Council Races Factbook

Mass Effect: From the Ashes
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Citadel Council

Humanity

Although humanity suffered great losses in the Reaper War, they've demonstrated a resiliency some did not expect. Humans took the great changes in galactic structure and society in stride and positioned themselves well in the post-war years. In addition to the respect they received for their leadership in the Reaper War, their rebuilding efforts in establishing the Matrix and reforming the Citadel with a broader participatory structure has won them support from progressive elements in every civilization even as traditionalists criticize humans for taking advantage of their goodwill.

Elements of human society can be found in all corners of the galaxy in the post-war galaxy as a result of humanity's greatest export: human culture. Holovids, books, celebrities, and many other human-origin ideas were shared widely and freely resulting in nearly everybody knowing about human culture to some degree or other. The latest generation doesn't think much about this fact, but their elders quietly fret at human influence. In some sectors, it has spawned backlash in the form of culture preservation councils, legislation requiring a certain amount of native culture in entertainment programming. In a few isolated backwaters, it has even taken the form of zealots who violently oppress the population to keep human influence out.

Meanwhile, humans continue to adapt and share and lead while much of the galaxy watches and follows.

Krogan

With the cure of the genophage and a renewed effort to rebuilding Tuchanka, the Krogan people are undergoing a renaissance unseen since their pre-flight days.

Urdnot Wrex still leads the now-named Krogan Dominion. He governs over a uniquely krogan government system best characterized as ‘federalized-feudalism’. Some local control has been turned over to clan chiefs who run their regions as they wish, subject to oversight by Clan Urdnot. Government institutions are slow to develop but there is a renewed emphasis on restoring Tuchanka and establishing a relatively peaceful co-existence with the galaxy’s powers. Wrex’s power is bolstered by the clear signs of krogan prosperity and family-building under his reign.

Krogan Honour Names

Among the krogan, a new naming practice sprung up after the Reaper War: the honor name. With the cure of the genophage, many children born to previously sterile mothers were given a third name, a new middle name, to remind them and all krogan why they were able to live at all. Males usually receive the name ‘Mordin’ while females usually receive ‘Shepard', though this is only a general rule. Clan Urdnot and those closest to them follow this naming convention the most and, while not universal, has quickly gained traction to become a new krogan custom.

Krogan before their rite of passage go by: given name 'Shepard' or given name 'Mordin'
Krogan who have done their rite of passage go by Clan name given name Shepard (or Mordin)

The custom has even spread to adult females who adopt the name ‘Shepard’ as their honor name after their first viable brood. It began with shamaness Urdnot Bakara Shepard, the first to be cured of the genophage and from whom the cure was manufactured. She is revered as both the godmother to all krogan children born after the genopage and as the spiritual leader of the krogan people at large. As such, she is able to temper the voices of those krogan who desire to steer them back to their pre-Krogan Rebellion days and provide both support for Wrex’s progressive policies.

Quarians

Quarians are the smallest of the major powers in the galaxy, though their population has experienced a boom since their exile ended. Initially boosted from some major family building policies, quarian fertility has slowed in recent years as two generations of quarians have spread out and settled the southern continent of Rannoch. Many aspects of Quarian society are intertwined with Geth, who supplement and assist their creators in their endeavours, though this is a negotiated service than enforced. A smaller, but influential, group maintain historic distrust of the geth and want nothing to do with them. They are slowly dying out, though, as many more quarians have grown up on Rannoch with friendly Geth.

Quarian power still lies on their large starship fleet. Although their crew numbers are now down to galactic norms, they are still in command of some 50,000 ships.

Suits still play a large role in quarian society, but they are no longer required to wear them, at least on Rannoch. On starships with mixed crew, they still tend to wear full environmental suits. Their immune systems may be improved, but it was never very strong to begin with.

Geth

The Geth have begun to form their own social characteristics due to the gift of full sentience. While many have returned to their roots as 'servants of the people' and helped their creators to rebuild on Rannoch, a smaller minority remain a conservative faction and argue for a withdrawal of the Geth to their own exclusive settlements and servers. While the Geth Consensus still exists as a pan-Geth consciousness, there are many more voices that argue their points of view based on their experiences in the galaxy. In many ways, theirs is a universal democracy not unlike the Asari republics, albeit with much faster debates and voting rounds.

With the development of ghostrider modules some Geth have taken to uploading themselves into a biologic's brain and share their lives as a sort of advanced muse. This is still expensive, but the price has been coming down. With the advancement cyberware, they can share a biologic's experience without any of the maintenance requirements of a physical body.

Geth have an innate connection with the Matrix as technological sentient beings, and are more likely to be 'technomancers' (as the ability has been called) than any other sentient race.

General Assembly Members

Batarians

A non-voting observer group of Batarians attends and speaks at Citadel meetings. He represents a segment of Batarians attempting to re-establish Batarian society and influence as well as normalize relations with the rest of the galaxy. They are opposed by a violent splinter organization who seek to bring back the Batarian Hegemony of old and blame humanity for their downfall. This splinter attack human colonies and ships in what is traditionally Batarian space, whether or not they're Alliance-affiliated.

