House Aurelos

House Aurelos is one of the Familiae Martialis, the Turian Hierarchy's military elite. They are the oldest of Palaven's military families, responsible for the reunification of the Turian Empire during the Unification War of 336 BCE, and the establishment of the modern-day Turian Hierarchy thereafter.

Due to its size, House Aurelos has many cadet branches native to several of the empire's original extrasolar colonies; the most prominent of these cadet branches are the Macedyn and Aurix branches. Notable family members include the empire's last Imperator Aurelion Aurelos, Primarch Alexia Aurelos, Navarch Aureia Aurelos, and Legatus Timos Aurelos.

A Living Spirit
The history of House Aurelos begins with Aurelion, legendary Imperator of Palaven, under whose rule a fragmented Turian Empire was reunified and its ancient meritocratic system of governance restored.

At the time of Aurelion's birth in 319 BCE, the Turian Empire had vastly diminished, having fallen into decline under the rule of several indolent Imperators. But Aurelion was unlike any of his predecessors. He believed that the task of reunifying his people had been ordained by the Spirits themselves, and was thus a holy endeavour.

After inheriting the title of Imperator from his distant relatives through Right of Blood, Aurelion entered into a long and bloody war of attrition that would later become known as the Unification War. After decades of infighting, Aurelion and his newly founded Turian Hierarchy successfully crushed all colonial resistance, restoring the empire to its original state; the seven extrasolar colonies united under the martial rule of Palaven.

Several centuries after his death, Aurelion was formally deified by the Council of Primarchs, who decreed that, in life, Aurelion had walked the mortal plane as a Living Spirit, an exemplar of his species. His imposing funerary palace, which still dominates the skyline of the Cipritine Necropolis, remains an important site of pilgrimage for modern-day turians.

Bloodlines and Cadet Branches
Ironically, despite sharing his house name, members of House Aurelos are not directly descended from Aurelion. Only those with House Abrudas ancestry can truly claim direct descent from the historical Imperator. This is because Aurelion himself fathered only one legitimate child - Trebia Aurelos - who joined House Abrudas upon her marriage to Aurelion's long-time friend and secret lover, Markus Abrudas. Markus outranked Trebia at the time of their marriage, and thus she adopted his surname instead of retaining her father's.

House Aurelos instead claims direct descent through Aurelion's many maternal and paternal cousins, though members of both House Aurelos and Abrudas have intermarried over the centuries, in an attempt to consolidate the purity of their shared bloodline. This multifaceted lineal structure has allowed for many different cadet and sub-branches to form, making House Aurelos the largest and most politically powerful family in the empire - a status which they wear as a badge of honour and fiercely guard. Every colonial territory in turian space boasts a branch of House Aurelos as natives, their reach extending outwards from Palaven to touch every corner of the empire. To cross them is to invoke the prideful wrath of a family who consider themselves to be the progeny of the divine made flesh.

House Aurix is a cadet branch of House Aurelos, claiming descent through Aurelion's three illegitimate children - Rea, Flavia and Orian. The house is divided into three sub-branches, one for each child, though all three have intermarried frequently with each other over the centuries. The name Aurix translates from Ancient High Cipritine as "children of gold", or more literally as "golden children". Their Aurelian ancestry is conveyed symbolically by their sigil - a golden sunburst on a black field - in contrast of House Aurelos' golden sunburst on a white field.

Etymology
The family's name comes from an ancient and now extinct Palavenian dialect, translating as "golden" or "resplendent". It is a derivative of Aurelion's praenomen. It was adopted as the house's nomen gentilicium by Aurelion's paternal relatives after his death, as a tribute to their cousin's great legacy.

Known members
Key: Parriachs / Bloodline Members / Matrimonial Members (note that all parriarchs are also bloodline members of the house)
 * Aurelion Aurelos
 * Septonia Halabrian
 * Alexia Aurelos
 * Trebia Aurelos
 * Aureia Aurelos
 * Timos Aurelos