A martial society emphasizing strict discipline,
public service and self-sacrifice, the Turian Hierarchy has for over a thousand years been
the foremost military power in the Milky Way Galaxy.
As the third race to join the Citadel Council, it has had a profound influence on galactic
affairs, both in its contributions to the Citadel Fleet and in its willingness to actively
counter any perceived threat to galactic stability.
It is often said that “if you want to win a battle, bring a Korgan, but if you want
to win a war, you need the Turians.”
Turian civilization first arose over fifteen thousand years ago on their homeworld of Palaven.
The planet’s weak magnetic field did little to prevent solar radiation from battering
the surface and the Turians evolved with a unique metallic carapace as a natural defense.
Turian biology possesses many similarities to the ancient carnivorous dinosaurs or crocodiles
found on Earth and it’s likely this predatory ancestry played a pivotal role in the development
of their society and culture.
Above all, Turians are noted for their dedication to public service.
This has lead to the development of a highly regimented and organized society in which
the needs of the group are almost always placed above those of the individual.
Every citizen from age 15 to 30 undergoes a period of military service which forms the
center of the Turian state.
Serving not only as the armed forces, the military also acts as an all-encompassing
public works organization, responsible for everything from civil policing, firefighting,
construction and transportation.
The Turian Government is a hierarchical meritocracy composed of 27 distinct tiers of citizenship.
Higher ranked citizens are expected to lead and protect subordinates while those of a
lower rank obey and support superiors.
Turians are wary of unchecked ambition and settling into a role and rank is not considered
stagnation but rather an acknowledgement of one’s own limitations.
Should a Turian be demoted, the stigma associated with it lies not on the individual, but on
those who promoted them before they were ready for the additional responsibility.
Turian citizenship confers broad freedoms with almost nothing forbidden so long as it
does not interfere with a citizen’s duties.
While this system has great potential for misuse, it is tempered by a code of personal
honor and responsibility that Turians learn during childhood.
Turians are taught to own their decisions, good or ill with lying about one's actions
considered one of the most serious errors of judgement.
This sense of personal accountability is so ingrained in the Turian people that even criminals,
when directly questioned will often confess to the most serious of crimes.
Judicial proceedings follow the format of “interventions” where peers and colleagues
express their concern and try to convince the offender to change.
Should this process fail, Turians have no concern over sentencing unrepentant or dangerous
criminals to a life sentence of hard labor.
Somewhat conversely, Turian religion lacks an emphasis on rigid rituals or social order
often found in the beliefs of other species, instead, Turians believe that groups and communities
have spirits that transcend the individual.
A city’s spirit might reflect the accomplishments and industry of its residents while the spirit
of an ancient tree manifests as the beauty and tranquility of the area it grows within.
While these spirits are unable to intervene within the tangible world, individuals might
pray to a spirit for guidance or inspiration.
When the Turians developed the capacity for spaceflight and discovered the Mass Relay
network, their civilization immediately began rapidly colonizing dozens of star systems
throughout the galaxy.
Many of these colonies broke away from the authority of Palaven and several rival factions
rose to power under the influence of various chieftains.
Isolated on the frontiers of explored space and lacking a strong central government, the
colonies soon grew increasing paranoid and xenophobic.
Turian colonists began wearing emblems and facial markings to differentiate themselves
and skirmishes between rival colonies grew increasingly frequent.
The Unification War, as it came to be known saw these minor conflicts turn into open warfare
as the Turian colonies battled amongst themselves.
Distant Palaven remained neutral, lacking either the resources or political will to
become involved.
After several years of fighting, with less than a dozen factions remaining, the Hierarchy
finally intervened.
Exhausted and too weak to resist, the remaining chieftains and warlords were forced to submit
to the Hierarchy and renew their allegiance.
Though peace was restored, the unique facials markings and emblems that had defined the
colonists became fixtures of Turian society.
When the Turians first encountered the Citadel Council, they found the Asari and Salarians
in the midst of a rebellion by the expansionist Krogan.
Convinced of the threat they posed to the galaxy, the Turians joined the Council in
their war against the Krogan race.
The unique Turian martial spirit and the powerful military-industrial complex at their command
took the Krogans by surprise and the initial Turian offensive succeeded in routing many
of their warrior bands.
The counter-attack it provoked however, decimated several Turian colonies with three rendered
completely uninhabitable.
The Krogans had hoped that these brutal displays would weaken Turian morale and deteriorate
their will to fight, but the destruction of their worlds only hardened their resolve.
Over the colony of Digeris, the Turian Hierarchy suffered the heaviest losses in its history
but was successful in defeating the fleet of the notorious Krogan warlord Graken Dhal.
Finally, the Turians deployed a biological weapon developed by the Salarians, decimating
the Krogan population and eliminating their ability to continue the war.
After a final offensive by the Turian military, the Krogans collapsed.
In gratitude for their service in ending the Krogan Rebellions, the victorious Turians
were granted full membership on the Citadel Council, their fleets and armies filling the
peacekeeping role that had once been the responsibility of the vanquished Krogan.
Unlike their predecessors however, the Turians integrated into galactic civilization remarkably
well and together with the Asari and Salarians helped to bring about over 1000 years of uninterrupted
prosperity.
In 2157 the Turians fought a brief but prominent conflict with an unidentified alien race that
was in the process of activating uncharted mass relays and expanding across the galaxy.
Judged to be dangerously ignorant of galactic law, the Turians fought numerous skirmishes
and occupied a colony known to its inhabitants as Shanxi (Shan schee).
When an unexpected counterattack repulsed the Turian occupation forces, the Hierarchy
prepared for full scale intergalactic war.
This drew the attention of the Citadel Council, who quickly negotiated a peaceful resolution.
While the incident was relatively minor, with fewer than 1000 Turian casualties, lingering
resentment existed between the Turian Hierarchy and their new rivals on the galactic stage,
the human Systems Alliance.
At the behest of the Citadel Council, both nations would, over the next few decades work
to establish a more productive relationship, culminating in the design of the SSV Normandy,
a prototype deep-scout frigate co-developed by the Hierarchy and Systems Alliance.
This partnership was further reinforced when the Normandy and its human commander helped
pursue and neutralize a rogue Turian specter, halting a Geth attack on the Citadel in the
process.
In 2186 an unprecedented attack of incredible scale occurred across the galaxy as the enigmatic
Reapers positioned their enormous living starships across dozens of worlds, terrorizing and harvesting
the local populations.
The famous Turian colony of Taetrus was among the first wave of targets, and images of its
burning skylines were broadcast across the galaxy, seemingly taunting the Turian population.
While the Hierarchy answered with near fanatical resistance and a series of daring counter
attacks, the immense technological superiority of the Reapers inflicted substantial losses
and the Turians were forced to retreat to Palaven itself.
The Turians fought with grim determination, sacrificing thousands as they attempted to
learn whatever they could about this terrifying enemy.
As the Turian fleet was pushed back and the surface of Palaven became a battleground,
the Turians made common cause with an unexpected ally, the Krogan.
In a series of daring and brilliant maneuvers a joint Turian-Krogan counter attack successfully
took back huge swathes of Palaven and delivered an enormous boost to allied morale.
In the final battle of the war, with the fate of the galaxy and all its peoples hanging
in the balance, the Turian Hierarchy deployed the
bulk of its forces to assist in the liberation of Earth.
Through immense sacrifice, bravery and dedication, the Turians were able to buy enough time for
a single human specter to encounter the Catalyst, an entity at the very heart of the Citadel,
and through it make a fateful choice.