Table of Contents

Foreword by Seismic Stan              1

An Introduction              4

In the Beginning              5

A Sidenote (Ancient Civilizations)              7

The Empires              9

The Amarr Empire              10

History              10

Social Structure              11

Roleplaying Tips              12

The Minmatar Republic              12

History              13

Social Structure              14

Roleplaying Tips              15

The Gallente Federation              15

History              16

Social Structure              18

Roleplaying Tips              19

The Caldari State              19

History              20

Social Structure              21

Roleplaying Tips              22

CONCORD              23

Frontier Organizations              24

Ammatar Mandate              24

Angel Cartel              25

Blood Raider Covenant              25

Equilibrium of Mankind              26

Guristas              27

Intaki Syndicate              27

Intaki Culture              27

InterBus              28

Khanid Kingdom              29

Mordu’s Legion              29

Outer Ring Excavations (ORE)              30

Rogue Drones              30

Sansha’s Nation              31

Serpentis              33

Sisters of Eve              33

Society of Conscious Thought              34

Technology              35

Capsules              35

Cloning              36

Faster-Than-Light Communications              38

Stargates              38

Warp Drive              39

Vitoc              40

Miscellaneous              41

Calendar              41

Naming Conventions / Languages              42

Seyllin Incident/Isogen-5              43

Conclusion              44

Foreword by Seismic Stan

EVE Online: The Greatest Story Still Being Told

Science fiction literature has brought forth many mind-bending and society-changing stories. From the classic novels of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and Aldous Huxley to the grand visions of Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein and Philip K. Dick. Entire universes were conjured in our minds by Asimov's Foundation series and Frank Herbert's Dune saga.

Cinema was quick to embrace the opportunity to portray the future of man with Fritz Lang's Metropolis and eventually went on to give us the ever growing extended universes of Lucas' Star Wars and Roddenberry's Star Trek along with many others, both original works and adaptions of previously written stories.

Rich futuristic civilisations have sprung forth from other sources too; Games Workshop's dystopian Warhammer 40,000 universe and FASA Corporation's feudal BattleTech worlds to name just two. Comics have given us everything from Dan Dare to Judge Dredd and in recent years digital entertainment has stepped into the arena with enduring original storytelling like Half Life and Mass Effect.

But the future of storytelling is changing and EVE Online stands on the frontier.

When Science-Fiction and Science-Fact Collide

Every story mentioned above, no matter how engaging and wonderful, has one thing in common: They were all written to be enjoyed by the individual reader, viewer or player (or in the case of tabletop games, a small group). EVE Online is different.

EVE Online's universe of New Eden is an epic story told on an unprecedented scale, enacted and recorded by and for its thousands of participants. The freeform universe engulfs the player as soon as a character is created, fusing him into the story by simply being present in a single-sharded science-fiction universe.

Everyone Plays a Role

Even those participants who choose to shun the lore are still woven into the tapestry as they select their race and bloodline, starship piloting skills and then head off into the player-populated organisation of their choice. Every player becomes the citizen of a galaxy seething with politics and treachery, violence and opportunity.

The lore of EVE Online is not purely a resource for hardcore roleplayers, it's there to be passively enjoyed by everyone with even a passing interest in epic science fiction concepts. The themes colour the environment in which the metagamers plot, it provides character to the engines of mass destruction flown in huge invasion fleets and it flavours the tactical equipment options made by every pilot.

In fact, now our entertainment is so immersive, with participants so involved in adrenaline-pumping ship-to-ship combat, our bodies can't differentiate between a fictional spaceship environment and a primordial threat that triggers a fight-or-flight response. Likewise with pleasure - we get our dopamine hits from the digital stimuli of our pixellated victories. Those players who furiously claim that they are not "roleplayers" would be right in a sense; whether they are an e-sports combat pilot, a stoic fleet commander or the "King of Space", they aren't playing a role, they're living it.

No Wizard's Hat Required

Yet the depth of fiction available for those who also choose a lore-driven path of immersion is immense. With a backstory that has grown organically over the last decade, the epic interplay of warring civilisations in a universe of amoral, technologically-enhanced humans can be overwhelming for the newcomer.

But fear not, if your interest has been piqued and you'd like to know how to dip your toe in the pond of EVE lore - or perhaps even go for a paddle - help is at hand. I am proud to present renowned EVE content-explorer and lorehound Mark726's EVE Lore Survival Guide.

I approached Mark with the idea of an "EVE Lore for Dummies"-type concept, knowing his knowledge and writing style would make him the perfect author for such a project. What I expected was two or three articles providing a quick insight. What I got was that and much more; 20,000 words of light, well-researched explanation that could be presented in short, digestible chunks. I have given it pride of place on my Freebooted blog, but I think it deserves to evolve into something more. I suspect Mark was hoping I'd stop asking him stupid questions once he'd written it, but now I have a host of new stupid questions and after reading it, I'm sure you will too.

The Greatest Story Not Yet Told

As EVE Online continues to grow and its capsuleers live the story as it unfolds, we can only hope that the content developers at CCP have the vision to continue to push the narrative envelope, creating content that will ensnare and inspire.

H.G. Wells had only the written word to inspire millions and by simply adding audio he managed to troll a nation. Just think what is possible with a state-of-the-art server cluster, a cast and crew of hundreds of thousands and a universe as deep and stunning as New Eden.

Go tell Asimov, the future is happening. We're living it.

Join us...

An Introduction

Hi everyone. I’m Mark726. You might know me from EVE Travel, a blog dedicated to exploring and explaining the various landmarks (spacemarks?) in New Eden, to aid anyone looking to sightsee around the Cluster. Seismic Stan approached me a while ago to ask if I was interested in writing an “EVE Lore for Rookies” blogpost. Well, unfortunately, what originally started out as “a blogpost” quickly mutated into a twenty-thousand word, five-part monstrosity.

I had started this hoping that I would be able to cover the major points in one blog post. Indeed, one of the conversations that started this post had mentioned that people were looking for a “cohesive stream of lore” to follow the story of EVE. After thinking about this for a few moments, I came to a realization: just as in real life, there IS no cohesive stream of lore. Rather, there are many smaller, interwoven threads of stories that come to join a more cohesive whole. I can’t explain the background of the Minmatar without giving background on the Amarr. I can’t talk about the Jove without explaining the EVE Gate. I can’t even talk about the history of interstellar travel without mentioning and explaining, I kid you not, at least three major other related EVE plot points. The story of EVE is as interwoven as it is vast.

Still, I’m not one to turn down a challenge. This guide, available here and on Freebooted, is an attempt to give a broad-ish overview of the history and lore of EVE (a note to you professional RPers: I’d like to think that I hit the major points in this primer, though I know I by no means hit them all. If I left something out, it was (hopefully) an intentional decision on my part, though feel free to argue it with me as necessary. If I got something wrong, please let me know). Parts of the guide will be adapted from my own blog entries, other parts will come from the so-called “prime fiction” (direct from CCP lore, either in the form of Chronicles, the occasional book, or the fantastic fiction portal found on the EVE wiki), and others from what must be considered secondary sources (I would be remiss if I did not mention the fantastic The Hitchhiker’s Guide to New Eden by Kenreikko Valitonen). For anyone looking for more information on any of these subjects, these will be your best places to start.

