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-->'''Miles:''' The real pullout plan called for the use of stolen haut bioweapons -— some kind of virulent plague, as I understand it, rekeyed to Barrayaran genetics. Picture it. Pull all your people out, release this hell-brew, seal the wormholes behind you and let it work in tidy isolation. A planet-sized culture dish. Come back in a year or two to a neatly depopulated landscape freed of that pesky native crowd who kept irrationally refusing to be culturally uplifted, and move in. There would be galactic outcry, sure, but -- too bad, so sad, too late.
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-->'''Miles:''' The real pullout plan called for the use of stolen haut bioweapons -— bioweapons -- some kind of virulent plague, as I understand it, rekeyed to Barrayaran genetics. Picture it. Pull all your people out, release this hell-brew, seal the wormholes behind you and let it work in tidy isolation. A planet-sized culture dish. Come back in a year or two to a neatly depopulated landscape freed of that pesky native crowd who kept irrationally refusing to be culturally uplifted, and move in. There would be galactic outcry, sure, but -- too bad, so sad, too late.
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* MeaningfulName: While ‘haut’ (a corruption of ‘haute’, or ‘high’, in French) is an entirely literal descriptor of the Cetagandan ruling caste, it also carries certain other connotations in English. ‘Haute couture’ is the far end of fashion - taboo-breakingly innovative, obscenely expensive, exotically beautiful, and (often) completely impractical. The haut, meanwhile, are the same principle applied to human beings rather than clothing.
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* MeaningfulName: While ‘haut’ (a corruption of ‘haute’, or ‘high’, in French) is an entirely literal descriptor of the Cetagandan ruling caste, it also carries certain other connotations in English. ‘Haute couture’ is the far end of fashion - -- taboo-breakingly innovative, obscenely expensive, exotically beautiful, and (often) completely impractical. The haut, meanwhile, are the same principle applied to human beings rather than clothing.
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* DoYouWantToHaggle: Someone who can do this well is admired. Ezar's skill in keeping Sergyar after the Escobar war is taught to Jacksonian children. Udine semi-complains that Gregor bargained House Cardonnah to 5% of the spoils of a treasure cache; Tej notes that Udine is actually appreciating Gregor's skills.
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* DoYouWantToHaggle: Someone who can do this well is admired. Ezar's skill in keeping Sergyar after the Escobar war is taught to Jacksonian children. Udine semi-complains that Gregor bargained House Cardonnah Cordonnah to 5% of the spoils of a treasure cache; Tej notes that Udine is actually appreciating Gregor's skills.
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!![[center:'''[[Characters/VorkosiganSaga Vorkosigan Saga Character Index]]''']]
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Cleanup.
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* YouWillBeAssimilated: Present Barrayaran policy is to do this to Komarr. Since they've chosen to play the long game, this takes the form of things like Barrayarans paying for an expansion of Komarr's artificial solar array (to help with their terraforming) -- and also quite a few prominent Barrayarans and Komarrans getting married across planet lines. This includes the Barrayaran Emperor himself to a member of one of Komarr's most prominent oligarchic families.
** Barrayar, however, leaves Komarr to its own planetary governing as before. It's only that there's another layer ''above'' it, and it rarely makes any imposition on the government. If anything, Barrayar has made life ''easier'' for Komarr, thanks to having very powerful military escorts for their trade fleets, and fixing its broken solettas, and building more to speed terraforming. Miles muses that most of Komarr's current mundane problems like traffic laws bogged down by voting deadlocks would do better with a monarchy than a democracy.
** Barrayar, however, leaves Komarr to its own planetary governing as before. It's only that there's another layer ''above'' it, and it rarely makes any imposition on the government. If anything, Barrayar has made life ''easier'' for Komarr, thanks to having very powerful military escorts for their trade fleets, and fixing its broken solettas, and building more to speed terraforming. Miles muses that most of Komarr's current mundane problems like traffic laws bogged down by voting deadlocks would do better with a monarchy than a democracy.
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* YouWillBeAssimilated: Present Barrayaran policy is to do this to Komarr. Since they've chosen to play the long game, this takes the form of things like Barrayarans paying for an expansion of Komarr's artificial solar array (to help with their terraforming) -- and also quite a few prominent Barrayarans and Komarrans getting married across planet lines. This includes the Barrayaran Emperor himself to a member of one of Komarr's most prominent oligarchic families.
**families. Barrayar, however, leaves Komarr to its own planetary governing as before. It's only that there's another layer ''above'' it, and it rarely makes any imposition on the government. If anything, Barrayar has made life ''easier'' for Komarr, thanks to having very powerful military escorts for their trade fleets, and fixing its broken solettas, and building more to speed terraforming. Miles muses that most of Komarr's current mundane problems like traffic laws bogged down by voting deadlocks would do better with a monarchy than a democracy.
**
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* [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Scary Dogmatic Humans]]: Perhaps more [[StarfishAliens Starfishy]] than Scary Dogmatic. Still...
* SecretWar: With Barrayar. [[ForeverWar Constantly]]. Though at the current stage it's more of a SpaceColdWar.
* SecretWar: With Barrayar. [[ForeverWar Constantly]]. Though at the current stage it's more of a SpaceColdWar.
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* SecretWar: With Barrayar. [[ForeverWar Constantly]].
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* SpaceColdWar: With Barrayar, after their failed invasion.
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* ExactWords: However, Jacksonians will bend the wording of the deal as far as it can without snapping.
-->'''Mark:''' ''(on Baron Fell's payment)'' I predict that I will be seriously short-changed, but not quite enough so that I would risk going back to Fell and arguing about it. ''(inserts the card into the read-slot, and smiles)'' Spot-on.
-->'''Mark:''' ''(on Baron Fell's payment)'' I predict that I will be seriously short-changed, but not quite enough so that I would risk going back to Fell and arguing about it. ''(inserts the card into the read-slot, and smiles)'' Spot-on.
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** ExactWords: However, Jacksonians will bend the wording of the deal as far as it can without snapping.
--->'''Mark:''' ''(on Baron Fell's payment)'' I predict that I will be seriously short-changed, but not quite enough so that I would risk going back to Fell and arguing about it. ''(inserts the card into the read-slot, and smiles)'' Spot-on.
--->'''Mark:''' ''(on Baron Fell's payment)'' I predict that I will be seriously short-changed, but not quite enough so that I would risk going back to Fell and arguing about it. ''(inserts the card into the read-slot, and smiles)'' Spot-on.
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* LifeInZeroG: Quaddies are a HumanSubspecies genetically engineered with an extra set of hands where their legs would normally be and with a number of other genetic modifications to make them capable of surviving indefinitely in microgravity or freefall. They're a former SlaveRace rendered surplus to requirements by the invention of ArtificialGravity and fled to a remote asteroid-laden system to escape being sterilized and dumped on a lifeless planet.
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* PlanetOfHats: Not technically a "planet" per se, but their space-based society is designed for the convenience of people who were genetically engineered for zero gravity and have arms instead of legs. As the descendants of people genetically-engineered to be laborers (And whose greatest cultural hero was an engineer), the quaddies attach great value to doing one's job well. They are impressed by how "task-oriented" Miles is, expecting a downsider ambassador to be more pretentious.
** Their most visible hat is music and dance, since one of their other cultural heroes (a founding mother, as it were) was a music teacher and concert violinist. The first quaddy character introduced is a musician, who takes advantage of null gravity to play a double-sided dulcimer.
** Their most visible hat is music and dance, since one of their other cultural heroes (a founding mother, as it were) was a music teacher and concert violinist. The first quaddy character introduced is a musician, who takes advantage of null gravity to play a double-sided dulcimer.
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* PlanetOfHats: Not technically a "planet" per se, but their space-based society is designed for the convenience of people who were genetically engineered for zero gravity and have arms instead of legs. As the descendants of people genetically-engineered to be laborers (And whose greatest cultural hero was an engineer), the quaddies attach great value to doing one's job well. They are impressed by how "task-oriented" Miles is, expecting a downsider ambassador to be more pretentious.
**pretentious. Their most visible hat is music and dance, since one of their other cultural heroes (a founding mother, as it were) was a music teacher and concert violinist. The first quaddy character introduced is a musician, who takes advantage of null gravity to play a double-sided dulcimer.
**
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->''Earth. Old, romantic, historic Earth, the big blue marble itself. Miles had always expected to travel here someday, although not, surely, under these conditions.\\
Earth was still the largest, richest, most varied and populous planet in scattered humanity's entire worm-hole nexus of explored space. Its dearth of good exit points in solar local space and governmental disunity left it militarily and strategically minor from the greater galactic point of view. But Earth still reigned, if it did not rule, culturally supreme. More war-scarred than Barrayar, as technically advanced as Beta Colony, the end-point of all pilgrimages both religious and secular -- in light of which, major embassies from every world that could afford one were collected here.''
-->--''Brothers in Arms''
Earth was still the largest, richest, most varied and populous planet in scattered humanity's entire worm-hole nexus of explored space. Its dearth of good exit points in solar local space and governmental disunity left it militarily and strategically minor from the greater galactic point of view. But Earth still reigned, if it did not rule, culturally supreme. More war-scarred than Barrayar, as technically advanced as Beta Colony, the end-point of all pilgrimages both religious and secular -- in light of which, major embassies from every world that could afford one were collected here.''
-->--''Brothers in Arms''
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-> Earth. Old, romantic, historic Earth, the big blue marble itself. Miles had always expected to travel here someday, although not, surely, under these conditions.\\
Earth was still the largest, richest, most varied and populous planet in scattered humanity's entire worm-hole nexus of explored space. Its dearth of good exit points in solar local space and governmental disunity left it militarily and strategically minor from the greater galactic point of view. But Earth still reigned, if it did not rule, culturally supreme. More war-scarred than Barrayar, as technically advanced as Beta Colony, the end-point of all pilgrimages both religious and secular -- in light of which, major embassies from every world that could afford one were collected here.
--> -- ''Brothers in Arms''
Earth was still the largest, richest, most varied and populous planet in scattered humanity's entire worm-hole nexus of explored space. Its dearth of good exit points in solar local space and governmental disunity left it militarily and strategically minor from the greater galactic point of view. But Earth still reigned, if it did not rule, culturally supreme. More war-scarred than Barrayar, as technically advanced as Beta Colony, the end-point of all pilgrimages both religious and secular -- in light of which, major embassies from every world that could afford one were collected here.
--> -- ''Brothers in Arms''
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Earth was still the largest, richest, most varied and populous planet in scattered humanity's entire worm-hole nexus of explored space. Its dearth of good exit points in solar local space and governmental disunity left it militarily and strategically minor from the greater galactic point of view. But Earth still reigned, if it did not rule, culturally supreme. More war-scarred than Barrayar, as technically advanced as Beta Colony, the end-point of all pilgrimages both religious and secular -- in light of which, major embassies from every world that could afford one were collected here.
--> -- ''Brothers in Arms''
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* ProudIndustriousRace: Quaddies are genetically engineered to live in zero-g and thus need to build their own space habitats. Their unit of cultural organization is the "work gang" and Miles notes (and takes advantage of) the fact that "work" was a word with extra resonance in Quaddiespace, much as "honor" has extra resonance on Barrayar.
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* HasTwoDaddies: Most of the inhabitants do, as helping to raise another man's child is one of the quickest ways to earn social credits toward having one's own child, so a lot of men end up in parenting partnerships where they help raise each other's children. Their relationship of the respective parents is not necessarily a romantic or sexual one, but it often is.
