Attribute Dice: 12d
Weak immune system: Quarians require full body suits for survival. If exposed to toxins, bacteria, or viruses, the quarian suffer a -1d to all resistances and will suffer 3d poison damage if exposed to any environment outside their suits.
Skilled: Quarians enjoy a +1d bonus on cybernetic, electronic, geological, and repair skills.
Nomads: The quarian home-world was conquered by the geth and the quarians are exiles.
The quarians are a nomadic species of humanoid aliens.
Quarians are generally shorter and of slighter build than humans, with only three digits on hands and feet. They dress in full-body environmental suits designed to prevent infections caused by viruses and bacteria. Biologically, quarians are known for the peculiarity of their immune system: Rannoch, their home planet, evolved a relatively small spectrum of microbes and viruses, and the quarians evolved to exploit them symbiotically. Living aboard the Migrant Fleet for three hundred years has only caused their immune systems to atrophy further. As a result, their isolation suits are a necessity for daily life, and they do not remove them even aboard their own ships. Physical displays of affection are inherently risky for quarians, and those who "link suit environments" are guaranteed to come down sick until their immune systems adapt. This has also informed their military tactics: the quarians cannot fight a stand-up ground war, as even the most glancing of blows can result in deadly infection. Finally, quarian proteins are of the opposite chirality to humans, using dextro-amino acids, a trait they share with the turians. This makes human and asari food dangerous to turians and quarians, and vice versa.
Hailing from the world of Rannoch, the quarians were always a technologically capable species. They created the geth to be used as labourers and tools of war. The quarians kept their programming as limited as that of any VI, nothing close to an AI. But as the quarians gradually modified the geth to do more complex tasks, developing a sophisticated neural network, these changes altered the geth to such an extent that they became sentient. One day, a geth unit began asking its overseer questions about the nature of its existence. According to Legion, while this was not the first time a geth unit had asked if it had a soul, it was the first time doing so had caused fear. Panicked, the quarian government ordered the immediate termination of all geth in the hopes of preventing a revolution. Many quarians did not want to oppose the geth, but were forced to give up or terminate their geth servants. After the quarian government declared martial law on Rannoch, those who sympathized with the geth were outnumbered, and most were either detained or killed.
The quarians severely underestimated the power and sophistication of the geth's neural network. The geth reacted to defend themselves, and the resulting confrontation erupted into a planetwide war. Billions of quarians died, and the survivors were eventually driven from their homeworld. The quarians fled the system in what remained of their fleet. Ever since, the quarians have drifted from system to system, searching for resources to sustain the Migrant Fleet and also for a new world to colonize. They even retain hopes of someday reclaiming Rannoch from the geth.
The quarians' top priority is the survival and sustainability of the Migrant Fleet. Most of their laws and customs revolve around this goal. It is illegal for couples to have more than one child, so that the fleet can maintain zero population growth (if the population begins to shrink, this rule is temporarily lifted, and incentives may be provided to encourage multiple births). Families are thus very small and close-knit. Because every quarian depends on his or her crewmates to survive, they are much more community-minded than individualistic species like the krogan. Loyalty, trust, and cooperation are highly prized qualities. Even in their ancient past they were a very emotional people, which the Protheans believed was a side-effect of their eco-symbiotic society. Quarians enjoy storytelling as a means of escape from their often trying lives aboard the fleet, and are known to hold dancers in high esteem.
Young quarians are required to undertake a Pilgrimage outside the fleet in order to pass into full adulthood. The Pilgrimage is an opportunity for quarians to experience the world outside the Migrant Fleet, interact with other cultures, and learn to appreciate life among their own people. Their departure is a major event; the whole crew assembles to see them off, and they are given many gifts to aid them on their journey, along with immunity-boosting injections and advice on surviving on the outside. The young quarian cannot return to the flotilla until they have found something of value to bring back - whether information, money, or supplies. When they return, they do not go back to their birth ship, but instead select a new ship to join; this helps maintain genetic diversity by preventing intermarriage between close relatives. The quarian presents their gift to the captain of the new ship to prove they will not be a burden on the crew. Although the gift may be rejected if it is subpar, this is very rare, as most captains are eager to welcome a new shipmate on board. Having a large crew is a prestigious thing, as it means the captain has the financial and material means to provide for many people.
