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.
dendarii: (solpadeine114)

[personal profile] dendarii 2017-01-05 07:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Surely just one weirdo. He nods a bit, accepting that. ]

As much as it can be in this situation. We are in dire straits.
changeth: (♛ I felt the crossroads of time;)

[personal profile] changeth 2017-01-07 05:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[ if the cetagandans are even a fraction as bad as miles has described, that'll be the truest assessment he's heard all day. ]

No doubt. And there's yet the matter of what the Barrayarans will make of us.
Edited (shhHHH) 2017-01-07 17:35 (UTC)
dendarii: (no shit)

[personal profile] dendarii 2017-01-07 06:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Mm. On that point, at least, we have one advantage. The Barrayarans need us.
changeth: (♛ I pass but shall not die;)

[personal profile] changeth 2017-01-07 06:16 pm (UTC)(link)
You mean they need manpower.

[ a subtle distinction, but salient: the barrayarans need any willing body they can get. not, on the other hand, dead weight. ]
dendarii: (solpadeine30)

[personal profile] dendarii 2017-01-07 06:17 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Miles acknowledges the distinction by inclining his head. ]

They need our help, yes. They may even be smart enough to realize that.
changeth: Why was I briefly dead?? (♛ And why is that Sid?)

[personal profile] changeth 2017-01-07 06:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[ they may. delightful. ]

Well. That certainly fills me with confidence.
dendarii: (solpadeine114)

[personal profile] dendarii 2017-01-07 06:42 pm (UTC)(link)
They have their prejudices. I daresay you would have their ear, though.
changeth: (♛ You made a dress out of my curtains!)

[personal profile] changeth 2017-01-07 06:44 pm (UTC)(link)
As a mythical king?

[ NOT THAT HE'S STILL ANNOYED, OR ANYTHING. ]
dendarii: (solpadeine129)

[personal profile] dendarii 2017-01-07 07:21 pm (UTC)(link)
A warrior who isn't stunted to hell and back.

[ He gestures down at himself. ]
changeth: (♛ I'll give you a love that cannot last;)

[personal profile] changeth 2017-01-07 09:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[ he sobers, eyes flicking down miles again briefly. ]

Indeed. [ a pause. ] And yet it's warriors they need, able of mind and body, courageous and loyal. Whatever form that may take.

[ if this man were a citizen of camelot, if he'd wanted to join the round table, what would arthur have done? he'd overturned the first code and allowed any man to join, regardless of status, before he was even king. but he'd never been faced with such a decision. still, one thing's for sure now: seeing the way other barrayarans treat miles trips his anger at watching injustice done. ]

Would the word of one of their countrymen truly mean so little to them? I'm little more than a stranger. An outsider.
dendarii: (Default)

[personal profile] dendarii 2017-01-07 10:13 pm (UTC)(link)
That places you above someone who isn't human at all in their eyes.

[ Said with bitter resignation. His own grandfather is going to be the worst culprit, in fact ... ]
changeth: (♛ Let thy voice rise like a fountain;)

[personal profile] changeth 2017-01-07 10:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[ he looks stricken at that, and if he were younger he might've blurted out something of what he thinks of that mindset. instead, he reins himself in. concludes: ]

Then so much the greater is their loss.
dendarii: (TW_S1_E3_0539)

[personal profile] dendarii 2017-01-07 10:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Mm, well. I'll fight to make them notice me anyway.
changeth: (♛ And the new sun's day gave birth;)

[personal profile] changeth 2017-01-07 11:14 pm (UTC)(link)
You've plenty of opportunity for that, at least.

[ war does have a way of upending status quo. ]

It can't be easy to have returned here.
dendarii: (bg036)

[personal profile] dendarii 2017-01-07 11:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Not in the slightest. I prefer my old life.

[ In more ways than one. ]
changeth: (♛ Our battles they may find us;)

[personal profile] changeth 2017-01-07 11:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[ if only arthur knew. ]

You're not alone in that.
dendarii: (good point)

[personal profile] dendarii 2017-01-07 11:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Ha. I imagine that's all of us, yes.
changeth: and a king that isn't a king. (♛ A dragon that isn't a dragon;)

[personal profile] changeth 2017-01-08 06:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Surely. How we came to arrive here, I can't imagine. [ his eyes flick to miles's face. ] Some technology you'd be familiar with, perhaps?
dendarii: (solpadeine30)

[personal profile] dendarii 2017-01-08 06:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Alas. Miles is honestly stumped on that one. He really wishes he wasn't. ]

Honestly, I'm not. If anyone is, though, it would be the Cetagandans.