For Barrayar mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
barrayarmods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
forbarrayar_ooc2017-02-26 11:03 am
barrayarmods) wrote in forbarrayar_ooc2017-02-26 11:03 am
[ march i ooc info/signups ]
SIGNUPS ARE NOW CLOSED
Signups will close at midnight PST on February 28th (aka whatever is in my inbox by the time I wake up on the 1st).
Before the plot rundown, check out the new loyalty perks that have been added! I'm also working on cleaning up that page so that it's a little easier navigation-wise.
Barrayar: Armory Access - Unrestricted, Officer's Commission, Liege Oath
Cetaganda: Double Agent, Med Tech, Gene Lab Tech
For the record, you guys can absolutely take perks before signing up for a mission (provided you have the LP). If there happens to be a perk-related mission you want in on, you can slide right on under the wire there.
The whole of February was rough, particularly for the Barrayarans, what with the cold and food shortage. Thankfully, the traitors responsible for their recent hardships, Lieutenant Vorhalas and Captain Vorbataille, were found out and executed for treason. The Cetagandans did a little better, but they're having their own difficulties: trying to solve the problems presented by the wormhole device they're trying to build. The anomalous wormhole activity on Barrayar is unprecedented, and while they now know that it was somehow caused by the inactive wormhole that collapsed 700 years ago, they are still investigating just how the outsiders/exotics wound up on the planet instead of…space. However, they have run into a few major stumbling blocks: their only jump technology involves ships, and they don't know yet how to modify the Necklin field that folds ships into five-dimensional space to pass safely through it. Moreover, the sensitive equipment needed to generate the Necklin field is hard to come by and difficult to fabricate on Barrayar without the proper facilities. They are also struggling with the five-dimensional space equations they are facing in order to modify their existing jump technology.
Meanwhile, things behind the closed doors of the Star Crèche continue to escalate in a shroud of mystery. Lady Diya and Doctor Amai ghem-Soren are involved in the illicit production of human servitors known only as ba, and they might be using some of the exotics' genetic material in the process…
Mercifully, the weather lets up, with the coming of spring, so comes another trial: a virulent strain of Barrayaran influenza breaks out among the local population, spreading to the Cetagandan base as well as through the camp. Never a dull moment on Barrayar. The symptoms are about what you’d expect of a flu: high fever, chills and aches, sinus congestion, vomiting and diarrhea, sore throat, coughing and other respiratory issues… Symptoms last about five to seven days, and people infected are contagious for one to two days before symptoms start showing.
barrayar
Temperatures are still pretty low by the time March rolls around, and the first week is considerably cold, but it's steadily getting warmer as the month goes on. By the second week, it's just warm enough to start taking baths again -- and boy is there ever a queue.
On the 2nd, a small troop of soldiers arrives, led by Prince Xav Vorbarra, Olivia and Sonia's father, and Piotr's aide-de-camp Captain Ezar Vorbarra, a distant cousin to Xav and his children. They bring with them a load of relief supplies fom Beta Colony, improving not only their food and medicine situation, but some to pass on back to the Riverfall villagers in return for their help. Anyone lurking around at night might see Ezar talking to Negri from time to time as well.
As of the 1st, Byerly Vorrutyer will have disappeared from the Barrayaran camp. He is on a top-secret mission to play double agent with the Cetagandans, but as far as anyone knows, he's just MIA.
Early in the month, some of the villagers begin to get sick -- it looks just like a particularly nasty cold at first, and their bodies are weakened from the cold and lack of food in in the last month. It starts to spread to the camp, and by the 7th it is evident there is an outbreak of the Barrayaran flu. It's your standard winter virus, an influenza variant that has mutated over the last several centuries, so Barrayarans have built up antibodies against most strains. But this is a particularly virulent strain, and with a population that's never been vaccinated, so the mortality rate is somewhat higher. As the virus spreads, the Barrayarans are going to need some help -- just assisting with triaging the patients is appreciated.
