Illium
Asari Trade World on the Terminus Frontier
Illium was a hot garden world colonized by asari corporate interests as a trade hub between the Terminus Systems and the Asari Republics, where relaxed customs laws made almost any good available. During the Reaper War its wealthy, well armed leaders mounted a fierce defense that slowed the invaders.
Illium was a hot, massive garden world that served as an entrepot between the lawless Terminus Systems and the Asari Republics, drawing traders, fortune seekers, and corporations from across the galaxy. Though it was settled and run by asari corporate interests, it was not officially an asari world, a legal fiction that let it relax the strict customs laws of Council space and rival the freewheeling markets of the Terminus. The world later became a notable holdout during the Reaper War, where its paranoid, heavily armed leadership bloodied the invading fleet. (Mass Effect 2; Mass Effect 3)
A garden world built for trade#
Illium was a classic garden world developed to serve as an entrepot between the Terminus Systems and the Asari Republics. To support that trade, the normally stringent customs laws of Council space governing product safety, proscribed materials, and the trafficking of sapient beings were deliberately relaxed. Officially Illium was not an asari world but a colony operated by asari corporate interests, a distinction that gave it the same legal latitude enjoyed by the human corporate research enclaves of Noveria. (Mass Effect 2)
The world itself was hot and massive. Ground settlement was practical only at the higher polar latitudes, while in more equatorial regions the population lived in towering arcology skyscrapers raised to escape the surface heat. Illium was one of the youngest asari colonies, settled during the 7th Expansion Wave, and was young enough that the first child born on the world was only reaching middle age. (Mass Effect 2)
Commerce and lax law#
As a commerce planet sitting close to the Terminus Systems, Illium saw a constant flow of new cultures and goods. Its lax legal regulations, necessary to stay competitive with the unregulated Terminus markets, meant that drugs were legal so long as they were properly labeled, and a visitor could buy nearly any kind of weapon, technology, or even indentured servants. Newcomers were warned to avoid signing anything, since contracts on Illium could carry harsh and binding terms. (Mass Effect 2)
For all its permissiveness, Illium was still an asari world and far from lawless. Very few quarians ever visited, as the world did not permit the Migrant Fleet to enter its star system. The principal locale was the gleaming trade port of Nos Astra, and other known sites included Manjoros Plaza and the Saefos Valley. (Mass Effect 2)
The Reaper War#
Illium met the Reaper invasion with a surprising amount of resistance. Its leaders were intensely protective of their fortunes and wielded influence across both Terminus and Citadel space, and they had used that reach to acquire a large defense fleet and a high number of fission weapons. In the brief space battle that followed, they made an unconventional choice, directing those weapons against the Reaper fleet's troop transports rather than against the near impervious capital ships. As a result the inevitable ground invasion was slowed to a crawl as the Reapers were forced to manufacture more troops to replace those lost before they could land. (Mass Effect 3)
Frequently asked questions
- What is Illium in Mass Effect?
- Illium was a hot, massive garden world that served as an entrepot between the lawless Terminus Systems and the Asari Republics. It was settled and run by asari corporate interests, drawing traders, fortune seekers, and corporations from across the galaxy.
- Why were Illium's laws so relaxed?
- Though run by asari, Illium was not officially an asari world, a legal fiction that let it relax the strict customs laws of Council space and compete with the freewheeling Terminus markets. This gave it the same legal latitude enjoyed by the human corporate research enclaves of Noveria, loosening rules on product safety, proscribed materials, and the trafficking of sapient beings.
- What could you buy on Illium?
- Illium offered visitors nearly any good, with drugs legal so long as they were properly labeled, and weapons, technology, and even indentured servants available for purchase. Newcomers were warned to avoid signing anything, since contracts on Illium could carry harsh and binding terms.
- What was Illium's environment and main city like?
- Illium was hot and massive, with ground settlement practical only at higher polar latitudes while equatorial populations lived in towering arcology skyscrapers raised to escape the surface heat. Its principal locale was the gleaming trade port of Nos Astra, with other known sites including Manjoros Plaza and the Saefos Valley.
- How did Illium fight back during the Reaper War?
- Illium's leaders, influential across both Terminus and Citadel space, had acquired a large defense fleet and a high number of fission weapons. In the brief space battle they directed those weapons against the Reaper fleet's troop transports rather than the near impervious capital ships, slowing the ground invasion to a crawl as the Reapers had to manufacture more troops to replace those lost.
Gallery
Images via Mass Effect Wiki
Sources
- GameMass Effect 2, BioWare, 2010
- GameMass Effect 3, BioWare, 2012
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Asari Republics
The Asari Republics were the loose, consensus-driven government of the asari, the most influential species in the galaxy. As the first contemporary race to settle the Citadel, the asari were instrumental in founding the Citadel Council and remained at the heart of galactic society.