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* NonHeteronormativeSociety: Helping to raise another man's child is one of the quickest ways to earn social credits toward having one's own child, so a lot of men end up in parenting partnerships where they help raise each other's children. Their relationship of the respective parents is not necessarily a romantic or sexual one, but it often is.
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* MasterRace: Their society is build around attempting to evolve themselves into an example of this trope. Miles notes at one point that they do not currently consider this process complete. What they will have become by the time they do consider themselves finished, not even they can guess.
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* MasterRace: Their society is build built around attempting to evolve themselves into an example of this trope. Miles notes at one point that they do not currently consider this process complete. What they will have become by the time they do consider themselves finished, not even they can guess.
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* FantasticCasteSystem: The haut geneticist caste ruling over the ghem warrior caste with the workers below both.
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* FantasticCasteSystem: The haut geneticist caste ruling rule over the ghem warrior caste caste, with the workers non-genetically engineered planetary inhabitants below both.them and outlanders at the very bottom.
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* DoYouWantToHaggle: Someone who can do this well is admired. Ezar's skill in keeping Sergyar after the Escobar war is taught to Jacksonian children. Udine semi-complains that Gregor bargained House Cardonnah to 5% of the spoils of a treasure cache; Tej notes that Udina is actually appreciating Gregor's skills.
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* DoYouWantToHaggle: Someone who can do this well is admired. Ezar's skill in keeping Sergyar after the Escobar war is taught to Jacksonian children. Udine semi-complains that Gregor bargained House Cardonnah to 5% of the spoils of a treasure cache; Tej notes that Udina Udine is actually appreciating Gregor's skills.
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* BoldExplorer: Their Astronomical Survey Corp, which also functions as a kind of military, almost like an {{expy}} of [[Franchise/StarTrek Starfleet]].
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* BoldExplorer: Their The Betan Astronomical Survey Corp, Survey, which also functions as a kind of military, almost like an {{expy}} of [[Franchise/StarTrek Starfleet]].
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** [[spoiler:This is revealed to be subverted later in the series. While the guerilla fighting ''was'' highly annoying to the occupying Ghem forces, the retreat was actually part of a ploy to use a Haut bioweapon without imperial approval. The idea was to withdraw from the planet, quietly steal and release a nightmare plague among the locals, and then reoccupy the planet a few years down the line when there wouldn't be enough people left to mount an effective resistance. [[NiceJobFixingItVillain Luckily for everyone else]], the Haut were able to foil the part where one of their carefully hoarded bioweapons got released without their permission. They were ''not'' amused by the attempt to subvert their authority for mere military expediency, and some ''very'' high level Ghem generals were executed for their impertinence. Their military failure was just a convenient cover for the real story.]]
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** [[spoiler:This is revealed to be subverted mildly retconned/subverted later in the series. While the guerilla fighting ''was'' highly annoying to the occupying Ghem forces, the retreat was actually part of a ploy to use a Haut bioweapon without imperial approval. The idea was to withdraw from the planet, quietly steal and release a nightmare plague among the locals, and then reoccupy the planet a few years down the line when there wouldn't be enough people left to mount an effective resistance. [[NiceJobFixingItVillain Luckily for everyone else]], the Haut were able to foil the part where one of their carefully hoarded bioweapons got released without their permission. They were ''not'' amused by the attempt to subvert their authority for mere military expediency, and some ''very'' high level Ghem generals were executed for their impertinence. Their military failure was just a convenient cover for the real story.]]
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* [[ScrewYouElves Screw You Cetaganda]]: And sometimes [[ForeverWar kill you]].
* SecretPolice: [=ImpSec=]
* SecretPolice: [=ImpSec=]
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* TheRemnant: [[spoiler: Ser Galen, Duv Galeni's father]] certainly was.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first written appearances of Cetagandans imply a much more militaristic culture ruled by the ghem, as the haut had not yet been invented. There are a few handwaves to try and explain the inconsistencies.
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* InhumanlyBeautifulRace: ''Haut'' women are specifically bred to be -- by themselves, to the point they never ''ever'' cut their hair, which can achieve several ''meters''. In contrast, the ''haut'' males are bred for intelligence and social skills (to clarify, they're still very handsome, just not works of avant-garde artwork), while the ba and ghem are basically petrie dishes to the Star Crèche. Keep in mind, with all that beauty and intelligence, they aren't immune to doing some ''insanely stupid things''. Common sense isn't genetic.
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* InhumanlyBeautifulRace: ''Haut'' women are specifically bred to be -- by themselves, to the point they never ''ever'' cut their hair, which can achieve several ''meters''. In contrast, the ''haut'' males are bred for intelligence and social skills (to clarify, they're still very handsome, just not works of avant-garde artwork), while the ba and ghem are basically petrie petri dishes to the Star Crèche. Keep in mind, with all that beauty and intelligence, they aren't immune to doing some ''insanely stupid things''. Common sense isn't genetic.
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[[folder:Barrayar]]
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%%* SpaceCossacks
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!! Imperial Security ([=ImpSec=])
Intelligence, counterintelligence, and paramilitary police for the Barrayaran Imperium. Employer of Miles during the first part of the series.
* AlmightyJanitor: Quite literally. All employees who work at [=ImpSec=] have extensive military training, including (and ''especially'') janitors and maintenance.
* {{Ambadassador}}: At one time a foreign diplomat they needed to bribe demanded an elephant as his price, even though the nearest elephant was several planets away. [=ImpSec=], of course, provided an elephant]].
* [[BadassArmy Badass Intelligence Agency]]: They are one of the best secret services in the nexus and employ some of the scariest people on Barrayar. When Miles sees a Jacksonian crime lord viciously assassinated in ''Mirror Dance'', he muses that it was probably not [=ImpSec=] -- not because they wouldn't have done that, but because they would have been more efficient about it.
* BigLabyrinthineBuilding: [=ImpSec=] headquarters.
* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: The [=ImpSec=] building is a RunningGag on Barrayar for being [[SoBadItsGood so unconscionably hideous, it's hilarious]], a massive block of concrete with no windows, too many steps that are set too high[[note]]to discourage casual visitation from the populace -- people who ''work'' there have a discreet side entrance[[/note]], and gargoyles carved into every outer face. The gargoyles are actually made into cartoon characters and it was [[TheSpymaster Simon Illyan's]] greatest wish to be able to budget for a new building.
%%* ConsummateProfessional
%%* CrazyPrepared
* CreepyGood: A bunch of paranoid, conspiracy-obsessed spies with some extremely sinister methods and a disturbing history, but they're kept on a leash by Gregor.
%%* TheDreaded
* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: [=ImpSec=] is the personality of Simon Illyan writ large.
%%* GoodIsNotNice
%%* GoodIsNotSoft
%%* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction
* InterserviceRivalry[=/=]JurisdictionFriction: Between Operations, Service Security, and Komarran police. With Komarran police, it has a nationalistic tinge, and the Auditors have a rivalry with ''everyone'' because [[InternalAffairs that's their job]].
* MadArtist: The building was designed by Yuri's favorite architect. Both men had extremely idiosyncratic taste. It shows.
* MuseumOfTheStrangeAndUnusual: The bottom floor of the headquarters contains weapons, drugs, poisons, and various and sundry nefarious things catalogued meticulously.
** After it's sunken in ''Captain Vorpatril's Alliance'', Mark has it raised and opens it up to the public for profit.
* PraetorianGuard: They guard the Emperor and various dignitaries. They also train the Vorbarra armsmen. They are decidedly not to be screwed with.
* RecycledInSpace: Something like a more benign (if not exactly [[GoodIsNotNice nice]]) [[UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia Okhrana]].
* SecretPolice: The organization started out as such, but after Mad Emperor Yuri was deposed, it became an apolitical government police agency, a cross between the CIA and the FBI. They still maintain being TheDreaded, however, and are hyper-focused on internal security.
%%* ShroudedInMyth
* SilentPartner: Only a few of the Dendarii know who Miles is or who his employer is.
%%* SinisterSurveillance
* TortureCellar: Subverted. The lowest sub-basement was such a cellar, once upon a time. [[TheCaligula Yuri]] kept ''lots'' of people there, [[PragmaticVillainy Ezar]] kept a few, mostly those whom he had a rational reason to fear, and Aral mostly closed down its function as a dungeon. During the early part of Gregor's reign it was converted into a forensic warehouse, and a new, modern detention facility was created in the upper section. During different conspiracy panics, both Simon and Duv end up there (Simon in the old facility, Duv in the new) for a week or two until an investigation is finished. On both occasions it's commented that it does well for the perspective of a spymaster to be on the other end of the process. In Miles' time, it's mostly used to keep seized items from [=ImpSec=] missions. Once in a while, a prisoner who is too important to put anywhere else ends up there until they figure out what to do with him.
!!Dendarii Mercenaries
Merc band formed by Miles' acting ability. Given a standing contract with [=ImpSec=], at first to give a loophole to avoid the law against Vor having private armies and later because they are useful. Led by Admiral Naismaith.
%%* BadassArmy
* CatchPhrase: Daring Rescues Our Specialty.
%%* TheCavalry
* MeaningfulName: Named after the Dendarii mountains on Barrayar.
* PlausibleDeniability: Their main purpose is to carry out missions that would be diplomatically awkward for the regular Imperial Service.
%%* PrivateMilitaryContractors
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[[foldercontrol]]
!!Barrayar
Isolated from the rest of known space for centuries by a natural disaster that cut off contact with the rest of humanity, Barrayar survived by reverting to a feudal system based on a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy warrior caste]]. Unfortunately, their welcome back to the greater galaxy came in the form of an invasion by the Cetagandan empire, which they ultimately defeated through sheer bloody-mindedness (and perhaps being simply too crazy to give up). Barrayar is now struggling to adjust to a galaxy that views its social model as anything from quaintly anachronistic to dangerously primitive. Ruled by the ''Vor'' warrior caste, with TheEmperor at their head. The homeworld of Miles, who has to deal with Barrayar's nasty prejudice against [[GeniusCripple mutants like him]], and the focus (and often the setting) of the Vorkosigan series.
* BattleButler: Armsmen. Each count is allowed twenty bodyguards, and only twenty bodyguards. Any more counts as a private army and is grounds for execution. Consequently, they tend to pick the cream of the crop.
* TheClan: Every Vor house.
* DecadentCourt: Somewhat tamed by now. Miles' father Aral actually ''survived'' being Regent to Gregor until his majority, and since then [[TheWisePrince Gregor]] has been applying his foster-father's lessons, toning down both the decadence and the deadliness.
** More deadly than decadent. When an assassin appears during a session of the Counts, their first instinct is to charge him, not run away.
--->'''Miles:''' Only on Barrayar would pulling a loaded needler start a stampede ''toward'' one.
%%* FamilyHonor
* FantasticRacism: Against mutants, disabled people and all genetic strangeness. It was only recently that infanticide was banned, and it still goes on in secret in parts of the back country. The prejudice is both understandable (mutations were historically a gigantic problem for the isolated Barrayaran colonists) and spurs much of Miles Vorkosigan's actions (viewed as a "mutie" by Barrayaran society, he struggles to prove himself in the face of unreasoning hatred). A more minor prejudice is between the speakers of various Earth-descended languages, but it can be dangerous as well; it's mentioned that riots along linguistic divisions are political points to take into consideration.
