Volus
Volus (singular and plural) are the native sapient species of Irune. Due to the radical environmental differences between their homeworld and those of the majority of starfaring species, volus are required to wear protective exo-suits to survive on non-volus worlds and facilities. Despite this hardship the volus are omnipresent throughout the galaxy, due to their strong cultural tradition of mercantile endeavor. Although they are a client species of the Turian Hierarchy, their influence in the infrastructure of interstellar commerce makes them a powerful political bloc in Federation space in their own right.
Basic Information
Biological Traits
The volus homeworld features an ammonia-based ecology and a gravitational field 1.5 times that of Earth, as well as a high-pressure atmosphere. As such, the volus are short, rotund and compact. They're unable to survive unprotected in an atmosphere more suitable to humans and other carbon-based lifeforms, and thus require protective suits capable of providing the proper atmospheric composition and pressure. Traditional nitrogen/oxygen air mixtures are poisonous to them, and in the low pressure atmospheres tolerable to most species, their flesh will actually split open.
Genetics and Reproduction
Volus have a cloacae.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Dil Lhurs
Grund
Hrust
Hwaht dah guz
Olono
M'mmmmdalla
Ximxam: A food item enjoyed by the volus. It can be served liquidated.
Though it acts like a mild stimulant to volus, when introduced into the bloodstreams of carbon-based lifeforms it becomes a dangerous hallucinogen. Volus are required to register and key their own ximxam stocks, so it can be tracked back to the source if it ever shows up in a nefarious dealer's supplies.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Volus are tribal by nature, but non-violent. Volus government is malleable and changeable, in contrast to that of the elcor. Large tribes and clans often engulf smaller ones, only to later split again.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Volus possess flaps of skin at their throat; these assist in breathing and speech.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Volus have two names but no family names. According to volus sensibilities one cannot own a person, so using a family name would essentially be laying claim to their offspring. Possibly because of their tribal origins, volus tend to refer to members of other races by their source world rather than species name (i.e. "Earth-clan" instead of "human"). A notable exception to this is that they refer to quarians as "Migrant-clan", or "clanless", due to their lack of a homeworld. They also tend to refer to themselves as "Vol-clan".
Major Organizations
The Vol Protectorate is a client state of the Turian Hierarchy, which receives taxation and handles all matters of foreign affairs. In exchange, the volus, who are physically unsuited to warfare relative to their galactic neighbors, enjoy the protection of the powerful Hierarchy military. The influence of the volus shouldn't be underestimated, however. They are far more powerful than any other Hierarchy client. The volus can be considered the architects of the current galactic economy, creating the "credit" standard currency, and continuing to monitor and balance the apparatus of interstellar trade. Volus companies are skilled at mass-producing whatever manufactured goods are currently in demand. Factories use modular equipment to switch their production lines from arms, to housing, to the next big galactic-buying trend.
Gender Ideals
Despite individuals distinctly sounding like males or females to human listeners, volus genders are apparently a mystery as well. The volus themselves consider the question both intrusive and hilariously irrelevant, to the point that supposedly the STG has a running tally of all the blatant misinformation the volus have said on the subject. With little else to go on, people simply assign an arbitrary gender value on a volus based on what they sound like.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Even within the major, universal languages (discounting regional languages still in use), there are fourteen to seventeen different words for family and national group; humans tend to translate them all as “clan” or “tribe”, though these blanket translations are unhelpful in capturing the nuances.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Volus culture is dominated by trade, whether it’s of land, resources, or tribe members. The volus have a reputation as bankers and merchants, and many, such as Barla Von, work as some of the best financial advisers in Federation space. The volus' mercantile prowess made them instrumental in developing a stable galactic economy. They authored the Unified Banking Act, which established the credit as the standard currency of interstellar trade, and the volus continue to monitor and balance the galactic economy even today.
There were once entire tribes dedicated to the martial craft, raising their sons as soldiers and then trading them to other tribes in exchange for goods and services. Some suspect that this is the reason the volus are on such good terms with the turians, as the basis for their relationship with the Hierarchy was already inherent in their culture. Most of these tribes have long since been reabsorbed and their names erased; the volus are among the least war-like races in the galaxy. Some militant clans still exist, but they’re small and dwindling, and only exist because they refuse to trade themselves into the greater tribes, no matter the offers of wealth.
Most of the works by the author Polan are about such tribes, and the conflicting feelings the volus have about them. The stories typically involve brothers trading themselves off to two different tribes who then go to war with each other. Most of these are rather melodramatic.
