More Vor questions

[whswhs]

1. How likely is it that between his marriage at thirty-odd and his death at sixty, Miles was unfaithful to Ekaterin? If he was, what would be the outcome?

2. At 38, is Nikolai Vorsoisson married? Assuming he realized his ambition to become a courier pilot, would he have married a Barrayar Vor, a commoner, a Komarran, or a woman from outside the Empire? If the last, what would be a likely and interesting planet?

There are no right answers to these questions. I invite speculation.

Bill Stoddard

[talonthehand]

Originally Posted by whswhs

1. How likely is it that between his marriage at thirty-odd and his death at sixty, Miles was unfaithful to Ekaterin? If he was, what would be the outcome?

2. At 38, is Nikolai Vorsoisson married? Assuming he realized his ambition to become a courier pilot, would he have married a Barrayar Vor, a commoner, a Komarran, or a woman from outside the Empire? If the last, what would be a likely and interesting planet?

There are no right answers to these questions. I invite speculation.

Bill Stoddard

For the first, my kneejerk reaction is that the odds would be nil, since he absolutely adores her, but he did have an ongoing affair with Taura while he was with Elli Quinn, so the precedent is set.

As for the second, I would lead towards a Komarran, both because of familial encouragement to get to know Komarrans as part of the social blending the emperor wants, as well as a growing trend of young Barayarrans meeting their future spouses while in Komarr for school (though admittedly that's been mostly young Barayarran women for the most part).

[sn0wball]

Originally Posted by whswhs

1. How likely is it that between his marriage at thirty-odd and his death at sixty, Miles was unfaithful to Ekaterin? If he was, what would be the outcome?

27%. ;)

Do you speculate about the authors plansfor future works or look for ideas for a game?

Given the series focus on interpersonal relatonships it seems likely that Miles and Ekaterin will not live happily ever after from now on. Some affair would seem perfect, since the author describes her plot technique as "What is the wort possible thing I can do to these people?". Of course, the outcome of a literary affair ought to be pregnancy, if only because that complicates things much further.

Now have the mother be unable or unwilling to raise the child herself - will it be accepted into the Vorkosigan household, kept secret?

[martinl]

Originally Posted by whswhs

1. How likely is it that between his marriage at thirty-odd and his death at sixty, Miles was unfaithful to Ekaterin? If he was, what would be the outcome?

Venal cheating - low odds. Not in character. Odds aren't zero only because there are multiple reasons Miles might go mentally strange as he ages.

Some crazy romantic and dramatic soap operatic situation along the lines of "meets and falls in love with someone, gets trapped alone with them in situation where they are both sure they are about to die" - medium odds. This sort of thing happens to Miles every so often, and his willpower and idealism aren't infinite.

Ditto some dramatic situation where the choice is "unfaithfulness or very bad thing happens to people Miles cares about."

Tritto something involving mind control, brain washing, or amnesia.

Don't forget genetic theft. Someone might very well steal Miles/Mark genetic material, in order to produce a "natural child" as evidence of an affair for political reasons. It would even be entirely in character for Miles to accept some public damage to his reputation in order to protect/adopt the kid.

Finally, odds are good that Miles falls in love with several other folks before he dies without doing anything technically improper. The technically proper things he does do could still raise a large kerfluffle.

Originally Posted by whswhs

2. At 38, is Nikolai Vorsoisson married? Assuming he realized his ambition to become a courier pilot, would he have married a Barrayar Vor, a commoner, a Komarran, or a woman from outside the Empire? If the last, what would be a likely and interesting planet?

For maximum fun, pair him off with one of the teeps from Athos.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by martinl

For maximum fun, pair him off with one of the teeps from Athos.

I don't want to deal with telepathy; they'd be way too young; and I've set up a different male/male pairing that's going to be on stage more, though the players haven't spotted it yet.

Bill Stoddard

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by martinl

Some crazy romantic and dramatic soap operatic situation along the lines of "meets and falls in love with someone, gets trapped alone with them in situation where they are both sure they are about to die" - medium odds. This sort of thing happens to Miles every so often, and his willpower and idealism aren't infinite.

Ditto some dramatic situation where the choice is "unfaithfulness or very bad thing happens to people Miles cares about."

Tritto something involving mind control, brain washing, or amnesia.

Those are all a bit too much like fanfic. Or grand opera. I had in mind more "Miles meets and falls in love with someone." It isn't as if he didn't fall in love with someone new every couple of years before he was thirty, often while still being in love with the previous ones. It's kind of a choice between "Miles is seriously committed to Kat" and "Miles says, 'I can make it work!'"

But it's also "What literary effect do I want from this backstory?" I don't want to assume something that would generate drama unless I want the Ghost of Miles to haunt this campaign.

Bill Stoddard

[martinl]

Originally Posted by whswhs

I don't want to deal with telepathy; they'd be way too young; and I've set up a different male/male pairing that's going to be on stage more, though the players haven't spotted it yet.

Bill Stoddard

Doesn't need to be a teep if it causes problem, but Athos is a very exotic culture that will clash entertainingly with Vor values.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by martinl

Doesn't need to be a teep if it causes problem, but Athos is a very exotic culture that will clash entertainingly with Vor values.

If Nikki were a PC, or were going to be a recurring character, that would work. But he's a decade or more older than the PCs, he's mostly away on duty, and his kids are preadolescent. I'm just wondering who would be standing next to him at the burning of the offering. Though I suppose I should roll to see if he's offplanet.

Bill Stoddard

[martinl]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Those are all a bit too much like fanfic. Or grand opera. I had in mind more "Miles meets and falls in love with someone." It isn't as if he didn't fall in love with someone new every couple of years before he was thirty, often while still being in love with the previous ones.

It isn't as if he didn't get involved with a "grand opera" every couple of years before he was thirty either.

If you want to keep his youthful horn-dogginess while discarding his youthful crazed exploits, that's your call of course. In my opinion one of the themes of the books is Miles growing up, and learning to deal with his own insecurities and ambitions in a realistic and moral manner.

As for meets and falls in love, I already said:

odds are good that Miles falls in love with several other folks before he dies without doing anything technically improper. The technically proper things he does do could still raise a large kerfluffle.

Originally Posted by whswhs

But it's also "What literary effect do I want from this backstory?" I don't want to assume something that would generate drama unless I want the Ghost of Miles to haunt this campaign.

The GoM already haunts the campaign in that the canon is mostly Miles doing a double gainer into the middle of trouble. You can posit some sort of historical phase change where just as the published canon ends Miles life becomes normal, but it would be a serious change in the narrative.

In your position I would work out rough details for several further adventures and a double handful of Noodle Incidents, and then use them interchangeably with the existing canon required.

You're obviously considering something along those lines, since you're wondering if he screwed around.

[selenite]

Originally Posted by whswhs

1. How likely is it that between his marriage at thirty-odd and his death at sixty, Miles was unfaithful to Ekaterin? If he was, what would be the outcome?

He cheated on Elli Quinn with Taura . . . it's quite possible he'd cheat on Ekaterin with Elli. Miles never got much practice in saying "no." Most likely circumstance would be during an Imperial assignment to straighten out some mess the Dendarii had gotten into on ImpSec's behalf. They'd be having private meetings to discuss Imperial Secrets so they'd have opportunity, privacy, and a cover story.

Elli can keep secrets and her genetic legacy is secure, so I can't see any problems on her end. Miles would likely confess to Ekaterin at some very ill-timed moment.