** In the later volumes this feels like somewhat of an InformedFlaw. In ''Captain Vorpatril's Alliance'', for instance, Rish doesn't face much prejudice, certainly less than she would have faced in twenty-first century Earth. By that time however prejudice against "muties" was becoming less fashionable among the elites. Byerly suggests that Rish is so far on the other side of the UncannyValley that she's [[RefugeInAudacity beyond what Barrayarans think of as a "mutie"]]. That, and she's an eye witness to one of the most important High Vor's son getting married on a spur of the moment to a princess fleeing a palace coup (to Barrayan eyes) makes her a figure of mystery. Also, Byerly steers her away from the "prole" sections and there's an [=ImpSec=] team protecting them from the shadows.
%%* FeudalFuture
* HadToBeSharp: Between eugenic infanticide, living on a {{Deathworld}}, being isolated from technology for centuries, living in political turmoil, and then surviving the Cetagandans, pretty much yeah.
** Maybe that's [[MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong Mother Barrayar Makes You Strong?]]
%%* HonorBeforeReason
* IGaveMyWord: An important part of the Vor code. ''Very'' important. Their whole system of government is based on verbal compacts -- if you swear an oath, you better damn well mean it.
* KlingonScientistsGetNoRespect: Subverted. The most honored profession is soldiering but scientists do in fact get respect. It seems to have played straighter in earlier generations.
** Some of the most prestigious scientific institutions (notably the Imperial Military Hospital) are themselves attached to the military, making for a bit of a zig-zag. In addition, when new technology comes in, the first response is "How does it help the military?" (Uterine replicators, for instance, are examined as use for healing wounds, too.) Cordelia, who is in fact a brilliant scientist as all survey captains have to be, is usually remembered either as "Aral's embarrassingly eccentric wife", or "The woman who [[MoreDeadlyThanTheMale brought the usurper's head home in a bag.]]"
* NobleBigot: Add HonorBeforeReason to FantasticRacism and this is roughly what you get. They are getting a bit better about it, though.
* NeverBeHurtAgain: The remembrance of the Cetagandan Occupation.
* ProudWarriorRace: the Vor.
* PlanetOfHats: To just about everyone else in the Nexus, Barrayarans generally are a ProudWarriorRace. A visitor from Escobar expresses surprise at how "normal" the planet looks. He was expecting it to be all paved over and covered with [[MillionMookMarch soldiers marching around in formation]]. Another from Jackson's Whole "half expected to see gutted buildings with blackened timbers still smoking, bomb craters in the streets, and haunted, emaciated people scurrying like rats among the barricades." But since Barrayar is the primary setting of the stories, we get a more complex view, beyond the militaristic Vor class.
* LaResistance: During the Cetagandan occupation.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeBureaucratized: Inverted. They learned how to make a professional military force by fighting the Cetagandans and the spinoff from that is helping Barrayar evolve into a modern state.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: They were already not civilized when the Cetagandans arrived. They just channeled their barbarity into LaResistance.
* RisingEmpire: Just recently conquered Komarr and founded a colony at Sergyar. Does not seem to have any more interest in expansionism at the moment.
* RockBeatsLaser: When invaded by Cetaganda they were at a serious technological disadvantage and drove them off using guerilla tactics.
** [[spoiler:This is revealed to be subverted later in the series. While the guerilla fighting ''was'' highly annoying to the occupying Ghem forces, the retreat was actually part of a ploy to use a Haut bioweapon without imperial approval. The idea was to withdraw from the planet, quietly steal and release a nightmare plague among the locals, and then reoccupy the planet a few years down the line when there wouldn't be enough people left to mount an effective resistance. [[NiceJobFixingItVillain Luckily for everyone else]], the Haut were able to foil the part where one of their carefully hoarded bioweapons got released without their permission. They were ''not'' amused by the attempt to subvert their authority for mere military expediency, and some ''very'' high level Ghem generals were executed for their impertinence. Their military failure was just a convenient cover for the real story.]]
* {{Ruritania}}: In space.
* [[ScrewYouElves Screw You Cetaganda]]: And sometimes [[ForeverWar kill you]].
* SecretPolice: [=ImpSec=]
* SettlingTheFrontier: Much of Barrayar's history and culture is about terraforming. The South Continent is still being settled, as is the newly-discovered planet Sergyar.
* WeAreStrugglingTogether: Until recently, mostly during the latter part of Gregor's reign.
!!Komarr
A planet where everyone lives in domed cities, due to the planet's atmosphere not being breathable, whose considerable merchant wealth came through their prime planetary position at the nexus of several strategically important wormhole jumps. Komarr once made the mistake of allowing the Cetagandan Empire passage through their wormholes (for a fee of course) on their way to conquer the backwater world of Barrayar. The Komarrans responsible may not have lived to regret their decision, but their descendants certainly did when Barrayar came back with a conquering fleet to prevent a repeat performance. Once home to a strong LaResistance against the Barrayarans, but this is losing popularity as Komarr and Barrayar become more integrated.
* LesCollaborateurs: Komarrans in Barrayaran service. More sympathetic than most, particularly [[BadassBureaucrat Duv Galeni]]. Also, the Komarrans to the Cetagandans during the Barrayaran Occupation, at least in Barrayar's view.
* GadgeteerGenius: Every city is built under a protective dome and the planet's great project is to terraform the whole planet. They are thus very tech-savvy and make splendid engineers.
* NeutralNoLonger: The original Komarran shareholders voted to let the Cetagandans through the wormhole to Barrayar fully aware they weren't off to give the Barrayaran population fruit baskets, but they still viewed themselves as neutral. A generation or two later, the Barrayarans dropped in, with armed ships, to let them know ''they'' felt differently and they haven't left since.
* PlanetOfHats: Komarr is all about business. The basic "democratic" unit is a shareholder, not a voter. Individuals can gain more shares (and hence votes) by financially contributing to the development of the planet, and these shares are transferable (via inheritance for example).
* ProudMerchantRace: Supposedly patterned on [[RecycledInSpace Medieval Venice -- IN SPACE!]]
* PuppetState: Ruled entirely by Barrayar.
* TheRemnant: [[spoiler: Ser Galen, Duv Galeni's father]] certainly was.
* {{Terraform}}: Komarr is midway, having grown lichen and other oxygen-producing life to help change the atmosphere. However, going outside without a mask will result in slow asphixiation.
* YouWillBeAssimilated: Present Barrayaran policy is to do this to Komarr. Since they've chosen to play the long game, this takes the form of things like Barrayarans paying for an expansion of Komarr's artificial solar array (to help with their terraforming) -- and also quite a few prominent Barrayarans and Komarrans getting married across planet lines. This includes the Barrayaran Emperor himself to a member of one of Komarr's most prominent oligarchic families.
** Barrayar, however, leaves Komarr to its own planetary governing as before. It's only that there's another layer ''above'' it, and it rarely makes any imposition on the government. If anything, Barrayar has made life ''easier'' for Komarr, thanks to having very powerful military escorts for their trade fleets, and fixing its broken solettas, and building more to speed terraforming. Miles muses that most of Komarr's current mundane problems like traffic laws bogged down by voting deadlocks would do better with a monarchy than a democracy.
!!Sergyar
->''"Chaos Colony. We really don't need to make it up ..."''
-->--'''Cordelia''', ''Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen''
Third planet in the Barrayaran Empire. The planet and nearby wormholes providing a convenient shortcut to Escobar were discovered by Barrayar shortly before ''Shards of Honor''. It was then ''rediscovered'' by Captain Cordelia Naismith of the Betan Astronomical Survey, bringing her into conflict with the Barrayaran local commander Aral Vorkosigan and kicking off the whole saga. The population is still rather low, and it's often referred to as Chaos Colony. After Aral's heart attack and subsequent retirement as Prime Minister following the events of ''Mirror Dance'', Gregor appoints Aral and Cordelia Viceroy and Vicereine, a joint co-appointment.
* ChekhovsVolcano: Averting this is at the top of Cordelia's agenda for the last year of her viceroyalty, by shifting the planet's capital city away from a dormant volcano, even though it isn't likely to blow for decades.
-->'''Cordelia''': The future of Kareenburg is a ''lava flow''. If the earthquakes don't get it first.
* {{Egopolis}}:
** Sergyar -> Prince Serg
** Kareenburg -> Princess Kareen
** Mount Rosemont -> Reg Rosemont
* SettlingTheFrontier: In ''Gentlemen Jole and the Red Queen'', Kareenburg is the only town with a spaceport, with a second one being built at Gridgrad. Land is incredibly available, and the doctors at the local university say it'll take 5000 years to document the animal and plant life of the planet.
* UnfortunateNames: Cordelia loves everything about the planet save its name (being named after TheCaligula and VillainWithGoodPublicity), and aims to get it changed sometime in the future, especially when Prince Serg's true nature becomes public knowledge.
!!Beta Colony
Home of Cordelia, mother of Miles, before she switched allegiance to Aral (and Barrayar). The most technologically and socially progressive society in known space, or a degenerate planet full of unspeakable perversions, madness, and mutations, depending on where you stand. Beta does produce a lot of [[ScienceHero Science Heroes]]...just don't run afoul of their [[HollywoodPsych therapists]].
* ArmsDealer: A major line of business for them. But if they're selling you the "latest new weapon" you can bet that they're holding the defense against that weapon in their back pockets. Beta Colony sells leading edge weapons, but only after they are confident that those weapons can't be used against ''them.''
* BoldExplorer: Their Astronomical Survey Corp, which also functions as a kind of military, almost like an {{expy}} of [[Franchise/StarTrek Starfleet]].
* FreeLoveFuture: Not quite "free" as in lawless. Their only sexual rules are "don't be deceptive with your earrings" (the signals of one's sexual status) and "don't have children without a license". But [[EveryoneHasStandards these are kept fanatically.]] And while the age of consent seems to vary between twelve to fourteen, Cordelia is outraged when she learns that Bothari's mother used to sell him to her customers when he was a child, saying ''that'' would not be allowed back home.
* FutureFoodIsArtificial: As Beta Colony has no naturally occurring biosphere, virtually all their locally-produced consumable organics are done in interior grow houses or are vat-grown cultures.
* GadgeteerGenius: Strongly encouraged. Even their [[TheCaptain Astronomical Survey ship captains]] are expected to have academic qualifications that professional scientists from other colonies consider daunting.
* IconicOutfit: Sarongs. On Beta Colony, often without a top.
* IntimatePsychotherapy: Licensed Practical Sexuality Therapists are a respected profession. To people from other colonies it looks more like UnproblematicProstitution.
* PlanetOfHats: Most within the Nexus strongly identify Beta Colony with social liberalism and technological innovation.
* PoliticalOvercorrectness: Certainly in the view of a lot of terminally old-fashioned Barrayarans. The rest of the galaxy seems to view the Betans as kind of out there but with enough strong points to overlook the sarongs and the scarily-overpowered role of therapy.
* PopulationControl: Because of limited space in the colony, a license is needed to have children. It is very rare to be authorized to have more than two children. WordOfGod is that [[http://lists.herald.co.uk/old-archives/lois-bujold/001004-3603 one's first license is technically two half-permits, so a person can either have two children with another person or use both permits as a whole to clone themselves; and a calculated number of third-child variances are given out each year by lottery or reserved as rewards.]]
* ProudScholarRace: Of the Scientist variety.
* UndergroundCity: Beta Colony was settled before the discovery of wormhole travel, and the planetary surface is actually very inhospitable to human life. Therefore the colony is underground and space is at a premium (hence the strict population control). Large open spaces are few in number, so Betans favor interior design over architecture as an art form. To impress a Betan, all you need to do is light the fireplace, as burning wood for warmth is the equivalent of bathing in champagne to a Betan.
