A moon in the Terminus Systems, in the Aysur System of the Caleston Rift. A moon of Dranen, it's classified as a water world because oceans or ice cover 90% of its surface.
Arvuna is home to immense sea-going animals, among them the deinorostrum, a carnivorous sea creature some 35 metres long. With an armoured head and sharp beak, the deinorostrum resembles the prehistoric dinicthys fish of Earth, but on a scale similar to blue whales. Besides prodigious sea life, Arvuna is home to a host of venomous arthropods in the tropical zone; these have evolved metallic carapaces similar to those found on Palaven, in order to resist radiation coming from Dranen’s magnetosphere.
There are several well-shielded human colonies on Arvuna, although they’re alienated from the Citadel Council and politically insignificant to the Terminus Systems. The capital city is Asa, which tolerates no disobedience from the outlying towns.
As the Arvunan marine ecosystem was rich, diverse and therefore eminently exploitable, Heyuan Genomics established a research base on the planet, to explore the lucrative field of xenobiology.
Other social forces include Grow Zero, an anti-population terrorist group that wants no more immigration to Arvuna.
Post-Reapers[]
Arvunan ray beetles were introduced to Palaven to assist in pollinating crops following the Reaper War. Two aspects to the insect's biology made them subject to interest from Turian Hierarchy science teams looking to repair their homeworld's devastated ecology: a metallic carapace, not unlike the one that shields turians from their sun's heat and radiation, and a shockingly malleable genome.
The CDN Connections[]
Nassa D'Veyra and her Eclipse unit, the Sixteenth, once massacred a group of separatist Arvunans after being hired by authorities in Asa to make an example of a rebel town.
Cerberus Agent Pharos had an difficult mission on Arvuna. Dr. Julia Weiss contacted Cerberus and agreed to join them if they would help her escape her employers; Weiss had signed a 12-year contract with Heyuan, of which she still had 8 years left to work. The extraction team sent in, led by Pharos, wasn’t briefed as to Weiss’ specialisation, having been told only that her extraction was vital to Cerberus’ goals. Pharos’ squad consisted of himself and eleven other Cerberus agents, all ex-Alliance commandos with stealth or recon training. They were inserted by HALO drop and travelled to the Heyuan compound underwater, using impeller units built into their armour. The plan was to achieve entry to the compound by stealth, make contact with Dr. Weiss and escort her to one of the orbital landing pads on the exterior of the compound -- from there be collected by a high-speed assault shuttle. They reached the compound and gained entry; everything was proceeding as planned until they arrived at Weiss’ quarters. When they broke in they were confronted by Weiss and a squad of corporate troops; Heyuan had discovered the doctor’s intentions prior to their arrival and had detained her, but they were curious as to who was trying to extract her. A fire-fight immediately broke out and two of the Cerberus men were killed. They managed to kill the squad holding Weiss and recapture the doctor, but the entire compound had by then been alerted. Pharos contacted the high-speed shuttle and requested extraction, but switched the landing co-ordinates to an alternate landing pad; expecting Heyuan to be aware of his escape plans.
Pharos didn’t tell his squad about the change of pick-up. More corporate troops arrived and he gave the order to pull out. All of them were equipped with tactical cloaks and Pharos was carrying a spare unit for the doctor; as they retreated he ensured that he had the doctor with him and they activated their cloaks. They headed for the new collection point, leaving the squad to draw the bulk of the corporate troops away, to the original collection point on the other side of the compound. Pharos and Weiss arrived at the landing pad and were collected, but by that point the squad were cut off and beyond extraction. Pharos remotely detonated the suicide charges in their armour, to prevent their capture and, he later claimed, to ensure they didn’t suffer at the hands of Heyuan.
Cerberus (or a front company) bought a lab facility outright from a much-weakened Heyuan a few years later, and so found itself running an underwater laboratory at Isrand Island in the twilight of the Reaper War.
Eshimsk Voskala lost a squadmate during an operation on Arvuna during the war, an incident he feels guilt over. See here.