Vorloupulous was heir to a District Count on Barrayar at the end of the Time of Isolation during the reign of Emperor Dorca "the Just" Vorbarra. Emperor Dorca had recently created a new law, later known as Vorloupulous's Law, which banned private armies on Barrayar, but permitted 20 armsmen total for each Count and Count's heir. Lord Vorloupulous tried to evade this ban by equipping 2000 private soldiers with butcher knives and calling them "cooks". Emperor Dorca responded by sentencing Vorloupulous to death by starvation and exposure by having him placed in a public cage in the planetary capital of Vorbarr Sultana, since the Count had committed an act of treason.