!!Cetaganda
An empire of interconnected planets ruled by a caste dedicated to raising themselves to transhuman status by genetic manipulation, Cetaganda once invaded and unsuccessfully occupied Barrayar. [[ForeverWar In many ways, it remains the main opponent of the Vorkosigan series as, unlike Barrayar, Cetaganda generally favours expansion]], [[spoiler: although by the end of the series it appears that Miles' sustained efforts have bought Barrayar some goodwill with its once and future enemy ...not that it means much, but by ''Diplomatic Immunity'' he can actually ''talk'' the Cetagandans out of starting another war with Barrayar.]]
* BrilliantButLazy: Many young ''ghem'' lords and ladies end up this way, simply because Cetagandans have long life-times, and a lot of ''ghem'' are stuck doing nothing of value. This results in many {{Impoverished Patrician}}s, while other ''ghem'' have said "screw the system" and attached themselves to less glorious but lucrative work; in ''Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen'', an ambassador's aide is trying to pursue a diplomatic career while the rest of his family are wealthy plumbers.[[note]]His asylum on Sergyar requires he take up plumbing.[[/note]]
* BureaucraticallyArrangedMarriage: A haut lady who doesn't make "the cut" may be given to a distinguished ghem as a bride.
* DecadentCourt: The ghem and the haut both have this going on, both individually and to some extent against each other.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The Star Crèche sounds like the [[Franchise/{{Dune}} Bene Gesserit]].
* TheEmpire: Expansionist, with a preference for targeting weak and isolated planets for conquest. Hence Barrayar seemed like an ideal target since the Time of Isolation had left them in MedievalStasis. That did not end well. Cetaganda is still prone to eyeballing other potential conquests, but is somewhat checked by a number of the more advanced and powerful planets being willing to oppose their expansionism.
* EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench: Cetagandans are depicted as haughty, sophisticated and with their entire culture suffused with making everything beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, and their society key elements often have a french name ("Haut", "Ba(s)", "Crèche"[[note]]Though crèche is an English loan word from the French[[/note]]...).
* EvilutionaryBiologist: While plenty of other worlds could also do this given their technology, Cetaganda stands alone in designing their whole society around it.
* FantasticCasteSystem: The haut geneticist caste ruling over the ghem warrior caste with the workers below both.
* FantasticRacism: The haut consider the ghem "half-breeds", and non-Cetagandans as barbarian outlanders.
* IfIWantedYouDead: Miles and Duv's research finds that the Cetagandan invasion was not authorized by either the Emperor or (more importantly) the Star Crèche, who were more interested in studying Barrayaran genes, which to them was akin to Darwin exploring the Galapagos Islands. If the Crèche really wanted to conquer Barrayar, they could have annihilated them with one or two of their bioweapons (which the offending ghem generals had stolen but failed to implement). Miles and company all suffer a bit of FridgeHorror after he relates the story in ''Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen''. [[invoked]]
-->'''Miles:''' The real pullout plan called for the use of stolen haut bioweapons -— some kind of virulent plague, as I understand it, rekeyed to Barrayaran genetics. Picture it. Pull all your people out, release this hell-brew, seal the wormholes behind you and let it work in tidy isolation. A planet-sized culture dish. Come back in a year or two to a neatly depopulated landscape freed of that pesky native crowd who kept irrationally refusing to be culturally uplifted, and move in. There would be galactic outcry, sure, but -- too bad, so sad, too late.
* InhumanlyBeautifulRace: ''Haut'' women are specifically bred to be -- by themselves, to the point they never ''ever'' cut their hair, which can achieve several ''meters''. In contrast, the ''haut'' males are bred for intelligence and social skills (to clarify, they're still very handsome, just not works of avant-garde artwork), while the ba and ghem are basically petrie dishes to the Star Crèche. Keep in mind, with all that beauty and intelligence, they aren't immune to doing some ''insanely stupid things''. Common sense isn't genetic.
* MadArtist: Even their bioweapons are artistic.
* MasterRace: Their society is build around attempting to evolve themselves into an example of this trope. Miles notes at one point that they do not currently consider this process complete. What they will have become by the time they do consider themselves finished, not even they can guess.
* MeaningfulName: While ‘haut’ (a corruption of ‘haute’, or ‘high’, in French) is an entirely literal descriptor of the Cetagandan ruling caste, it also carries certain other connotations in English. ‘Haute couture’ is the far end of fashion - taboo-breakingly innovative, obscenely expensive, exotically beautiful, and (often) completely impractical. The haut, meanwhile, are the same principle applied to human beings rather than clothing.
* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: Not all of the ''haut'' who get pegged as trophy wives to distinguished ''ghem'' take the change of station gracefully. Some of them become sufficiently peeved to say "F*** Cetaganda!", Lady Moira ghem Estif[[note]]Tej's grandma[[/note]] among them.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: In the setting's history, [[spoiler:the ghem hugely overstepped their authority during the invasion of Barryar, leading the haut to order some very high profile [[OrderedToDie suicides]] of the more expansionist ghem generals. This paved the way for the (relatively) peaceful relations between Cetaganda and Barryar seen in the books.]] The two are by no means friendly, but at least they can be talked out of a shooting war these days.
* PlanetOfHats: Everything revolves around eugenic breeding, and genetic fitness defines an individual's role in the society.
* ProudWarriorRace: The Ghem were created that way, and it's hinted that Vorish delegates might actually get along with them because they're not that different. However, while this is still the case among soldiers and security like Colonel Benin, out-of-work Court Ghem are a subversion -- often so exaggeratedly refined that they make Ivan look as fierce as Bloody Pierre by comparison.
* [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Scary Dogmatic Humans]]: Perhaps more [[StarfishAliens Starfishy]] than Scary Dogmatic. Still...
* SecretWar: With Barrayar. [[ForeverWar Constantly]]. Though at the current stage it's more of a SpaceColdWar.
* ShoutOut: Cetagandan Haut Ladies all look like extras from a Creator/LeijiMatsumoto anime.
* SpaceColdWar: With Barrayar, after their failed invasion.
* SpaceElves: Sort of. Humans who are deliberately evolving themselves into Space Elves
* TranshumanAliens: Perhaps not quite, but if the haut breeding program continues on schedule... soon. Arguably the haut are already there.
* YouHaveFailedMe: The fate of members of the ghem warrior caste who do disappointing things like not outwitting Miles.
!!Jackson's Whole
Planet ruled by criminal houses where you can get ''anything'' for enough money. And that does mean anything.
* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Even the "good" Jacksonians are charmingly amoral.
* ArmsDealer: Inevitably. A little seedier than Beta, to say the least.
* BetterTheDevilYouKnow: Miles once reflects grimly that if Jackson's Whole didn't exist, it would be necessary to invent it. The galaxy can keep all its scum there, away from everyone else but still within convenient reach. And since every imaginable abuse of technology occurs there, nobody else has be the ones to develop them.
* TheClan: Each criminal house.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: What passes for a "respectable" Jacksonian would count as this.
* {{Deconstruction}}: Of the Heinleinian notion of a libertarian utopia, showing just how dystopian such a society would likely be in reality. It's named for Jackson Hole (formerly Jackson's Hole) in Wyoming, USA, a valley that since the early 1980s has hosted a "summer camp for bankers." This popularity for the rich has had adverse effects on property values and costs of services, which (to prey upon rich tourists) have grown so high that locals can face a serious economic burden. Not entirely unlike what life must be like for common people on the Whole.
* DoYouWantToHaggle: Someone who can do this well is admired. Ezar's skill in keeping Sergyar after the Escobar war is taught to Jacksonian children. Udine semi-complains that Gregor bargained House Cardonnah to 5% of the spoils of a treasure cache; Tej notes that Udina is actually appreciating Gregor's skills.
* {{Dystopia}}: For anyone not connected to a House -- and even for some who are.
* ExpendableClone: One of the services provided on the planet is making clone slaves tailored for any purpose; mental, physical, sexual -- including clones, perfectly sapient individuals with artificially induced maturity, intended to receive the transplanted brains of wealthy but aging people (the clone's brain is then just medical waste). [[EvenEvilHasStandards No other planet]] allows such things, so if you want ''that'' service desperately enough, this is the only place to get it. However, it is an extremely dangerous procedure -- the transplant doesn't always take. Assuming, of course, all of your surgeons are ''totally'' loyal and didn't "accidentally" misplace the crucial brain...
* IGaveMyWord: The [[EvenEvilHasStandards only]] thing considered sacred here is "the Deal". "Deal" seems to be as much a shibboleth on Jackson's as "Oaths" are on Barrayar.
** ExactWords: However, Jacksonians will bend the wording of the deal as far as it can without snapping.
--->'''Mark:''' ''(on Baron Fell's payment)'' I predict that I will be seriously short-changed, but not quite enough so that I would risk going back to Fell and arguing about it. ''(inserts the card into the read-slot, and smiles)'' Spot-on.
* TheMafia: The whole planet is basically organized crime.
* NobleDemon: The best one can expect from House Barons, such as Fell.
* PlanetOfHats: It can be bought. No matter what "it" is.
* WretchedHive: The only thing anyone respects on Jackson's Whole is money. Thus, those with the money ''are'' the law, and can buy and sell far more than just your life. (There are law enforcement officials and prisons, but they're essentially organised bounty hunters and pens for human livestock, respectively.) Those unwilling to compromise their morals don't survive long. It's telling that Miles' reaction to finding out where he's been revived despite suffering amnesia? A panicked "Holy shit! I'm on ''Jackson's Hole''!", dropping his post-comatose slurred speech.
!!Athos
A planet settled by a very gynophobic religious group of men after the invention of the uterine replicator makes a society without women possible. Athos holds itself separate from the Galactic Nexus to prevent "contamination" from baleful (i.e. female) outside influences. They even censor Galactic media so that only men with very high clearances have ever even seen pictures of women.
* CultColony: An ultra-radical Christian splinter group, to be exact. Ironically, though the original Founding Fathers were celibate, the long-term result over the course of centuries was to create a society where there are same-sex marriages. Unlike many cases of this trope, the Athosians are not depicted as evil or repressive. Indeed, most of them seem quite content with their way of life and while most inhabitants are religious, they are not fanatically so.
* HasTwoDaddies: Most of the inhabitants do, as helping to raise another man's child is one of the quickest ways to earn social credits toward having one's own child, so a lot of men end up in parenting partnerships where they help raise each other's children. Their relationship of the respective parents is not necessarily a romantic or sexual one, but it often is.
* HeManWomanHater: The Founders of Athos held a religious belief that women are the root cause of all male sin. This attitude persists even among more secular modern Athosians, who believe that women are inherently dangerous to men and thus must be avoided at all costs.
* HomosexualReproduction: Not easy, but they make it work. Sort of. With advances in reproductive science now spreading throughout the Nexus, they may be able to achieve this for real before too long.
* {{Irony}}: Dr. Cynthia Jane Baruch, is one of the founders of Athos, from whom her ovaries (dubbed CJB by the Athosians) are valued.
* LamarckWasRight: Athosians believe people's professions are influenced by their genetics. For example, CJB is supposed to make scientists.
* PlanetOfHats: The population of Athos is 100% male, which leads to the misconception of Athos as "the Planet of Fags". [[spoiler: As of the end of ''Ethan of Athos'', they are on their way to becoming a planet of [[{{Telepathy}} telepaths]] as well]].
* PopulationControl: Relatively easily enforced as a single-sex population necessarily relies entirely on [[UterineReplicator artificial means]]. Reproduction centers are national facilities, and the privilege of having a child conceived there can be bought with "social credits", which any member of the population can earn by volunteering their efforts toward things which benefit the colony directly. One of the quickest ways of earning such credits is to help another man raise one of his children, which also gives the prospective parent experience for when they have their own child.
