The Vorkosigan Companion

by Lillian Stewart Carl

  Vortaine:

  No first name given. A count on Barrayar, he is involved in the water boundary rights case with Count Vorvolynkin. He will not vote for either René Vorbretten or Dono Vorrutyers. A later generation than the previous Vortaine. (CC)

  Vortala:

  No first name given. A colonel in Imperial Security, he takes over Simon Illyan's internal security jobs while Simon is hospitalized. (M)

  Vortala:

  No first name given. The Prime Minister of Barrayar during Ezar Vorbarra's reign and the beginning of Aral Vorkosigan's Regency. A lean man, wrinkled and shrunken with age, he has clipped white hair fringing a bald and liver-spotted head, and can be very obnoxious even without swearing. He uses a walking stick, mainly for show. He tries to form a progressive political party, but only with the higher Barrayaran classes. Prince Serg wants Aral and Vortala dead when he is in power. Vortala summons Aral to the meeting where Ezar names him Regent. When Vordarian tries to overthrow the government, he escapes house arrest to join Aral at Tanery Base. (B, SH)

  Vortala the Younger:

  No first name given. A colonel in the Barrayaran military, he is the head of the Imperial Security task force assigned to provide security for the Emperor's wedding. (CC)

  Vortalon:

  No first name given. A captain in the Barrayaran military during the Time of Isolation, his life is fictionalized and he becomes a holovid hero that Nikolai watches. The boy refers to him when discussing how the character settles a debt of honor against villains who attack his father. He thinks he might have to kill Miles if Miles had killed Etienne Vorsoisson. (CC)

  Vortashpula, Irene:

  One of the eligible young ladies at the Emperor's Birthday celebration that Alys Vorpatril tried to get Ivan to consider as a possible marriage candidate. (MD)

  Vorthalia the Bold:

  A childhood obsession of Miles's. He was a holovid character supposedly based on a historical character. When Miles looked him up in the Imperial Archives he learned the truth about his idol, who wasn't as heroic as the vids made him appear. (CC)

  Vorthalia the Brave and the Thicket of Thorns:

  A metaphorical example of a liege lord cutting through the red tape of government that Miles uses in his initial conversation with Arde Mayhew. (WA)

  Vorthys, Georg:

  A Professor Emeritus of Engineering at Vorbarr Sultana University, Imperial Auditor, and Ekaterin's uncle. One of Emperor Gregor's civilian Imperial Auditor appointees, he is stout, white-haired, and smiles often. He is the Barrayaran expert on engineering failure analysis, and has written the standard texts on the subject. He became interested in the connections between sociopolitical and engineering integrity late in life. Along with the other Auditors in attendance, he approves Miles for the eighth Imperial Auditor position. Three months later, he and Miles go to Komarr to investigate the Soletta Station accident, and they visit Ekaterin and her family while there. Vorthys has been married for forty years to Helen, also a professor. After thwarting, along with Miles, Helen, and Ekaterin, the rebellious Komarran engineers' plot, he and his wife take Ekaterin and Nikolai in until she can settle herself on Barrayar. (CC, K, WG)

  Vorthys, Helen:

  A Professora of History at Vorbarr Sultana University, and a notable expert on Barrayaran political infighting, she is Imperial Auditor Georg Vorthys's wife and Ekaterin's aunt. Ekaterin lived with the Vorthys couple while she was going to university in Vorbarr Sultana, and again after her return from Komarr. She and Ekaterin are kidnapped by Komarran revolutionaries determined to cut off Barrayar's wormhole access. Both women are instrumental in ending the plot safely. She is scheduled to have replacement heart surgery to correct her congestive heart failure, but even while ill she gently guides Ekaterin's love life. She suspects Miles is in love with Ekaterin, and sees that Ekaterin returns his regard long before she has any inkling of her own feelings. Helen approves of the match, and is one of the most favored guests at the wedding. (CC, WG)

  Vortienne:

  No first name given. A Barrayaran count, referred to in conversation between Aral and Cordelia as ready to retire in favor of his son. Has unusual, unnamed proclivities that he exercises with his guards. (MD)

  Vortrifani:

