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Angara

The angara are the only known extant sapient race native to the Heleus Cluster of the Andromeda galaxy. By the time of the Andromeda Initiative's first contact with them, the angara had been waging a decades-long resistance against the invading kett.


Biology[]

An angara male

The angara are warm-blooded mammals. They have a similar leg structure to a quarian, a salarian or a kett, along with relatively broad shoulders and narrow waists. They have two black eyes with blue irises, a single pair of nostrils, and folds of flesh on the sides of their heads that extend to their chests.

Angara hands have the bone structure for five fingers, but the final three fingers on each hand are densely webbed together into a single digit. Their feet have a similar build: five "toes", of which three are fused together and one appears to be an opposable "thumb", giving the impression they stand on hands.

Angara are sexually dimorphic: male angara are taller than females, and females have wider hips and rounder faces. Skin colors feature various shades of blue or mauve, sometimes shading into green or tan. Their blood is deep blue in color. Their voices are slightly distorted, comparable to drell or Prothean samples.

They have different internal biology and taste buds to humans and other species. For example, they are immune to the capsaicin used to spice most food, while finding the methyl anthranilate used in most candy to cause a painful burning sensation. According to Peebee, angaran food is in the form of paste and smells great but tastes bad. According to Jaal, food from the Milky Way tastes bland.

All in all, angaran physiology is noted to be optimal for thriving in harsh environments.

Although all organisms produce a natural bioelectrical field, the angara produce an especially intense field and can exert fine control over it for purposes such as communication. Angara physiology is also dependent on sunlight, specifically the electromagnetic radiation that a sun emanates. Lack of real or artificial sunlight causes them to "go dark", which weakens their immune systems and bio-energy significantly. Prolonged lack of sunlight can lead to a coma and then death. To supplement their sunlight intake or provide a light source when natural light is not readily available, the angara make use of powerful ultraviolet lamps that give them both heat and light. The angara also seem to be resistant to cold, as some angara on Voeld prefer living there even more than Aya.

History[]

Angaran template bodies on Khi Tasira

According to the angara, they were once a highly advanced species that originated on Havarl and spread to many worlds in the Heleus Cluster. An ancient site on Havarl known as the Forge holds the oldest pre-Scourge ruins known to the angara, and is regarded as the birthplace of their civilization. The appearance of the Scourge ruined the angara's worlds and sent their civilization into a pre-industrial dark age that lasted a century, taking with it much of the knowledge of their own history. The angara of five worlds, including Havarl and Voeld, eventually rediscovered spaceflight and reestablished communication with each other, finding that the centuries of isolation had created divergent cultures. The angara began to expand again, colonizing Kadara and Aya, and efforts were made to establish a new unified government for their species.

The kett invasion of the Heleus Cluster in 2744 disrupted the rebuilding of angaran civilization. No angaran records of first contact with the kett survive, and so the exact circumstances of how the angara were overwhelmed are muddled. The few details of the early years of the invasion indicate that the kett played the angara against each other, making overtures of peace and trade before kidnapping or assassination angaran leaders in order to set their respective worlds against each other. This led a period of infighting among the angara, which the kett took advantage of to solidify their occupation. By the time the angara realized who the true enemy was, their formal military and space fleet had been destroyed. Multiple angaran resistance movements were established to battle the kett, but saw little success until 2814, when Evfra de Tershaav reorganized them into the Angaran Resistance, headquartered on Aya.

The arrival of the Andromeda Initiative, although welcomed by the Angaran Resistance, has provoked a faction of angara called the Roekaar. Founded by the charismatic Akksul out of resentment for the Resistance and hatred for the kett, the Roekaar are a xenophobic paramilitary force hostile to all non-angara. The Roekaar are officially disavowed by the Angaran Resistance.

The Truth[]

Unknown to the angara, they are in fact a created species, the product of an advanced alien race native to Heleus known as the Jardaan, who were also responsible for creating the Remnant machines. Several millennia before the arrival of the Andromeda Initiative, the Jardaan designed the first angarans via advanced genetic manipulation techniques and seeded them across the Heleus Cluster, though their reasons for doing so remain unknown. It was only when the crew of the Tempest discovered the Jardaan gestation facilities aboard the spaceborne Remnant "city" of Khi Tasira was this fact revealed, much to the shock of the angara and Milky Way arrivals alike.

