Volus (Mass Effect Supplement)

Volus

Physical Description

[Source]

Even when compared to species like the quarians and hanar, the volus are particularly ill-suited to environments beyond their homeworld of Irune, evolving to survive on its ammonia-based ecology and gravity field 1.5x the strength of Earth's, not to mention its high-pressure atmosphere. As traditional nitrogen/oxygen air mixtures are lethal in large doses, and their bodies literally split open in low-pressure environments, all volus beyond Irune wear protective suits. While little is known of their anatomy due to this, their biology isn't a complete mystery. It is known that they, along with salarians, have cloacae and have a low, but existent rate of biotics.

While certain volus may sound distinctly of one gender or another to a listener, volus gender is a complete enigma. The volus themselves consider the question both intrusive and hilariously irrelevant, to the point that supposedly the STG has a running tally of all the blatant misinformation the volus have said on the subject. With little else to go on, people simply assign an arbitrary gender value on a volus based on what they sound like.

All volus contract a chickenpox-like disease known as Yoqtan in childhood that is considered a rite of passage and only kills the weakest of children.

History

Roughly 2,400 years ago, shortly after the asari and salarians formed the Citadel Council, the volus were granted the third seat on the Citadel as an embassy, though to this day they lack a seat on the Council itself. The volus' great skill in mercantile sped up galactic unity and stabilization by decades at least, going so far as to author the Unified Banking Act, which established the credit as the standard currency of interstellar trade, even within the Terminus Systems.

Society

To this day, the volus continue to monitor and balance the galactic economy. Due to both their physical inaptitude and alternative specialization, almost all volus are unable to properly fight, often seeming overly-pacifistic and cowardly to other, more militant cultures. It was due to this that war was, quite literally, removed as a political option throughout volus society long before their discovery of space travel and mass effect technology.

While their lack of a seat on the Council is a sore spot to most volus, it is not without its reasons. Council races also need to provide fleets and material aid in case of disaster, none of which the volus can currently supply.

While volus have two names, neither bear any form of lineage as in the volus mind, one can not own another person. Possibly because of their tribal origins, volus tend to refer to members of other races by their homeworld rather than species name (i.e. "Earth-clan" instead of "human"). A notable exception to this is that they refer to quarians as "Migrant-clan", or "clanless", due to their lack of a homeworld. They also tend to refer to themselves as "Vol-clan".

The volus economy is out of proportion to their modest resource base. They are aggressive traders and industrialists with a keen grasp of exchange and finance. Many of the galaxy's largest banks, holding corporations, and manufacturing cartels, such as the Elkoss Combine, are owned or managed by volus. They also regulate the Citadel's complex galactic economy.

The volus government is known as the Vol Protectorate. Rather than being a fully sovereign government in its own right, the Protectorate is a client state of the Turian Hierarchy. In return for falling under the protective umbrella of the turian military, the volus pay a tax to the Hierarchy, as well as deferring to the turians in all foreign policy matters and providing auxiliary troops to the turian armed forces. They still maintain an embassy on the Citadel, making them an associate species of the Council, though they currently share their embassy with the elcor.

In the entire history of volus civilization, the Vol Protectorate has only issued three writs of exile against its citizens. Two of those are for the political agitator Gaffno Yap.

Volus Names

Volus have two names but no family names. According to volus sensibilities, one cannot own a person, so using a family name would essentially be laying claim to their offspring.

Names: Ano Vot, Berla Mon, Bovan Set, Ceron, Cihaan, Din Mark, Dovan Hal, Eppo Wen, Han Olar, Jahleed, Jahve Kormat, Kelan Vot, Kora Bos, Lona Osar, Levan Lih, Meeve Wen, Morten Sov, Olot For, Pitne Wit, Reema Po, Tahluud, Vaner Jok

Volus Traits

Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence and Wisdom scores increase by 2.
Age. Volus reach adulthood in their late teens and live between 125 and 150 years.
Alignment. As peaceful masters of banking, most volus are Lawful Neutral.
Size. Volus range from 3 to 4 feet tall. Your size is Small.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
Negotiator. You gain proficiency in two Wisdom or Charisma skills.
Hermetic Suit. You gain a number of armor points equal to twice your proficiency bonus. These armor points are regained at the end of a long rest. If you have 0 armor points, you take 2d4 necrotic damage at the end of each of your turns.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Volus.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
3′ 0''	+2d6	100 lb.	× (2d4) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

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