  No first name given. A Barrayaran count who would be backed by the "far right, blow-up-the-wormhole, isolationist loonies" if he attempted to claim the throne. When he plotted with extremists to drop a ship called the Yarrow onto the Imperial Residence, the plot was stopped by Imperial Security. Vortrifani distanced himself from the plan, but his power was severely weakened. Simon Illyan lauded Colonel Haroche's work on the case as superb. (M, VG)

  Vortugalov:

  No first name given. A Barrayaran count who would be backed by the Russian-speaking populace if he attempted to claim the throne. (VG)

  Vorvane:

  No first name given. A Barrayaran, she is the wife of the Minister of Heavy Industries. She and her three children are part of a group of 216 kidnapped people that the Dendarii Free Mercenaries are ordered to free by any means necessary. (BA)

  Vorvayne brothers:

  Ekaterin's four brothers. Hugo is the oldest; he supported her in many ways during her unhappy marriage to Etienne, but is stirred up by the gossip surrounding Miles and tries to keep his sister from marrying him. But once he realizes that the rumors are gross exaggerations and that Miles and Ekaterin truly love each other, he once again gives her his full support. Will, the youngest, takes pictures at the births of his sister's first children. The middle two brothers are not named. All four attend their sister's wedding. (CC, DI, K, WG)

  Vorvayne, Rosalie:

  The wife of Ekaterin's oldest brother, Hugo, she is in her forties, with dark hair and olive skin. She has three children, two sons and a daughter. She comes to Vorbarr Sultana to tell Ekaterin about Alexi Vormoncrief's marriage offer. (CC)

  Vorvayne, Sasha:

  Ekaterin's father, he has a modest flat in the small South Continent town where he retired. Before his retirement he was an officer in his district government on Barrayar. He knew Etienne slightly through his work. After his wife's death, he wanted to remarry a woman named Violie, and wished to have Ekaterin "settled" before doing so. To him this meant properly married off to a Vor, so he supported Etienne's courtship of Ekaterin. (CC, K)

  Vorventa, Edwin:

  A captain in the Barrayaran military, he accosts Mark in the garden at the Imperial Residence. Mark finds it disturbing that he knows so much about his relationship with Miles. But the chain of evidence proves Vorventa got the information from his younger brother, who was Simon's Galactic Operations supervisor's adjutant, and who as a result is demoted and transferred out of the department. (MD)

  Vorventa, Tatya:

  One of the formerly eligible Vor women that Ivan does not have the chance to marry. (M)

  Vorville:

  No first name given. A Barrayaran count, at the time of the Hegen Hub war, he is described as a man who would be backed by the French-speaking populace if he attempted to claim the throne. At the time of the Emperor's wedding, he'll vote for René Vorbretten because of his friendship with René's late father. (VG, CC)

  Vorville, Mary:

  A Barrayaran noblewoman, she ensures that her father, Count Vorville, will vote for René Vorbretten due to a friendly relationship between him and René's late father. (CC)

  Vorvolk:

  No first name given. A Barrayaran countess, and wife of Lord Henri Vorvolk, she dances with Miles at one of the Imperial parties. (M)

  Vorvolk, Henri:

  A friend and contemporary of Gregor's, he was pulled out of classes at the Imperial Academy three times during the events of Miles's first off-planet adventure to attend secret committee sessions of the Council of Counts about the pending charges. At the time of Gregor's wedding, Miles spends much of the night before the votes on René Vorbretten's and Dono Vorrutyer's countships arguing with Henri's friends about the merits of the individual cases. H
enri has an office in the old dungeon area of Vorhartung Castle. (CC, MD, WA)

  Vorvolynkin:

  No first name given. A count on Barrayar, he is involved in a water boundary lawsuit with Count Vortaine, and will vote for René Vorbretten and Dono Vorrutyer just to irk his opponent. (CC)

  Vorvolynkin, Louisa:

  A Barrayaran noblewoman, she is the daughter-in-law of Count Vorvolynkin, who is involved in a boundary water rights dispute with Count Vortaine, and whom she has persuaded to vote for both René Vorbretten and Dono Vorrutyer in the Council of Counts meeting to antagonize his legal enemy. (CC)

  Vorzohn's Dystrophy:

