TURIAN

Known for their militaristic and disciplined culture, the turians were the third race to join the Council. They gained their Council seat after defeating the hostile krogan during the “Krogan Rebellions”. The turians deployed a salarian-created biological weapon called the genophage, which virtually sterilised the krogan and sent them into a decline. The turians then filled the peacekeeping niche left by the once-cooperative krogan, and eventually gained a Council seat in recognition of their efforts.

Originally from the planet Palaven, turians are best known for their military role, particularly their contributions of soldiers and starships to the Citadel Fleet. They are respected for their public service ethic (it was the turians who first proposed creating C-Sec) but are sometimes seen as imperialist or rigid by other races. There is some animosity between turians and humans, largely due to the turian role in the First Contact War. This bitterness is slowly beginning to heal but many turians still hate humans, and vice versa.


BIOLOGY

Turians typically stand over six feet tall, have two long, proportionately thick fingers and an opposable thumb on each hand, each tipped with talons, and a set of mandibles around their mouths. The most distinguishing feature of turians is their metallic carapace, which is a result of their evolution. Turian features are avian, making them resemble humanoid birds or raptors. Turians are also recognizable by their voices, which have a distinctive flanging effect.

Since the Unification War, turians normally wear elaborate facial tattoos marking their colony of origin, though it is not known which markings distinguish which colony. As a point of interest, the turian term “barefaced” refers to one who is beguiling or not to be trusted. It is also a slang term for politicians.

Turians exhibit the characteristics of predators rather than those of prey species. Their forward-facing alert eyes give the impression that they possess outstanding eyesight and their teeth and jaws mimic the structures possessed by apex predators such as crocodiles. Even their talons on both their feet and hands are capable of ripping flesh.

The turian homeworld, Palaven, has a metal-poor core, generating a weak magnetic field and allowing more solar radiation into the atmosphere. To deal with this, most forms of life on Palaven evolved some form of metallic “exoskeleton” to protect themselves. Their reflective plate-like skin makes turians less susceptible to long-term, low-level radiation exposure, but they do not possess any sort of “natural armor”. A turian’s thick skin does not stop projectiles and directed energy bolts. Turian blood has a dark blue coloration.

Although life on Palaven is carbon-based and oxygenbreathing, it is built on dextro-amino acids. Like the quarians, this places the turians in minority. The food of humans, asari, or salarians (who evolved in levo-amino acid-based biospheres), will at best pass through turian systems without providing any nutrition. At worst, it will trigger an allergic reaction that can be fatal. Turians have a digestive system similar to birds and reptiles on Earth. The lifespan of a turian is comparable to that of a human.


HISTORY

The turians had already discovered several mass relays and spawned colonies throughout the galaxy when the asari reached the Citadel. About the time the asari were forming the Council with the salarians, the turians were embroiled in a civil war, the Unification War, which began with hostilities between the colonies furthest from the turian homeworld.

These colonies were run by local chieftains, many of whom had distanced themselves from the Turian Hierarchy. Without the influence of the government, the colonies became increasingly isolated and xenophobic. Colonists began wearing emblems or facial markings to differentiate themselves from members of other colonies and open hostilities became common.

When war finally broke out, the Hierarchy maintained strict diplomacy and refused to get involved. After several years of fighting, fewer and fewer factions remained until the Hierarchy finally intervened. By that time, the chieftains were too weak to resist; they were forced to put an end to fighting and renew their allegiance to the Hierarchy. Though peace was restored, it took several decades for animosity between colonists to fade completely. To this day, most turians still wear the facial markings of their home colonies.

In the midst of the Krogan Rebellions, the Citadel Council made first contact with the turians. At the Council’s behest, the turians brought their considerable war machine to bear on the krogan. While the initial turian offensive was successful in routing many krogan warrior bands, it provoked a massive counter-attack from the krogan which devastated several turian colonies. Rather than scaring off the turians with this show of force, the turians only fought with more resolve to quash the krogan utterly. Eventually, the turians implemented the salarian-developed genophage. Without their advantage in numbers, the majority of krogan were subdued by 800 CE, although scattered insurgent actions would continue for decades.

By 900 CE, the turians were granted full membership on the Citadel Council in gratitude for their service during the Krogan Rebellions. The turian military fills the military and peacekeeping ever since.

In 2157 CE, following Council laws in place since the Rachni Wars which prohibited the activation of uncharted mass relays, a turian force opened fire on explorers from an as yet unknown race: humanity. One human starship managed to escape and warn the Systems Alliance, which retaliated and destroyed several turian vessels. The situation quickly escalated to war.