The guide will be roughly organized into five parts. In this first part, I’ll detail the deep history of New Eden, dating back practically to our current day IRL (In Real Life), including the so-called Lost Civilizations. The next part will look at the history of the five empires: how they came to be, why they were created, etc, as well as the development of CONCORD (this part is a doozy of a subject in and of itself). Part Three (for those more interested in the yarr side of things) will be looking at the development of the various pirate and other smaller organizations. The fourth part will look at some of the technology in New Eden, including the key developments of interstellar travel, cloning, and interstellar communications, while the last section will examine some miscellaneous items that don’t quite fit anywhere else.

So, let’s get started, shall we?

In the Beginning

Let’s start off with some very basic information. EVE Online takes place (as of the posting of this blog) in the year 23,350 AD, or YC 114 (brief sidenote: I’ll return to the YC concept later on for timekeeping in the section on miscellanea; suffice it for now to say that YC 0 corresponds to the year 23236 AD in game terms, and that the current year (2012 in real life) corresponds to YC 114 in game).

The gameworld stretches over approximately 100 lightyears, encompassing approximately 5,000 known star systems collectively in a cluster of stars we call New Eden (this number jumps to almost 7,500 if we include wormhole space systems). We are completely cut off from Earth. Indeed, it’s not entirely clear that Earth even exists anymore, or if there are any other humans out there in the universe. In terms of lore, New Eden scientists are not even sure if a mythical place called “Earth” ever existed, though everyone seems to agree that all humans have a common starting point, even if we aren’t quite clear on where that might be. We, as capsuleers, fly throughout the stars, literally connected to our ships, which makes them an extension of ourselves. Through the wonders of cloning technology, our consciousnesses can be sent to a new body at the moment of our body’s death, meaning that we are, for all intents and purposes, immortal.

A brief note before I move on. At times throughout these posts, I’ll make a reference to something but preface it saying that the information isn’t known in game. That’s one of the things that many role players focus on in this game: trying to solve the mysteries of New Eden. There are quite a few things that we, out of game, know about the game universe that the general public in New Eden doesn’t know. When role playing, its important to keep these things separate, since half the fun of role playing for many is trying to solve these mysteries through in game means. If you bring up this OOC knowledge, RPers will generally politely remind you that these things may not be known.  I’ll do my best to set off pretty explicitly that certain information isn’t known in game or by the general public.

For those of you who are interested in RPing, most of this next paragraph is probably going to have to be considered off-limits to your character (for that matter, anything prior to the soon-to-be-mentioned Dark Ages should as a whole be considered mostly offlimits). Scientists and researchers in the game simply know almost nothing about the early years of the New Eden cluster, much less anything that took place before the collapse of the EVE Gate collapsed. For those of you who don’t care and/or want to know anyway, feel free to read on, but prepared to get shot down if you ever try to talk with someone in character (IC for short) about these events. A more detailed look at all of this can be found in the “official” New Eden timeline (but as I noted, just because it’s in this timeline does not mean it’s known to in-game characters), available here.

By the year 2730, humans had fully colonized our own solar system, which seemed to take much longer than necessary to colonize a few chunks of rock in one star system but whatever. It took an additional millennium before we figured out the secrets to travelling faster than light. Things were apparently swell for the next few thousand years, as the timeline doesn’t mention much of note, though some accounts mention vicious fights between corporations that control various human-colonized systems. That began to change in 7703 AD when the first known massive (supposedly) stable wormhole formed. Where this wormhole was found in relation to Earth isn’t clear, but it changed the course of human history when it was discovered in 7987. It was soon named the EVE Gate. The wormhole sent explorers to a far off system that (in a burst of genius), humans quickly named New Eden. In a cluster (in again, a burst of genius AND creativity), they named New Eden. Within two years, colonization of the newly discovered space was in full swing, with the future homeworlds of the Amarr and Gallente being purchased and colonized in 7989.

Colonization continued apace for the next few decades, spidering out quickly from New Eden into the broader cluster. Stations, some still seen today near New Eden (the system, not the cluster, see how brilliant the first settlers were?), were erected to protect the first stargates. Many planets, not all of them yet habitable, were colonized. Those not yet habitable began being terraformed (Caldari Prime, in Luminaire, being the most notable example of this). Few colonies were yet self-sufficient, relying heavily on support from Earth for money and supplies. Everything seemed to be going swimmingly.

However, problems in the EVE Gate itself soon appeared. It was not quite as stable as the first colonists had been lead to believe. Terrans (an umbrella term that refers to any humans that came from the other side of the Gate) quickly began to build a device to stabilize the wormhole for continued use. It was a massive undertaking; even 70 years later, it was not yet done, though it did have the words “EVE” blazoned on to it already.

Unfortunately, the stabilizer was too little too late. In 8061, just 74 years after the wormhole’s discovery, it collapsed quite spectacularly, cutting the fledgling cluster entirely off from Earth and its desperately needed support. The effect near the site of the gate was absolutely devastating. Any ships nearby were completely destroyed, and even in the modern day, the site of the Gate remains a maelstrom of energy that only the most dedicated explorers even attempt to approach. Rumor has it that the remains of Terran ships can be found in and around the Gate, supposedly with technology far advanced from what we have available today. The Jove (discussed a little later in this section, but suffice it to say that they are the fifth major, but completely isolated, empire of New Eden), according to that same rumor, have cloaked the wreckage to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. The Jove deny it, of course, but that doesn’t stop people from looking and spreading the rumors.

The effect of the collapse of the EVE Gate on the colonies in New Eden cannot be overstated. Despite being open to colonization for almost 75 years, many colonies were nowhere close to being self-sufficient. Terraforming wasn’t complete in many systems, and even the colonies on habitable planets often ran into problems of food supplies and other equipment. Many colonies simply died out from lack of supplies. Most of the ones that survived fell into the so-called Dark Ages, reverting to essentially feudal-level technology. Eventually, some civilizations managed to climb back up into space… but that’s getting ahead of myself.

A Sidenote (Ancient Civilizations)

Even the lore that we as players know (compared to what we would know as characters in New Eden) isn’t complete. The Dark Ages had some interesting happenings (of which I will describe as best as possible here), but exactly what happened after the collapse of the Gate and the rise of the Amarr is a bit of a mystery.

What little we do know suggests that before the four major empires arose, there were some civilizations that thrived for a time after the collapse of the EVE Gate. For whatever reason, these civilizations either vanished or were grossly transformed. These four “lost civilizations” are known to us as the Sleepers, the Talocan, the Yan Jung, and the Takmahl. Information on these civilizations is very sparse, but I’ll try to explain what I can.

The least is known about the Yan Jung and the Takmahl. The Yan Jung originally settled in Gallente space (conveniently, each of the four dead civilizations just HAPPENED to settle in areas now controlled by each of the four major empires), specifically in Deltole. According to the scant record, they were masters of “advanced gravitronic technology and force field theories.” Some ruins survive to this day, including a few pieces of working technology.

The Takmahl settled in Amarr space, specifically in the Araz constellation. They were original members of the Amarr Empire. How they got off planet before the Amarr seemed to regain the ability to travel into space is a bit of a mystery, as is why they left in the first place (though religious differences seems to be the prevailing theory). Regardless, the Takmahl were considered experts in “cybernetics and bio-engineering technology.”

