Batarian

A race of four-eyes humanoids native to the world of Khar'Shan who chose to isolate themselves from the rest of the galaxy and now have an extremely disreputable reputation. The Terminus System are infested with Batarian pirate and slaving rings, fueling the stereotype of the Batarian thug. Fueled with hostility towards humans and the Citadel Council that "favored Humans over Batarians", they prefer to run profitable pursuits, like drug running and slave rings, rather than all-out war against the Human Alliance.

### Batarian Racial Traits

* Physical Characteristics: **+2 to 2 ability scores of their choice, -2 to Wisdom.** Batarians are known to be very adaptable.
* Size: Medium
* Speed: 30 feet
* Heightened Vision: Gain a +4 bonus to Spot checks

## Batarian Biology

Batarians are an anthropoidal race like Humans and Asari. Their most distinctive physical feature is their four eyes. Batarians also exhibit different skin tone colors with the usual being a dark brown-blue hue with pale facial ridges.

They are similar to humans in terms of age and height. They weigh a little bit more on average than humans.

Biotics are an extremely rare trait among Batarians as there are less than 100 confirmed Element Zero exposures resulting in stable biotics users. Like Humans and other races, Biotics don't occur normally in Batarians.

Batarian Height tend to be between 5"0 and 6'4 and Batarian Weight tend to be between 125 - 225 pounds.

## Batarian History

The Council made first contact with the Batarians in approximately 200 BCE and granted them an embassy on the Citadel a century later. Despite being welcomed into the galactic community, Batarian aggression provoked several crises in galactic relations over the years. Sometime around 1785 CE, a Batariant fleet bombarded the Salarian colony world of Mannovai. In 1913, the Batarian Hegemony annexed the independent Asari colony of Essan and in 2115, Citadel forced skirmished with Batarian forces on the planet Enael.

In the early 2160s, Humans began to colonize the Skyllian Verge, a region the Batarians were already actively settling. The Batarians asked the Council to declare the Verge an area of "Batarian Interest". When the Council refused, the Batarians closed their embassy on the Citadel and severed all relations, becoming an isolated rogue state.

Money and weapons funneled from the Batarian government to criminal organizations led to many brutal raids on Human colonies in the Verge, culminating in the Skyllian Blitz of 2176, an attack on the Human capital of Elysium by Batarian-funded pirates and slavers. In 2178, the Alliance retaliated with a crushing assault on the moon of Torfan, long used as a staging base by Batarian-backed criminals. In the aftermath, the Batarians retreated into their own systems and are now rarely seen in Citadel space.

Batarians are now known mostly for their slaving practices. Once captured, the Batarians implant their slaves with control devices in the skulls without bothering with anesthetic. The Batarians are also known to enslave addicts.

## Batarian Culture

Batarians place an extremely high value on social caste and appearance. Overstepping one's place is frowned upon. Casting aspersions on the monetary worth of a social better is considered a serious insult. Batarians also tend to believe that species with less than four eyes are less intelligent.

Slavery is an integral part of the Batarian caste system despite being illegal according to Council law. Rogue Batarian slave rings are feared throughout the galaxy, especially among colonists on fringe worlds.

Body language is an important part of Batarian society. For example, tilting one's head to the left is a sign of admiration or respect. When a Batarian tilts its head to the right means that he considers himself to be superior to the one that the gesture was directed at.

## Batarian Religion

Little is known about Batarian religious beliefs except that they do belief in some sort of Afterlife. When a Batarian dies his soul leaves the body through the eyes. Treatment of the corpse is considered unimportant unless the Batarian's eyes has been removed.

## Batarian Government

The rest of the Galaxy view the Batarians as an ignorable problem. Their government, known as the Batarian Hegemony, is still hostile to the Alliance but beneath the notice of the powerful Council races. It is not known what the average Batarian thinks about their enforced isolation as the Department of Information Control ensures that only government approved news enters or leaves Batarian space. The Batarians blame humanity for their troubles and claim they were forced to fend for themselves despite the fact that their exile is largely self-imposed.

The Batarians still provide updated linguistics to the rest of the Galaxy for use in their VI translators. The Batarian language is the de-facto language used in the Terminus Systems.

## Batarian Military

Little is known about their military other than the fact it is largely nationalized. Most Batarian hardware is produced by an institution called Batarian State Arms. Their military capacity is believed to be weaker than the Alliance as early as 2160. Their military has a Special Forces division known as the Special Intervention Unit (SIU). All that is known about the SIU is that their training program is brutal with a mortality rate as high as 18%.