  An adult-onset disease, the result of a mutation that arose on Barrayar, it first appeared in Vorinnis's District during the Time of Isolation. Its symptoms include a bewildering variety of physical debilitations that set in during middle age, and ends with the unfortunate gene carrier's decline in mental activity and death. It can be cured if caught early enough. It runs in the Vorsoisson family, and has already manifested in Etienne, causing uncontrolled muscle tremors, and his brother, who committed suicide. Etienne's son, Nikolai, has the gene complex as well, but hasn't shown any symptoms yet. Regardless, Etienne doesn't want him treated, for fear it will expose his own disease. Only after her husband's death can Ekaterin take her son to be cured. She does so with a little assistance from Miles in his Imperial Auditor mode. (CC, K)

  • • W • •

  Wah-wah:

  The slang term for a gale-force wind at Lazkowski Base, which can reach speeds of 160 kilometers per hour. When the wind siren sounds, anyone outside must take cover immediately. Miles watches a vid on the subject that features a flying latrine. (WA)

  Watts, Boss:

  A middle-aged quaddie male, dressed in a conservative slate blue uniform, he is the supervisor of Graf Station Downsider Relations, and is in the party that greets Miles, Ekaterin, and Roic when they arrive at Graf Station. He is involved in the negotiations with the renegade ba, and threatens to destroy the Idris if it looks like it's going to ram the station. (DI)

  Weddell, Vaughn:

  See Canaba, Hugh.

  Wedding of Vlad Vorbarra le Savante to Lady Vorlightly, The:

  An event that occurred during the gaudy, archaic period of the Time of Isolation. Both the bride and groom had to strip naked in front of witnesses to prove neither had any genetic mutations. (CC)

  Wilstar:

  No first name given. A person Vorob'yev goes to talk with at the Mariliacan embassy party, leaving Miles to chat with Mia Maz. (C)

  Winoweh's 2nd Battalion:

  A captured Marilacan military unit held in Dagoola Top Security Camp #3 until being rescued by Miles and the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet. (BI)

  Witgow trans-trench monorail tunnel:

  An engineering project mentioned by Doctor Yei when comparing the different emphases in the quaddies' education to Leo Graf. (FF)

  Worley:

  No first name given. A trooper in the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet that participates in the clone raid on Jackson's Whole. (MD)

  Worm plague:

  A disease on Sergyar that causes uncomfortable and unsightly bloating of its victims, it has just recently been brought under control on the colony planet. Dmitri Corbeau is a worm plague survivor, and has the scars to prove it. (DI, K)

  Wormhole:

  A shortcut that connects two distant points in space by traveling through a different physical dimension, reducing the travel time from decades to a few days or weeks. Traveling through wormholes is known as "jumping," and is accomplished by Necklin rods, which create a field that enables jump ships to pass through the wormholes. All of the settled planets in the Vorkosigan universe are connected by at least one wormhole, and some have several in their local space. Although wormholes are generally stable, there have been variances, such as when the one to Barrayar closed due to a gravitational anomaly, leading to the Time of Isolation on that planet. Wormholes are economically and strategically vital for all of the planets in the Vorkosigan Saga, and access to and control of them has been fought over many times. (All)

  Wyzak:

  The airsystems maintenance supervisor on Cay Habitat. He leads a search for Silver when she goes to steal the shuttle for the rescue mission to Rodeo. (FF)

  • • X • •

  Xaveria:

  No first name given. A private in the Dendarii Free Mercenaries, he is one of the three arrested soldiers involved in the wine shop standoff in London. Mark bails him out of jail while posing as Miles/Admiral Naismith. (BA)

  Xerxes:

  A planet one jump away from Graf Station, Ker Dubauer was headed there when his Komarran cargo ship was impounded at the space station. (DI)

  Xi Ceta:

  One of the eight satrapy planets in the Cetagandan Empire, it is Marilac's neighbor. Its governor is Slyke Giaja. (C)

  Xian:

  No first name given. A Marilacan general who fled the fighting at Fallow Core. He had promised to return, but was killed in the fighting at Vassily Station. (BI)

  • • Y • •

  Yalen:

  No first name given. A private in the Dendarii Free Mercenaries, he is one of the three arrested soldiers involved in the wine shop standoff in London. Mark bails him out of jail while posing as Miles/Admiral Naismith. (BA)

  Yaski:

  No first name given. A lieutenant in the Barrayaran military, he is the fire marshal at Lazkowski Base. After filling in Lieutenant Bonn on the situation in the fetaine stockpile, he agrees to destroy it using plasma mines. (VG)

