The Vorkosigan Companion - Lillian Stewart Carl [95]
They left an odd gift behind. Because of the necessity of utilizing every bit of their native talent to survive in the wider galaxy, the traditional Vor privileges of Imperial service were no longer reserved for the Vor alone. The war opened up the Imperium to the idea of service based on merit, rather than bloodlines. The Imperial academies were opened to non-Vor applicants based on aptitude, and the society eventually became more level, with the military serving as an egalitarian force on Barrayar. But it is still forbidden for non-Vor to privately own deadly weapons, including a wide range of swords, though many citizens gain access to such weapons through Imperial training and government service.
At the apex of Barrayar's hereditary Vor aristocracy are the counts. The term "count" derives from the job's origin in the people—accountants—who procured taxes for the Emperor from the local populace, amassed it into organized offerings, counted it, and delivered it to the proper Imperial authorities. The North Continent is divided into sixty districts, each run by its own count. The counts give their loyalty to the Emperor though a ceremony of fealty, which includes a placing of their hands between the Emperor's, and a voiced repetition of oaths. (This style of vocal affirmation—spoken vows serving as binding words of honor—is something that pervades Barrayaran society.) The fealty ceremony is renewed with the installation of each new Emperor.
The counts serve in a legislative Council, which has a great and glorious history, along with a number of highly archaic traditions, and its share of insane adventures—including the famous affirmation of a horse named Midnight as a count's legal heir. In modern Barrayar the Council of Counts is a rather mixed body of progressives, conservatives, geniuses, and idiots. But, having grown into being along with the planet, this form of government provides a workable, if occasionally erratic and confusing, arm of the Imperium. Signs of modern progress in local government are evident everywhere on the planet, thanks mainly to a law passed during Aral Vokosigan's Regency government, which allows ordinary citizens to move from Count's District to Count's District without restriction. On Barrayar, the planet's people in effect vote with their feet for the best forms of local government.
After a number of bloody insurrections, including everything from quick and dirty wars over the distribution of the horse manure from the Imperial Stable to the rebellion of counts against the insane Emperor Yuri Vorbarra, private armies have been abolished on Barrayar. All military service is through the Imperium, with the single exception of the counts' armsmen. Each count is allowed to maintain a private, oath-sworn force of twenty loyal men for personal protection.
The Barrayaran planetary day is 26.7 hours long, and Barrayaran ships keep Imperial, rather than Old Earth, time cycles. The planet has two moons, a temperate climate with four distinct seasons (as on Earth, winter, spring, summer, and fall), and a topography that is very Earth-like, including large oceans. There are two main continents and a number of islands. The North Continent was settled by the original colonists, and is the main population center of the planet, although the South Continent, which is the personal property of the Emperor, has been opened to settlement for some years and is expanding in population quickly.
Barrayar's mythology is varied. Military and cultural heroes