Culture[]

The angara as a people are very free with their emotions, demonstrative and "larger than life". They'll say and do what they mean, even if it entails violence; this extends to their own family members. The angara are typically mistrustful of other races: the last outsiders they met were the kett and they have done nothing but attack and enslave the angara.

Angaran families are large, almost clan-like social constructs. In addition to one's biological, or "true", parents, an ordinary angara will have multiple mothers and many siblings and cousins. A family composed of an individual, their parents, and their eighteen siblings is considered "average", and such families can grow even further as newcomers marry into them, bringing with them a further assortment of relatives. With the education system disrupted by the kett invasion, as with so much else in Heleus, this family structure will assume the responsibility of schooling and socializing its younger members, teaching them everything from basic literacy to technical skills to weapons handling in hopes of preparing them to survive.

As a species, the angara are communally-focused rather than individualist, their society structured around an ideal of "horizontal collectivism." While individual liberties, legal equality and private property do exist in angaran society, social convention stresses that individual angara subordinate their own personal desires for that of the greater whole, whether that take the form of the family unit, the community in which they dwell, or the species in general. Charity, cooperation and self-sacrifice are emphasized, and crimes are assessed and punished not just by the nature of the offense but how widespread the resulting consequences are.

The angara apparently view sickness as a private matter, and do not casually discuss it with others. Forcing conversation about it may quickly turn the social ambience awkward.

The angaran calendar uses a seven-day week. The days are named Sabay, Tef, Vaa, Ema, Roa, Fev, and Bav.

According to pre-Scourge myths, the angara once had many Moshae: master inventors of unfailing wisdom, guided by boundless compassion. In present times, Sjefa is afforded the reference because of her contributions to angaran civilization, hence why she is called Moshae Sjefa and revered across angaran society.

Religion[]

See also: Codex (Mass Effect: Andromeda)/Andromeda Species#Angara: Spirituality

While the angara have many different religions, all share the same basic tenet: that when an angaran dies, he or she is reincarnated and the reincarnated soul stays in the family, making their lineage stronger. However, it is believed that the souls of exalted angara are forever lost to them in all ways.

Angara prefer to worship in private. In their view, faith is the strongest when no one sees it. They honor the isolation of their kett-enslaved kin, who are forbidden to express their spiritual beliefs.

In recent times, a number of young angara came to believe that enlightenment can be forced by throwing themselves at death. Labeled "Gloryseekers", they train and prepare as hard as anyone in the Resistance, then proceed to carry out suicide missions against the kett. They do so with calm hearts, so that they remember when they reincarnate stronger and wiser and they should be better suited to fight back against the kett.

According to Gloryseeker beliefs, when one doesn't fear dying, there's everything to gain and nothing to lose. As long as the angara goes out fighting kett, it doesn't matter if the mission succeeds or fails, but coming back from it alive with nothing accomplished is considered cowardly in Gloryseeker eyes. Cowardly hearts aren't worthy of "blessed rebirth."

Gloryseekers do not like the loss of their friends as much as anyone, but they accept it as part of their beliefs even if other people view it as messed up. Older angara like the priestess Roshwar Linn view their deaths as needless sacrifice, to the point that she needs someone to talk sense into them. Gloryseekers, in turn, are irritated by her lack of action against the kett.

Language[]

Although the angara have between 200 and 300 languages, their most common language is Shelesh, a lingua franca developed in the early days of angaran spaceflight before the Scourge. Shelesh faded into obscurity when angaran civilization collapsed, but has recently been revived as separated angaran settlements have reestablished relations. Known Shelesh words and phrases are listed below.

Pronouncing angaran words require some adjustments. Double vowels are treated like "short vowels", and j's in the middle of the word can be treated as y's with some exceptions.