Asari
The asari, native to Thessia, were among the most influential species in the galaxy, renowned for their elegance, biotic talent, and millennium-long lifespans. A mono-gender people able to reproduce with a partner of any species, they founded the Citadel Council and stood at the heart of galactic society for two thousand years.
Citadel
The Citadel was a colossal deep-space station in the Serpent Nebula that served as the political and cultural heart of Citadel space and the seat of the Council. Long believed to be a Prothean relic, it was in truth a Reaper construction and a dormant trap at the center of galactic civilization.
Noveria
Noveria was a frozen world chartered for research too dangerous to perform elsewhere, where Commander Shepard tracked Matriarch Benezia, uncovered a revived rachni queen, and recovered the lost Mu Relay coordinates.
Terminus Systems
The Terminus Systems were a vast, ungoverned region beyond Citadel space, home to a loose affiliation of minor species united only in refusing the Council's authority. A haven for piracy, the slave trade, and mercenary gangs, the Terminus centered on the trade hub of Omega.
Migrant Fleet
Known to its people as the Flotilla, the Migrant Fleet was the vast collection of starships that became home to the quarians after the geth drove them from their world. Some fifty thousand vessels carried seventeen million quarians across the galaxy in a centuries-long exile.
Mentioned in27 entries
Asari Commandos
Asari commandos, also called huntresses, were powerful asari biotics who formed the elite of their species' military. Fighting in small guerrilla bands during the maiden stage of their long lives, they ranked among the finest individual warriors in the galaxy.
Bekenstein
Bekenstein was an early human colony founded as Earth's off-planet manufacturing base, which prospered by producing high quality luxury goods for nearby markets and became known as the humans' Illium. It was bombarded from orbit by the Reapers late in the war.
Blasto: The First Hanar Spectre
Blasto was a fictional action hero who starred in a long run of popular films across the galaxy, billed as the Milky Way's first hanar Spectre. A gun-toting jellyfish with a lover in every port, he became a cultural fixture whose movies ran from the 2180s into the era of the Andromeda settlements.
Broker Terminal: the Shadow Broker's window on a galaxy at war
In a cabin aboard the Normandy SR-2, a single message terminal carried the intercepted traffic of the Shadow Broker's network through the darkest months of the Reaper War. Its files ran from progress reports on the war's last superweapon and smuggler manifests to private letters that were never meant to be read.
Conrad Verner
Conrad Verner was an enthusiastic, self-proclaimed admirer of Commander Shepard whose hapless attempts to follow in the Commander's footsteps recurred across the galaxy, from the Citadel to Illium and back again.
Drugs: the narcotics and medicines of the galaxy
Drugs were chemical substances that altered the normal bodily functions of an organism, and the galactic market for them was lucrative enough that criminal enterprises produced, sold, and smuggled them despite legal restrictions. They ranged from lifesaving antibiotics to red sand, a narcotic refined from element zero that granted brief biotic power, and to suppressants engineered to strip a biotic of that power entirely.
Eclipse
Eclipse was a mercenary corporation founded by the asari commando Jona Sederis, prized for advanced equipment, heavy use of biotics, and a willingness to take any contract a client could afford. It blended security work with a vast smuggling operation and counted among the three rival syndicates that ruled Omega's underworld.
Elysium: the colony attacked in the Skyllian Blitz of 2176
Elysium was humanity's oldest colony in the Skyllian Verge, founded in 2160 in the Vetus system with 8.3 million people by the game's present. In 2176 a pirate and mercenary force under Elanos Haliat attacked it and was thrown off.
Every Mass Effect Romance Option, Game by Game
Every romance in Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3 and Andromeda: who each character is, whether a male or female Shepard or Ryder can romance them, how the relationship plays out and what happens to it in the next game. Fates that depend on choices are given as choices.
Every Mass Effect Squadmate and Companion, Game by Game
Every squadmate in Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3 and Andromeda, with their species, how they join, what their story is about and how they can die. Fates that depend on player choices are given as choices, because the series never picks one canon.
Feron: the drell double agent who lost Shepard's body on Omega
Feron was a drell information trafficker who worked for the Shadow Broker, Cerberus and Liara T'Soni at once while hunting Commander Shepard's corpse. He spent two years strapped to the Broker's torture rig for it.
Ilos
Ilos was a ruined Prothean colony hidden behind the secret Mu Relay, home to the Conduit and the buried truth of the Reaper cycle, reached by Commander Shepard in the race to stop Saren Arterius.
+ 15 more
Get new articles in your inbox
No spam. New lore drops, canon conflicts, and deep dives only when they’re worth reading.
Some links on Lore Fortress are affiliate links. If you buy through them we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.