Over the next several weeks, the outnumbered Alliance lost multiple scouting parties and patrols to turian offensives. The conflict came to a head when a turian fleet broke through Alliance lines and besieged the human colony of Shanxi. With no other options, the Alliance garrison on Shanxi surrendered, and the turians occupied the world, confident that the majority of Alliance forces had been defeated. However, one month later the Alliance’s Second Fleet caught the turian occupiers by surprise and evicted them from the planet. Both sides began preparations for interplanetary war.

Before that could happen, the Citadel Council intervened and revealed the galactic community to humanity. Terms of peace were negotiated and the conflict effectively brought to an end. The turians were ordered by the Council to give heavy reparations to the Alliance for their part in instigating the conflict, known to the galaxy as the “Relay 314 Incident”. Mistrust between both races still lingers for years.


CULTURE

Turians are noted for their strong sense of public service. It is rare to find one who puts his needs ahead of the group. Every citizen from age 15 to 30 serves the state in some capacity, as anything from a soldier to an administrator, from a construction engineer to a sanitation worker. Turians have a strong inclination toward public service and self-sacrifice, so they tend to be poor entrepreneurs. To compensate, they accepted the mercantile volus as a client race, offering protection in exchange for their fiscal expertise. Turian society is highly regimented and very organized, and the species is known for its strict discipline and work ethic.

Turians are willing to do what needs to be done, and they always follow through. They are not easily spurred to violence, but when conflict is inevitable, they give it their all and everything they got They do not believe in skirmishes or small-scale battles, they prefer massive fleets and numbers to defeat an adversary so completely that they remove any threat of having to fight the same opponent more than once. They do not exterminate their enemy, rather they devastate its military so the enemy has no choice but to become a colony of the turians. It is theorized that another conflict between the rapidly advancing humans and the turians could annihilate a large portion of known space.

The turian military is the center of their society. It is not just an armed force; it is an all-encompassing public works organization that includes police force, fire brigade, engineer corps responsible for maintaining spaceports, schools, water purification plants, and power stations, and even a merchant marine sector that ensures all worlds get needed resources.

Other species see turians as “men of action,” and they are generally regarded as the most progressive of the Citadel races. Since their culture is based on the structure of a military hierarchy, changes and advances accepted by the leadership are quickly adopted by the rest of society with minimal resistance. While turians are individuals with personal desires, their instinct is to equate the self with the group, and to set aside all personal desires for the good of all.

Turians are taught to have a strong sense of personal accountability, the ‘turian honor’ that other races find so remarkable. Turians are taught to own every decision they make, good or ill. The worst sin they can make in the eyes of their people is to lie about their own actions. Turians who murder will try to get away with it, but if directly questioned, most will confess the crime.


ECONOMY

The turian economy is vastly larger than that of the Alliance, but cannot match the size and power of that of the asari. For many years, development was hampered by cultural disinterest in economics. Only when the turians accepted the volus as a client race, business development improved.


RELIGION

Turians believe that groups and areas have ‘spirits’ that transcend the individual. For example, a military unit would be considered to have a spirit that embodies the honor and courage it has displayed. A city’s spirit reflects the accomplishments and industry of its residents. An ancient tree’s spirit reflects the beauty and tranquility of the area it grows in.

These spirits are neither good nor evil, nor are they appealed to for intercession. Turians do not believe spirits can affect the world, but spirits can inspire the living. Prayers and rituals allow an individual to converse with a spirit for guidance or inspiration. For example, a turian who finds his loyalty tested may appeal to the spirit of his unit, hoping to reconnect with the pride and honor of the group.

Turians enjoy absolute freedom of religion and can practice whatever appeals to them so long as it does not impede anyone’s ability to perform their duties. There are many practitioners of the asari siarist philosophy. Since opening dialog with the human Systems Alliance, some turians have embraced Confucianism and Zen Buddhism.


GOVERNMENT

The turian government, known as the Turian Hierarchy, is a hierarchical meritocracy. While it has great potential for misuse, this is tempered by the civic duty and personal responsibility turians learn in childhood.

Turians have 27 citizenship tiers, beginning with civilians (client races and children). The initial period of military service is the second tier. Formal citizenship is conferred at the third tier, after boot camp. For client races, citizenship is granted after the individual musters out. Higher-ranked citizens are expected to lead and protect subordinates. Lower-ranking citizens are expected to obey and support superiors. Promotion to another tier of citizenship is based on the personal assessment of one’s superiors and co-rankers. At the top are the Primarchs, who each rule a colonization cluster. The Primarchs vote on matters of national importance. They otherwise maintain a “hands-off” policy, trusting the citizens on each level below them to do their jobs competently.

Throughout their lives, turians ascend to the higher tiers and are occasionally “demoted” to lower ones. The stigma associated with demotion lies not on the individual, but on those who promoted him when he wasn’t ready for additional responsibility. This curbs the tendency to promote individuals into positions beyond their capabilities. Settling into a role and rank is not considered stagnation. Turians value knowing one’s own limitations more than being ambitious.