Conditions aboard most quarian ships are extremely cramped. It is not uncommon for all family members to share the same small living space, which in turn is in close proximity to many other families' quarters. These spaces are often uncomfortable and ill-designed for living in, having been reappropriated from other functions such as storage. Families decorate their individual dwellings with colorful quilts, which serve to muffle sound and also to make the environment more cozy. Quarians place low value on personal possessions, instead evaluating objects by their usefulness and bartering them for other items once they are no longer needed. Every ship has a designated trading deck where those looking to barter can gather to do business.
Quarians wear their environmental suits at all times, partly in case of a hull breach and partly in response to the lack of personal space aboard the flotilla. Because their suits make it hard to identify individuals on sight, quarians have developed the habit of exchanging names whenever they meet. Over time, the environmental suits themselves have gained symbolic and cultural significance, and being fitted with their first suit is considered a rite of passage. After returning to the fleet after their pilgrimage, they may alter their suit to reflect their new status as adults. Linking suit environments is seen as the ultimate gesture of trust and affection. Due to their history with the geth, quarians are reluctant to place complete trust in virtual or artificial intelligences, but they also show surprising compassion towards them and are far more likely than other species to treat them as living beings. Quarians refer to commanding officers of any ships, quarian or non-quarian, as captain, regardless of rank. Their reasoning is that the CO's decisions always carry great weight on his/her own ship.
Quarians are ostracized throughout the galaxy. After creating the geth and failing to quell the subsequent geth insurrection, the quarians were finally forced off of their homeworld by the geth and relegated to roaming the galaxy in an increasingly threadbare and derelict flotilla called the Migrant Fleet. Because of the Flotilla's limited resources, quarians strip-mine the systems they pass through, which often puts them at odds with any species currently settled there. They are masters at maintaining and converting technology, especially ship parts, and they are also expert miners because the Fleet requires huge amounts of fuel. They are able to repair what most species would melt down. The fleet's demand for resources and the quarian tendency to take whatever employment they can find, often at the expense of native inhabitants, further harms their reputation, and the leaders of any colonies or systems through which the Migrant Fleet might pass are often inclined to donate any spare items of use to the quarians as a bribe to keep them from visiting. Quarians are grateful for the assistance and have never abused this tendency, but many feel insulted by the motivations behind these "gifts". Despite all this, their skill at electronics, engineering, and cybernetics make them ideal workers for major corporations and mining firms; quarians are considered to be among the best and brightest of the galaxy when it comes to technological and geological aptitude. This unpopularity, and the fact their entire species travels and works as one, makes most quarians quite insular, caring only about the continued survival of the Migrant Fleet.
The quarians have a very different economic system from the rest of the galaxy. While credits influence what is available in Imperial space, currency is non-existent in quarian society. Quarians value the little space they have above all else, so no unused items are kept to maximize space. When a quarian has an item they do not need, they place it in a public area, in what resembles a market. The items available are put into storage lockers, and those in need may simply take what they find. Since quarian society is based around honor and loyalty to their fellow quarians, there is rarely disagreement. However, food and medicine are handled more strictly. The food coming from both the Liveships and from scout ships is put into a central stock and distributed carefully to individuals. Outgoing food is tracked carefully, so as not to put the Migrant Fleet at risk of food shortage, or worse, mass starvation. Medicine is also distributed carefully. However, since the quarians wear their enviro-suits everywhere, even when aboard the Migrant Fleet, they are at a very low risk of sickness. Controlling the flow of medicine also creates an emergency stockpile in case of a widespread outbreak, which is necessary since the quarian immune system is so weak. Another means of resource income for the Fleet is from whatever system that the Migrant Fleet is passing through at the time; the quarians will strip-mine any promising planets for resources with well-trained efficiency. Any other races with industrial or corporate interests in that system will often offer a "gift" of ships, food, or other supplies to encourage the Fleet to leave. Usually, the Admiralty Board accepts the gift, as the Migrant Fleet is in no position to decline resources. In addition, some ships may linger in orbit over inhabited worlds to sell refreshments, supplies, and various trinkets to the locals.