The volus economy is out of proportion to their modest resource base. They are aggressive traders and industrialists with a keen grasp of exchange and finance. Many of the galaxy's largest banks, holding corporations, and manufacturing cartels, such as the Elkoss Combine, are owned or managed by volus. They also regulate the Federation's complex galactic economy.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
Stickmatch is a combat sport popular throughout the Turian Hierarchy, and involves a series of narrow, circular platforms arranged in a circle around a double-width central platform. In league play the central platform is 1 meter in diameter, while there are six peripheral platforms at 0.5m. Combatants have their choice of weapon, with the most common being a 1.5m polearm featuring a heavy club on either end (the 'switch'), and the objective is to be the last one standing. The game is well-regarded for the lessons it imparts regarding discipline and situational awareness versus outright aggression.
Despite its overwhelming popularity with turians, Stickmatch is actually volus in origin, having been quickly adopted by the turians after first contact. The game is still played in an older form on Irune and volus colony worlds, the primary difference being in the regulation measurements and the use of time limits. When discussing the game, fans will typically refer to either ‘Volus League’ or ‘Turian League’ to distinguish the two primary forms, though there are multiple leagues playing each. Volus League Stickmatch tends to be faster-paced and more aggressive due to their platforms being closer together and the imposed time limits, while Turian League is widely regarded as more tactical and cautious.
In Federation Space, the sport is primarily managed by the Interstellar Stickmatch Association (formerly the Hierarchy Stickmatch Championship League), which arranges broadcast rights for championship teams from each individual registered world. Turians form the majority of participants by far, though the sport has smaller fanbases among both the asari and the salarians and variants have evolved over the centuries. Asari League in particular features heavy use of biotics, which are strictly banned in other Leagues and in the Association tournaments as a whole; as a result, asari teams tend to place poorly in interstellar matches regardless of their performance at home and there is limited overlap between the two.
Stickmatch has gained limited traction on batarian worlds, given the already substantial number of cultural combat sports present. A small Batarian League has formed since the Reaper War, with one of the club ends of the switch being replaced by the combatant's choice of either an edged blade or an electroshock tip, but the potentially harmful nature of the change makes inter-league matches unlikely. Krogan as a whole have displayed no interest in the game, while drell generally compete in the Turian League and have produced several champions despite making up an infinitesimal proportion of total players.
A volus festival falling shortly after the human Christmas, Yintal began as a celebration of the harvest, and a means to settle disputes peacefully and amicably between individuals and clans, as they gathered to give thanks. A secondary superstitious reason behind the observation was the belief that it placated the dead and stopped them from rising out of the grave and messily devouring their living brethren.
Traditional Yintal colours are purple and black, and traditional garb includes a box-shaped hat.
Bryn Buhl Sed is the god most commonly associated with the holiday.
Early volus music was purely vocal, perhaps with stones striking against each other for rhythm. They’ve also added alien instruments to their repertoire, although creating the pressure environments on stage is only for the more popular artists who can afford such extravagance.
History
As a result of the challenging climate of Irune, explorers were valued for what they brought back, not for being first. If what you found didn’t have value of some sort, it, and you, were without worth. The tight-packed nests and burrows emphasized unity and organization, especially when multiple clans congregated together to form the first cities, about 10,000 years ago. Personal worth, and being of service to the clan, dominated volus thinking from very early times, and continue to do so in the present.
In the great volus exploration push of 300 BCE, the species found only a few planets capable of supporting their colonies. They did, however, discover many planets teeming with valuable elements. They spread across the Aethon Cluster. The Esori System was among those claimed and colonized.
The volus were the third race to discover the Citadel, and were invited to place an embassy there.
Common Myths and Legends
A major volus religion involves the Book of Plenix. A common misconception among non-volus is that “Plenix” refers to a particular god or prophet; this isn’t the case. While some clans do worship certain deities, The Book of Plenix makes no reference to any of them, other than to acknowledge that such practices exist. “Plenix” instead refers to what can best be described as the “currency of the universe”, a similar concept to “Karma”. Followers of Plenix believe that one’s soul is part of a great, spiritual economy that uses Plenix as its main currency. One earns Plenix by performing good deeds, as defined by The Book of Plenix, and spends Plenix when he or she encounters good fortune or performs a bad deed. The soul will continue to exist within the spiritual economy after death, so it’s encouraged that one save as much Plenix as possible during their lifetime, it being easier for a living soul to earn Plenix than a dead one.
Volus gods include Bryn Buhl, Cherk Sab (a deity governing luck, originating in one of the northern regions), Kada Bin (a god of justice), Teil Dor (apparently a god of fruitful progeny) Zubii-Hesh, and Zada Ban (a god of punishment).
Most historical religions of the different clans (that is, pre-Plenix) lacked a clear idea of an afterlife. Most teachings were about how to live a righteous life in the present (managing one's affairs with humility and skill, being charitable and wise with possessions and wealth, taking care of the less fortunate, etc.) rather than a distant future after death.
Lifespan
90 - 95 Years
Average Height
1.1 m
Average Weight
45 kg
Geographic Distribution
Related Organizations
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