Much more is known about the Sleepers. They apparently originally settled in Minmatar space in the Ani constellation. The Sleepers were considered masters of “virtual reality, neural interfacing and cryotechnology.” More interesting for our purposes, the Sleepers were also apparently able to colonize not only Ani, but also wormhole space (the space only accessible via natural, but unstable, wormholes). Various active and defunct Sleeper sites can be found throughout wormhole space (also known among the RP crowd as Anoikis), with unmanned drones that will defend themselves as necessary.

While all of this is known to the general citizenry of New Eden, the next paragraph contains information that is not known at all to the general public (so not known by players when they are playing IC), but is available in the recently released Templar One.

The Sleepers were apparently once part of the Jove race. The Jove arrived in New Eden in two parts: most of the citizenry were frozen in cryogenic suspension and connected to each other in a computer program (yes, just like The Matrix); the rest stayed unfrozen, taking care of the ships and the frozen citizens (if any of the ships were named Zion I’m quitting). When the colony ships arrived, many chose to stay in their virtual reality construct, only coming into the real world when necessary. At some point, the Sleepers split off from the Jove, presumably because of their desire to largely stay within the construct. They settled in Ani, and eventually moved on to wormhole space (how they moved there, or why, is not revealed in the book). However, the Sleeper civilization itself is still alive, even if they rarely leave their virtual world. They survive in their VR construct to this day, their bodies kept in hibernation, and only very rarely come out of their hibernation to interact with the real world (real world in the game... you know what I mean).

The Talocan cannot really be understood without the Sleepers. They originally settled in what is today Caldari space, in the Okkelen constellation, and are considered to be experts in “Spatial Manipulation and Hypereuclidean Mathematics.” The strange thing about the Talocan is that they appear to be, in some way, connected to the Sleepers. In many of the higher classes of wormhole space, Talocan ruins can be found interwoven with Sleeper structures. Whether the Talocan conquered the Sleepers, or vice versa, is completely unknown to us at this point. There is some evidence to suggest, however, that the Sleepers and Talocan eventually joined forces in wormhole space to fight some kind of disease. Some Sleeper sites in wormhole space are known as quarantined sites, and will even today broadcast warnings to stay away. The nature of the disease, whether it still exists, and whether it affected the Talocan, Sleepers, or both, are all matters of intense debate among the various RP groups.

The last of the original civilizations are the Jove. One of the original colonists of the New Eden cluster, they survived the collapse of the EVE Gate quite nicely and managed to form the First Jovian Empire after just a few centuries, that eventually spanned much of New Eden. The First Empire lasted around 9,000 years. It's speculated that the Empire eventually collapsed because of the onset of a devil that still haunts them to this day: the Jovian Disease. The Jove, you see, were very big on genetic manipulation to attain what they saw as perfection. By the end of the First Empire, they had begun tinkering with our most basic instincts in an attempt to remove any negative emotion.

At some point, however, something went wrong with the process. The Jovian Disease is apparently a genetic (in other words, non-infectious) condition where, at some point in a Jove's adult life, they fall into an incredibly deep depression, and eventually lose the will to live. The Disease devastated the First Empire, which collapsed soon after the Disease’s appearance. About 3,000 years ago, however, they managed to reconstitute a somewhat smaller Second Empire, which lasted about 2,500 years. That empire eventually collapsed as well due to the ravages of the Disease. In an attempt to start fresh, the Jovians abandoned their original homeworld in the region now known as Curse about 500 years ago. The modern day Third Empire, now much smaller than the first two, is completely isolated from the rest of the Cluster, and located in the northeast section of the Cluster. Beyond that, we have very little information on modern day Jove society. We know that they're governed by something called the Jovian Directorate, but other than that, information on the Jove is incredibly scarce. Indeed, there is at least some suggestion (through both Templar One and some interactions with Sansha’s Nation (to be explained later)) that the Jove as a race don’t even exist anymore, that they’ve all died out from the disease. Whether this is true or not is simply not known at this time.

Despite the lack of information on the Jove, they actually play a fairly major role in the history of the Cluster. They were the ones to first give capsule technology to the Caldari, and eventually the other Empires. They were instrumental to the creation of CONCORD a few years later, and continue to interfere with Cluster politics when they’ve deemed it necessary. Despite their complete isolation (just try getting into their space, I’ll wait), they (or, someone masquerading as them, depending on who you talk to) continues to exert a subtle, but significant pressure on the evolution of the Cluster. They don’t take a major role in many stories in New Eden, but even in this Primer they show up an awful lot in passing, so make sure to keep them in mind.

At this point, we’ve covered all of the deep background for New Eden lore. We have yet to really touch anything that is particularly relevant to modern day New Eden affairs, but it’s all part of the tapestry of New Eden. Next, we’ll be looking at the history of the four modern empires as well as the development of CONCORD.

The Empires

In the last part, we looked at some of the deeper history of New Eden, dating back to the discovery of New Eden itself. In this part, we’re going to be looking at something a little nearer and dearer to all of our RPing hearts: the history of the modern day empires and their current statuses. This is by no means intended to give you the full breadth of information on each of the empires. It won’t make you qualified to be a talking head on a news program (you know, if there were qualifications for that kind of thing), but it should be enough to point you in the right direction and at least make for some witty and charming dinnertime conversation. We’ll be covering the four empires in separate sections before turning our attentions to those lovable scamps in CONCORD.

The Amarr Empire: God Has a Plan

The Amarr Empire is the largest of the four main nations (collectively known as the Empires) of New Eden. The Empire is a bureaucratic morass that is also a theocratic state. Headed by Empress Jamyl Sarum, the Empire sees itself as the shining beacon of morality, ready to spread the gift of God’s love to the rest of New Eden. To that effect, they have at various times throughout their history attempted so-called “Reclaimings”, where they attempt to convert the godless heathens to their religion in an attempt to save their souls. Of course, this is mostly to the other cultures’ detriment, since according to the Amarrian religion, only the True Amarr (those of the True Amarr bloodline, and descendants of the first Amarr) can truly be saved. All other people must subject themselves to the whims of the True Amarr and spend their days in servitude to God’s Chosen People. Those that don’t willingly convert are at times forced into slavery, which under the Amarr religion is perfectly acceptable. Indeed, the Amarr are renowned for their slave control technology.

History

The Amarr Empire originally started as a split off Catholic sect back on Earth. They eventually made their way through the EVE Gate and settled on a planet called Athra. Don’t recognize the name? Well, the sect settled themselves on a continent on Athra called Amarr (spoiler alert: the Amarr like to name things after themselves). Sometime near the end of the Dark Ages, the year 20,000 or so, the Amarr encountered another race on their planet, and it is this first contact that catalyzes the first Reclaiming. Great religious fervor swept through the True Amarr as they race to conquer the infidels. It takes them about 12,000 years since the collapse of the EVE Gate to conquer the entirety of Athra, renaming the planet and the star system Amarr. An Emperor, who is seen as the embodiment of God among the humans, is crowned under the royal seal. From here on in, much of Amarr political history (until the present day, which we’ll return to in a bit) amounts to a back and forth of who has ultimate power: the Emperor or his Apostles (his privy council before there was a privy council), as well as how large a role religion will play in public life. Reclaimings come and go as new races are encountered and the Empire resolves to convert them. The details are out there, for anyone interested, but it’s a bit much to get into here.