Turians enjoy broad freedoms. So long as one completes his duties, and does not prevent others from completing theirs, nothing is forbidden. For example, there are no laws against recreational drug use, but if someone is unable to complete his duties due to drug use, his superiors step in. Judicial proceedings are ‘interventions.’ Peers express their concern, and try to convince the offender to change. If rehabilitation fails, turians have no trouble sentencing recurring or dangerous crminals to life at hard labor for the state.


MILITARY

Although they lack the brutality of the krogan, the refined skill of the asari, and the adaptability of the humans, the turian military has formidable discipline and their fleet makes up the single largest portion of the Citadel Fleet. Their fleet is also allotted the single largest number of dreadnoughts by the Treaty of Farixen, having 37 as of 2183 and 39 as of 2185, as a point to their fleet’s service as galactic peacekeepers and position as the primary military arm of the Council.

Officers and NCOs are turians who enlisted for life, with years of field experience. Enlisted personnel are thoroughly trained and stay calm under fire. Turian units rarely break, even if their entire line collapses, they fall back in order, setting ambushes as they go. A popular saying holds: “You will only see a turian’s back once he’s dead.”

Boot camp begins on the 15th birthday. Soldiers receive a year of training before being assigned to a field unit; officers train for even longer. Most serve until the age of 30, at which they become part of the Reserves. Even if they suffer injuries, preventing front-line service, they will still do support work behind the lines. Most turian families are said to keep small arms in their homes and basic training includes instruction on how to create simple firebombs that can be surprisingly effective against armored vehicles.

Biotics are uncommon and turians prefer to assign their biotics to specialist teams called Cabals, since the common soldier doesn’t trust biotics that much. Command and control is decentralized and flexible. Individual squads can call for artillery and air support.

They make extensive use of combat drones and practice combined arms: infantry operates with armor, supported by overhead gunships. Strategically, they are methodical and patient, and dislike risky operations. The turians recruit auxiliary units from conquered or absorbed minor races or colonies. Auxiliaries are generally light infantry or armored cavalry units that screen and support the main battle formations. At the conclusion of their service in the Auxiliaries, recruits are granted turian citizenship. Tradition is important. Each legion has a full-time staff of historians who chronicle its battle honors in detail. The oldest have records dating back to the turian Iron Age. If a legion is destroyed in battle, it is reconstituted rather than being replaced.


RACIAL TRAITS

Homeworld: Palaven
Lifespan: 150 years
Creature Size: Medium
Movement Speed: 3
Talent: TURIAN
Level Up: 100xp


TALENT: TURIAN

Rank1 Turian Level1 Protective Exoskeleton:
Due to the weak magnetic force of their homeworld Palaven, the turians evolved into having a form of exoskeleton that covers their bodies. This is also thick enough to prevent bodily harm. Turian starts the game with the following bonuses: +2 Constitution, and +25% Damage Resistance against Radiation Damage.

Rank2 Turian Level5 Militaristic Reputation:
The turians, while accepted in galactic society are seen as militaristic and often very cold and violent. This reputation comes to bear fruit sometimes in conversation; however, typically it goes against their favor. On top of that it does not help that the Turians evolved into a more predator-like body structure. Other races that come into contact with them tend to stand back or lean away from their threatening atmosphere. Turian receives penalty -2 to Charisma and +5% Weapon Damage.

Rank3 Turian Level10 Arms and Armor Proficiency:
The turian is proficient with all weapons and armors in game. They can receive training for any armor and any weapon without talent or class pre-requirements.

Rank4 Turian Level15 Weapon Expert:
The Turian’s military training and affinity provide them with +25% Ammo Capacity. This bonus applies to the turian player character, and all turian's allies. The bonus to the turian and its allies of Weapon Expert further extends through any chosen evolution of this rank. Weapon Expert stacks with itself with other Turians in the squad, up to +100% for base rank and +20% for an Evolution.

EvolutionA Weapon Status Chance The turian and squad receive +5% Weapon Status Chance.
EvolutionB Weapon Status Affinity The turian and squad receive +5% Weapon Status Effect

Rank5 Turian Level20 Weapon Master:
Turian's perfection is found in the mastery of a chosen weapon. A Weapon Master seeks to unite this weapon of choice with the body to make them one and to use the weapon as naturally and without thought as any other limb. Turian Weapon Master cannot be disarmed. This racial perk applies only to the weapons that have all 5 ranks trained, aka the weapons turian player already maxed, further increasing its effectiveness.

EvolutionA Weapon Accuracy: The turian no longer suffers penalty from recoil. Additionally the Turian receives +5 Attack Bonus.
EvolutionB Weapon Damage: The turian receives +5% Weapon Damage and 1 round faster cooldown on the weapon talent.
EvolutionC Weapon Critical: The turian receives +5% Critical Chance and +1 Critical Multiplier.