Piotr, with Xav and Ezar as advisors, is still deciding what to do about the Cetagandans' wormhole project. There's no telling what the Cetagandans really intend to do with the wormhole device, but disrupting or destroying their project would mean no way home for the outsiders, and…Piotr no longer feels that to be the most honorable option. Byerly will be a valuable asset, certainly, but informants already on the inside who can pass on detailed information about the project would be invaluable. Or if they could somehow influence the project themselves…
Prince Xav gives Piotr a very helpful tipoff -- there's a Betan biochemist waiting in the occupied district capital, Vorkosigan Vashnoi, to rendezvous with him on his way back off Barrayar. Xav can't stay long; he needs to find another way off-planet, and Doctor Micah Niadem has been laying low in Vorkosigan Vashnoi, but the risk of their presence being detected grows with every day. It may be easier and safer to smuggle them back to the camp than try to get them back off-planet for now -- and besides, their expertise in astrophysics might prove useful. But they'll have to scout out the city first before they can make a plan.
And then there are other military matters to attend to. The freeze and the food crisis both badly derailed Piotr's strategy for disrupted the Cetagandan base's power supply, and with Vortala having been taken prisoner, he fears the entire plan might be compromised. So instead it's time for a little psychological warfare. With the rough sketches of the compound layout they have, it's not hard to identify at least a few places where bombs could be placed for considerable damage. None of current tactical value, but it never hurts to mess with the enemy's head a little bit. So Piotr will be sending out infiltration teams to plant dead body parts of Cetagandan soldiers and Barrayaran traitors in a few key locations in the Cetagandan camp. That'll fuck with 'em.
Also, Piotr is pretty pissed about those traitors.
cetaganda
The snow piled up around the base starts to gradually melt over the course of the month as temperatures rise. The new wave of exotics are processed and very gently prodded like every group has been, but they've been treated with the same level of civility.
At the beginning of the month, the exotics are joined by Byerly Vorrutyer, one of the outsiders among the Barrayarans who has apparently defected. In truth he is on a TOP SECRET MISSION to infiltrate the base.
A few days into the month, some of the soldiers start to show cold-like symptoms -- and then the outbreak of Barrayaran influenza spreads rapidly throughout the base. Unlike the Barrayarans, the Cetagandans have no antibodies for this strain, and even their advanced immune systems cannot defend them against a totally new pathogen. They are infected even more quickly than the Barrayarans and their symptoms escalate rapidly as well, resulting in an alarming mortality rate. Cetagandan soldiers are falling sick left and right, and the medical staff scrambles to put up a quarantine while also working on a vaccine for the uninfected population on the base. The virus is inadvertently spread by the dead body parts left by the Barrayarans, and in a relatively closed environment, takes almost no time to spread. The Cetagandans will need help triaging patients, and anyone with a medical background will be called on to help synthesize the vaccine and treat patients.
But while the medical staff deal with the sick, military operations must carry on. Cetagandan intelligence gets wind of a Betan astrophysicist in collusion with the Barrayarans hiding in Vorkosigan Vashnoi, the district's capital. The virus has spread there too; Barrayarans and Cetagandans alike are facing the outbreak, although the native population seems to be faring a bit better. The Cetagandans will need help bringing medical supplies as well as trying to track down any information on this Betan scientist. Beta Colony is known for its scientific advancements, particularly in the field of wormhole science; Micah may be able to solve some of the pieces of the puzzle, which would speed things along considerably. Meanwhile, in the R&D labs, some of the exotics who have been promoted to lab assistant are helping the Cetagandans to make some advancements, and they're finally let in on some more details about the project, such as specific equipment and parts needed. They are especially interested in seeing if Satya's hard-light technology can be used for part fabrication.