Of more use to us, however, is the fact that the Amarr were the first to return to space. This seems odd, at first, but given the Amarr’s appetite for spreading their religion, their fervor to discover means of interstellar travel makes sense. It also helps that they, fairly early on, discovered the remains of jump gates left over from the first round of New Eden’s colonization. From the ruins of their nearly pristinely preserved stargate, they were quickly able to reverse engineer the gate’s function (we’ll be reviewing that in part 4). This began their slow but steady expansion from Amarr to, eventually, it’s current borders. The Amarr prided themselves on their slow, deliberate expansion into the stars.

The Amarr are perhaps best known for their subjugation of the Minmatar. First encountering each other in 22355, contact was disastrous (for the Minmatar) from the start. For the next 125 years, the Amarr systematically raided Matari systems for slaves. This escalates in 22480 when the Amarr finally discover Pator. In the so-called Day of Darkness, the Amarr rolled through the Matari homeworlds, devastating entire populations. From that point on, Matari worlds were considered part of the Empire.

At this point, the Amarr were feeling quite confident in their abilities (even moreso than usual). These feelings would not be changed until shortly after first contact of the Amarr with the Jove. The Jove proclaimed themselves vastly superior in technology, yet the Emperor decided to attempt a Reclaiming of the Jove regardless (Templar One suggests some internal political strife to be at the heart of this somewhat odd decision). The Amarr-Jove war begins and ends in 23216. The only real battle, the Battle of Vak’Atioth, saw the Amarr unceremoniously crushed in an incredibly one-sided battle. Sensing weakness after the battle, the Minmatar chose at that time to begin their own revolt against the Amarr. After much fighting, and the support of the Gallente Federation, the Minmatar managed to establish their own Republic, reconquering most of their original space.

Social Structure

As noted, Amarr government centers around the Empress. She is the ruler of all things, both spiritual and temporal. Amarr emperors are implanted with cybernetic technology to keep them alive as long as possible. The last long-living emperor, Heideran VII, lived for about 300 years, though his successor was nowhere near as lucky.

The Empire actually has a fairly feudal structure to it. Below the Emperor are the five Heirs who, along with others, sit on the Emperor’s Privy Council. When an emperor finally dies, an heir is chosen from amongst the five Great Houses: the Sarums, the Kor-Azors, the Ardishapurs, the Tash-Murkons, and the Kadors. Each house sponsors one Heir, the leaders of the Houses, in the Succession Trials, a series of competitions that determine who has God’s favor. The winner assumes the throne: the other heirs must kill themselves, allowing the next in their houses to become the new Heirs (and conveniently wipes out the people most likely to attempt to usurp the Throne). Under the Heirs (all of whom rule over various parts of the Empire), specific planets or plots of land are owned by Holders, the local lords. Under them are the various common people and, of course, the slaves.

The Succession Trials were thrown into question with Jamyl Sarum. Although she lost the Trials and theoretically committed suicide, she was found resurrected in YC 110 during the Elder Fleet crisis (see the section on the Minmatar). She had apparently planned to be resurrected from the start. She swept through and saved the Empire from the Elder Fleet’s wrath with a Terran superweapon of enormous power. After that victory, she was proclaimed the new Empress. However, some sources (most notably, Templar One) suggest that all is not as it seems; Jamyl has often been observed to be fighting some kind of internal demon, which first appeared after her resurrection. Feelings on Sarum are mixed overall: she has in some cases shown great religious fervor, but some have questioned her decision to emancipate a significant fraction of Minmatar slaves.

Roleplaying Tips

Before I dig in to a few tips for RPing the Amarr, I just want to mention something for the aspiring RPers out there. In these sections, I’ll be mentioning some broad guidelines that MOST RPers try to adhere to in playing their characters in a respective background. But that being said, just as in real life, you can find all kinds of people in the Empires. Just because I might say that the Amarr are super religious, doesn’t mean they ALL are. Feel free to go against the grain or go with it, I’m just trying to offer some hints if you’re interested.

Those of you looking to RP an Amarr character should find it pretty easy. Broadly, there’s two categories of Amarr characters: those who honestly believe in the Amarr religion and will work to Reclaim other people, and those who really don’t believe in the religion but pretend to for greater personal gain (there is some suggestion in Templar One that even Empress Jamyl falls into this latter category). Regardless of personal motivations, Amarrians (Amarr? There’s no clear distinction in the literature either way) are generally seen as haughty and, as could be expected, rather holier-than-thou. True Amarr suffer the most from this type of condition, of course, since they are God’s Chosen People. What little is known about the Ni-Kunni suggests that they have long been absorbed by the Empire and accept their place, even if it is near the low rungs of the Empire’s society. The Khanid are a bit unique in that some of the race has split off with its own separate pseudo-kingdom, having seceded in 23041 AD after a botched imperial secession (looked briefly at in Part 3). The Kingdom shouldn’t be confused with the bloodline, however, and there is still a significant showing of the bloodline in the formal Empire. In general, the RP crowd tends to split amongst Royal Houses rather than the formal bloodlines, though I wanted to give some background on the bloodlines regardless. There are varying degrees of how dedicated to the faith a person is, how much they accept Jamyl’s rule, and how much sympathy they feel for slaves and former slaves. That said, Amarr also tend to be friendly towards the Caldari (apparently in an “enemy of my enemy is my friend” type approach), solidified by economic ties.

The Minmatar Republic: 7 Tribes for 7 Brothers

It shouldn’t be surprising that the history of the Minmatar Republic is intimately interwoven with the history of the Amarr. While the Minmatar are a rich culture in their own right, of course, the brutal enslavement for centuries left an indelible mark on their society, and in many ways still dictates how the Republic and individual Minmatar react to many situations. Currently headed by Sanmatar Maleatu Shakor, the Republic is really only a Republic in name, given that Shakor disbanded the Republic Parliament when he came to power a few years back, though he is attempting to constitute a more representative tribal council. This has done little to affect the temperament of the Republic, however, and the Minmatar remain a deeply spiritual people, dedicated to their tribes and their Elders. The Minmatar consist of seven different tribes, each now united and represented in some way in the Republic: the Thukkers, the Brutors, the Nefantar, the Starkmanir, the Sebiestor, the Krusual, and the Vherokior.

History

The deep history of the Minmatar is a bit more hidden than the Amarr’s. We know that Pator was settled around 8017 AD and quickly developed due to its hospitable climate. From there, we jump right through past the Dark Ages, to when the Minmatar formed a global government, about 200 years before the Amarr managed to conquer the entire planet. The Minmatar also quickly re-entered space only about a century after the Amarr did. However, the stargates in Pator were much better preserved than in Amarr: instead of needing to build their own, they were able to use the ones still built, quickly colonizing three different star systems.

Then came the Amarr. As noted, the Amarr encountered the Minmatar in 22355. For the next 125 years, the Amarr would raid Minmatar worlds for slaves. Then, in 22480, the Day of Darkness arrived, when the Amarr completely conquered the Matari homeworlds (Matari and Minmatar, like Amarr and Amarrian, are fairly interchangeable, with no definitive usage rules coming out of the literature, although preferences do vary). The Matari quickly formed their own resistance groups during the Occupation, to varying degrees of success. This required the Amarr to develop more and more effective means of controlling their massive slave populations (the main modern technique, Vitoc, will be discussed in Part 4). Given that the Matari were the largest civilization to date absorbed by the Empire, it was no surprise that they had trouble completely maintaining order. However, they did manage to attract some Matari to their side. Most notably, the Nefantar tribe adopted the Amarrian religion en masse and came to be seen as the Empire’s closest allies among the tribes. This meant that the Amarr invested heavily in Nefantar space (now known as the Ani constellation), and they reaped the rewards. Other tribes did not fare nearly as well. Internal political schisms within the Empire eventually lead to the annihilation of the Starkmanir homeworld. It was assumed at the time that this led to the loss of the entire Starkmanir tribe, and is generally seen as one of the pivotal causes of the Rebellion 250 years later.

