- For information on the half-brother of Vladimir Harkonnen please see Abulurd Rabban.
Abulurd Harkonnen [b. 126 BG] born as Abulurd Butler, was the youngest son of Quentin Vigar and Wandra Butler, the grandson of Xavier Harkonnen.
Early life
His mother suffered a severe stroke giving birth to him, which left her catatonic, and Abulurd never met her. For this, he was less loved by his father, who blamed him youngest son for her state.
His father and brothers had earned prestige and many decorations and he also dedicated himself to the Jihad. Supreme Commander Vorian Atreides, the friend and colleague of his grandfather, helped him when he joined the Army of the Jihad.
Military career
When he was 18 years old, he met Vorian Atreides on Caladan, who tried to explain him the truth about the death of his grandfather, that he died heroically and not as a traitor.
During the Omnius Scourge crisis, he was appointed to lead an expedition to Ix where he should save some of the populace and provide them with melange, now discovered to have benefiting activity against the virus. He had some argue with Supreme Sorceress Ticia Cenva about the way she tried to save the bloodlines of the populace, not the humans themselves. During the argument about his grandfather, Abulurd defiantly demanded to be addressed as Harkonnen.
Soon after, he was sternly ordered by his father to return to Parmentier and investigate whether the virus has run its complete course and subsided. Vorian accompanied him and authorized an immediate field promotion of him to Tercero. After performing a proper burial to the decaying bodies of his brother and his wife, he met his niece, Rayna who had now founded the Cult of Serena, and he brought her to Salusa Secundus.
During the Great Purge, he was left on the planet with his brother Faykan Butler, to administrate the evacuation process of the planet. However Omnius' strike was recalled and the evacuees returned.
After the end of the Jihad
Abulurd was decorated as a military commander after the Purge. After the end of the Jihad he took the new rank of Bator. He had served on different worlds, performing mainly civil engineering work, reconstruction, and local security while maintaining a military presence until eventually transferred to command the watchdog fleet at Corrin. However he had been sheltered from most of the major battles, protected by Vorian.
On Zimia, Abulurd was the first to notice that the piranha mites had purely optical target recognition, as well as that the mites assimilate metallic objects for their factories, never organic.
Along with Atreides, they devised a plan, to approach one of the sites disguised as shapeless lumps, covered with organic tents, carrying plasma howitzers with caustic liquids assisted with suspensors.
When they approached, they flushed caustic liquid, spraying a stream of corrosive chemicals. The whipping flames and oozing acid caused immediate damage to the manufacturing devices: metals melted, circuitry and fabrication components corroded and broke. Abulurd directed the stream into the yawning gullet of the fabrication chute. Within moments, the mobile factory groaned and collapsed in on itself, a fuming cauldron of oozing, melting materials.
When the power sources were down, the piranha mites fell down useless in a few hours. Vorian promoted Abulurd to full rank of Bashar, fourth grade. During the ceremony Faykan Butler was absent, but Vorian came in the last moment to present him with the new rank isnignia. Vorian before leaving to rescue Quentin from the cymeks on Hessra, left him all the available evidence to clear his grandfather's name.
After Yorek Thurr returned to Salusa Secundus and killed Grand Patriarch Xander Boro-Ginjo, Abulurd was the first to notice the similarity of the mysterious murdered with the presumed dead leader of the Jipol since decades ago, as seen in the evidence left to him by Vorian. After some discussion with Vidad, he learned about the forgotten Life extension technology and how it would be possible for a man like him be still alive.
Afterward, when he'd delivered his analysis to his skeptical brother, Faykan promised to take the information under advisement, but obviously had treated it with as much seriousness as he gave the task force to clear Xavier Harkonnen's name.
As part of his manhunt, Abulurd had used his own connections to study records of new arrivals on Salusa Secundus, backtracking the paths of refugees by their documentation. He'd found several surveillance images that looked strikingly similar to Thurr, but the trail had gone cold. Though the League had cast a wide net for the killer of Xander Boro-Ginjo, the net had a great many holes.
But unfortunately during the Battle of Corrin, he disagreed with Vorian to cross the Bridge of Hrethgir which would mean the deaths of two million human slaves. Refusing to back down from his position, Vorian relieves him of his duties and confines him. Abulurd violated his confinement and deactivated the weapons for the entire League fleet, this however did not stop the League from achieving victory it only made it more bloody.
For this, he was branded a coward and exiled to Lankiveil where he died of fever. His family carries on the bitter legecy of his downfall thus beginning the feud with House Atreides.
Physical Characteristics
Abulurd had dark-brown hair with reddish-cinnamon highlights like his grandfather's.