[ catch-all: barrayar ]

[forwardmomentum]

Who: Miles, Ivan and Gregor of the Vor Boy Band feat. Lady Alys and you, probably
When: gestures vaguely at May
Where: Barrayar
What: all Ingress trips to Barrayar, whether it be Vorkosigan Surleau, Vorbarr Sultana, or anywhere else on Space Russia
Warnings: TBD

Welcome to Barrayar, the planet that was cut off from the rest of the Nexus after its only known wormhole connection collapsed, leaving its meager starter colony population stranded. 700 years in total isolation saw the loss of their advanced technology and a regression to a pre-industrial and feudal society, until a new wormhole route to Barrayar was discovered and propelled them from horseback to spaceflight in the space of a single generation. Its terraforming is still incomplete, the landscape characterized by the mixture of imported Earth green plantlife and the reddish native flora of Barrayar. After a couple of generations, Barrayarans are growing more and more accustomed to galactic peoples and cultures, though they're still a little wary of outsiders, and an old and long-entrenched cultural paranoia of genetic mutation means they can be a little hostile or mistrustful of people who bear visible disabilities or who don't look quite human.

Comments

[t65]

"He was in two wars?" That seems utterly exhausting to Luke, who, at twenty-two, already has moments where he daydreams about retiring to some sort of seaside city.

[whatdidisay]

"Practically started the second one. Although we call it Yuri Vorbarra's Civil War instead of Piotr Vorkosigan's. Never really understood why, even after a bunch of classes on it -- history and military." The greatest tactical mistake of Barrayaran history -- not killing off Piotr Vorkosigan after murdering his wife and two of three children, including his heir. What did Yuri think was going to happen to him?

[t65]

"I don't know, I'm- why did he start it?" Luke's eyes are wide with curiosity, listening avidly. All thoughts of the morality of war or just governance have gone out the window. Tell him a story, Ivan.

[whatdidisay]

"Well," Ivan starts, considering how much of this he can get away with telling. Luke is interested, and Ivan's not as theatrical as his smaller cousin, but why turn away a willing audience? "Yuri Vorbarra's known as 'Mad Emperor Yuri' here, on account of the fact he was, well, mad. Wifeless and childless, he didn't have any heirs. But his half-brother, Xav Vorbarra, had three kids -- Olivia, Dorca, and Sonia. And each of them had a family. Olivia married a war hero from the Cetagandan Invasion -- Piotr Vorkosigan, right? I don't know what Yuri was thinking, but on Sonia's son's first birthday he had death squads sent out to kill as many members of his family he could get. Olivia and two of her kids were killed, along with Sonia and her husband and their brother and his family."

[t65]

Luke's completely in the story, now, and reacts in kind. His eyes light with surprise, and he even gives out a small gasp. "I-" For all his high-minded talk about truth and justice, he knows the truth, and he doesn't think to hide it. "I'd start a war, too, in his shoes..."

[whatdidisay]

"Yeah, at that point no one was willing to blame him. So he got Prince Xav and an odd cousin named Ezar Vorbarra and decided he was going to champion Ezar as Emperor, and well--" Ivan gestures around them. "Old Yuri got dismembered because everyone wanted a piece of him once they got him, and here we are."

[t65]

"Is that how it works? You pick your favorite and murder the old one?" Luke is cringing, but he can't really judge. He feels like the Hutts would approve. His father probably would.

[whatdidisay]

"Pretty sure he started it that time. And anyway, they've got to be Vorbarra. That's just how it works."

Ah, imperialism.

[t65]

"That's the royal family, I guess." Like Organa. At this point, Luke has gotten tired of judging and taken to just trying to keep up. "And he's ruling now? Ezar?"

[whatdidisay]

"Yeah. And, uh, no. He died shortly before I was born. His grandson rules now."

And Ivan is going to avoid mentioning his name, thanks.

[t65]

Luke is clever enough when it comes to most things, but he doesn't have that innately paranoid curiosity that makes him hungry for every detail. He's not, in short, like some other people Ivan may know. He bumbles his way through the conversation, neither bored nor riveted.

"I guess that makes sense. Our emperor is ancient, I don't think he'll ever die. Or maybe he has, and they just replaced him with someone else. No one would notice, I think."

[whatdidisay]

Thank God for that, Luke. But that takes Ivan by surprise, and he blinks owlishly at Luke. "Wait, you don't think he'll die at all?"

That sounds awful.

[t65]

Luke shrugs half-heartedly. "Well, there are rumors he's not really human anymore. Or maybe he never was. I didn't used to believe them, but..." He sighs. "That was before I met his second in command."

[whatdidisay]

Ivan shudders; that sounds like a goddamn Ceta if he's heard of one. "His second in command?" He prompts, eager for a story in exchange. C'mon Luke, spill.

[t65]

Luke frowns; he realizes he shouldn't have brought it up, but it's too late now. "Darth Vader." Luke says it with distant awe and dull fear; he's met the man. "He's... I don't know what he is."

It's so easy to slip back into the man he was before Bespin, who didn't understand how close he was to that hulking creature.

"He's got metal parts, that's for sure. No one's ever seen him without the helmet. You can feel him before he comes into a room, because everything goes cold." But maybe that's just Luke. "He's a Sith, that's for sure."

[whatdidisay]

None of that sounds remotely comforting to Ivan, who shudders in appreciation and the image that Luke paints. "He sounds horrifying, actually. What's a Sith?"

[t65]

"I... it's hard to explain." Everything with the Force is. "I'll, uh, I'll explain it later. I don't want to bore you with a lecture." He smiles sheepishly. He's being a terrible guest in this man's home. "Where's this museum?"

Smooth, Luke.