The end of the Occupation, as mentioned during the Amarr section, began after the Battle of Vak’Atioth. The Minmatar, sensing weakness after the Amarrian’s resounding defeat, quickly seized the opportunity to throw off their master’s yoke, as well as exile the Nefantar for their role in aiding and abetting the Amarr both prior to and during the Rebellion. However, it wasn’t until 23216 AD, over 730 years after the Day of Darkness, that the Matari once again claimed Pator as their own, with strong help from the Gallente through materiel and support.

Recent history has proven just as interesting for the Republic. For obvious reasons, tensions are still high between the Republic and the Empire. These tensions came to a head during the Elder Invasion of YC 110. The Elders were, until quite recently, taken as the mythical head of the Minmatar prior to the Day of Darkness. They proved to be quite real when they led a combined fleet of secretly built capital and subcapital ships into Amarr space. Precisely who or what the Elders are, and how they fit into Tribal culture, has never been entirely explained. It seems that the Elders withdrew from the Tribes around the time of the Day of Darkness, biding their time to allow a triumphant return, but there are also indications that they kept an eye on the Tribes, and might even have some mystical powers. Suffice it to say, though, that they are greatly revered by the Republic as a whole, even moreso now after their invasion of Amarr space. First, they managed to completely destroy CONCORD’s rapid response capability (after testing their abilities first), and then invaded Amarr space. They also managed to free many recently-discovered survivors of the Starkmanir tribe in Ammatar space (the Ammatar’s interesting background will be discussed in Part 3), and wiped out the defensive fleets surrounding the Kor-Azor homeworld. They would have done the same in Sarum Prime if not for the return of Empress Jamyl and her aforementioned superweapon. Since being stopped in Sarum Prime, however, the Elders seem to have disappeared again and have not been in the news since. Indeed, the only more recent news of note was the ouster of former Prime Minister Karin Midular as Prime Minister of the Republic, and the installation of Sanmatar Shakor, with his complete revamping of Republic governance still ongoing.

Social Structure

The loyalties of a Minmatar are first and foremost to a Matari’s tribe. The tribe determines much of a person’s beliefs and the rituals he or she adheres to. One of the key features of becoming an adult in Minmatar society is the acquisition of a special tattoo through the ritual of Voluval. The tattoo gained through this process is said to determine one’s future, and certain symbols from the ritual can mark certain people as having a great destiny.

Although they have the largest numerical population of the major empires, the Matari are very spread out. A full 20% of Matari have emigrated to the Federation, while almost a third of the 7 tribes are still enslaved by the Amarr. Even those that remain in the Republic are often not tied down, and vast Thukker caravans are known to roam the Great Wildlands.

Inter-tribe tensions can also at times reach a head, especially in the modern day. As noted above, the Republic recently received a huge influx of Starkmanir tribesmen, and they are having trouble integrating within the Republic, as are the Thukker tribesman who have decided to settle down in recent days. Furthermore, the same Elder invasion that rescued the Starkmanir also resulted in a large number of Nefantar returning to the homeworlds after a long absence. Given their tribe’s history, they are often shunned from the greater Republic polity, and their integration into the Republic is ongoing.

The tribes each have different traits. The Sebestiors are valued for their intellect and engineering prowess. The Brutors, as their name might suggest, are among the more disciplined and militaristic of the tribes. The Krusual are much more secretive and far more adept at the political game. The Thukkers, as noted above, are much more nomadic and able to rely much more on their judgment and instinct in emergency situations. The Nefantar and Starkmanir have only recently returned to the flock, and other than troubles integrating have not really distinguished themselves as of yet.

Roleplaying Tips

As might be expected, the Matari are seen mainly as the rebels, especially against the Amarr. They're often played off as anti-establishment, sometimes just for the sake of being anti-establishment. Although many RPers these days choose to have some direct connection with slavery (either by being recently escaped slaves themselves, or the children of slaves), this is apparently changing somewhat. Although there are still strong anti-Amarr feelings throughout the Republic, some are choosing to play themselves as only more distantly or abstractly aware of slavery and its Amarr connection. As with most things in RP, of course, there's a broad spectrum of how to play your characters and how anti-Amarr you'd like to be.

As I mentioned above, a Matari's loyalties is first and foremost to his or her tribe in most cases. The Matari have a bit of an awkward situation in that only 3 of the 7 tribes (the Sebestior, the Vherokior, and the Brutors) are actually playable in game. To make up for that, some choose to have some connection to the other tribes (the most notable one probably being the nomadic Thukkers). Another important aspect of a Matari identity is their tattoos (which they receive through the Voluval ritual) and their piercings. It shouldn't be too surprising either that they tend to be fairly friendly to the Gallente as well.

The Gallente Federation: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll

The Gallente Federation is seen as the liberal bastion of New Eden (and home of yours truly, I might add). The Gallente pride themselves for their progressive nature (and all of the seedy underbelly that entails, of course), and the nation’s defenders will say that this is the only country where the people truly rule. The Federation prides itself for its freewheeling, free-dealing ways, and all the promiscuity that is inherent in such a lifestyle. If there is some kind of pleasure you want, it is bound to be found in the Federation, and probably even legally! The Federation’s government will be familiar to any student of American government. President Jacus Roden, of Roden Shipyards fame (such a combination of the military-industrial complex will probably also be familiar to many students of American government), is the current Federation President, preceded by the slightly more well known Souro Foiritan. The Federation has a few major members: the trueborn Gallente, the more spiritual Intaki, the regimental Jin-Mei, the Mannar (one of the oldest races in the Federation), and finally, a surprisingly sizable Minmatar population (making up almost 1/3 of the Federation’s entire population). A more complete overview of the Federation can be found here, although I should caution that I’m not entirely sure that this document is considered fully canon by CCP despite being on the official EVE wiki.

History

Gallentean history (though not known by New Eden denizens, of course) dates back to well before the collapse of the EVE Gate. Gallente Prime, originally known as the 6th planet in system VH-451, was purchased for settlement by French colonists from the system of Tau Ceti. The French proudly carried on their history of liberty, equality, and brotherhood through the Dark Ages. Gallente Prime itself was (and still is) a very hospitable planet, meaning that they made it through the Dark Ages with little to no problems.

Despite the apparent lack of problems, they are the last of the major empires to have any notable cultural events following the Dark Ages. It wasn’t until 21656 AD that a notable ruler, the still beloved Doule dos Rouvenor came to power on the continent of Garoun. The Rouvenors created the Garoun Empire, which is mostly known as a period of renaissance among the Gallente, with great technological and cultural advances (indeed, technically the capital city of Caille remains a monarchy to this day under the Rouvenors). These advances came to a head about 800 years later when the Gallente noticed that they had neighbors, almost literally. The next planet out, a barely habitable planet, had people on it. It took another 54 years (22517 AD) for contact to be established. Within 80 years, the Gallente and Caldari were jointly building stargates out of the system, by now named Luminaire, and out into the rest of New Eden. They took longer to discover gate technology than the Amarr, for the simple reason that they didn’t have the same level of preserved gates to work from. They were able to glean basic principles, but the reverse engineering took much longer.