  Yegorav:

  No first name given. A lieutenant in the Barrayaran military, he serves on the Prince Serg, and escorts Elena and Miles to Aral for debriefing after the battle. He does not know Elena's and Miles's real identities until they are all in Aral's office. (VG)

  Yei, Sondra:

  A doctor, she is the head of psychology and training for six years on the Cay Project. Pushing middle age, she is pleasantly ugly, with bright mongolian eyes, a broad nose and lips, and coffee-and-cream skin. A company woman, she initially butts heads with Leo over the quaddies. Evacuated with the rest of the staff during the simulated hull breach on the Habitat, she tries to knock Van Atta unconscious with a spanner when he orders the shuttle crew to fire upon the escaping cargo ship. (FF)

  Yenaro:

  No first name given. A minor Cetagandan noble about Miles's age, he is tall and lean, with a square skull and prominent, round cheekbones. He wears a small face paint decal designating his rank and clan instead of applying the full pattern. The grandson of ghem-General Yenaro, who fought opposite Miles's grandfather Piotr during the Cetagandan Occupation, he inherited his family's estates, but not the means to keep them up.

  He created the Autumn Leaves sculpture for the Marilacan Embassy, and has a strong interest in chemistry/perfumes making. He is a pawn in the plot to overthrow the Emperor, and is manipulated into playing tricks on Miles and Ivan, then unknowingly trying to kill them at the bioestheties display. He tells Miles that Ilsum Kety is behind the plot, and the Emperor rewards him by appointing him a ghem-lord-in-waiting, tenth rank, sixth degree. (C)

  Ylla:

  On Leo Graf's return trip from this planet, he changed ships on the Morita transfer station on his way to Earth. (FF)

  Yoder, Bill:

  A sheriff in Ohio. Chalmys DuBauer knows him well, and turns Carlos Diaz over to him after extracting his confession to attempting to murder Anias Ruey. (DD)

  Youth:

  No name given. He owns a rickety lightflyer, and takes Cordelia, Bothari, and jugs of maple syrup out of the Dendarii Mountains to a small market town. (B)

  Yuell:

  No first name given. A math professor at Solstice University, he is a stout, sandy-haired young man with very high intelligence. He accompanies Doctor Riva to the Waste Heat experiment station to assist her, and is one of the few people who can argue math with her and be right. He is disappointed there wil
l be no dinner at the Top of the Dome restaurant in Serifosa on this trip. (K)

  Yuri Vorbarra's Civil War:

  The battle between Yuri Vorbarra and his kinsman Ezar for the throne of Barrayar. Ezar wins, and during the campaign, Aral helps kill Yuri. (SH)

  Yuri Vorbarra's Massacre:

  The term Barrayarans use to refer to the night Mad Emperor Yuri sent out death squads to assassinate all of his relatives, including Aral. For some unknown reason, he didn't send one for Piotr, but his men kill Aral's mother with a sonic grenade in front of him. (SH)

  • • Z • •

  Zai:

  No first name given. An armsman whom Esterhazy hopes warned the village near Vorkosigan House about the Imperial troops searching for information about Gregor's location. (B)

  Zamori:

  No first name given. A major in the Barrayaran military, he is a heavyset fellow who works in operations, and was once a student of Professora Vorthys. He tries to court Ekaterin, with no success. (CC)

  Zara:

  A quaddie who pilots the cargo pusher around the Transfer Station, she has dark hair and copper skin, and is dressed in the purple T-shirt and shorts of the pusher crew. She has a top rating among the pusher pilots. (FF)

  Zeeman, Dale:

  A technician working in Kline Station atmosphere control, he unknowingly helps Quinn dispose of Okita's body by giving her a hundred kilograms of newts to take with her when she leaves. (EA)

  Zelaski:

  No first name given. A trooper in the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet, she is killed in action during a mission to Marilac. (MD)

  Zipweed:

  A Barrayaran plant with blond and maroon stripes that has a slightly sweet odor. Ekaterin plans to use some of them in the Barrayaran display garden near Vorkosigan House. (CC)

  Zlati ale:

  A pale ruby, alcoholic liquid. Lord Yenaro offers it to Ivan and Miles during the party at his home. Ivan's drink is laced with an anti-aphrodisiac as a prank to embarrass him. (C)