  • angara - "civilized people", or "those who have put down roots"
  • anj - "anchor", the source of the word angara
  • arataan - "shelter in the dark", hostel
  • bosen - Alternative to "father"
  • bosora - Alternative for a sibling
  • daar - Literally, "rock" or "rock foundation", a village or small outpost between a city and a settlement in size. Plural form is daara.
  • dos ashaan - "noble fear", the fear that is considered positive as it keeps you safe.
  • draullir - "death caves"
  • ehnaad - a nosy person
  • gestiir - "tranquil stone plane"
  • gosan - To cling or to grasp.
  • gosan yav daar - Being stubborn, literally "clinging to a rock."
  • gosavar - The Resistance (as a whole)
  • gosavara - "stubborn, pig-headed people", alternate term for members of the Resistance
  • govataan - "welcome center"
  • Haranj - "the fisher's lure", refers to the Black Hole
  • Heskaarl - "special forces", an elite angaran military group, comparable to human N7s. Also refers to a singular member of that group.
  • inalaara - the virtue of knowing one's course; or a good name for the brink of the unknown.
  • isharay - "goodbye". It lends its name to an angaran weapon.
  • jarevaon - "galaxy"
  • Jarevaon Imasaf - "the Masaf Shell Galaxy", refers to the Milky Way
  • jave jarevaon - "our galaxy", refers to Andromeda
  • javegara - "the people closest to me/us"; friends, etc.
  • karyj - a type of badge used by the Resistance; like a HUSTL patch
  • kvastyr - "last light"
  • novoa - "day"
  • Novolori - a mythical bogeyman
  • olaon - "younger sibling"
  • ongaan - What a parent would call one of their younger children
  • onjeng - children
  • paara - to know or learn
  • Paavoa - "welcome", a common angaran greeting
  • Pas - "find" or "discovery"
  • raba garessen: Roughly, “sanctuary trips”.
  • Roekaar - fearsome soldiers from angaran mythology, the namesake of Akksul's faction.
  • rofjinn - A poncho-type garment.
  • set - "to"
  • shelesh - "to barter for the moon"
  • shena - the mouth
  • sholaon- "Adopted sibling" used for orphans and children with no immediate family
  • skkut - a general expletive, used in contexts similar to "fuck" and "shit"
  • sovoa - "lights out", as in knock unconscious
  • Taerve Uni - "forward together", the name of the Andromeda Initiative's Voeld outpost.
  • Taoshay - "loved one"
  • tavetaan - referring to a person: a friend or trusted comrade; referring to a place: a place where you feel like home
  • tavetara - "reborn"
  • tavum - a pleasant intoxicant added to hot water or fruit juice.
  • tehet - "kett"
  • teroshe - a term meaning roughly "cruel joke"
  • ushior - "resonance", lends its name to a pistol model
  • vaasa-nari - "a shared soul," possibly meaning twins
  • vehshaanan - someone pleased with their own shit.
  • Vesaal - "time of change", refers to the time-sharing system used to determine who lives on Aya
  • vesaan - "outsider"
  • vesagara - "uprooted people", or "exiles", a derogatory term used by the Roekaar for individuals from the Milky Way.
  • vesoan - "explorer"
  • voneraan - "astronomer"
  • yalaon - "elder sibling"

Known angaran idioms include:

  • In an ocean of fish, one will have gems in its mouth. - success attributed to probability, not skill: as the number of cases approaches infinity, the unlikeliest outcomes become likely

Government[]

The de facto seat of angaran government is based on Aya, with its planetary governor holding the highest office when it comes to civilian affairs. Military matters are handled by the Angaran Resistance, a separate but still integral organization. Governorship is decided by democratic elections, preceded by candidates arguing loudly about their platforms until only one of them is left. Fearful that political power might be misused, such positions are limited to a single term, in hopes of curtailing any would-be dictators.

Military[]

The angara have no official military per se, although the Resistance fulfills some functions such as defending civilian targets or conducting offensive strikes. Centuries prior to alien arrival on Heleus, however, they fielded the "Heskaarl": their equivalent of special forces, with training comparable to human N7s. As the Heskaarl passed on their training via oral tradition, few remember them in the present day. One Heskaarl, Andraknor, is interested in learning about the N7 program in exchange for teaching the Heskaarl ways.

Weapons developed by the angara include the Isharay, the Ushior, the Sovoa (co-developed with the turians), and the firaan and its varieties.

The angara are known to field fighter craft in addition to transport vessels. They call their shuttle-sized vessels "cruisers", a term Milky Way species use to refer to much larger ships.

Notable Angara[]

Angaran Worlds[]

Trivia[]

  • The singular and plural form are both "angara" while the adjectival form is "angaran."[1]

References[]

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