Count Vorbarra
Count Vorbarra is the premier Count in Barrayar, and also, as Emperor, the Sovereign of Barrayar. The ancestral seat of Counts Vorbarra is Varadar's Keep, Vorbarra District (now in disuse). Current Count Vorbarra, who concurrently holds the parithetic titles of Count of Vorbarra and of Count of Vorbarra District and the superior title of Emperor of Barrayar (along several minor ones), is Serg Vorbarra, 18th Count Vorbarra. All past and present Counts have been descended from Varadar Tau; the first holder of the title in its current form was Count Artem Vorbarra; the current holder is Emperor Serg Vorbarra.
Count Vorbarra is the head of House Vorbarra and the ruler of Vorbarra District; his ancestral seats which are still functional include Seve'ka House and the previous Castle of the Raven.
Count Vorbarra votes fourth in the roll of the Council of Counts, and may choose to pass and cast his vote last. This is a prerogative theorically available to any Count, but traditionally reserved for the Emperor; while a Count may abstain for a later vote, it would be a direct challenge to the Emperor, so for political discretion, it is simply not done.
Creation
Feodor Barra was the illegitimate son of Varadar Tau, the famed chief bandit, and folk-hero, of the early Time of Isolation; as the holder of the last surviving administrative office, Varadar Tau acted as a (forced) tax collector and large-scale embezzler in the struggling but slowly recovering society. Feodor Barra was an accountnant-in-chief for his father in the Northern Plains, alongside a number of other fellows. Such people bore the title of "Accountnant", from the early accounting officers of the lost colony, but in the spoken language the title was simply called "'Count". At the Varadar Tau's death, Feodor stepped in, and took the reins of the bloody rule of his father. In order to avoid a internicine war, he retained his claim to be the paramount ruler of the portion of Barrayar which was ruled by Varadar Tau, and let his father's tenants to regulate themselves in their areas. Soon, the title of "Accountnant" (already a government position) was formally and officially shortened in "Count" and after few generations it became an hereditary rulership title.
The first Count Vorbarra in the current sense was Lev Barra, Feodor's grandson, who took the titles of "Lord 'Count" and of "Emprah" (taken from a book surviving the Great Fire). Lev's son, Artem, founded the basis of the current honours system: he adopted the surname prefix of "Vor-" (after the self-given nickname of the original Varadar Tau's fellowship, "V'Vory" i.e. "The Thieves"), thus becoming Artem Vorbarra.
The newly self-created Count Vorbarra granted the prefix to other Counts descending from Varadar Tau's fellows and to warriors and warrior rulers of all inhabited territories of Barrayar, even those outside the extent of Varadar's domains, who accepted, thus claiming his superiority and suzerainity over them. He also changed the soupreme title, from "Emprah" to "Emperor", although at the time was little more than a mere claim to a suzerain role. Finally, Artem Vorbarra renamed the town he choose as political centre in "Vorbarr Sultana" from the original names "Sultana" or "Sulton".
House Vorbarra
House Vorbarra is the Imperial House of Barrayar and is the Vorbarra Countship line. It is also in charge of Vorbarra's District, of which the capital city is Vorbarr Sultana, which is also the planetary capital. Their house livery colors are black and silver.
The succession within House Vorbarra is marked by primogeniture tempered by the incumbent Count's chose of his successor (although extremely rare); the hereditary line of succession may pass to collateral lines, in case of extinction of the direct line. The rule is the agnatic primogeniture with a complete exclusion of female members of the House; although women are excluded, the sons of women are allowed to inherit. The most famous example of this rule (which has relatively other followers among current Counts) is Emperor Dorcas Vorbarra the Just, who ascended to the throne through Salic descent, i.e., through his maternal grandfather's claim on the throne.
Being the Imperial House of Barrayar, House Vorbarra has been subject to several break-ups and upheavals, as the history of Barrayar proceeded through blody palace coups, purges and civil wars. Traditionally, when a cadet branch of the House rises to the Camp Stool, it drops its own surname (eg, House of Vorbarra-Gratswitch) and assumes that of the main line (i.e. House of Vorbarra). The last cadet branch head to drop his surname was Emperor Ezar, who was previously known as Prince Ezar of Vorbarra-Balorod. Although Count Vorbarra is fully empowered to choose his successor also outside the primogeniture rule, as any other Count of Barrayar, it never successfully occurred.
The head of House Vorbarra, Count Vorbarra, is also the Emperor of Barrayar. Due to this, the Emperor both has a vote and the right to hear appeals in the Council of Counts; this led in past times to a very effective rule not only of Barrayar, but also of the Council itself. However, both Emperor Gregor and Emperor Serg have often made a distinction of whether they were officiating in an Imperial capacity or as the head of House Vorbarra.
Count Vorbarra as fons honorum and Count's subsidiary titles
While all Counts retain the full capacity as fontes honorum within their own Districts in respects of already Vor individuals, Count Vorbarra is the sole individual who may bestow honours and ranks also in other Districts through his capacity as Emperor. In this capacity, he and only he theoretically may create other Vors and even Counts, although it had never been the case.
Over the centuries, the ruling Counts either gained (through ascension to the throne of cadet branches) or self-gave a number of subsidiary titles: Baron of Blackreach (created in 2702 for Dorcas' grandfather), Lord of Dawnplains (created in 2643), Lord Castellan of Weeedston (created in 2639), Viscount of Vorbarr Sultana (created in 2542) and other minor Lordships and Baronies. The Count's eldest son is the Crown Prince, but within his District he is styled by courtesy "Viscount of Vorbarr Sultana", and the eldest son of the Viscount is styled "Lord Vorbarra of Seve'ka" (all titles pertaining to the incumbent head of the House Vorbarra).