A Song of Seven Colonies

A Song of Seven Colonies, also known as The Epic of Aurelion, is an ancient Turian work of literature written by Markus Abrudas in memory of Primarch Aurelion. It is considered to be the fullest and most detailed source for modern knowledge of the Unification War and the life of Aurelion himself. The original edition of the saga is kept under lock and key in the archives of the Tianar Museum of Military History, on Palaven, having been gifted to the Turian people by House Abrudas centuries after Markus' death. As a direct result of the vidscreen adaptation created by the Turian network Sirenum Scopuli, A Song of Seven Colonies is experiencing a resurgence in popularity, with the show boasting a recurrent viewer base of over 20 billion.

Chapters
A Song of Seven Colonies is comprised of nine chapters, written from the perspective of Markus as a general in Aurelion's imperial army.

Antebellum
The first chapter, titled Antebellum, acts as a prologue to the events of the Unification War. It describes the state of the Turian Empire before Aurelion's coronation as Imperator, painting a bleak picture of corruption, decadence, elitism, and societal breakdown.

This chapter is the only one to really focus on Markus' life. Unlike the other eight chapters, which focus primarily on Aurelion, the opening of Antebellum describes Markus' experiences growing up on the separatist world of Carthaan. With Carthaan's state infrastructure near non-existent, Markus was largely illiterate, the only word he was able to write being his name. His parents, second-generation Carthaneans since the split from Palaven, were also illiterate. He spent the majority of his childhood caring for his mother, who was suffering from a terminal illness that Carthaan's floundering health service didn't have the resources to treat.

Like his father before him, Markus was forcefully conscripted into the Carthanean army at the age of 16. Markus takes this as an opportunity to critique the brutality of Carthaan's military leadership. He gives multiple accounts of the ruling elite's abuse of power, using the military as a political bludgeon to curb dissent. Civilian unrest was always met with violent force. Mass executions were commonplace, so much so that civilians secretly referred to the capital's main plaza as "The Blue Square". Markus writes that, at the age of 19, he was ordered to cut off a starving child's hand for stealing food bound for the Signis. When he refused, the child was instead shot dead and Markus was sentenced to 50 lashes for dereliction of duty.

The middle portion of Antebellum describes the televised coronation of Aurelion, which Markus watched in secret with his father. The broadcast was banned by the Carthanean government, forcing viewers underground for fear of their lives. Markus remarks that it was Aurelion's inaugural speech that made him feel hope for the first time in his life, going into great detail about his charisma and strength of conviction. He was like no other Imperator who had come before; he was young, deeply spiritual and held strong reformist beliefs. His holistic message of unity was one that struck a chord with Markus, marking him forever more.

The final portion of Antebellum recounts the invasion of Carthaan by imperial forces. Being part of the military, Markus and his father were forced to muster as part of the colonial defence force. Markus describes the pivotal moment of the invasion, where Aurelion took the field and addressed the subjugated Carthaneans, promising amnesty and protection to those who laid down their arms. Markus was the first to step forward and throw down his rifle, bending the knee to a foreign conqueror. It was this one act that would place Markus at Aurelion's right-hand-side for the rest of his life, rising from impoverished slave-soldier to liberated citizen.

Carthaan fell to Aurelion within an hour, its leaders abandoning the planet, never to return.

Missing 10th chapter
It has long been speculated by turian scholars that A Song of Seven Colonies was originally intended to include a final 10th chapter. This is because the surviving odd number of chapters defies literary conventions; in Markus' time, written prose always consisted of an even numbering of chapters.

Numerous hypothesis for the absence of this final chapter exist; everything from deliberate removal to sheer incompetence on the author's part.