House Bourbon

House Bourbon maintains apartments in the Eternal City on Forum. Its members hold high Imperial offices, including the Ministry of War. The house is of sufficient standing to be associated with the Imperial court and to attract suspicion of rivalry with House Habsburg following an internal incident. The house's lineage includes palatine princes of considerable age and influence; one member, Prince Philippe Bourbon, was of sufficient prominence to lead a coalition of lesser houses against his own family before his exile.

Lord Augustin Bourbon serves as the Minister of War during the reign of Emperor William XXIII. He provides a highmatter sword used in an assassination attempt against Hadrian Marlowe in the Colosseum on Forum. Three years after the Tamerlane's departure, Augustin boards a private shuttle at the Sun King's Hall on Forum and is killed when a bomb planted on the landing pad destroys the shuttle. His death leaves no remains for burial and no one is ever officially implicated. Suspicion of a feud between House Bourbon and House Habsburg is whispered in the aftermath but comes to nothing. Following Augustin's death, another man is appointed to the War Ministry. Prince Charles Bourbon, Augustin's cousin, mourns his death.

In the early sixteenth millennium, Prince Philippe Bourbon leads the Septembrine Revolt against his brother, the reigning head of the house, Charles LIV. He gathers a coalition of lesser houses and the conflict, called poine fighting, lasts nearly two decades before his own son Augustin betrays him to Charles's forces in exchange for his own life and freedom. Philippe is exiled to the prison planet Belusha, where he spends most of his sentence in cryonic fugue as a benefit of his rank. He eventually appeals his case and gains admission to athenaeum on Syracuse. The Imperial Council commutes his sentence, partly at the urging of Charles LIV himself. Philippe embraces Stricture and joins the Chalcenterite Order under the assumed name Tor Gibson, abandoning his identity as a Bourbon prince entirely. He rises to become an Archivist at Nov Belgaer on Colchis. His son Augustin, the same who betrayed him during the Revolt, is the same Lord Augustin Bourbon who later serves as Minister of War and is assassinated by order of Hadrian Marlowe -- a fact Hadrian learns only after Gibson's death. Gibson maintains a hidden fortune, likely Consortium stock or numbered accounts, which is channeled through Siran to fund a hospital module and reactor on Thessa.

Augustin Bourbon serves as Minister of War in the Imperial government until his assassination. He previously betrayed his own father, Prince Philippe Bourbon, to end the Septembrine Revolt. Prince Charles Liv Bourbon is a senior member of the house and cousin to Augustin. Prince Philippe Bourbon leads the Septembrine Revolt against his brother Charles LIV and is subsequently exiled, eventually entering the Chalcenterite Order under the name Tor Gibson. Charles LIV is the ruling head of the house during the Septembrine Revolt and the brother whom Philippe challenges.