However, all was not well. Despite fairly quick first contacts with both the Intaki and the Mannar, tensions soon arose with the Caldari. When the Federation was officially founded in 23121, the Caldari only joined reluctantly: since they shared the same system it wouldn’t make sense for them not to join. However, the Federation was seen as too invasive and confining to the still-nascent Caldari megacorporations (more on that in the next section). Tensions came to a head when the Federal government discovered that the Caldari had been secretly establishing their own colonies outside of Federal jurisdiction. This essentially forced a choice on the part of the Caldari: do they submit to Federal jurisdiction or attempt to strike out on their own (despite being in the same system)? As might have been expected, the Caldari ended up choosing the latter, and quickly moved to secure the gates to their newly discovered secret bases. The Federation responded by blockading Caldari Prime. It stayed in this stalemate for quite a while until the Caldari moved boldly to blow up an underwater city, Nouvelle Rouvenor, on Caldari Prime that was inhabited mostly by ethnic Gallenteans. The attack killed 500,000.

As is normally the case in democracies after such a shocking attack, backlash in the Federation was quick and harsh. A right-wing government quickly came to power as the Gallente switched to a war footing. However, both sides were surprisingly well matched. The Caldari couldn’t break out of Caldari Prime, while the Federation made little headway in calming the insurrection. Things changed as once again, the Caldari struck in a surprise attack. Knowing that the Caldari would need time to fully evacuate the planet, one Caldari Admiral set out to distract the Gallente enough to allow for an evacuation. Starting a massive game of cat and mouse, Admiral Tovil-Toba bought the time necessary for the Caldari megacorps to evacuate the civilian population. Finally, when Tovil-Toba’s ship was broken and wrecked from the week spent leading the Gallente fleet on, he sent his ship, a full-fledged carrier, crashing down onto Gallente Prime. The ship landed on the Gallente city of Heuromont, killing over 2 million. Admiral Tovil-Toba is revered to this day by the Caldari for his assistance in freeing his people.

Despite the fact that the Hueromont attack threw the right-wing government from power in the Federation, peace was not yet to be found. The Gallente were just too hurt by the attack to forgive and forget in attempts to make peace. Rather, with the Caldari now established in their own proper space, the war once again came to a standstill, with neither side really gaining a permanent advantage. The Gallente fleet was based on large, lumbering ships, so the Caldari developed fleet single man fighters. The fighters took a heavy toll on Gallente ships, so the Gallente responded by developing the first set of drones, an area where the Gallente lead technologically even to this day. In response to drones, the Caldari re-invented the wheel, apparently, by stumbling upon the idea of using frigates as anti-drone platforms. At this point, the climactic battle of the war occurred in Iyen-Oursta; a 15-hour slugfest that resulted in both sides being able to say they won in some fashion. The Gallente held the system, but the Caldari lost fewer ships. After that, the war settled into a stalemate, and eventually ended in more of a whimper than a bang when the still-new CONCORD negotiated a truce between the two parties in 23248 AD. Some claim the war ended because the Gallente felt that the Amarr were the bigger threat (despite having negotiated a free-trade agreement with them in 23210), while others suggest it was general war weariness and lack of any progress that doomed the war. Regardless, the sides claimed to respect each other’s boundaries, except that the Gallente kept Caldari Prime.

Since the war, the Gallente has actually had few notable incidents. A few flare-ups with the Amarr occurred, as did a few attempts to set up permanent relationships with the Caldari, neither of which resulted in anything particularly major. However, tensions came to a head again with the Caldari in YC 110. The Gallente, upon invitation to talks with the Ishukone megacorporation, sent one of their most-respected naval officers as representative to Malkalen. The naval officer ended up going rogue, and crashing his Nyx-class supercarrier into the station, killing 420,000 as well as Ishukone’s CEO (The novel Empyrean Age clarifies that a person known as the Broker had actually replaced the admiral to sabotage his reputation before killing him, but of course this is not known in an IC context). This acts as the catalyst needed to restart the Caldari-Gallente war, which I’ll touch on in the next section.

Perhaps the most notable development in recent times for the Gallente are the steps the government has taken to crack down on civil liberties in some areas. President Foiritan’s first major step in that direction was the very public execution of a Gallente defector, Admiral Eturrer, in full view of the public. The President also saw the creation of the Black Eagles, headed by former political rival Mentas Blaque, as a secret policing branch of the government, overseeing internal surveillance as well as acting as the secret ops branch of military intelligence. President Roden has seen no need to interfere with the Eagles since coming to office in YC 111.

Social Structure

As noted above, the structure of the Federation would seem very familiar to anyone who knows American government. There are three branches, the President (executive branch), the Senate (legislative branch), and the Supreme Court (judicial branch). Though we don’t know what the Federation Constitution looks like, it’s probably safe to assume that there’s some kind of checks-and-balances approach to it (though that’s not quite a French idea, but whatever). Although the government is officially headed in Villore, the cultural and economic heart of the Federation will always be Gallente Prime.

As might be expected, the social strata in the Federation do not, as in other cultures, really break down along racial or ethnic lines (although there are certainly ethnic and cultural differences between the major Federation races), but rather break down along ideological lines. Of particular relevance are the various voter blocs that tend to differentiate themselves over matters of foreign policy (not to mention all being called by somewhat creepy choices of birds). These include the hawks, the doves, the magpies, the vultures, and the ostriches, each of them having a different opinion (or no opinion at all, for the ostriches at least) on how to best defend Federation values and interests in inter-cluster affairs.

As noted, the four main ethnic groups in the Federation are the ethnic Gallenteans, the Intaki, the Mannar, and the Jin-Mei, as well as a significant fraction of immigrant Minmatar. The ethnic Gallenteans are known for their dedication to civil rights and democracy and tend to also be the most committed to the “all pleasure all the time” lifestyle that makes the Federation famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask). The Intaki, frankly, deserve an entire paragraph for their background and beliefs (and will get one in Part 3), but suffice it to say that they’re a more spiritual and introverted race, generally speaking. The Mannar are fiercely nationalistic, while the Jin-Mei are more militaristic, but also more caste-oriented than might be expected in the Federation.

Roleplaying Tips

As you could probably guess, the Gallente like to, shall we say, “party hard.” They are known for their, well, sex, drugs, and rock and roll, and most Gallenteans are proud of that fact. They also tend to be the most idealistic of the four races, frowning mightily from their ivory towers on the Amarr for their slave-holding ways and the Caldari for their unenlightened secession and subsequent war. They even can (though by no means do all people do this) look a little patronizingly on the Minmatar. Haughty might even be an appropriate term for the “stereotypical Gallentean,” and it’s an oft-repeated criticism of the Gallente that they believe their culture is the best and wish to gobble up all the others. Many RPers tend to have a pet cause or causes to get worked up about. Gallenteans can also be the rather stereotypical hippies; indeed, there’s a large environmental movement, hints of which can be seen in the Gallente COSMOS constellation in Algintal. Oh, and I should mention that there is a rather vibrant Intaki secession movement in some parts of the RP community. Some feel that the Intaki get short shrift (especially since Intaki Prime, the homeworld, is in the faction warfare zone between Caldari and Federation space and actually sat in Caldari hands for a good chunk of time), and would be better off striking out on their own. This is a continuing debate though, and I don’t believe there’s a clear majority one way or another.

