Cultus Desolae

The Cultus Desolae ("Cult of Desolas") is a turian religious denomination which reveres Desolas Arterius II as the reincarnation of Aurelion Aurelos. While the religion was practised during Desolas' lifetime it was largely considered a heretical fringe belief. After Desolas departed the Milky Way with his family, however, the religion only grew in strength, emboldened by the empire's collective remorse for Desolas' betrayal. By the time Desolas had awoken in the Andromeda galaxy, it had become the Aurelian Empire's major religious cult, surpassing even the Cultus Aureliani in popularity.
=== Desolas Arterius II ===
Desolas is the central figure of the religion, who is revered as the reincarnation of Aurelion. While reincarnation has never been a traditional aspect of mainstream turian religions, the cult's belief likely stemmed from certain parallels which exist between Aurelion and Desolas. Both men came from noble lineages but were never expected to rule - Aurelion was a minor heredus, Desolas was a biotic - but, either through chance or fate, became unifying figureheads for myriad disparate peoples. Aurelion's motivation for unifying the turian empire was a vision of his people's future extinction, which had been imparted to him by prothean memory shard. Desolas also received visions of a galactic extinction, when he was exposed to the prothean beacon on Eden Prime. 
In addition to these commonalities, Desolas is a direct descendant of Aurelion on both sides of his family. Through his paternal bloodline, he is descended from Aurelion's eldest illegitimate child, Rea Aurix. Through his maternal bloodline, he is descended from Aurelion's only legitimate child, Trebia Aurelos. 
=== Other important figures ===
==== Nihlus Arterius ====
Desolas' husband and bondmate, Nihlus Arterius, also holds a special place in the cult as a prophetic figure. It is believed that, in addition to being Desolas' beloved life partner, who was born with the other half of his divine spirit, he was the herald for his husband's apotheosis as the great unifier of the galaxy. The cult teaches that it was Nihlus who placed Desolas on the path that would lead to his exposure to the prothean beacon on Eden Prime, instigated by the decision to mentor the younger turian as his protégé. Without the visions which the beacon imparted, Desolas would have never been able to stop the reaper invasion and all life in the galaxy would have perished. As such, Nihlus is revered much in the same way that Living Spirits are in more traditional turian belief systems. Nihlus is always referred to by his married name rather than his birth name, to emphasise his physical and spiritual connection to Desolas. 
==== Aurelion Aurelos ====
Aurelion is universally revered in turian society for unifying the turians' fragmented empire during the Unification War and founding the modern turian hierarchy. The Cultus Desolae venerates him as the one who foresaw the reaper invasion and laid the foundations for a society that would have the power to break the cycle. The cult believes he was reincarnated as Desolas Arterius II to fulfil this sacred duty, leading his people in their hour of need against the enemy he had started preparing them for nearly 3000 years earlier. 
=== Iconography ===
In the cult's iconography, Nihlus and Desolas often appear as one, unified spirit, tied together by ribbons of blue. In these images, Desolas is always depicted with an Aurelian sunburst crowning his head, representing his reincarnation from Aurelion. His body is also wreathed in blue fire as an allusion to his biotic power. He is most commonly depicted wearing white armour with a Tyrian purple paludamentum, wielding the primatial sceptre of Palaven in one hand and a fiery blade in the other. The presence of the sceptre and the colour purple indicates Desolas' status as Primarch of Palaven in his current life and Imperator in his former life. It is believed that the fiery blade is an artistic interpretation of Desolas' omniblade, while his white armour is his signature Daemon armour, commissioned for him by Nihlus, which he wore at the height of the Reaper invasion.
Like Desolas, Nihlus' iconography is wrapped in several layers of symbolism. He is most commonly depicted as wearing obsidian-coloured armour, robbed in a shimmering, translucent cloak and wielding an icy blade. It is believed that the icy blade and cloak are an artistic interpretation of Nihlus' cryoblade and tactical cloak ability, while the armour represents his signature Terminus armour which he wore at the height of the Reaper invasion. Like Desolas, Nihlus is always depicted with an Aurelian sunburst crowning his head; as bondmates, Nihlus and Desolas share a spirit - the reincarnated spirit of Aurelion - thus making Nihlus another aspect of the divine imperator.