Whatever is happening with Amai and Diya behind the doors of the gene labs continues -- after what had obviously been deemed a failure, or at least something as good as dead already, certain adjustments had to be made. Natasha, Kaidan and York managed to corner Amai after what they saw, and while she hasn't given up much, they know who to be watching now. It's starting to become obvious that they have assumed a role in the wormhole R&D, though in what exact capacity, it isn't clear. Those working in the labs or closely with the science officers on the wormhole project are certain to pick up on a few things. Meanwhile, Diya receives correspondence from the Handmaiden of the Star Crèche herself, who is on her way to Barrayar. This is apparently a Big Deal, judging by the way the Cetagandans react once her impending arrival becomes public knowledge.
Zahal might have lost his informants in the Barrayaran camp, but he knows they've been struggling, and wants to implement some more aggressive tactics to hit them while they're down -- and more than that, the dead body parts of his own soldiers scattered around the base have had their intended effect. Whatever organized strategy Zahal starts to pull together is immediately disrupted by the rapid spread of the virus through the base. With Cetagandan soldiers dropping like flies, military operations all but come to a halt on the base.
missions
Each individual mission/plot opportunity is determined by signups and RNG, and most of them will net you some LP. If you haven't seen it yet, here's the post explaining the RNG system I use for the game. (Don't worry, all the dice-rolling is my work, you guys only need to sign up!) Scene-setting starters will be put up on the event log for each mission, and unless it's specifically an NPC-based thread, we'll only toss NPC tags into mission threads on request.
Mission signups are in the comments below. Signing up for any of these missions (or any missions ever) is OPTIONAL. You can have your character hang back at the camp if you don't feel like participating in a plot mission, so don't feel obligated. Signups close February 29th at midnight PST (read: until I wake up in the morning on the 1st), assuming they don't fill up before then, so that I have a day to write up the results.
N.B. There are no real PVP missions this round as such, but both sides' trips to Vorkosigan Vashnoi will coincide, so feel free to use that cross-faction CR if they run into one another. The only way the outsiders would be noticed by the Cetagandan soldiers and vice versa is if they fail their stealth rolls; otherwise, go wild with cross-faction CR in the city!
MISSIONS: BARRAYAR
1) Infected +2 LP
SKILLS: N/A
You've caught the Barrayaran flu, and it is unpleasant. For nonhuman characters, exactly how it affects them is up to you, but either way, you're out of commission for at least a week. You get 2 LP for taking this mission, but you are ineligible to sign up for any other missions. Signups are unlimited.
1. Daryl Dixon
2) Triage +1 LP
SKILLS: MEDICINE
The Barrayarans desperately need help with triage and providing basic care. It'll be exhausting, and you put yourself at risk of infection, and not everyone survives -- but they need the help. Signups are unlimited.
1. Beth Greene
2. Miles Vorkosigan
3. Duv Galeni
4. Lakshmi Bai
5. Agent Washington
6. Morgan Jones
7. Lavernius Tucker
8. Nash Latkje
3) Medical Assistance +2 LP
SKILLS: PHYSICAL, MEDICINE
Beyond just triage and basic care, they need doctors, or as close as they can get, anyway. If you have any kind of expertise in medicine, even field medicine, anything that might be of use in treating the symptoms -- because they don't have a vaccine, probably won't for a good long time, so all they can do now is keep their patients alive. Up to four outsiders can give medical assistance.
1. Agent Washington
2. Beth Greene
3. Morgan Jones
4.
4) Vorkosigan Vashnoi +2 LP
SKILLS: STEALTH, NEGOTIATION
Piotr wants to get to Doctor Micah Niadem before the Cetagandans do, because not only does Micah likely have the expertise they're missing, a fast-penta interrogation would quickly reveal their alliance with the Barrayarans. Time for some low-key scouting in the occupied capital to try and make contact. There is room for up to four outsiders on this mission.
Due to the distance between the camp and the capital, the outsiders will stay in Vorkosigan Vashnoi for two nights before leaving the next day.
