hair, then, and assays her a drunkenly gallant bow - overexaggerated, almost a mockery of the gesture.

"Thank you, dear giantess, for your service. Byerly, terribly pleased to make your acquaintance."
sibearian: (when you shield and get hit by an ult)

[personal profile] sibearian 2017-01-04 09:20 pm (UTC)(link)
"That is extremely bad for you. Perhaps if I am not given enough to do, I will see to it that you make a dietary change."

Or maybe she'll do it just out of boredom.

"Zarya. Still trying to figure out yours."
vorrutyer: (world-weary (and smug))

[personal profile] vorrutyer 2017-01-04 09:25 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh, I would beg you do not," he responds, spreading his hand over his heart. "That would be very bad for me. My diet has reached a sort of equilibrium, after all. At this point, I function perfectly. Like a well-oiled machine."

And then he sniffs, and runs his fingers over his moustache, and blinks, and asks, "What are you trying to figure out, exactly?"
sibearian: <user name=gay4zarya site=tumblr.com> (:})

hover for translation bc i am a computer GENIUS

[personal profile] sibearian 2017-01-04 09:43 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yes, you were functioning very well laying on the ground not five seconds ago."

Byerly, please.

"Figure out your acquaintance. Ah, perhaps it does not work so well in English. Ты говоришь по-русски? Я имею в виду, насколько хорошо мы знаем друг друга"
vorrutyer: (Backpfeifengesicht 5)

don't you worry, I speak Russian

[personal profile] vorrutyer 2017-01-04 10:17 pm (UTC)(link)
He can't help but lift a slight eyebrow. Is she Barrayaran? He'd assumed not - not with that hair. Not with that warlike appearance - though, yes, doubtless there are some proles who let their girl-children be soldiers...Not in the Vorrutyer district, surely, conservative as it is. There aren't any ferocious lady-warriors there. Though his own cousin was, admittedly, quite the fearsome woman herself, once. Not that Count Dono isn't fearsome any longer - rather, he's simply no longer a woman.

He briefly considers pretending not to speak Russian, but...No, he can't pull that off unless he's pretending to be a galactic. His mother's side were all Russians, his father's English speakers, and that was simply the norm. Ah, well. "I'd prefer to stick to English, please," he says with a small wave of his fingers. "And I cannot possibly imagine that we know each other at all. I feel as though I would remember it if I had met you in the past."
sibearian: <user name=gay4zarya site=tumblr.com> (feels bad man)

holy shit i'm so sorry for my google translate garbage

[personal profile] sibearian 2017-01-05 12:19 am (UTC)(link)
"As you wish," she says, shrugging.

Zarya, meanwhile, has met probably hundreds of men like Byerly. Not that she knows it, but he's doing a spectacular job of blending in.

"I am sure you would have. You seem to be feeling better, anyway," she nods towards him.
vorrutyer: (haughty (and smug))

you're a beautiful woodland creature

[personal profile] vorrutyer 2017-01-05 03:43 pm (UTC)(link)
"No offense," he says breezily. "My Russian is wretched, that's all. Now, if you want to switch to French, that's a little more my style."

He smooths back his hair, then, and sighs, "I can stand, at least. Oh, God, I can't describe what I'd do for a hypo of synergine, though. I don't suppose you have any synergine...?" He eyes the guerrillas. "I don't suppose they have any synergine..."
sibearian: <user name=gay4zarya site=tumblr.com> (r u kidding me)

gurgles pathetically

[personal profile] sibearian 2017-01-05 05:53 pm (UTC)(link)
"I don't know what that is."

Judging from the way she's looking at him and her tone, she has a vague idea. Is it drugs? Zarya's gonna be pissed if it's drugs.
vorrutyer: (warmth)

[personal profile] vorrutyer 2017-01-05 06:48 pm (UTC)(link)
"Pity," he sighs, then smooths back his hair. "It's a painkiller, a stimulant, and an all-around wonder drug. Usually used to wake someone up from being stunned. My personal favorite use, however, is to help with some of the aftereffects of the amphetamines I took - oh - five hours ago, which are currently wearing off."

He waves a graceful hand, watching her from under his eyelashes. There is not a hint of self-consciousness or shame in his manner.

"Hence the falling down."
sibearian: <user name=gay4zarya site=tumblr.com> (ah... yeah)

[personal profile] sibearian 2017-01-07 07:46 pm (UTC)(link)
"I... see. No, I do not have any of it. Perhaps you would be better sleeping it off, rather than shooting up in the middle of a war zone."

She's judging, a little. Just a little. Sorry, but she doesn't really think he's taking those for medical reasons.
vorrutyer: (drugged out)

[personal profile] vorrutyer 2017-01-07 08:58 pm (UTC)(link)
"Madam," he slurs, "I'm wounded. I shot up before I came here. Who was I to anticipate being drawn into a war zone the moment I decide to have a bit of fun?"

He pauses, a suspicious look crossing his face. "Or," he says, "someone cut my drugs with hallucinogens." He rubs his chin. "That...seems plausible, now that I'm thinking of it."
sibearian: (play of the game)

[personal profile] sibearian 2017-01-08 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
"Then continuing is not a good idea! You need your wits about you, and I am not enabling this behaviour!" She huffs.
vorrutyer: (condescending aka default)

[personal profile] vorrutyer 2017-01-08 10:55 pm (UTC)(link)
"I think your perspective is all wrong," he comments mildly enough. "They help my wits. You sound like a woman who's never tried them. Am I wrong?"