* SituationalSexuality: Most Athosian men will never even see a woman, nor have their ancestors going back generations. Homosexual relationships are therefore the norm, although some men, implied to be strongly heterosexual, remain celibate instead (within the culture of Athos they're considered to be practicing a very orthodox interpretation of the colony's Founding Fathers' intent.) Oddly, emigration from Athos is virtually unheard of, possibly because of religious indoctrination about how women can MindControl men.
!!The Union of Free Habitats (Quaddiespace)
Home to the setting's largest society of TranshumanAliens, Quaddiespace is situated in a star system with no habitable planets. The original quaddies (humans genetically engineered for free fall with a second pair of arms in place of legs) chose it because it gives them an advantage over any "downsiders" who come to visit. Graf Station was created out of the remains of the spaceship they stole in their escape from slavery to the corporation that created them. Since they were bred to be laborers, their society is based on the work gang.
* AsteroidMiners: And they are singularly good at it, since they don't have to drag anything into or out of planetary gravity wells.
* CallBack: They pause in their escape to rescue Madame Minchenko, a music teacher and concert violinist. Two centuries later, the Minchenko ballet is their crowning cultural accomplishment.
* DancingIsSeriousBusiness: One of the things they are most proud of is their null-grav ballet.
* FantasticRacism: Averted, since their hero, Leo Graf, was a downsider who had a famous relationship with Silver, a quaddie (on which "The Crossing" is partly based.) They instead have condescension to people who 1) are lazy, or 2) won't respect their traditions.
* TheMigration: Across several star systems. "The Crossing" is the subject of a classic ballet. "Keep boosting" indeed.
* OnlyOneName: Quaddies do not have last names. Originally all living quaddies had unique names derived from their serial numbers, but as the population grew from the initial thousand to millions, they had to allow duplication. If someone wants to use a name that someone else already has, they have to attach a numerical suffix to it, with their home dome being an additional designation seldom used. "Leo Ninety-nine" is given as an example. The highest number ever seen attached to any other name is "Sixteen" (attached to the name of another hero of the migration). The quaddies ''really'' remember Leo Graf fondly.
* PlanetOfHats: Not technically a "planet" per se, but their space-based society is designed for the convenience of people who were genetically engineered for zero gravity and have arms instead of legs. As the descendants of people genetically-engineered to be laborers (And whose greatest cultural hero was an engineer), the quaddies attach great value to doing one's job well. They are impressed by how "task-oriented" Miles is, expecting a downsider ambassador to be more pretentious.
** Their most visible hat is music and dance, since one of their other cultural heroes (a founding mother, as it were) was a music teacher and concert violinist. The first quaddy character introduced is a musician, who takes advantage of null gravity to play a double-sided dulcimer.
* ReluctantWarrior: The last murder before Miles' visit was years ago. Quaddies don't bother to keep a proper forensics team because they have so few murders. And they seem [[CultureClash somewhat confused]] by fairly normal concepts of military discipline like objecting to deserters and [=AWOLs=] (though Barrayarans take it farther than most at the best of times, and in ''Diplomatic Immunity'' were applying it in a very ham-fisted manner). On the other hand, they do at least have a security force and a militia capable of dealing with harbor brawls with reasonable efficiency.
%%* SpaceCossacks
* SpacePeople: They don't need inhabitable planets, and specifically chose a star system without one to avoid competition.
* TranshumanAliens: The biggest and most instantly-recognisable faction thereof in the setting.
* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: A non-violent example that was made substantially easier by the introduction of practical grav-tech right when the first group of them was reaching full maturity. One imagines their creators were just as happy to get an insurance payout for their act of self "piracy" as continue to take care of an increasingly niche and marginal group of zero-g construction workers.
!! Earth
The homeworld of humanity, Earth straddles the [[EarthIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse Center of the Universe]] / InsignificantLittleBluePlanet divide. In some ways, it's the first, but in others the second.
-> Earth. Old, romantic, historic Earth, the big blue marble itself. Miles had always expected to travel here someday, although not, surely, under these conditions.\\
Earth was still the largest, richest, most varied and populous planet in scattered humanity's entire worm-hole nexus of explored space. Its dearth of good exit points in solar local space and governmental disunity left it militarily and strategically minor from the greater galactic point of view. But Earth still reigned, if it did not rule, culturally supreme. More war-scarred than Barrayar, as technically advanced as Beta Colony, the end-point of all pilgrimages both religious and secular -- in light of which, major embassies from every world that could afford one were collected here.
--> -- ''Brothers in Arms''
* EarthThatUsedToBeBetter: The homeworld of humanity has been through some rough times, including major wars. While it is by no means a shambles, it has definitely been surpassed in terms of interstellar influence by many of its colonies. Thus Earth is a contradiction in that it possesses a powerful sense of historical significance for all of humankind, but its strategic importance is comparatively low.
* GlobalWarming: Sea levels are much higher on Earth than they used to be, and many major coastal cities are now either protected by elaborate flood barriers or completely submerged.
* HolyCity: Miles notes all pilgrimages, both religious and secular, end at Earth, since it still is humanity's cradle.
* InsignificantLittleBluePlanet: Earth is in a cul-de-sac of the the Wormhole Nexus, which makes getting there a bit of a hassle. Its out-of-the-way location puts it off all the major trade routes, resulting in it having less galactic influence than, for example, Tau Ceti. And since SubspaceAnsible technology is absent in this universe, meaning that messages have to be carried by ship through wormholes, Earth could never function as anything even close to a real-time interstellar government. However, thanks to every single power having a major embassy there, a lot of galactic haggling and espionage goes on there.
* JackOfAllStats: Earth does have highly advanced science, arts and so on, but is just second best to most.
* OneWorldOrder: Averted. Earth never has quite managed to politically unify its multitude of nations. Which is another major reason why it does not wield more influence throughout the Nexus despite its huge population and level of technological advancement. Colonies that have a PlanetaryNation can often exert greater influence simply by virtue of being able to put forth a single unified economic and political policy.
!! Imperial Security ([=ImpSec=])
Intelligence, counterintelligence, and paramilitary police for the Barrayaran Imperium. Employer of Miles during the first part of the series.
* AlmightyJanitor: Quite literally. All employees who work at [=ImpSec=] have extensive military training, including (and ''especially'') janitors and maintenance.
* {{Ambadassador}}: At one time a foreign diplomat they needed to bribe demanded an elephant as his price, even though the nearest elephant was several planets away. [=ImpSec=], of course, provided an elephant]].
* [[BadassArmy Badass Intelligence Agency]]: They are one of the best secret services in the nexus and employ some of the scariest people on Barrayar. When Miles sees a Jacksonian crime lord viciously assassinated in ''Mirror Dance'', he muses that it was probably not [=ImpSec=] -- not because they wouldn't have done that, but because they would have been more efficient about it.
* BigLabyrinthineBuilding: [=ImpSec=] headquarters.
* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: The [=ImpSec=] building is a RunningGag on Barrayar for being [[SoBadItsGood so unconscionably hideous, it's hilarious]], a massive block of concrete with no windows, too many steps that are set too high[[note]]to discourage casual visitation from the populace -- people who ''work'' there have a discreet side entrance[[/note]], and gargoyles carved into every outer face. The gargoyles are actually made into cartoon characters and it was [[TheSpymaster Simon Illyan's]] greatest wish to be able to budget for a new building.
%%* ConsummateProfessional
%%* CrazyPrepared
* CreepyGood: A bunch of paranoid, conspiracy-obsessed spies with some extremely sinister methods and a disturbing history, but they're kept on a leash by Gregor.
%%* TheDreaded
* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: [=ImpSec=] is the personality of Simon Illyan writ large.
%%* GoodIsNotNice
%%* GoodIsNotSoft
%%* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction
* InterserviceRivalry[=/=]JurisdictionFriction: Between Operations, Service Security, and Komarran police. With Komarran police, it has a nationalistic tinge, and the Auditors have a rivalry with ''everyone'' because [[InternalAffairs that's their job]].
* MadArtist: The building was designed by Yuri's favorite architect. Both men had extremely idiosyncratic taste. It shows.
* MuseumOfTheStrangeAndUnusual: The bottom floor of the headquarters contains weapons, drugs, poisons, and various and sundry nefarious things catalogued meticulously.
** After it's sunken in ''Captain Vorpatril's Alliance'', Mark has it raised and opens it up to the public for profit.
* PraetorianGuard: They guard the Emperor and various dignitaries. They also train the Vorbarra armsmen. They are decidedly not to be screwed with.
* RecycledInSpace: Something like a more benign (if not exactly [[GoodIsNotNice nice]]) [[UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia Okhrana]].
* SecretPolice: The organization started out as such, but after Mad Emperor Yuri was deposed, it became an apolitical government police agency, a cross between the CIA and the FBI. They still maintain being TheDreaded, however, and are hyper-focused on internal security.
%%* ShroudedInMyth
* SilentPartner: Only a few of the Dendarii know who Miles is or who his employer is.
%%* SinisterSurveillance
* TortureCellar: Subverted. The lowest sub-basement was such a cellar, once upon a time. [[TheCaligula Yuri]] kept ''lots'' of people there, [[PragmaticVillainy Ezar]] kept a few, mostly those whom he had a rational reason to fear, and Aral mostly closed down its function as a dungeon. During the early part of Gregor's reign it was converted into a forensic warehouse, and a new, modern detention facility was created in the upper section. During different conspiracy panics, both Simon and Duv end up there (Simon in the old facility, Duv in the new) for a week or two until an investigation is finished. On both occasions it's commented that it does well for the perspective of a spymaster to be on the other end of the process. In Miles' time, it's mostly used to keep seized items from [=ImpSec=] missions. Once in a while, a prisoner who is too important to put anywhere else ends up there until they figure out what to do with him.
!!Dendarii Mercenaries
Merc band formed by Miles' acting ability. Given a standing contract with [=ImpSec=], at first to give a loophole to avoid the law against Vor having private armies and later because they are useful. Led by Admiral Naismaith.
%%* BadassArmy
* CatchPhrase: Daring Rescues Our Specialty.
%%* TheCavalry
* MeaningfulName: Named after the Dendarii mountains on Barrayar.
* PlausibleDeniability: Their main purpose is to carry out missions that would be diplomatically awkward for the regular Imperial Service.
%%* PrivateMilitaryContractors
----
[[foldercontrol]]
!!Barrayar
Isolated from the rest of known space for centuries by a natural disaster that cut off contact with the rest of humanity, Barrayar survived by reverting to a feudal system based on a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy warrior caste]]. Unfortunately, their welcome back to the greater galaxy came in the form of an invasion by the Cetagandan empire, which they ultimately defeated through sheer bloody-mindedness (and perhaps being simply too crazy to give up). Barrayar is now struggling to adjust to a galaxy that views its social model as anything from quaintly anachronistic to dangerously primitive. Ruled by the ''Vor'' warrior caste, with TheEmperor at their head. The homeworld of Miles, who has to deal with Barrayar's nasty prejudice against [[GeniusCripple mutants like him]], and the focus (and often the setting) of the Vorkosigan series.
* BattleButler: Armsmen. Each count is allowed twenty bodyguards, and only twenty bodyguards. Any more counts as a private army and is grounds for execution. Consequently, they tend to pick the cream of the crop.
* TheClan: Every Vor house.
* DecadentCourt: Somewhat tamed by now. Miles' father Aral actually ''survived'' being Regent to Gregor until his majority, and since then [[TheWisePrince Gregor]] has been applying his foster-father's lessons, toning down both the decadence and the deadliness.
