Salur Darikun

"Do you take me for a fool? I'm not some junior archeologist, whose lack of expertise is easily dismissed. I know what I saw! House Abrudas can stonewall me all it wants but I know the truth! Markus was Aurelion's paramour; why else is he here and not on Carthaan, where he's supposed to be?" - Salur Darikun to Gaius AbrudasSalur Darikun is Cipritine's chief archaeological officer and the foremost expert on Aurelian-era history in the empire. Over his long career, he has published numerous scientific papers on his archaeological findings and theories, all of which have garnered high academic praise, and received countless awards for his dedication to his field of work. He playfully styles himself as "an Aureliologist", in reference to his vast knowledge of Aurelion Aurelos and the Unification War. 
Salur was born in Teciphon, capital of the turian colony Parthia, in 2145 CE. As the second son of an old military family, he was expected by his parents to join ranks of the priesthood once he came of age. Salur, however, had other ideas regarding his future. After passing boot camp and becoming a fully-fledged Hierarchy citizen, he chose instead to enrol himself in the prestigious Aurelian Institute, intent on studying the history of his people.
Salur is the great-granduncle of Jeiran Darikun, who serves as the Parthian member of the Imperial Praetorian Guard to Primarch Fidellion Victus.
== Career ==
=== Uresium exhumation ===
In 2185 CE, Salur was chosen by Primarch Fedorian to lead an archaeological team to respectfully exhume the skeletal remains of over 430 turian soldiers from a mass grave on the planet Uresium, for transportation to Palaven for a proper burial. Salur's religious upbringing had made him a prime candidate for the job; he was familiar with how to respectfully navigate the more culturally sensitive areas of the work which would need to be carried out, to bring these lost sons and daughters back home. 
Before the excavation was scheduled to proceed, Salur released a public statement about the goals of the project. "I understand that news of our intended work here on Uresium has been divisive, and somewhat distressing. I want to be absolutely clear: my team and I are not grave robbers. We are a group of academic experts who have been tasked with the recovery of approximately 430 bodies, on the orders of Primarch Fedorian himself. For two millennia these brave soldiers of the empire have been denied a proper burial, condemned to obscurity in an unmarked mass grave. Our work will ensure that these lost sons and daughters of the Turian Hierarchy are returned home and recognised for their supreme sacrifice. This I swear to you."Salur's handling of the situation earned him high praise from the public and promotion from the hierarchy. Following the successful exhumation, identification, and reinterment of the bodies, Salur was now the foremost authority on archaeological matters in the empire.
=== Aurelian exhumation ===
During the Reaper War, Aurelion's sarcophagus experienced substantial damage from falling masonry. One particularly large chunk of stonework managed to crack the sarcophagus' 20-tonne lid completely in two. Fearing greater internal damage and the potential destruction of Aurelion's body, Primarch Adrien Victus established an emergency team of veteran archaeologists and engineers to ensure the integrity of Aurelion's remains. This team was led by Salur Darikun.
Miraculously, Aurelion's remains sustained no damage from the destruction of his sarcophagus' lid. Darikun gave a written account of Aurelion's body which was publicised soon after the reconstruction of the Cipritine Necropolis:
"I count myself among the most fortunate to have gazed upon his most sacred visage with my own eyes. Despite being covered in a layer of dust and mortar from the cracked sarphogus lid, he lay in such dignified repose. He had been embalmed in the finest silk strands and dressed in gleaming ceremonial armour. About his neck he wore a collar of gold, studded with imperial diamonds, and across his chest he wore a sash of Tyrian purple, fastened with a sunburst brooch at his left shoulder. His face was concealed by a death mask of such exquisite beauty; so true to life that it were as if the great man was merely reclined in sleep before me."The original lid of the sarcophagus was successfully repaired using a mortar mix containing silica-rich volcanic sand and high-density mass effect fields. It was promptly returned to the tomb, which was then resealed. As Aurelion's tomb had been sealed since the time of his burial, great care was taken to painstakingly document the contents of his sarcophagus. Darikun's written accounts go into great detail, to compensate for the cultural taboo against photographing/filming the dead. He drew sketches of several grave goods in his field journal, including Aurelion's kyrix, mexta and death mask. His sketches were then used with permission by the University of Cipritine to create highly detailed replicas. These replicas are now housed in the Aurelian Wing of Cipritine's Imperial Museum.
During the investigation into the integrity of Aurelion's remains, it was discovered that the shattered sarcophagus contained a second, previously unknown occupant. The existence of this second body had never been mentioned in any of the recorded histories about Aurelion, confounding the experts. This historical conundrum was dubbed "The Aurelian Anomaly" by the archaeological team.
Salur hypothesised that the body could be that of Markus Abrudas, first Primarch of Carthaan, basing his theory on the likeness of the body's death mask with ancient artistic depictions of Markus, as well as the distinctly Carthaanean armour the body was dressed in. To confirm his theory, Darikun requested that a DNA test be performed. However, this would have required harvesting organic tissue from the second body to compare with the genetic material of Markus' closest living relative, an extremely taboo act in turian culture. Private negotiations with House Abrudas proved to be long, divisive and ultimately amounted to nothing. While the House's then incumbent parriarch, Gaius Abrudas, was sympathetic to Salur, he continued to deny his request. Gaius' official stance was that Markus was interred in the Tyra Necropolis on Carthaan and had been since his death, and he refused to deviate from the party line on this matter. Salur's career stalled somewhat as a result, making him feel disillusioned. From that moment on, proving the connection between Aurelion and Markus became his lifelong obsession. 
Category:Characters
Category:Turians
Category:Males
Category:House Darikun
Category:Tria nomina