1. Lucy Preston
2. William
3. Miles Vorkosigan
4. Duv Galeni
5) Infiltration +2 LP
SKILLS: STEALTH, COMBAT
Piotr doesn't get mad, he just gets even with psychological warfare. (Okay, a little mad.) In order to throw the Cetagandans off-balance and lay out an implicit thread -- we didn't plant a bomb here, but we could have -- Piotr is dispatching soldiers to infiltrate the base and plant the severed body parts of Cetagandan soldiers. There is room for up to four outsiders on this mission.
1. Agent Maine
2. Nash Latkje
3. Agent Carolina
4. Lakshmi Bai
MISSIONS: CETAGANDA
1) Infected +2 LP
SKILLS: N/A
You've caught the Barrayaran flu, and it is unpleasant. For nonhuman characters, exactly how it affects them is up to you, but either way, you're out of commission for at least a week. You get 2 LP for taking this mission, but you are ineligible to sign up for any other missions. Signups are unlimited.
1. Darkstalker
2. Kaidan Alenko
3. Tarn
2) Triage +1 LP
SKILLS: MEDICINE
The Cetagandans are quickly falling prey to the virus and are desperately in need help of with triage and setting up a quarantine. It'll be exhausting, and you put yourself at risk of infection, and not everyone survives -- but they need the help. Signups are unlimited.
1. Lapis Lazuli
2. Agent York
3. Natasha Romanoff
4. Kurt Ambrose
5. Vex'ahlia
6. Byerly Vorrutyer
7. Ratchet
8. Jasper
9. Whirl
10. Pearl
3) Eavesdropping +2 LP
SKILLS: STEALTH, PERCEPTION
Ah, the classic exotic move. With the base in a frenzy over the virus, it's a good opportunity to sneak around, possibly the widest opportunity you've had, particulary since the security crackdown. Just be sure you don't catch the flu yourself. There is room for up to four exotics on this mission.
1. Agent York
2. Lapis Lazuli
3. Kurt Ambrose
4. Vex'ahlia
4) Vaccine Development+3 LP
SKILLS: MEDICINE (at least a 3 is required to sign up for this mission)
The Cetagandans have had no exposure to this virulent strain of influenza, and while a vaccination wouldn't do much good for those already sick, they need to innoculate the rest of the base fast. More readily than ever before, the Cetagandans will accept any help the exotics can offer -- and some subjects to test the viability of the vaccine on wouldn't hurt. Up to four exotics can sign up for this mission.
1. Ratchet
2. Natasha Romanoff
3.
4.
5) Vorkosigan Vashnoi+2 LP
SKILLS: STEALTH, NEGOTIATION
Meanwhile, Zahal wants to look into the intelligence reports they've had about this Betan scientist, who may well be able to solve some of their R&D problems. The city is under occupation, and its citizens won't like the look of anyone coming in with the Cetagandans, but you never know what you might find. Up to four exotics can sign up for this mission.
Due to the distance between the camp and the capital, the exotics will stay in Vorkosigan Vashnoi for two nights before leaving the next day.
1. Byerly Vorrutyer
2. Natasha Romanoff
3. Deanna Troi
4. Symmetra
Timeline:
3/2 Ezar & Xav arrive
3/4 Infiltration missions
3/7 Barrayaran flu declared an epidemic
3/11 - 3/13 Vorkosigan Vashnoi trips
3/14 Eavesdropping
QUESTIONS
no subject
Or just straight-up brownies
He's really been missing real food okay
no subject
these are cetagandans we're talking about
and yes, it actually might, but he might not like what it entails
no subject
Re: QUESTIONS
could somebody
beffsign up for triage and sickness with the idea that she caught one from doing the otherRe: QUESTIONS
monthROUND I MEANT IN MARCH IIno subject
that sounds perfect to me, that's what i'm gonna do
no subject
i am here to assist in your suffering