Roic

"So ... no lie, there I was... Last summer, m'lord's brother Mark brought home this damned Escobaran biologist, Dr. Borgos, that he'd picked up somewheres, and put him up in the basement of Vorkosigan House. An investment scheme. The biologist made bugs. And the bugs made bug butter. Tons of it. Slimy white stuff, edible, sort of. We found out the biologist had jumped bail back on Escobar—for fraud, no surprise—when t' skip tracers they'd sent to arrest him showed up and talked their way into Vorkosigan House. Naturally, they picked a time when almost everyone had gone out. Lord Mark and the Koudelka sisters, who were in on the bug butter scheme, got in a fight with them when they tried to carry off Borgos, and the house staff waked me up to go sort it out. All in a tearing panic—wouldn't even let me grab my uniform trousers. I'd just got to sleep... Martya Koudelka claims it was friendly fire, but I dunno. I'd just about pushed the whole mess of 'em out the front door when in walks m'lord, with Madame Vorsoisson and all her relatives. He'd just got engaged, and wanted to make a good impression on 'em all... It was an unforgettable one, I guarantee. I was wearing briefs, boots, and about five kilos of bug butter, trying to deal wit' all these screaming sticky maniacs ..."

―Roic, telling Taura his tale

Roic was a Vorkosigan armsman. He grew up in the city of Hassadar in the Vorkosigan's District. His father was a construction hand and his maternal great-grandfather fought in the First Cetagandan War and was killed by fallout from the destruction of Vorkosigan Vashnoi. At age eighteen Roic joined the Hassadar Municipal Guard as a street guard.

The winter after Lord Miles Vorkosigan turned thirty, Roic took down a man firing an auto-needler at civilians in Hassadar Square while unarmed. He was then recommended to fill an opening in Viceroy Count Aral Vorkosigan's armsmen's score. He was seconded to Lord Vorkosigan along with two other armsmen, and remained on Barrayar when Count Vorkosigan returned to Sergyar.

As the most junior armsman, Roic was the night guard at Vorkosigan House. He was unexpectedly awakened one day to deal with an Escobaran parole officer trying to arrest Enrique Borgos and remove him from the premises. Roic tried to resolve the situation in his underwear, but was surprised by his liege lord and numerous other influential persons. During the marriage of Lord Vorkosigan to Ekaterin Vorsoisson, he helped foil an assassination attempt against Madame Vorsoisson and had a short-term relationship with Sergeant Taura of the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet.

At first, he was unsure of himself because he was considerably younger than the other armsmen and he wasn't a twenty-years service man; in fact, he'd never served in the military at all. Miles tried to encourage him with the following:

"You're a Vorkosigan armsman," said Miles firmly. "The ghost of General Piotr is woven into that brown and silver. They'll be spooked by you, I promise you."

―From Miles to Roic

Roic accompanied Lord Miles Vorkosigan and his wife on their galactic honeymoon, and was their sole armsmen after they made an unexpected detour to Graf Station in Quaddiespace. He helped Vorkosigan capture the rogue Cetagandan ba terrorist known as Ker Dubauer, and accompanied his lord to Rho Ceta afterward.

He was again the sole armsman to accompany Miles on his trip to Kibou-daini. While there, he helped foil the kidnapping plot of some local terrorists. His assistance was instrumental to Miles in uncovering a corporate conspiracy.

Appearance and traits

Roic was about 6 foot six (almost 2 meters), square-jawed, with short, wavy brown hair and a handsome, broad-shouldered, athletic physique. According to Lady Alys Vorpatril, he was "by far the most ornamental of Miles' armsmen". Normally rather shy, he had  a stolid look that made him seem less intelligent than he actually was.