Batarians were decimated during the Reaper invasion as they took the brunt of the initial Reaper attack without assistance from any other galactic power. Reaper War scholars estimate that 80-90% of the population in Batarian space died or were Reaped, primarily due to the Hegemony's tight control of the population and refusal to let them leave without government permission. As a result, most Batarians were on isolated colonies or on Khar'shan.

Although Batarians participated in the Battle of Earth, their fleet limped back to Batarian space to begin the painful process of rebuilding. Two factions emerged from this; one favoring a return to the old ways, one favoring modernization and integration into the galaxy. These two factions have clashed several times in the last 50 years without a solid resolution. Batarian space is split between the two with Khar'shan in the middle. The latest shaky truce has held for 4 years.

Elcor

Elcor participation in the galaxy was never particularly great, though their economy prior to the Reaper War was on par with the Systems Alliance. However, Dekunna, their homeworld, was devastated by the Reaper War due to the lack of help from Council powers. While Reapers did take longer in their invasion due to the scattered nature of Elcor settlements, Elcor were largely on their own to resist and repel Reaper forces. Of the Citadel space members, they were among the last to declare their settlements Reaper-free.

Their economy has been slow to recover post-Reaper War and have turned insular while they rebuild. Although they have historically been participants in galactic culture and civilization, there is an undercurrent of resentment from the lack of assistance given to them. The Systems Alliance maintains slightly better relations with the Elcor due to Shepard's help in evacuations during the Reaper War.

Hanar

Hanar civilization has managed to survive largely due to the fact that all of its cities were underwater. The Hanar's rather unique physiology made it difficult for Reaper forces to simply flood the planet with husks. Hanar aquatic colonies were largely left alone to be dealt with later, as the other Council races were higher priority and Hanar military capabilities were somewhat limited.

Drell

Although Hanar cities fared well, Drell settlements did poorly during the Reaper War. Because they came from a terrestrial background, Drell cities were located on the dry areas of Hanar worlds. Reaper forces were able to bombard them from orbit before moving on. Given that population of Drell was already below one million, the Reaper attack pushed Drell numbers to critically low numbers. The Drell have the dubious distinction of being the only sentient species classified as 'Endangered'.

The Hanar government is expending considerable resources to restore Drell numbers, as their two societies had previously been tightly interwoven. Latest estimates put Drell numbers in the low 100,000s and have thus become a much rarer sight in the galaxy as a result.

Rachni

The Rachni Queen maintains a representative through an asari delegate who has joined the Hive mind. She has resisted all requests and attempts to study this phenomenon, so most explanations about how this process has been done is pure speculation, though some forbidden research exists in the Noveria archives as a result of rachni experimentation done prior to the Reaper War.

The Rachni representative came about after the Rachni Queen's participation in the construction of the Crucible and the Battle of Earth. Her admittance was hotly debated, particularly over Krogan objections, but in the end all parties agreed that having someone at the table meant lines of communication and the potential to head off conflicts could be carried out ahead of time. The Queen understands that hiding from the galaxy would only allow superstition and ignorance to ferment; it would be far better to keep tabs on the galaxy so she could head off any problems before it came down to all-out war.

On the other side, the rest of the galaxy still view the Rachni as a species-wide weapon, especially since many were used by the Reapers. However, they also understand that being able to speak to the Rachni directly to ask about intentions is easier than sending scouts or spies on espionage missions.

So far, the Rachni Queen has keep her colonization efforts behind the Rachni Relay. Trade and cultural exchanges are non-existent as the Rachni supply everything they need by themselves.

Raloi

The Raloi are a recent addition to the galactic stage. They encountered the asari a couple of years before the Reaper War and were receiving their introduction to galactic society when word of the Reaper invasion came. The Raloi returned to their homeworld and destroyed their satellites and a non-significant chunk of their advanced technology centers in an attempt to appear a non-spaceworthy species in hopes of appearing non-threatening to the Reapers. Given the resistance elsewhere, it succeeded and the Raloi went unscathed during the War.

They've since rejoined galactic society, though it took a full decade for them to decide it was safe, and another decade or so to acclimate to the rapidly changing social and economic situation. Although they survived the Reaper War, their own self-destruction of technology set them back a number of decades and they are only starting to catch up to where they were prior to the War.

As a minor race, they play a relative small role on the galactic stage, though their unusual avian appearance does make them an oddity and something of an exotic species to see.

Virtual Alien

Background: Virtual Alien at the Mass Effect Wikia

Volus

Although part of the Turian Hierarchy, the Volus maintain their own representation at the Citadel General Assembly. They remain critical to the galactic economy, with many volus thriving with the emergence of Corporate power in the galaxy. Their economic and mercantile prowess have made them particularly adept and suited to the changing power structure in the galaxy. As a result, there is a movement within the Volus Protectorate to separate from Turian Hierarchy, or at least achieve more sovereignty within their Compact. The issue has both supporters and detractors among Turians and Volus. Other Council races consider the matter strictly a domestic issue.