Sometimes it’s just better to take your time with things, go it at your own pace.
What results is often a more stable foundation than a job rushed. This is the way of the
Elcor, Mass Effect’s slow, lumbering, thoughtful and monotone embassy race. Despite being one
of the older Citadel species, they share an embassy with the Volus and work alongside
the other species, albeit at a slow and deliberate speed. Hi. Ric here with the next viewer voted
index. The Elcor don’t like harshness or seek to
challenge themselves, really much preferring a more sedate and laid back way of life. This
is more than just a philosophy though, it a biological fact, after all, they evolved
on a high gravity planet where a tumble could be lethal.
They are around 8 to 9 foot tall, physically they are quite slow but heavily muscled and
very strong. Their centre of gravity is balanced towards their front where they walk using
their elongated arms to assist like a gorilla. Their skin is very tough and leathery and
they are likely natural grazers having at least three Stomachs which allows for a more
advanced digestion of rougher substances. In communication with their own kind, subtle
body language, infrasound, deep sound beyond the human perception and scent communications
lace their spoken language. The complexities of their body language are said to make a
human’s smile look like a fireworks display in comparison. This, combined with the pheromones
and sounds lower than most species range of hearing means that most of the emotional tone
of an Elcor’s voice is lost. This means that to others, the Elcor seem monotone and
emotionless, to avoid this Elcor preface their dialogue with the appropriate emotional adjective.
An Elcor typically lives for around 300 years. Their home world is Dekuuna , located in the
Silean Nebula in the Phontes System. Their planet is a typical garden world with vast
forests and expansive tracts of grassland, primarily located around the equator. The
mountainous regions are rich in metals and other resources used for construction, though
one can’t imagine the gravity permitting mountains of too high an altitude. This combined
with the easy access to woodlands has meant that the Elcor have never really been subject
to a resource shortage. Most of their colonies and cities lie around the grasslands at the
equator as they prefer this milder habitat. Colonies elsewhere on the planet are present
but are likely climate controlled due to the Elcor’s discomfort at less than ideal living
conditions. Their planet has two capital cities that are identical in function, if not quite
form. This duality is left over from a time where the Elcor migrated, subject to the changing
wet and dry seasons of Dekuuna. Nowadays, such migration is unnecessary, due to artificially
imposed habitats, but still observed as a cultural event, likely comparable to a holiday.
The planet itself has a 1.1 Earth Year orbit around its sun and a radius of 10,387 kilometres,
dwarfing the Earth’s 6371. It too has a longer day length of 68.4 Earth hours and
noticeably a much higher gravity rated at 4 times Earth standard. It also has a single
moon, Oltan. The Governmental structure of Dekuuna is known
as the Courts of Dekuuna, and run in a fashion befitting the Elcor. As deliberate and slow
in rendering a verdict as the Elcor themselves, the Courts take a great care in weighing in
on matters of concern, preferring to explore every avenue to an argument and hear every
side. The members of these courts are made up of the Elders, suggesting a Gerontocracy
where the older members are looked to for their accumulated experience. In fact, the
court Elders spend a majority of their ruling time in debate with one another, arguing and
creating hypotheticals and numerous “what-if?” scenarios. These are then used to generate
plans and responses to any perceived event and the resulting outcome archived for use
by fu ture generations. This means that the Government records of the Elcor are in essence
a myriad of plans and scenarios ready to be enacted which are both a strength and a weakness
of the race. On the surface it provides an immediate response one might not expect from
such a moderately paced species, however, it means that new, unpredicted scenarios might
cause delays in an official reaction and existing ones could be predicted if the archives were
attained for political negotiation advantage or military strategies.
The Eclor as a species are amiable to outsiders and welcome guests with a pleasant demeanour,
often seeming trusting and open even to outsiders, and occasionally to their detriment. They
have a tribal origin as a species, with each tribe lead by a chieftain leader, which is
evident by the layout of their current society. They share strong ties with their families
and surrounding Elcor community. Interestingly, they seem to only use one name, such as Calyn,
Harrot, Petozi, or Xeltan. Perhaps the name is subject to the same imperceptible variations
that lace their native language to increase the diversity of the name?
