Rannoch
Lost Homeworld of the Quarians
Rannoch was the arid homeworld of the quarians, a walled garden of rivers and deserts lost to the geth in the war that drove its people into exile. For generations it lay watched over by a vast swarm of geth space stations.
Rannoch was the homeworld of the quarians, an arid world of rivers and deserts that its people lost to the geth and were forced to abandon, beginning generations of exile aboard the Migrant Fleet. Its very name, meaning walled garden, reflected the importance of shade and plant life in ancient quarian culture. By the era of the Reaper War the planet lay watched over by a vast artificial swarm of geth constructions, a contested prize at the heart of the long conflict that touched Commander Shepard's efforts to unite the galaxy. (Mass Effect; Mass Effect 3)
A walled garden#
Rannoch orbited an orange sun only about ninety percent the mass of Earth's star and roughly half as luminous. Despite the dimmer light, the world was arid by Earth's standards, having formed closer to its star and possessing slightly less ocean coverage. Photosynthetic life concentrated around its rivers and oceans, while vast expanses of desert stretched between them. The scarcity of greenery shaped the culture of the quarians who arose there, and the importance they placed on plant life and shade was preserved in the name of the world itself, which translated as walled garden. (Mass Effect 3)
The planet harbored a range of distinctive native lifeforms. Among them was the qorach, an animal comparable to a carnivorous bighorn sheep whose belly was perpetually dusted with blue-green fern pollen and seed casings, its blind newborn offspring known as the ke'sed. The lemek worm, a small and slender creature covered in metallic rose-colored scales, could regenerate into new worms after being cut to pieces. The fa'yin, an edible nut, dated back to the time of the first proto-quarian beasts, a reminder of how ancient the world's ecology was. (Mass Effect: Andromeda: Annihilation)
The geth swarm#
By the era of the Reaper War, what an approaching starship noticed first about Rannoch was not the planet itself, but the many heat sources arrayed in its orbit. Thousands of geth space stations watched over the world, the legacy of the war in which the geth had risen against their quarian creators and driven them from their homeworld into generations of exile. Somewhere within this artificial swarm lurked the geth armada, holding its position and waiting for its moment to counterattack. The contested fate of Rannoch, and of the two peoples who laid claim to it, became one of the great unresolved questions Shepard confronted in the course of rallying the galaxy against the Reapers, an outcome that could fall in more than one direction depending on the choices made. (Mass Effect 3)
Frequently asked questions
- What is Rannoch?
- Rannoch was the homeworld of the quarians, an arid world of rivers and deserts. Its people lost it to the geth and were forced to abandon it, beginning generations of exile aboard the Migrant Fleet.
- What does the name Rannoch mean?
- The name Rannoch translated as walled garden. It reflected how deeply ancient quarian culture prized plant life and shade, since the world's photosynthetic life clustered around its rivers and oceans with vast deserts in between.
- What is Rannoch's environment like?
- Rannoch orbited an orange sun roughly ninety percent the mass of Earth's star and about half as luminous. Despite the dimmer light it was arid by Earth's standards, having formed closer to its star with slightly less ocean coverage.
- Why were there geth space stations around Rannoch?
- By the era of the Reaper War, thousands of geth space stations watched over Rannoch, the legacy of the war in which the geth rose against their quarian creators and drove them into exile. The geth armada lurked within this swarm, waiting for its moment to counterattack.
- What native lifeforms lived on Rannoch?
- Rannoch's native life included the qorach, comparable to a carnivorous bighorn sheep whose newborns were called the ke'sed, and the lemek worm, which could regenerate into new worms after being cut to pieces. The fa'yin, an edible nut, dated back to the time of the first proto-quarian beasts.
Sources
- GameMass Effect, BioWare, 2007
- GameMass Effect 3, BioWare, 2012
- BookMass Effect: Andromeda: Annihilation, Catherynne M. Valente, 2018
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
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