** More deadly than decadent. When an assassin appears during a session of the Counts, their first instinct is to charge him, not run away.
--->'''Miles:''' Only on Barrayar would pulling a loaded needler start a stampede ''toward'' one.
%%* FamilyHonor
* FantasticRacism: Against mutants, disabled people and all genetic strangeness. It was only recently that infanticide was banned, and it still goes on in secret in parts of the back country. The prejudice is both understandable (mutations were historically a gigantic problem for the isolated Barrayaran colonists) and spurs much of Miles Vorkosigan's actions (viewed as a "mutie" by Barrayaran society, he struggles to prove himself in the face of unreasoning hatred). A more minor prejudice is between the speakers of various Earth-descended languages, but it can be dangerous as well; it's mentioned that riots along linguistic divisions are political points to take into consideration.
** In the later volumes this feels like somewhat of an InformedFlaw. In ''Captain Vorpatril's Alliance'', for instance, Rish doesn't face much prejudice, certainly less than she would have faced in twenty-first century Earth. By that time however prejudice against "muties" was becoming less fashionable among the elites. Byerly suggests that Rish is so far on the other side of the UncannyValley that she's [[RefugeInAudacity beyond what Barrayarans think of as a "mutie"]]. That, and she's an eye witness to one of the most important High Vor's son getting married on a spur of the moment to a princess fleeing a palace coup (to Barrayan eyes) makes her a figure of mystery. Also, Byerly steers her away from the "prole" sections and there's an [=ImpSec=] team protecting them from the shadows.
%%* FeudalFuture
* HadToBeSharp: Between eugenic infanticide, living on a {{Deathworld}}, being isolated from technology for centuries, living in political turmoil, and then surviving the Cetagandans, pretty much yeah.
** Maybe that's [[MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong Mother Barrayar Makes You Strong?]]
%%* HonorBeforeReason
* IGaveMyWord: An important part of the Vor code. ''Very'' important. Their whole system of government is based on verbal compacts -- if you swear an oath, you better damn well mean it.
* KlingonScientistsGetNoRespect: Subverted. The most honored profession is soldiering but scientists do in fact get respect. It seems to have played straighter in earlier generations.
** Some of the most prestigious scientific institutions (notably the Imperial Military Hospital) are themselves attached to the military, making for a bit of a zig-zag. In addition, when new technology comes in, the first response is "How does it help the military?" (Uterine replicators, for instance, are examined as use for healing wounds, too.) Cordelia, who is in fact a brilliant scientist as all survey captains have to be, is usually remembered either as "Aral's embarrassingly eccentric wife", or "The woman who [[MoreDeadlyThanTheMale brought the usurper's head home in a bag.]]"
* NobleBigot: Add HonorBeforeReason to FantasticRacism and this is roughly what you get. They are getting a bit better about it, though.
* NeverBeHurtAgain: The remembrance of the Cetagandan Occupation.
* ProudWarriorRace: the Vor.
* PlanetOfHats: To just about everyone else in the Nexus, Barrayarans generally are a ProudWarriorRace. A visitor from Escobar expresses surprise at how "normal" the planet looks. He was expecting it to be all paved over and covered with [[MillionMookMarch soldiers marching around in formation]]. Another from Jackson's Whole "half expected to see gutted buildings with blackened timbers still smoking, bomb craters in the streets, and haunted, emaciated people scurrying like rats among the barricades." But since Barrayar is the primary setting of the stories, we get a more complex view, beyond the militaristic Vor class.
* LaResistance: During the Cetagandan occupation.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeBureaucratized: Inverted. They learned how to make a professional military force by fighting the Cetagandans and the spinoff from that is helping Barrayar evolve into a modern state.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: They were already not civilized when the Cetagandans arrived. They just channeled their barbarity into LaResistance.
* RisingEmpire: Just recently conquered Komarr and founded a colony at Sergyar. Does not seem to have any more interest in expansionism at the moment.
* RockBeatsLaser: When invaded by Cetaganda they were at a serious technological disadvantage and drove them off using guerilla tactics.
** [[spoiler:This is revealed to be subverted later in the series. While the guerilla fighting ''was'' highly annoying to the occupying Ghem forces, the retreat was actually part of a ploy to use a Haut bioweapon without imperial approval. The idea was to withdraw from the planet, quietly steal and release a nightmare plague among the locals, and then reoccupy the planet a few years down the line when there wouldn't be enough people left to mount an effective resistance. [[NiceJobFixingItVillain Luckily for everyone else]], the Haut were able to foil the part where one of their carefully hoarded bioweapons got released without their permission. They were ''not'' amused by the attempt to subvert their authority for mere military expediency, and some ''very'' high level Ghem generals were executed for their impertinence. Their military failure was just a convenient cover for the real story.]]
* {{Ruritania}}: In space.
* [[ScrewYouElves Screw You Cetaganda]]: And sometimes [[ForeverWar kill you]].
* SecretPolice: [=ImpSec=]
* SettlingTheFrontier: Much of Barrayar's history and culture is about terraforming. The South Continent is still being settled, as is the newly-discovered planet Sergyar.
* WeAreStrugglingTogether: Until recently, mostly during the latter part of Gregor's reign.
!!Komarr
A planet where everyone lives in domed cities, due to the planet's atmosphere not being breathable, whose considerable merchant wealth came through their prime planetary position at the nexus of several strategically important wormhole jumps. Komarr once made the mistake of allowing the Cetagandan Empire passage through their wormholes (for a fee of course) on their way to conquer the backwater world of Barrayar. The Komarrans responsible may not have lived to regret their decision, but their descendants certainly did when Barrayar came back with a conquering fleet to prevent a repeat performance. Once home to a strong LaResistance against the Barrayarans, but this is losing popularity as Komarr and Barrayar become more integrated.
* LesCollaborateurs: Komarrans in Barrayaran service. More sympathetic than most, particularly [[BadassBureaucrat Duv Galeni]]. Also, the Komarrans to the Cetagandans during the Barrayaran Occupation, at least in Barrayar's view.
* GadgeteerGenius: Every city is built under a protective dome and the planet's great project is to terraform the whole planet. They are thus very tech-savvy and make splendid engineers.
* NeutralNoLonger: The original Komarran shareholders voted to let the Cetagandans through the wormhole to Barrayar fully aware they weren't off to give the Barrayaran population fruit baskets, but they still viewed themselves as neutral. A generation or two later, the Barrayarans dropped in, with armed ships, to let them know ''they'' felt differently and they haven't left since.
* PlanetOfHats: Komarr is all about business. The basic "democratic" unit is a shareholder, not a voter. Individuals can gain more shares (and hence votes) by financially contributing to the development of the planet, and these shares are transferable (via inheritance for example).
* ProudMerchantRace: Supposedly patterned on [[RecycledInSpace Medieval Venice -- IN SPACE!]]
* PuppetState: Ruled entirely by Barrayar.
* TheRemnant: [[spoiler: Ser Galen, Duv Galeni's father]] certainly was.
* {{Terraform}}: Komarr is midway, having grown lichen and other oxygen-producing life to help change the atmosphere. However, going outside without a mask will result in slow asphixiation.
* YouWillBeAssimilated: Present Barrayaran policy is to do this to Komarr. Since they've chosen to play the long game, this takes the form of things like Barrayarans paying for an expansion of Komarr's artificial solar array (to help with their terraforming) -- and also quite a few prominent Barrayarans and Komarrans getting married across planet lines. This includes the Barrayaran Emperor himself to a member of one of Komarr's most prominent oligarchic families.
** Barrayar, however, leaves Komarr to its own planetary governing as before. It's only that there's another layer ''above'' it, and it rarely makes any imposition on the government. If anything, Barrayar has made life ''easier'' for Komarr, thanks to having very powerful military escorts for their trade fleets, and fixing its broken solettas, and building more to speed terraforming. Miles muses that most of Komarr's current mundane problems like traffic laws bogged down by voting deadlocks would do better with a monarchy than a democracy.
!!Sergyar
->''"Chaos Colony. We really don't need to make it up ..."''
-->--'''Cordelia''', ''Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen''
Third planet in the Barrayaran Empire. The planet and nearby wormholes providing a convenient shortcut to Escobar were discovered by Barrayar shortly before ''Shards of Honor''. It was then ''rediscovered'' by Captain Cordelia Naismith of the Betan Astronomical Survey, bringing her into conflict with the Barrayaran local commander Aral Vorkosigan and kicking off the whole saga. The population is still rather low, and it's often referred to as Chaos Colony. After Aral's heart attack and subsequent retirement as Prime Minister following the events of ''Mirror Dance'', Gregor appoints Aral and Cordelia Viceroy and Vicereine, a joint co-appointment.
* ChekhovsVolcano: Averting this is at the top of Cordelia's agenda for the last year of her viceroyalty, by shifting the planet's capital city away from a dormant volcano, even though it isn't likely to blow for decades.
-->'''Cordelia''': The future of Kareenburg is a ''lava flow''. If the earthquakes don't get it first.
* {{Egopolis}}:
** Sergyar -> Prince Serg
** Kareenburg -> Princess Kareen
** Mount Rosemont -> Reg Rosemont
* SettlingTheFrontier: In ''Gentlemen Jole and the Red Queen'', Kareenburg is the only town with a spaceport, with a second one being built at Gridgrad. Land is incredibly available, and the doctors at the local university say it'll take 5000 years to document the animal and plant life of the planet.
* UnfortunateNames: Cordelia loves everything about the planet save its name (being named after TheCaligula and VillainWithGoodPublicity), and aims to get it changed sometime in the future, especially when Prince Serg's true nature becomes public knowledge.
!!Beta Colony
Home of Cordelia, mother of Miles, before she switched allegiance to Aral (and Barrayar). The most technologically and socially progressive society in known space, or a degenerate planet full of unspeakable perversions, madness, and mutations, depending on where you stand. Beta does produce a lot of [[ScienceHero Science Heroes]]...just don't run afoul of their [[HollywoodPsych therapists]].
* ArmsDealer: A major line of business for them. But if they're selling you the "latest new weapon" you can bet that they're holding the defense against that weapon in their back pockets. Beta Colony sells leading edge weapons, but only after they are confident that those weapons can't be used against ''them.''
* BoldExplorer: Their Astronomical Survey Corp, which also functions as a kind of military, almost like an {{expy}} of [[Franchise/StarTrek Starfleet]].
* FreeLoveFuture: Not quite "free" as in lawless. Their only sexual rules are "don't be deceptive with your earrings" (the signals of one's sexual status) and "don't have children without a license". But [[EveryoneHasStandards these are kept fanatically.]] And while the age of consent seems to vary between twelve to fourteen, Cordelia is outraged when she learns that Bothari's mother used to sell him to her customers when he was a child, saying ''that'' would not be allowed back home.
* FutureFoodIsArtificial: As Beta Colony has no naturally occurring biosphere, virtually all their locally-produced consumable organics are done in interior grow houses or are vat-grown cultures.
* GadgeteerGenius: Strongly encouraged. Even their [[TheCaptain Astronomical Survey ship captains]] are expected to have academic qualifications that professional scientists from other colonies consider daunting.
* IconicOutfit: Sarongs. On Beta Colony, often without a top.
* IntimatePsychotherapy: Licensed Practical Sexuality Therapists are a respected profession. To people from other colonies it looks more like UnproblematicProstitution.
* PlanetOfHats: Most within the Nexus strongly identify Beta Colony with social liberalism and technological innovation.