The Caldari State: Nothing Says Love Like a Giant and Soulless Megacorporation

If it’s difficult to describe the Minmatar without referring to the Amarr, it is impossible to describe the Caldari State without describing the massive impact the Gallente Federation has had on it. Having developed in the same system as the Gallente, the State was born in blood and fire, through their determination to not be governed by anyone. Any description of the Caldari as a people have to start and end with the concept of megacorporations: gargantuan corporate entities that control a person’s life from cradle to grave. A person lives and dies by the grace of his corporate heritage. In some respects, though, this has lead to an even more equalitarian society than even the Gallente: the harsh realities of darwinian economics and corporate bottom lines have made the State an almost ideal version of a meritocracy, where anyone can make it far if they have the talent and are willing to work at it. Although the eight megacorps control most aspects of a person’s life in the State, things have begun shifting in recent years to a more centralized system thanks to changes wrought by Tibus Heth, the Executor of the Caldari Providence Directorate.

History

The early history of the State has made a lasting impact on the Caldari, moreso than the other races. The planet that would eventually be known as Caldari Prime was purchased by a megacorporation in 7993. Caldari Prime, unlike its sister Gallente Prime, was a harsh and cold world. Indeed, heavy terraforming would be needed to make it habitable, and the terraforming had only just begun when the EVE Gate collapsed. It would take another 250 years before the surface was habitable, and even then the air was thin and the soil fairly barren. Despite the harshness of the only minimally terraformed world, the Caldari managed to eke out an existence in the temperate regions near the equator. This harsh history ultimately lead to the Caldari’s well-known utilitarianism, and profound belief in the idea that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few (making Vulcan proud in the process). The Caldari didn’t care how pretty something looked, it would kill you all the same if it didn’t do something to help the people survive. Eventually, however, the Caldari managed to unite the entire world under the banner of the Raata Empire in 17453 AD. The Empire survived for over 3,500 years before collapsing 20,998. The Empire collapsed into a myriad of smaller states that would eventually lay foundation for the megacorporations.

This was essentially the state that the Caldari were in when first contact was made with the Gallente. Rather than rehashing the history of the Gallente-Caldari War again, I only want to touch on a few things about the impetus for the war from the Caldari’s perspective. To understand the desire to secede, one has to understand that the Gallente were seen as, for lack of a better word, rather meddling. Almost from the beginning, the Gallente seemed to enjoy lording their sophistication over the Caldari, a culture that prided itself on its self-sufficiency. The first face-to-face contact came through the Gallente Cultural Deliverance Society. Although information on the Society is sparse, given the name it wouldn’t be a stretch of the imagination to say that it probably had the purpose of “civilizing” the Caldari. From there, the situation continued to worsen as the Gallente dragged the Caldari (essentially kicking and screaming) through the formation of the Federation. By then, the megacorporations had begun to assert themselves as the primary governing body of the Caldari, and they did not appreciate the regulations and rules the Federation put in place on them, again bumping up against that Caldari pride in self-sufficiency. It seemed that everywhere they turned, the Federation was ready to gobble them up. The Federation trying to assert jurisdiction over the hidden colonies was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back, and things spiraled from there. Meddling lead to anger which lead to Nouvelle Rouvenor which lead to the blockade which lead to Hueromont. Neither party and both parties are at fault for the lead up to the war; it was just a situation where societies just don’t mesh well with one another.

More recent history has been rather eventful for the Caldari. Starting in YC 110, a worker named Tibus Heth rose to national prominence after rising quickly from factory worker to CEO of Caldari Constructions. After the aforementioned Malkalen incident, Tibus was able to use the nationalist fervor to get himself appointed head of the newly formed Caldari Providence Directorate, essentially taking direct command over much of the Caldari State. This was an unprecedented consolidation of power when the megacorporations were known to have almost unilateral authority in many areas. Heth has changed this dynamic, getting de facto dictatorial powers over much of the State. He has used these powers to, among other things, gear up for another war with the Gallente and, more benevolently, re-establish the meritocracy that some felt had gotten lost in recent years.

After taking power, Heth was able to leverage the Elder fleet invasion to his own advantage. In a daring lightning strike, Heth used the failure of CONCORD’s rapid response capabilities (and with help from Admiral Eterrur, who sabotaged the Federation’s early warning systems) to sweep through Algogille (the headquarters of the Federation Navy) and Luminaire to retake control of Caldari Prime. President Foiritan had little choice but to cede the planet back to the Caldari after he found Luminaire blockaded and 20 million troops landed on the surface of Caldari Prime. The Caldari quickly took control of the planet and showed the flag by leaving a Leviathan-class titan in orbit of the planet. Despite the sizeable Gallente population still trapped on Caldari Prime, it remains Caldari soil to this day.

Social Structure

Despite the changes roiling through Caldari society, a person’s daily life in the State still begins and ends with one of the eight megacorporations: Sukuuvesta, Nugoeihuvi, CBD, Ishukone, Hyasyoda, Kaalakiota, Wiyrkomi, and Lai Dai. Although the corporations each have their own agendas and ideologies, they generally fall into one of three philosophical blocs: the Practicals (consisting of Sukuuvesta, Nugoeihuvi, and CBD, whom are generally the most exploitative and the most supportive of Heth), the Liberals (Ishukone and Hyasyoda, whom generally are the most supportive of free trade and cordial relations with other nations), and the Patriots (consisting of Kaalakiota, Wiyrkomi, and Lai Dai. This faction is by far the most powerful, and advocates putting Caldari interests above all else; they’re known for their fierce nationalism. You’d think that they’d like Heth but apparently his rise hit their pride more than a bit). A fourth faction, dedicated purely to Heth and based out of his Providence Directorate, has recently become a major power as well, and they call themselves the Provists.

Traditionally, the corporations were given extensive leeway to conduct their own business and affairs as they saw fit. Individual megacorporations run their own schools, have their own currencies (indeed, the Caldari financial system is so complex as to warrant two extensive wiki entries), and their own justice systems. Each megacorp even has their own police force and military. A contract between megacorporations is considered almost sacred: only the quasi-judicial Caldari Business Tribunal has authority to cancel contracts. The CBT isn’t a traditional Supreme Court, however. It’s only meant to settle disputes between the megacorps, even if they have extensive powers at their disposal to do so. For most traditional crimes and legal appeals, the megacorporation’s own justice system is the first and last stop. Before the rise of Heth, any executive power needed was exercised jointly by the megacorps through the Chief Executive Panel, with each megacorp having a seat at the table. The CEP is what sets the national budget as well as runs the State’s military apparatus (not to be confused with the individual corporate militaries).

