[ january i log: barrayar ]

[barrayarmods]

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.

Comments

[dendarii]

[ The truth is a bit more complicated than that, but her description suits him well enough. ]

Just so. When you have a body like mine, a silver tongue is your best weapon.

[shri]

[ She chuckles, low. It's nothing she'd hold against him, she has done the same. ]

A silver tongue makes the best use of a golden opportunity, I commend you.

[dendarii]

I like the sound of that. Remind me to use it next time.

Anyway, I went on a number of adventures after that. Thirteen years of that life, and now I'm back home again.

[shri]

[ Tap, tap, tap goes her finger. Watching him again, though this time - it's more contemplative, assessing frankly. ] I do have to wonder, if this is your home, why are you in here with us?

[dendarii]

[ A question he's gotten many times before already. By now the answer rolls smoothly off that silver tongue. ]

Because I was pulled in just the same. I was several wormhole jumps away when it took me.

[shri]

[ A hum. ] Then why not tell them you are on their side, I am sure they would appreciate an Admiral of such note to their cause, for surely you must have a stake in this war?

[dendarii]

[ Ha. Damn good questions, all of those. He's going to have to keep an eye on her. ]

Because Barrayarans are notoriously xenophobic, even to their own. Especially to someone like me. And I guarantee you none of them have heard of my mercenary fleet.

[shri]

[ She's nothing but a keen edge, when she wants to be. ]

Their mistake. [ she shrugs. a leader that let their own bigotry get in their way was foolish to her. ]

[dendarii]

Mm, well. That's a tide I don't care to fight until I have a boat, so to speak.

[ He knows he has to prove his worth to Piotr first. That's his only chance to actually help his planet come through this. ]

What about yourself?

[shri]

Much the same as any woman, I suspect. I had a father and a mother - when I was thirteen, I was married.

[ She says it like it was someone else's life, and truthfully, it did feel like it now. A time before the blackwater, when things had been easier, as simple as what she describes now. ]

When war came, I fought.

[dendarii]

[ Miles blinks at that. Barrayar is many things, but marrying that young? Unusual outside of arranged marriages. ]

And that's all? Surely there's more to it.

[shri]

[ It's not so common, anymore, to be so young, but for a royal marriage, a girl must be made of her future household as early as possible. To learn out how it worked and what her duties would be.

Some husbands would take advantage of that, luckily for her, Gangadhar did not. ]

None of those details are pleasant, I am afraid. [ She smiles, but it's strained, deflecting perhaps, let him assume, but it wasn't a lie, either. ] I bore him a son, but he died after a few months, my husband died shortly after that. His responsibilities fell to me.

[dendarii]

[ Responsibilities. Her fine if worn clothes. The youthful arranged marriage ... And she'd mentioned her people earlier. Nobility, surely enough; the only question is how much. ]

What responsibilities were those? [ He says, dropping his voice a little lower. ] How large of a country did you rule over?

[ He doesn't quite think she's that high up, but - might as well start big. ]

[shri]

Oh, [ she begins flippantly, distractedly, like she's playing up to the notion when he's assumed too much. ] nothing less than a kingdom, naturally. What makes you think so?

[dendarii]

[ Miles pushes on, driven by his own curiosity. Nevermind he's likely betraying some intimate knowledge of his own. ]

You talked about your people earlier. And you have the bearing of nobility. I'd say nothing less than a queen of some kind.

[shri]

[ shutting down now would only confirm it, but she works quick to the response, if she keeps the questions going, she can confirm nor deny nothing, letting him assume without giving him much. ]

The bearing of nobility, is it? Am I that arrogant in how I hold myself? Should I be flattered or insulted, I wonder? [ isn't, of course, he's quick, she will give him that. ]

[dendarii]

[ Deflecting, eh? He must be on the right trail. ]

It's not arrogance. It's a way of seeing the world. I've seen it in our Vor lords quite often.

[shri]

[ oh if only he knew. Granted, in this case, truth is stranger than fiction if she ever gets to telling him all of it. ]

How would you define such then, Admiral?

[ dig, and she'll dig back is the promise hanging in that word. ]

[dendarii]

[ Touché. But he's too damn stubborn for his own good, even if he betrays himself in the process. ]

Duty and privilege both. You can't deny you've had more than most, but you've had to shoulder more too.

[shri]

[ that at least, she can counter. ]

And if I told you I lived my last years in a brothel in the worst slums London has to offer with nothing to call my own?

[dendarii]

[ Miles raises an eyebrow. ]

I'd believe that. How'd you get there?

[shri]

[ she snorts, bitterness that has little to do with him, eyes back to the fire, like looking him with that in her face, in the her throat, would reveal too much. It would, it would. She will open her throat and an agony will pour forth like a river in high flood, there is so much bitterness there. ]

One side always has to lose a war, don't they? [ and to that, rank and caste meant nothing. ]

[dendarii]

[ Ah. That sort of situation. He sobers instantly. ]

I see. You were driven out, then?

[shri]

No, [ it's curt, and to her, it's a plain answer that will end this conversation evenly. She's given as much as she wants to or will ever so far as she's concerned. She's not here to be delved into, and she has her own wars to fight. ]

There was no one left after the lycans and vampires had finished feasting upon the dead.

[dendarii]

[ Fortunately(?), Miles is utterly distracted by her actual response. ]

There - what? Vampires?