The quarians used to practice a form of ancestor worship. This involved taking a personality imprint from the individual and developing it into an interface similar to a VI. The quarians began experimenting with making these imprints more and more sophisticated, hopefully leading to the wisdom of their ancestors being preserved in an imprint that could be truly intelligent. However, the geth destroyed the quarians' ancestor databanks when they rebelled. Some quarians saw their subsequent exile as punishment for their hubris, but most accept that the geth rebellion was a mistake, not a punishment. However, respect for their ancestors is still prevalent in quarian society.
Quarian names are composed of four parts—the quarian's given name and clan name separated by an apostrophe, the title ('nar' means 'child of', referring to their birth ship, while 'vas', adopted after the quarian has completed their Pilgrimage and joined a ship, means 'crew of') and the name of their vessel. In certain formal situations, quarians appear to use both their adult ship and childhood ship.
There are roughly 17 million quarians on the Migrant Fleet (also called the Flotilla). It is technically still under martial law but is now governed by bodies such as the Admiralty Board and the democratically-elected Conclave, though ship captains and onboard civilian councils tend to address most issues "in-house" before it gets that far. Quarians are divided into several clans that can be spread across several ships, or restricted to one.
The quarians are divided politically into two branches of government: the Conclave, a civilian body that represents the majority of the people on the various ships of the Migrant Fleet, and the Admiralty Board, composed of the five highest-ranking naval officers in the fleet. The Conclave is subdivided into councils on each ship who advise the captains of the individual vessels; however, the captains still have the final say on all issues and all matters of jurisprudence. Captains who override their respective councils on too regular a basis are either ordered by the Admiralty Board to settle their disputes on their own or relinquish command. The Admiralty Board has a great deal of influence on all matters pertaining to the fleet, has direct command of the fleets' military forces and has veto power that overrides any decision the Conclave makes that is seen to be detrimental or dangerous to the fleet. However, the decision must be unanimous and once this veto is invoked, the entire Admiralty Board must resign their seats immediately, to prevent any possible abuse of power. Any Admiralty Board member who refuses to relinquish his or her seat is subject to arrest.
Once taken into custody, the accused is brought before the ship's captain for judgment. While the ship's council may make recommendations, tradition holds that the captain has absolute authority in matters of discipline. Most are lenient, assigning additional or more odious maintenance tasks aboard the ship. Persistent recidivists are "accidentally" left on the next habitable world; the Migrant Fleet lacks resources needed to support a non-productive prison population. This practice of abandoning criminals on other people's planets is a point of friction between the quarians and the systems they pass through. Captains rarely have another choice; with space and resources at a premium, supporting a non-productive prison population is not an option. Offences that carry exile as a penalty include murder, treason, repeated violent episodes, and sabotage against vessels, food stores or the Liveships themselves. Quarians practice capital punishment; mutiny or hijacking starships is punished with execution. Exile is generally the preferred punishment, as any offspring an exile may have are welcomed back to the Fleet.
In the early years, many quarian freighters were armed and used as irregular "privateers." Civilian ships still show a strong preference for armament, making them unpopular targets for pirates. Indeed, it is mentioned that all ships in the Migrant Fleet carry ship-to-ship armaments of some sort and to varying degrees. Though they have rebuilt their military, there are still mere hundreds of warships to protect the tens of thousands of ships. The quarian navy follows strict routines of patrol, and takes no chances. If the intent of an approaching ship can't be ascertained, they shoot to kill. For this reason, young quarians on their Pilgrimage are given code phrases to repeat upon their return, as they often arrive back in vessels they have bought or scavenged which are unknown to the Flotilla. One phrase denotes a successful Pilgrimage and the quarian navy will permit them to rejoin the Fleet; the other alerts the navy that the quarian is returning under duress, and their ship will be immediately destroyed. Although the Conclave establishes civil law much as any planet-based democracy, enforcement and trials are more unique. After the flight from the geth, there were few constables to police the millions of civilians aboard the Fleet, so the navy parceled out marine squads to maintain order and enforce the law. Today, quarian marines have evolved training and tactics akin to civilian police, but remain adept at combat in the confined spaces of a starship, and fully under the command of the military.
