Planetary Profile : Tuchanka

Battleground Planet : Tuchunka (Mass Effect)
Status: Death World

Description/Geography: 

http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/File:Tuchanka_Codex.ogg
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/File:Codex_ME3_-_Tuchanka.ogg

(audio Files) 

Scarred by bombardment craters, radioactive rubble, choking ash, salt flats, and alkaline seas, Tuchanka, the krogan homeworld, can barely support life. Thousands of years ago life grew in fierce abundance under the F-class star Aralakh (a Raik clan word meaning "Eye of Wrath"). Tree analogs grew in thick jungles, their roots growing out of shallow silty seas. Life fed upon life in an evolutionary crucible. This world died in nuclear firestorms after the krogan split the atom. A "little ice age" of nuclear winter killed off the remaining plant life. In recent centuries many krogan have returned to their homeworld. The reduced albedo has caused global temperatures to rise.

Essentially this world is going to have limited sources of water and will be dominated by rolling deserts, the ruins of the ancient Krogan culture,  and warring tribes. Any visitor to the planet had best come armed to the teeth. 

THIRD PARTY FACTIONS: THREE*

--Wildlife: 

There are two notable, and dangerous, types of wildlife

   Thresher maws are solitary creatures; two or three at most can be found on a single planet. They live alone in nests spanning large areas underground. They can grow in excess of 30 meters above the ground, with a body nearly twice that size beneath the surface. The body of an adult thresher maw never entirely leaves the ground; only the head and tentacles erupt from the ground to attack.

Aggressive and highly territorial, thresher maws feed by absorbing significant quantities of solar radiation and survive best on planets, asteroids or moons with little or no atmosphere. They also consume minerals and ores from the ground itself for use in an unusual form of photosynthesis. This metabolic process, utilizing solar radiation and minerals as raw materials, creates the fuel that powers their various biological processes and allows them to move their significant mass with surprising speed.

Due to their size, and their burrowing method of movement, thresher maws are mostly immobile above ground, but can move at incredible velocities through subterranean environments. They can absorb a tremendous amount of damage and are very hard to kill. Their attacks consist of spitting a powerful, viscous acid that splashes on contact, burrowing up from beneath their prey, and smashing their targets with their claws in close range while emitting infra sound. Due to the overwhelming, direct physical nature of their attacks, shields are completely ineffective at mitigating any damage that is taken.

Varren: 

Varren are omnivores with a preference for living prey. Originally native to the krogan homeworld of Tuchanka, they are—like most life from Tuchanka—savage, clannish, and consummate survivors. They are pack hunters when vulnerable prey is readily available and become scavengers when outnumbered or outclassed. Their supreme adaptability, vicious demeanor and rapid breeding cycle have made them ubiquitous and dangerous pests on many worlds. Virtually everywhere the krogan have been, varren infestations have followed, wreaking havoc with the native ecology.
The krogan have had a love-hate relationship with varren for millennia, alternately fighting them for territory and embracing them as treasured companions. To this day, krogan—and some other species, including batarians—raise them as beasts of war.

--

Council Demilitarization Enforcement Mission

Numbering around 3,000 this is the mostly Turian Force that watches over the planet in case the Krogan try to unite or acquire Space Weaponry. Under an armistice agreement 

CDEM logs all ships passing through the are around Tuchunka and has the right to board and search them at any time and for any reason. Under the armistice, CDEM is responsible for ensuring that the krogan do not obtain starship-mounted weapons; the penalty for smuggling these weapons is punishable by death by spacing. When forced to fight on the ground, expect them to wield Mass Accelerator rifles. 

--Krogans

Due to the brutality of their surroundings, natural selection has played a significant role in the evolution of the krogan. 

Their large shoulder humps store fluids and nutrients, enabling them to survive extended periods without food or water. A bigger shoulder hump is seen as a sign of high status, showing how successful an individual krogan is at hunting. Their thick hides are virtually impervious to cuts, scrapes or contusions, and they are highly resistant to environmental hazards, including toxins, radiation, and extreme heat and cold. Consequently their diets can include food and drink which would prove very dangerous to other species—a fact reflected in the krogan liquor of choice, ryncol, which is said to "hit aliens like ground glass". Younger krogan have yellow or green markings on their hides. These markings darken to brown or tan over time, showing their age.

Krogan typically stand over 7 feet and weigh roughly one ton in armor. Biotic individuals are rare, though those who do possess the talent typically have strong abilities. The most amazing physiological feature of krogan biology is the multiple instances of major organs. These secondary (and where applicable, tertiary) systems are capable of serving as back-ups in the event of damage to the primary biological structures. They have, for example, two hearts, four lungs, and four testicles. This reflects in their slang, where they often speak about a "quad" where a human would use the words "balls" or "pair". Krogan also have a secondary nervous system using a neuroconductive fluid, meaning they are almost impossible to paralyze. Krogan bleed a yellow or orange fluid when shot, which may be this fluid or actual blood.

Having redundant systems makes krogan difficult to kill or incapacitate in normal combat scenarios. Sheer physical hardiness means an individual krogan can expect to live for centuries. Krogan can live for well over a thousand years, as evidenced by Warlord Okeer, a veteran of the Krogan Rebellions who died (of decidedly unnatural causes) well over a thousand years after the Rebellions ended.

At this current time there are 2.1 billion Krogan living on the planet, however they are NOT united(Wrex in the timeframe used has not united the tribes, and he will appear in the Citadel profile). They are split up between hundreds if not thousands of warring clans, many of which have major grievances with each other and would be slow to unite against enemies. There are also Blood Pack Mercenary gangs operating on the planet, together with Vorcha - a primitive and brutal race that specializes in adapting to all sorts of Terrain. 

Danger Status: 

4.1/5

Between residue radiation, the fearsome predators, Violent Krogan,  and mercenary gangs this is a very violent and dangerous place.