Their tolerant nature has served them well in the galactic scene as they share and Embassy
with the Volus, despite being an older race of the Citadel. Some see this as a denial
of the respect the Elcor have earned, but the Elcor themselves are content to progress
at their own pace. Many simply avoid getting entangled in galactic affairs as they dislike
space travel, finding the lower gravity of most species, the coldness of space and the
cramped conditions of many ships to be less than favourable. And if there’s one thing
that’s apparent by now, it’s that the Elcor will avoid inconveniencing themselves
wherever possible. The species may even be mildly claustrophobic, having evolved on the
flat grasslands of Dekuuna, but many off world Elcor exhibit no symptoms of true discomfort.
The first species to make contact with Elcor were the Asari who entered their system before
the Elcor had even discovered their own mass relay, but were beginning to explore their
solar system at a slow pace. Within 300 years, they had established trade with the Citadel
and soon opened and Embassy there. The Eclor manufacturing process of most goods is seen
through to completion, with the Eclor often refusing to trade in raw resources, only in
finished products. In my opinion, this is a beautifully simple way to look at trade,
if a bit limiting. “Curiously: You want metals to make a ship? So you want a ship.
Proudly: Ok, I made you a ship.” This limitation of trade again likely stems
from their resource abundant world where bartering materials would be pointless when they were
readily available. This type of trade is not binding law however, just a common approach.
Elcor too have a very rich culture and as a very sociable species, enjoy exploring and
adapting others works and arts into their own life. For example, they have appropriated
humanity’s Shakespeare works and adapted Hamlet into their own 14 hour play. There
is also a renowned artist called Forta whose art enjoys galactic acclaim. Their clothing
resembles beaded designs prevalent on Earth from tribal cultures such as Native American,
though made from contemporary materials and solid in fashion. It’s possible that the
style is descended from a similar lineage as other Plains dwelling folk, this is speculation
based on design, but does have a lot more interesting depths and cultural relevance
if true. All is not peaceful however as every species
has had to fight from time to time and the Eclor are no exception. In war, the Elcor
use VI assisted targeting systems and shoulder mounted heavy weapons, to allow for their
four-limbed locomotion. Rockets, missiles, Gatling guns, and other comparatively oversized
weaponry are all common weapons for the Elcor. They heavily favour ground combat and although
they do have a navy, it consists of a majority of troop transports for deployment. When working
with the other races, their weakness in space combat is negated by species like the Turians
and Humans and their ground forces bolster their allies. More than one marine has commented
that the Elcor are “walking tanks”. Similar Virtual Intelligences to those that
power their weapons are developed by Elcor for use throughout their society. The government
even makes use of them in formulating their hypothetical archive of plans.
In terms of religion, there is a book called the “Code of the Ancients” and it is considered
a holy text to the Elcor people. Its contents are unknown to those outside the Elcor but
from descriptions, it presumably details a way of life recorded in ancient times and
is the basis of a religion of some strength. Its importance seems paramount as it was a
priority to recover the Code from their Reaper infested homeworld during the Reaper invasion
and ownership of it would give an official a point around which to unit his or her people.
The Elcor are hard not to like, although perhaps hard to listen to. Their sociable nature is
often seen as endearing but can lead to them being taken advantage of. Though there are
some Elcor out there who utilise their species stereotypes to their advantage to swindle
naive individuals. I would even suggest that they utilise their monotone voice to hide
their true intentions from others if needed, but that might hurt their feelings, and I
don’t want to give them ideas. The welcome Elcor don’t have much more development
on them and I’d love to see more of Dekuuna but considering a human would probably pass
out due to the gravity, it’s unlikely we’d visit it in future mass effect games. Heh,
future mass effect games. Thanks for watching this cultural index! As usual, there is a
vote in the comments for the next species with a like on the comment indicate a vote,
next time the video will be on either the degenerate Dalek Empire of the Whoniverse!
Or instead the Wookies of Star Wars, two different classics from two different universes.
So, Thanks again and I’ll see you next time, goodbye!