* PoliticalOvercorrectness: Certainly in the view of a lot of terminally old-fashioned Barrayarans. The rest of the galaxy seems to view the Betans as kind of out there but with enough strong points to overlook the sarongs and the scarily-overpowered role of therapy.
* PopulationControl: Because of limited space in the colony, a license is needed to have children. It is very rare to be authorized to have more than two children. WordOfGod is that [[http://lists.herald.co.uk/old-archives/lois-bujold/001004-3603 one's first license is technically two half-permits, so a person can either have two children with another person or use both permits as a whole to clone themselves; and a calculated number of third-child variances are given out each year by lottery or reserved as rewards.]]
* ProudScholarRace: Of the Scientist variety.
* UndergroundCity: Beta Colony was settled before the discovery of wormhole travel, and the planetary surface is actually very inhospitable to human life. Therefore the colony is underground and space is at a premium (hence the strict population control). Large open spaces are few in number, so Betans favor interior design over architecture as an art form. To impress a Betan, all you need to do is light the fireplace, as burning wood for warmth is the equivalent of bathing in champagne to a Betan.
!!Cetaganda
An empire of interconnected planets ruled by a caste dedicated to raising themselves to transhuman status by genetic manipulation, Cetaganda once invaded and unsuccessfully occupied Barrayar. [[ForeverWar In many ways, it remains the main opponent of the Vorkosigan series as, unlike Barrayar, Cetaganda generally favours expansion]], [[spoiler: although by the end of the series it appears that Miles' sustained efforts have bought Barrayar some goodwill with its once and future enemy ...not that it means much, but by ''Diplomatic Immunity'' he can actually ''talk'' the Cetagandans out of starting another war with Barrayar.]]
* BrilliantButLazy: Many young ''ghem'' lords and ladies end up this way, simply because Cetagandans have long life-times, and a lot of ''ghem'' are stuck doing nothing of value. This results in many {{Impoverished Patrician}}s, while other ''ghem'' have said "screw the system" and attached themselves to less glorious but lucrative work; in ''Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen'', an ambassador's aide is trying to pursue a diplomatic career while the rest of his family are wealthy plumbers.[[note]]His asylum on Sergyar requires he take up plumbing.[[/note]]
* BureaucraticallyArrangedMarriage: A haut lady who doesn't make "the cut" may be given to a distinguished ghem as a bride.
* DecadentCourt: The ghem and the haut both have this going on, both individually and to some extent against each other.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The Star Crèche sounds like the [[Franchise/{{Dune}} Bene Gesserit]].
* TheEmpire: Expansionist, with a preference for targeting weak and isolated planets for conquest. Hence Barrayar seemed like an ideal target since the Time of Isolation had left them in MedievalStasis. That did not end well. Cetaganda is still prone to eyeballing other potential conquests, but is somewhat checked by a number of the more advanced and powerful planets being willing to oppose their expansionism.
* EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench: Cetagandans are depicted as haughty, sophisticated and with their entire culture suffused with making everything beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, and their society key elements often have a french name ("Haut", "Ba(s)", "Crèche"[[note]]Though crèche is an English loan word from the French[[/note]]...).
* EvilutionaryBiologist: While plenty of other worlds could also do this given their technology, Cetaganda stands alone in designing their whole society around it.
* FantasticCasteSystem: The haut geneticist caste ruling over the ghem warrior caste with the workers below both.
* FantasticRacism: The haut consider the ghem "half-breeds", and non-Cetagandans as barbarian outlanders.
* IfIWantedYouDead: Miles and Duv's research finds that the Cetagandan invasion was not authorized by either the Emperor or (more importantly) the Star Crèche, who were more interested in studying Barrayaran genes, which to them was akin to Darwin exploring the Galapagos Islands. If the Crèche really wanted to conquer Barrayar, they could have annihilated them with one or two of their bioweapons (which the offending ghem generals had stolen but failed to implement). Miles and company all suffer a bit of FridgeHorror after he relates the story in ''Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen''. [[invoked]]
-->'''Miles:''' The real pullout plan called for the use of stolen haut bioweapons -— some kind of virulent plague, as I understand it, rekeyed to Barrayaran genetics. Picture it. Pull all your people out, release this hell-brew, seal the wormholes behind you and let it work in tidy isolation. A planet-sized culture dish. Come back in a year or two to a neatly depopulated landscape freed of that pesky native crowd who kept irrationally refusing to be culturally uplifted, and move in. There would be galactic outcry, sure, but -- too bad, so sad, too late.
* InhumanlyBeautifulRace: ''Haut'' women are specifically bred to be -- by themselves, to the point they never ''ever'' cut their hair, which can achieve several ''meters''. In contrast, the ''haut'' males are bred for intelligence and social skills (to clarify, they're still very handsome, just not works of avant-garde artwork), while the ba and ghem are basically petrie dishes to the Star Crèche. Keep in mind, with all that beauty and intelligence, they aren't immune to doing some ''insanely stupid things''. Common sense isn't genetic.
* MadArtist: Even their bioweapons are artistic.
* MasterRace: Their society is build around attempting to evolve themselves into an example of this trope. Miles notes at one point that they do not currently consider this process complete. What they will have become by the time they do consider themselves finished, not even they can guess.
* MeaningfulName: While ‘haut’ (a corruption of ‘haute’, or ‘high’, in French) is an entirely literal descriptor of the Cetagandan ruling caste, it also carries certain other connotations in English. ‘Haute couture’ is the far end of fashion - taboo-breakingly innovative, obscenely expensive, exotically beautiful, and (often) completely impractical. The haut, meanwhile, are the same principle applied to human beings rather than clothing.
* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: Not all of the ''haut'' who get pegged as trophy wives to distinguished ''ghem'' take the change of station gracefully. Some of them become sufficiently peeved to say "F*** Cetaganda!", Lady Moira ghem Estif[[note]]Tej's grandma[[/note]] among them.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: In the setting's history, [[spoiler:the ghem hugely overstepped their authority during the invasion of Barryar, leading the haut to order some very high profile [[OrderedToDie suicides]] of the more expansionist ghem generals. This paved the way for the (relatively) peaceful relations between Cetaganda and Barryar seen in the books.]] The two are by no means friendly, but at least they can be talked out of a shooting war these days.
* PlanetOfHats: Everything revolves around eugenic breeding, and genetic fitness defines an individual's role in the society.
* ProudWarriorRace: The Ghem were created that way, and it's hinted that Vorish delegates might actually get along with them because they're not that different. However, while this is still the case among soldiers and security like Colonel Benin, out-of-work Court Ghem are a subversion -- often so exaggeratedly refined that they make Ivan look as fierce as Bloody Pierre by comparison.
* [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Scary Dogmatic Humans]]: Perhaps more [[StarfishAliens Starfishy]] than Scary Dogmatic. Still...
* SecretWar: With Barrayar. [[ForeverWar Constantly]]. Though at the current stage it's more of a SpaceColdWar.
* ShoutOut: Cetagandan Haut Ladies all look like extras from a Creator/LeijiMatsumoto anime.
* SpaceColdWar: With Barrayar, after their failed invasion.
* SpaceElves: Sort of. Humans who are deliberately evolving themselves into Space Elves
* TranshumanAliens: Perhaps not quite, but if the haut breeding program continues on schedule... soon. Arguably the haut are already there.
* YouHaveFailedMe: The fate of members of the ghem warrior caste who do disappointing things like not outwitting Miles.
!!Jackson's Whole
Planet ruled by criminal houses where you can get ''anything'' for enough money. And that does mean anything.
* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Even the "good" Jacksonians are charmingly amoral.
* ArmsDealer: Inevitably. A little seedier than Beta, to say the least.
* BetterTheDevilYouKnow: Miles once reflects grimly that if Jackson's Whole didn't exist, it would be necessary to invent it. The galaxy can keep all its scum there, away from everyone else but still within convenient reach. And since every imaginable abuse of technology occurs there, nobody else has be the ones to develop them.
* TheClan: Each criminal house.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: What passes for a "respectable" Jacksonian would count as this.
* {{Deconstruction}}: Of the Heinleinian notion of a libertarian utopia, showing just how dystopian such a society would likely be in reality. It's named for Jackson Hole (formerly Jackson's Hole) in Wyoming, USA, a valley that since the early 1980s has hosted a "summer camp for bankers." This popularity for the rich has had adverse effects on property values and costs of services, which (to prey upon rich tourists) have grown so high that locals can face a serious economic burden. Not entirely unlike what life must be like for common people on the Whole.
* DoYouWantToHaggle: Someone who can do this well is admired. Ezar's skill in keeping Sergyar after the Escobar war is taught to Jacksonian children. Udine semi-complains that Gregor bargained House Cardonnah to 5% of the spoils of a treasure cache; Tej notes that Udina is actually appreciating Gregor's skills.
* {{Dystopia}}: For anyone not connected to a House -- and even for some who are.
* ExpendableClone: One of the services provided on the planet is making clone slaves tailored for any purpose; mental, physical, sexual -- including clones, perfectly sapient individuals with artificially induced maturity, intended to receive the transplanted brains of wealthy but aging people (the clone's brain is then just medical waste). [[EvenEvilHasStandards No other planet]] allows such things, so if you want ''that'' service desperately enough, this is the only place to get it. However, it is an extremely dangerous procedure -- the transplant doesn't always take. Assuming, of course, all of your surgeons are ''totally'' loyal and didn't "accidentally" misplace the crucial brain...
* IGaveMyWord: The [[EvenEvilHasStandards only]] thing considered sacred here is "the Deal". "Deal" seems to be as much a shibboleth on Jackson's as "Oaths" are on Barrayar.
** ExactWords: However, Jacksonians will bend the wording of the deal as far as it can without snapping.
--->'''Mark:''' ''(on Baron Fell's payment)'' I predict that I will be seriously short-changed, but not quite enough so that I would risk going back to Fell and arguing about it. ''(inserts the card into the read-slot, and smiles)'' Spot-on.
* TheMafia: The whole planet is basically organized crime.
* NobleDemon: The best one can expect from House Barons, such as Fell.
* PlanetOfHats: It can be bought. No matter what "it" is.
* WretchedHive: The only thing anyone respects on Jackson's Whole is money. Thus, those with the money ''are'' the law, and can buy and sell far more than just your life. (There are law enforcement officials and prisons, but they're essentially organised bounty hunters and pens for human livestock, respectively.) Those unwilling to compromise their morals don't survive long. It's telling that Miles' reaction to finding out where he's been revived despite suffering amnesia? A panicked "Holy shit! I'm on ''Jackson's Hole''!", dropping his post-comatose slurred speech.
!!Athos
A planet settled by a very gynophobic religious group of men after the invention of the uterine replicator makes a society without women possible. Athos holds itself separate from the Galactic Nexus to prevent "contamination" from baleful (i.e. female) outside influences. They even censor Galactic media so that only men with very high clearances have ever even seen pictures of women.
* CultColony: An ultra-radical Christian splinter group, to be exact. Ironically, though the original Founding Fathers were celibate, the long-term result over the course of centuries was to create a society where there are same-sex marriages. Unlike many cases of this trope, the Athosians are not depicted as evil or repressive. Indeed, most of them seem quite content with their way of life and while most inhabitants are religious, they are not fanatically so.
* HasTwoDaddies: Most of the inhabitants do, as helping to raise another man's child is one of the quickest ways to earn social credits toward having one's own child, so a lot of men end up in parenting partnerships where they help raise each other's children. Their relationship of the respective parents is not necessarily a romantic or sexual one, but it often is.
