Volus

The **volus** were a species renowned for their business acumen, who were once quite influential associate members of the Citadel Council. Their home world, Irune, was inhospitable for most lifeforms and as a result the volus had a remarkable biology -- though they needed to wear pressure suits and breathers when dealing with other species.

## Physiology

Having evolved on a planet with an ammonia-based ecology, with a high-pressure atmosphere and 1.5 times the gravity of Earth the volus had to be properly equipped before they ventured away from their home world to places more commonly habitable to carbon-based lifeforms.

Because volus had only ever been seen by outsiders in their protective suits, their physiology was mostly a mystery. Even the sexes and genders of the volus who had been encountered was somewhat mysterious -- volus found the matter both hilariously irrelevant and intrusive and would often intentionally mislead someone who asked. The Special Tasks Group kept a tally of this misinformation for its own purposes.

It was known that typical nitrogen/oxygen air was poisonous to the volus. Low pressure atmospheres would cause their skin to literally split apart. Volus were capable of spitting, and -- like salarians -- possessed cloacae. When exposed to Element Zero, some volus could develop biotic abilities.

Aside from this, the volus remained a mystery.

## History

The volus were the earliest race to come into contact with the Citadel Council after its creation. Their particular skill set -- trade -- proved invaluable in creating a stable economy for the fledgling government. The volus created the Unified Banking Act and established the credit as the standard galactic currency.

Because the volus lacked military prowess, they petitioned the turians for client status during the Krogan Rebellion. The turians provided military support and protection for the volus, while the volus in turn helped keep the turian economy viable in the galactic community.

By the time humans became associate members of the Citadel Council, the volus had held that status for centuries. They had never been offered full membership -- although the turians had -- and this was something of a sore spot for many volus.

During the Reaper Invasion of 2986, the volus were quickly overwhelmed. Irune was practically indefensible, and what defenses it did have -- provided by the turians -- were quickly defeated. However, after the Miracle at Palaven a joint force of krogan and turians attempted to retake the planet. Once the Reapers were defeated, rebuilding the planet became a primary objective for the turians and the volus.

## Culture

The culture of the volus was centered almost entirely around trading. They were generally not a violent species, and completely did away with warfare much earlier in their development than most species of the Milky Way. Disagreements between volus were usually settled economically, and even if they become violent skirmishes they would typical end with economic sanctions, bargaining agreements, or social castigation.

An ancient book, called the Book of Plenix, was a highly important artifact to the volus. The book called for forgiveness of debts in cases of war, and also spoke of the importance of charity.

Volus had two names -- but no family name. In their tradition, it was impossible to own a person and family names were essentially claiming ownership of a child. The volus also referred to people by using their origins -- humans were referred to as "Earth-clan". Quarians, who lacked a homeworld, were often called "clanless" or "Migrant-clan". Volus would identify themselves as "Vol-clan."

When in thought, volus were sometimes known to place their hands flat on a surface.

### Economy

The economy of the volus was massive, particularly when taking into account the modest resources they possessed. The volus had an astute understanding of finances, which allowed them to control some of the galaxy's largest banks and corporations.

### Religion

The primary faith of the volus was a polytheistic religion. Some planets had been named after their deities -- for instance: Cherk Sab, the god of luck, and Zada Ban, the god of punishment.

### Government

The government of the volus was known as the Vol Protectorate. It was not a fully sovereign state, as they were a client state of the Turian Hierarchy. This was one of the main reasons they were never made a full member of the Citadel Council, although they were permitted to share an embassy on the station with the elcor.

### Military

The volus did not have a standing military of their own but did provide auxiliary troops to the Turian Hierarchy. These troops may not have physically excelled in combat but were equipped with advanced technology and power armor that made them formidable. The military equipment was often cheaply made and was not always reliable.

Rather than using troops on the ground, the volus preferred to provide air support. They maintained several flotillas of heavy bombers as well as one dreadnought -- the Kwunu. The Kwunu was so well-armed that a turian once declared it could "char a planet three times over."

### Language

The volus spoke Iperian Volus. Some phrases from this language include:

* "*bovis tor*" - "the shining sea"
* "*doz atab*" - "sky warden"
* "*vem osca*" - "weeping witness"
* "*welm urun*" - "the golden one"

## Source

The volus are derived from *Mass Effect*. For canon information, please visit:

* Mass Effect Wiki