Salarians

The **salarians** were a reptillian species native to the planet Sur'Kesh. They were most recognized for their observational skills and their non-liner thinking -- these skills tended to make salarians superb in the fields of espionage and scientific research.

## Physiology

Salarians were an amphibious species of bipeds. They were tall and slender, with long and thin heads that culminated in two horns comprised mostly out of cartilage. The entire salarian body contained considerably more cartilage than most sapient species.

Salarian blood had a greenish color to it, whereas salarian skin and eyes had a great degree of variety in their coloration. Salarian skin was most often shades of blue or grey but could also be seen in brighter hues of greens and reds. Salarian irises could be dark green, purple, red, blue, or brown -- with pupils that appeared to be a wide horizontal slit. They were capable of seeing ultraviolet and the short-wave end of the light spectrum. Instead of eyelids, salarians had a thin membrane. As a result, salarians blinked upwards. Salarians also rolled their eyes as a means to protect them from irritating particles or dryness in the air, rather than as any sort of indication of emotion.

Salarians had an extremely high metabolism. This permitted them to function with only one arn of sleep per solar day. The metabolism drove a faster-paced mind and body, making salarians seem hyperactive to most other species. Meanwhile, salarians viewed most other species as sluggish. Salarians thought fast, talked fast, and moved fast. Unfortunately, this also meant salarians had a shorter lifespan than most other spacefaring species -- a salarian older than 40 cycles was very rarely found.

Salarians had a photographic memory. They would rarely forget a fact. This also contributed to the "imprinting" that they did as youth -- salarians would inherently defer to those they knew as youth simply because of the memories they shared.

### Reproduction

The salarian sex drive was not hormone based. Salarians did not engage in sex for pleasure -- although they were sometimes attracted to asari, they were not susceptible to the pheromones of female Orions. There were few, if any, romantic relationships among salarians.

A salarian female would lay a clutch of dozens of eggs once each cycle. The fertilized eggs produced female salarians, the unfertilized eggs produced male salarians. Social codes discouraged the fertilization of the majority of the eggs, and as a result 90% of the salarian population was male. These codes also indicated who was able to fertilize eggs.

The eggs hatched in the midst of solemn ritual. Dalatrasses of the mother's and father's clans were present when fertilized eggs hatched. In this way, it was ensured that the young female salarians would imprint evenly on both clans and loyalty would not be divided. Unfertilized eggs were isolated with the Dalatrass of the mother's clan, so the the young male salarians would defer to her wishes.

## History

Salarians originally developed into a very primitive state, where they remained for many thousands of cycles. They were considered "lizard people," and were looked down on by the Protheans -- who even considered their body parts delicacies. Protheans preferred eating parts of salarians while the victim was still alive, as the fear was believed to add "spice" to the flavor.

Eventually, however, the salarians developed their own technologies and expanded into the stars. They colonized several worlds, building the settlements of Aegohr, Mannovai, and Jaëto -- which would remain centers of salarian society for centuries to come.

The salarians found their way to the Citadel only a few decades after the asari. They became one of the founding species of the Citadel Council. In a gesture of goodwill and trust, they opened up records regarding the League of One -- in turn, the League slew the leaders of the Salarian Union. In response, the members of the League were hunted down and killed.

The advanced technology of the salarians proved an invaluable asset for the Citadel Council. In an early effort to create a standing military for the Citadel Council, they genetically manipulated the Yautja -- creating both the Nausicaans and the Kradin, though neither ultimately proved controllable enough to be of use. They later used their superior technology to provide the krogan with new technologies and a new homeworld so that they could be manipulated into helping defeat the rachni. This proved a success -- but directly led to the Krogan Rebellion. The salarians developed the genophage that the turians unleashed upon the species.

## Culture

Salarians valued invention and would use cutting edge technology, even if it was unreliable. They frowned upon brute force in all situations, preferring more sophisticated systems.

Salarians had a reputation for being manipulative and underhanded. However, to them, spying and intelligence gathering -- particularly when it came to other species -- was a matter of course and should have been expected. They did not view their actions as underhanded in any respect.

Salarians seldom kept secrets from each other -- and only did so for two reasons: personal or guilt-based reasons, which often led to suspicion; or secrets considered dangerous. Body language that salarians never learned to fake or imitate indicated which reason was behind a secret that a salarian may not have wanted to share.

Though female salarians were rare, they wielded great respect and power. They were typically cloistered away on salarian controlled planets. Females were often the influential diplomats and politicians, directing matters of policy. The leaders of each clan -- the Dalatrasses -- were always female. Though males could advance to positions commanding respect in business and in military matters, they seldom expanded into the political realm. The exception to this rule is Valern -- a male representative of the salarians to the Citadel Council in 2983 CE.

### Traditions

The full names of salarians were quite long and, in order, indicated the individual's homeworld, nation, city of birth, district, clan name, and finally their given name. In short form, a salarian might answer to their clan name or their given name.

The first day of the salarian new year, Betau, was a holiday celebrated by nearly all salarians. It marked the end of the winter season on Sur'Kesh. On this holiday they repaid debts and petitioned others for favors.

### Government

The government of the salarians was the Salarian Union. It was a convoluted web of matrilineal bloodlines forged through interbreeding and political alliances.

Salarians were broken into clans, which were in turn broken into circles. Each clan was led by a matriarch or Dalatrass. The clan's circles were then broken up as follows: First Circle - a salarian's parents, siblings, uncles, aunts, and first cousins; Second Circle - second cousins, etc; and so on. By the fourth or fifth circle a clan can number from thousands to millions of members. A salarian's first loyalty was always to the first circle, and diminished as the circles expanded.

### Economy

Salarian economy was minimal compared to many other Citadel species and was based solely around the sale and use of the highest of high technology.

### Military

The salarians had possibly the smallest military of any of the Citadel Council species. It was entirely a volunteer army that utilized the best military technology in the Milky Way. The size of their military was not an indication of weakness, however, as their use of intelligence had historically brought them tremendous success.

Salarians typically relied on diplomacy in order to stop a war before it started, however if that did not work, they would always attack first, without warning, and begin the war with a decisive victory. They learned virtually everything there was to know about enemy tactics through their Special Tasks Group -- the precursor to the Citadel's own Spectre program.

Salarians did not possess natural psionic abilities, however exposure to Element Zero could create biotics among their species. Biotics were considered extremely valuable and were not permitted to join the military, but were often relegated to intelligence services.

### Religion

Salarians were not typically religious, however there were some faithful members of the species. One organized religion -- often referred to as a cult -- worshiped a goddess who they believed the overlapping craters on Trelyn resembled. Many salarians believed in a "wheel of life" that was similar to human beliefs in reincarnation.

## Source

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

* Mass Effect Wiki