* HeManWomanHater: The Founders of Athos held a religious belief that women are the root cause of all male sin. This attitude persists even among more secular modern Athosians, who believe that women are inherently dangerous to men and thus must be avoided at all costs.
* HomosexualReproduction: Not easy, but they make it work. Sort of. With advances in reproductive science now spreading throughout the Nexus, they may be able to achieve this for real before too long.
* {{Irony}}: Dr. Cynthia Jane Baruch, is one of the founders of Athos, from whom her ovaries (dubbed CJB by the Athosians) are valued.
* LamarckWasRight: Athosians believe people's professions are influenced by their genetics. For example, CJB is supposed to make scientists.
* PlanetOfHats: The population of Athos is 100% male, which leads to the misconception of Athos as "the Planet of Fags". [[spoiler: As of the end of ''Ethan of Athos'', they are on their way to becoming a planet of [[{{Telepathy}} telepaths]] as well]].
* PopulationControl: Relatively easily enforced as a single-sex population necessarily relies entirely on [[UterineReplicator artificial means]]. Reproduction centers are national facilities, and the privilege of having a child conceived there can be bought with "social credits", which any member of the population can earn by volunteering their efforts toward things which benefit the colony directly. One of the quickest ways of earning such credits is to help another man raise one of his children, which also gives the prospective parent experience for when they have their own child.
* SituationalSexuality: Most Athosian men will never even see a woman, nor have their ancestors going back generations. Homosexual relationships are therefore the norm, although some men, implied to be strongly heterosexual, remain celibate instead (within the culture of Athos they're considered to be practicing a very orthodox interpretation of the colony's Founding Fathers' intent.) Oddly, emigration from Athos is virtually unheard of, possibly because of religious indoctrination about how women can MindControl men.
!!The Union of Free Habitats (Quaddiespace)
Home to the setting's largest society of TranshumanAliens, Quaddiespace is situated in a star system with no habitable planets. The original quaddies (humans genetically engineered for free fall with a second pair of arms in place of legs) chose it because it gives them an advantage over any "downsiders" who come to visit. Graf Station was created out of the remains of the spaceship they stole in their escape from slavery to the corporation that created them. Since they were bred to be laborers, their society is based on the work gang.
* AsteroidMiners: And they are singularly good at it, since they don't have to drag anything into or out of planetary gravity wells.
* CallBack: They pause in their escape to rescue Madame Minchenko, a music teacher and concert violinist. Two centuries later, the Minchenko ballet is their crowning cultural accomplishment.
* DancingIsSeriousBusiness: One of the things they are most proud of is their null-grav ballet.
* FantasticRacism: Averted, since their hero, Leo Graf, was a downsider who had a famous relationship with Silver, a quaddie (on which "The Crossing" is partly based.) They instead have condescension to people who 1) are lazy, or 2) won't respect their traditions.
* TheMigration: Across several star systems. "The Crossing" is the subject of a classic ballet. "Keep boosting" indeed.
* OnlyOneName: Quaddies do not have last names. Originally all living quaddies had unique names derived from their serial numbers, but as the population grew from the initial thousand to millions, they had to allow duplication. If someone wants to use a name that someone else already has, they have to attach a numerical suffix to it, with their home dome being an additional designation seldom used. "Leo Ninety-nine" is given as an example. The highest number ever seen attached to any other name is "Sixteen" (attached to the name of another hero of the migration). The quaddies ''really'' remember Leo Graf fondly.
* PlanetOfHats: Not technically a "planet" per se, but their space-based society is designed for the convenience of people who were genetically engineered for zero gravity and have arms instead of legs. As the descendants of people genetically-engineered to be laborers (And whose greatest cultural hero was an engineer), the quaddies attach great value to doing one's job well. They are impressed by how "task-oriented" Miles is, expecting a downsider ambassador to be more pretentious.
** Their most visible hat is music and dance, since one of their other cultural heroes (a founding mother, as it were) was a music teacher and concert violinist. The first quaddy character introduced is a musician, who takes advantage of null gravity to play a double-sided dulcimer.
* ReluctantWarrior: The last murder before Miles' visit was years ago. Quaddies don't bother to keep a proper forensics team because they have so few murders. And they seem [[CultureClash somewhat confused]] by fairly normal concepts of military discipline like objecting to deserters and [=AWOLs=] (though Barrayarans take it farther than most at the best of times, and in ''Diplomatic Immunity'' were applying it in a very ham-fisted manner). On the other hand, they do at least have a security force and a militia capable of dealing with harbor brawls with reasonable efficiency.
%%* SpaceCossacks
* SpacePeople: They don't need inhabitable planets, and specifically chose a star system without one to avoid competition.
* TranshumanAliens: The biggest and most instantly-recognisable faction thereof in the setting.
* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: A non-violent example that was made substantially easier by the introduction of practical grav-tech right when the first group of them was reaching full maturity. One imagines their creators were just as happy to get an insurance payout for their act of self "piracy" as continue to take care of an increasingly niche and marginal group of zero-g construction workers.
!! Earth
The homeworld of humanity, Earth straddles the [[EarthIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse Center of the Universe]] / InsignificantLittleBluePlanet divide. In some ways, it's the first, but in others the second.
-> Earth. Old, romantic, historic Earth, the big blue marble itself. Miles had always expected to travel here someday, although not, surely, under these conditions.\\
Earth was still the largest, richest, most varied and populous planet in scattered humanity's entire worm-hole nexus of explored space. Its dearth of good exit points in solar local space and governmental disunity left it militarily and strategically minor from the greater galactic point of view. But Earth still reigned, if it did not rule, culturally supreme. More war-scarred than Barrayar, as technically advanced as Beta Colony, the end-point of all pilgrimages both religious and secular -- in light of which, major embassies from every world that could afford one were collected here.
--> -- ''Brothers in Arms''
* EarthThatUsedToBeBetter: The homeworld of humanity has been through some rough times, including major wars. While it is by no means a shambles, it has definitely been surpassed in terms of interstellar influence by many of its colonies. Thus Earth is a contradiction in that it possesses a powerful sense of historical significance for all of humankind, but its strategic importance is comparatively low.
* GlobalWarming: Sea levels are much higher on Earth than they used to be, and many major coastal cities are now either protected by elaborate flood barriers or completely submerged.
* HolyCity: Miles notes all pilgrimages, both religious and secular, end at Earth, since it still is humanity's cradle.
* InsignificantLittleBluePlanet: Earth is in a cul-de-sac of the the Wormhole Nexus, which makes getting there a bit of a hassle. Its out-of-the-way location puts it off all the major trade routes, resulting in it having less galactic influence than, for example, Tau Ceti. And since SubspaceAnsible technology is absent in this universe, meaning that messages have to be carried by ship through wormholes, Earth could never function as anything even close to a real-time interstellar government. However, thanks to every single power having a major embassy there, a lot of galactic haggling and espionage goes on there.
* JackOfAllStats: Earth does have highly advanced science, arts and so on, but is just second best to most.
* OneWorldOrder: Averted. Earth never has quite managed to politically unify its multitude of nations. Which is another major reason why it does not wield more influence throughout the Nexus despite its huge population and level of technological advancement. Colonies that have a PlanetaryNation can often exert greater influence simply by virtue of being able to put forth a single unified economic and political policy.
!! Imperial Security ([=ImpSec=])
Intelligence, counterintelligence, and paramilitary police for the Barrayaran Imperium. Employer of Miles during the first part of the series.
* AlmightyJanitor: Quite literally. All employees who work at [=ImpSec=] have extensive military training, including (and ''especially'') janitors and maintenance.
* {{Ambadassador}}: At one time a foreign diplomat they needed to bribe demanded an elephant as his price, even though the nearest elephant was several planets away. [=ImpSec=], of course, provided an elephant]].
* [[BadassArmy Badass Intelligence Agency]]: They are one of the best secret services in the nexus and employ some of the scariest people on Barrayar. When Miles sees a Jacksonian crime lord viciously assassinated in ''Mirror Dance'', he muses that it was probably not [=ImpSec=] -- not because they wouldn't have done that, but because they would have been more efficient about it.
* BigLabyrinthineBuilding: [=ImpSec=] headquarters.
* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: The [=ImpSec=] building is a RunningGag on Barrayar for being [[SoBadItsGood so unconscionably hideous, it's hilarious]], a massive block of concrete with no windows, too many steps that are set too high[[note]]to discourage casual visitation from the populace -- people who ''work'' there have a discreet side entrance[[/note]], and gargoyles carved into every outer face. The gargoyles are actually made into cartoon characters and it was [[TheSpymaster Simon Illyan's]] greatest wish to be able to budget for a new building.
%%* ConsummateProfessional
%%* CrazyPrepared
* CreepyGood: A bunch of paranoid, conspiracy-obsessed spies with some extremely sinister methods and a disturbing history, but they're kept on a leash by Gregor.
%%* TheDreaded
* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: [=ImpSec=] is the personality of Simon Illyan writ large.
%%* GoodIsNotNice
%%* GoodIsNotSoft
%%* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction
* InterserviceRivalry[=/=]JurisdictionFriction: Between Operations, Service Security, and Komarran police. With Komarran police, it has a nationalistic tinge, and the Auditors have a rivalry with ''everyone'' because [[InternalAffairs that's their job]].
* MadArtist: The building was designed by Yuri's favorite architect. Both men had extremely idiosyncratic taste. It shows.
* MuseumOfTheStrangeAndUnusual: The bottom floor of the headquarters contains weapons, drugs, poisons, and various and sundry nefarious things catalogued meticulously.
** After it's sunken in ''Captain Vorpatril's Alliance'', Mark has it raised and opens it up to the public for profit.
* PraetorianGuard: They guard the Emperor and various dignitaries. They also train the Vorbarra armsmen. They are decidedly not to be screwed with.
* RecycledInSpace: Something like a more benign (if not exactly [[GoodIsNotNice nice]]) [[UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia Okhrana]].
* SecretPolice: The organization started out as such, but after Mad Emperor Yuri was deposed, it became an apolitical government police agency, a cross between the CIA and the FBI. They still maintain being TheDreaded, however, and are hyper-focused on internal security.
%%* ShroudedInMyth
* SilentPartner: Only a few of the Dendarii know who Miles is or who his employer is.
%%* SinisterSurveillance
* TortureCellar: Subverted. The lowest sub-basement was such a cellar, once upon a time. [[TheCaligula Yuri]] kept ''lots'' of people there, [[PragmaticVillainy Ezar]] kept a few, mostly those whom he had a rational reason to fear, and Aral mostly closed down its function as a dungeon. During the early part of Gregor's reign it was converted into a forensic warehouse, and a new, modern detention facility was created in the upper section. During different conspiracy panics, both Simon and Duv end up there (Simon in the old facility, Duv in the new) for a week or two until an investigation is finished. On both occasions it's commented that it does well for the perspective of a spymaster to be on the other end of the process. In Miles' time, it's mostly used to keep seized items from [=ImpSec=] missions. Once in a while, a prisoner who is too important to put anywhere else ends up there until they figure out what to do with him.
!!Dendarii Mercenaries
Merc band formed by Miles' acting ability. Given a standing contract with [=ImpSec=], at first to give a loophole to avoid the law against Vor having private armies and later because they are useful. Led by Admiral Naismaith.
%%* BadassArmy
* CatchPhrase: Daring Rescues Our Specialty.
%%* TheCavalry
* MeaningfulName: Named after the Dendarii mountains on Barrayar.
* PlausibleDeniability: Their main purpose is to carry out missions that would be diplomatically awkward for the regular Imperial Service.
%%* PrivateMilitaryContractors
