The Mass Effect Universe doesn’t offer up much in the way of player interaction with
the Drell species and that’s because many don’t leave their adopted home system.
This is because of the ties their species share with the Hanar, who themselves are often
reluctant to spend too long outside of their aquatic environments.
This symbiosis is they key aspect of the Drell culture and defines much of who they are as
a people.
Hello, Ric here with another cultural index, this time looking at the Drell as the results
of the last vote were so close.
So let’s get started.
The species is reptilian in nature, despite their adopted aquatic associations and this
is a cause for problems within the Drell community, which we will touch on later.
The Drell themselves have numerous biological advantages all situated around them suriving
a completely different environment than that of Kahje, the Hanar homeworld, which is 90%
surface water.
The Drell have a variety of skin tones, as seems common with reptilian Science fiction
species, from shades of green, to blue-green, tones of brown, reddish and yellow, their
standard lifespan is around 85 years and they possess a lean build, even among the more
heavily muscled of their species.
This is because their musculature is denser than that of a human.
Their homeworld is called Rakhana and is a vast wasteland of deserts and rocky plains,
punctuated by mountain ranges and very little water and dwindling wildlife.
Once rich in a myriad of reptile and insects life, the planet’s ecosystem is beyond the
point of natural recovery, having been ravaged by an expanding industrial system that it
couldn’t support.
The planet itself had always been a harsh environment with often days of travel between
resources.
To aid in the navigation of their planet’s wastes, the Drell have an eidetic memory that
allows them to recall directions, landscapes, markers and the like with perfect clarity
ensuring that those precious fundamentals to survive could be located once again.
They also had a third eyelid.
Looking at the function of nictitating membranes here on Earth, it’s likely that the organ
served to protect the eye against debris, presumably the dusts kicked up by the winds
of the expansive plains of Rakhana.
When surrounded by such hardship, it’s no wonder that the strove to innovate and tame
their environment.
The Drell themselves were industrious and changing the face of their planet’s surface
as they expanded but their consumption of resources and pollution of their planet was
far too quick to be sustainable and soon their resources began to fail.
Their growing population entered into a dark age of resource war, where nations fought
for the remaining fertile land and fresh water until they fell.
Then neighbours turned to scavenging to survive, killing over crumbs and stored resources and
their population declining rapidly.
It was then that the Hanar made first contact with the Drell, who until this point had never
encountered alien life.
The Hanar, quickly deducing the life expectancy of Rakhana began a ten year evacuation plan
for all who wished it.
375,000 Drell were relocated to Kahje, meaning that in no small part, the Hanar saved the
Drell from extinction.
Rakhana is now only home to a couple of thousand Drell, spread across their planet’s surface
in small settlements, much of its native flora and fauna having died off and its limited
oceans poisoned.
Now why would the Hanar perform such an action?
I mean, there are no laws saying that species cannot interfere with the actions of a technologically
inferior race, there is no Prime Directive here.
So perhaps it was done out of the kindness of their hearts.
(Do Hanar have hearts?
) But a likely motivation can be found in their
religion.
The Hanar practice a worship of the Enkindlers, or as the rest of the Galaxy know them, the
Protheans, a forerunner race who elevated the Hanar by civilizing them and laid the
groundwork for them to evolve into the society they are today.
It’s likely that the Hanar, have been the beneficiaries of such technological intervention
by an outside species, saw it as only right and as a natural continuation of their faith
to extend that aid onto other species.
Many Drell have begun to practice the religion of the Enkindlers, juts one of many Hanar-influences
that Drell culture has begun to adopt.
But the religion they practiced on their homeworld was a polytheistic one of different aspects.
They also believed that the soul was a separate existence form the body and while the body
could be trained and conditioned to become a tool of others, the soul was only at the
mercy of the individual.
Some interpreted this as more literal than others, able to use it as a justification
for any action order by another.
Illness and injury stretched the bond between theses aspects and there was even an emotional
state termed “disconnectedness” that could occur.
As the name implies this was more of a spiritual crisis than a physical one with the individual
acting with no consideration for what the soul was enduring while the body acted.
At least three of the old gods are named, Amonkira, the god of the hunt, Arashu, the
goddess of motherhood and protection and Kalahira, oceans and afterlife.
Oceans and afterlife?
Well apart from the connotations of the ocean being the birthplace for life on several planets
and the afterlife being a resting place where all life ends up, the idea that oceans should
be seen with divine associations seems obvious for such an arid planet such as Rakhana.
The image of an expanse of cooling water, teeming with foods for Rakhana-bound Drell
must indeed seem a beautiful thing.
Unsurprising then that so many Drell were willing to accept the offer of the Hanar.
Imagine what it must have seemed like to them, everything dying around them when help descends
from the heavens to whisk them away to a land of endless oceans.
I imagine it was a similar experience to that of being welcomed to a literal Eden.
However, there was a price to be paid, one that neither the Drell nor the Hanar knew
off at the time.
Kepral’s Syndrome was an incurable bacterial infection that built up in the lungs of the
Drell who were exposed to the incredibly humid environment of Kahje, not being used to the
water world.
This illness was the leading cause of death for a Drell but when compared to the salvation
of their entire species was still considered a worthy trade by many, still, several foundations
were in search of a cure with gene therapy being the most likely adaptation.
The Compact is the agreement between the Drell and the Hanar that evolved to establish equilibrium
between the species.
The Hanar, being unable to exist comfortably in galactic standard atmospheres, employed
the Drell to be their assistants and attendants.
The Drell would perform many of the manual feats that a Hanar could not and considered
it a matter of pride to serve the Hanar, who in turn mostly treated the Drell with respect
and as equal citizens.
This acceptance of this way of life is likely due in no small part to the fact that the
Compact is optional for any Drell and any are free to leave Kahje to seek their own
adventure.
With the level of involvement in Hanar society that the Drell play, they are effictley completely
integrated into Hanar culture with the two species sharing many traits.
The fact that the Drell live on the Hanar’s homeworld however means that a lot of this
cultural adoption favours the Hanar with the Drell even undergoing ocular implants to perceive
the bioluminescent communications of the aquatic natives.
So as we can see, much of the Drell’s original culture is voluntarily being abandoned by
the species as they adapted to their new life over the next 203 years when mass effect 1
takes place.
Some aspects such as their religion are maintained, but many physical things, such as their art
and things related to the lifestyles of Rakhana are lost during their migration to a new home.
The extent to which the Drell go to fulfil the Compact is extraordinary and paints the
species to be one of intense loyalty.
Nothing is stopping the Drell from uprooting from Kahje and establishing a new colony on
a desert planet elsewhere, but many would rather endure the environment that would inevitably
kill them or contemplate genetic modifications to adapt rather than leave.
Several generations into their new life, many Drell consider regulated atmospheric domes
of the Hanar’s homeworld to be their home more than Rakhana, a desolate waste destroyed
by the folly of their ancestors.
Despite this, many outsiders and even some of the more arrogant Hanar often consider
the Drell a second class citizen and treat them as such, though this is more born from
other races prejudices and a lack of understanding the nature of the Compact.
Thanks for listening, the Drell are an awesome race and I kind of wish we got to see Rakhana,
I imagine its surface being like a more arid Tuchunka with derelict cities and Fallout
style shanty towns centred around small oasis’.
Shame we probably won’t get to see it for some time, if ever.
So with that all done, let’s get back to the viewer voted options with some water trends
with the next video’s choices being on the Ice Warriors of Doctor who, or perhaps the
amphibious Mon Calamari.
Like the appropriate comment below to vote and until next video, I’ve been Ric, thanks
for watching and goodbye.