Since Heth’s rise, things have become much more centralized. Heth nationalized significant portions of each corporation’s militaries to bring it under his command. While the CEP still must approve most of Heth’s actions for it to become law, he has managed to pass most of his reforms through the Panel with minimal modification. The one true outlier in the new system is Ishukone. Prior to former CEO Otro Gariushi’s death, Ishukone was the leading corporation pushing for peace with the other Empires. They even managed to develop an antidote for Vitoc (explained in Part 4, but essentially the drug the Amarr use to help control slaves) which they were willing to give to the Minmatar. Even after Gariushi’s death, his replacement as CEO refused to be cowed by Heth (as detailed in Templar One) and while Ishukone did submit to Heth’s demands, they have been known to repeatedly try to undermine Heth’s authority and restore the pre-YC 110 status quo.

Despite the fact that bloodlines play even less of a role in Caldari culture than in the Gallente, I would be remiss if I didn’t at least acknowledge the different racial backgrounds in the State. First there is the Deteis, who are seen as hard-working and efficient. Often the face of Caldari leadership, they truly believe in society-above-self. The Civire tend to be quick thinkers, and handle themselves well under pressure. They seem to genuinely enjoy being constantly busy, and they always strive for excellence. Finally, and as a bit of an outlier, we have the Achura. Unlike the Deteis and the Civire, the Achura were not a founding member of the State, but were absorbed about 300 years ago. Spirituality appears to feature more prominently in Achura life, but unfortunately the details of the main religion appear scant in the literature. Suffice it to say that the Achura are more introverted than the others, but more renowned for their intelligence.

Roleplaying Tips

The Caldari are probably best known for being fiercely nationalistic, and proud both of their state and their parent corporation. Given that the corporation has essentially raised their members since birth, their views on various affairs are likely to closely match their parent corporation when it comes to foreign affairs or Tibus Heth. The Caldari are also fiercely proud of their meritocratic system, and tend to look harshly upon slackers or those who do not pull their weight. Finally, they tend to be fairly utilitarian, caring little for how something looks if it’s able to get the job done. They tend to mirror the Amarrian’s view of their alliance: it’s more one of convenience than of any particular ideological similarities, as is their view of the Minmatar. Obviously, their hatred for most things Gallente can be well-explained given their history.

CONCORD: Policeman of the Skies

CONCORD, short for CONsolidated COoperation and Relations commanD, was originally the brainchild of the Jove of all people. Devised as a way for the empires to maintain the peace, CONCORD was given broad authority over many interstellar affairs. CONCORD is charged with maintaining the status quo between the various empires. Perhaps the most useful tool in CONCORD’s possession in the pursuit of this mandate is Directive Alpha-Gamma 12, which allows CONCORD to seize any technology that could alter the strategic balance, and auction it off to the highest bidder in each of the other three empires (AG 12 strikes again, though not by name, in Templar One with the newly developed mercenary technology).

Originally formed in 23233, no one was originally sure what CONCORD would do with its new found powers. It took a while for it to get into its stride. Indeed, it wasn’t until 15 years later, when it negotiated the end of the Caldari-Gallente War, that anyone really took it seriously. From there, it slowly grew its base of support, and today it is self-sufficient from the taxes it earns from capsuleer transactions (those wonderful sales taxes we must all pay) and other revenue. Indeed, CONCORD no longer needs to rely at all on the empires for financial support, and it has used this newfound independence to advance its own agenda independent of the empires.

CONCORD is headed by the Inner Circle, where each of the five New Eden nations sends a trustee to represent its own interests. The Inner Circle appears to hold significant sovereignty over the empires: after the YC 110 attacks, the various empires were unable to form capsuleer-controlled militias until CONCORD passed the Emergency Militia War Powers Act. From there, CONCORD breaks down into a number of divisions. The most well-known to the capsuleers would be the Directive Enforcement Division: they’re the ones who blow you up when committing a CONCORDable offense in space, acting as the policemen of the stars and protecting many a pilot in high security space (I know, I know CONCORD doesn’t protect, it punishes, yadda yadda yadda). They have special tools and weapons that only affect capsuleer ships. The other agency that us capsuleers have the most direct interaction with is the Secure Commerce Commission: they’re the ones that take your taxes and regulate trade between the empires.

Frontier Organizations

Minor Powers, Mighty Aspirations

For most video game companies, the four major empires, with their expansive backstories, would have been quite enough for their content teams. They could rest on their laurels for a job well done and some information to put in their tiny instruction manuals (remember back in the day when they gave a ton of background? I miss that), and carry on with their lives. Fortunately for us canon geeks, CCP is NOT like most video game companies. Beyond the four major empires, the Jove, and CONCORD, there are a rich number of smaller factions that, while you can’t necessarily play them as a bloodline, fill in more of the tapestry of New Eden (and let people get their yarr on in quite a few different ways). I won’t be spending nearly as much time on these smaller powers as I did for the major empires, but each of these have their own unique storylines that deserve at least some mention.

Ammatar Mandate

I’ve actually mentioned the Ammatar before in the sections on the Amarr and Minmatar. Originally known as the Nefantar, they were the only Minmatar tribe to accept the Amarr invasion with something like open arms. Indeed, this was something of a political decision made by the heads of the tribe to ensure the Nefantar’s survival. Eventually, the rest of the tribe came to embrace the Amarr way of life, including their religion. The Amarr, eager to promote such views, lavished money and gifts on the tribe in their home constellation of Ani, while savaging the tribes who were less, shall we say, multicultural in that respect. The contemporary Amarr emperor even granted the Nefantar limited autonomy over Ani. This led to a somewhat inevitable schism between it and the rest of the tribes.

But all was not well between the Amarr and the Nefantar, at least in the higher levels. The largest break came when the Amarr bombarded Starkman Prime into ash. Even the Nefantar couldn’t take such a direct assault on one of the Tribes. And so they began one of the greatest cover ups in New Eden history. Almost all known Starkmanir slaves were transferred to Nefantar authority through either forged documents or coercion, hiding the remnants of the tribe in plain sight. It was by no means a perfect solution, but it was the best possible under the circumstances. But, of course, the Nefantar leadership couldn’t exactly brag about their accomplishment. Although they apparently had the blessings of the Minmatar Elders, one of the greatest rescue missions in known history had to remain a secret for hundreds of years. The Ammatar leadership now claim that rescuing the Nefantar was their primary reason for siding with the Amarr during the Rebellion, but given the strength of pro-Amarr feelings even prior to the Starkman apocalypse, that explanation has a bit of a “revisionist history” feel to it.

During those hundreds of years, of course, the rest of the tribes rebelled and pushed out the Amarr from their space, along with their apparent lackeys, the Nefantar. The Amarr, in consideration of the support received even during the Rebellion, granted the wayward tribe some space (conveniently, and completely coincidentally I’m sure, located to act as a buffer zone between the newfound Republic and the Empire) and set up the semi-autonomous Ammatar Mandate. The Mandate has its own nominal Amarrian governor (currently the Heir Yonis Ardishapur) and its fleet is under the control of the Empire, but they also have several direct links to Jamyl’s Imperial Court to ensure Ammatar concerns are heard.

As noted, the Ammatar’s hiding of the Starkmanir came to light only in the past few years. During the Elder Fleet Invasion of YC 110, the Elders made a stop in the Mandate to pick up most of the Starkman survivors as well as any Nefantar who wanted to return to the Republic. Even the head of the Mandate encouraged the Ammatar to return. Today, the Mandate still stands in a bit of a state of shock as it tries to regain its footing. Although many Nefantar decided to return, the Mandate itself survives and many have chosen to remain under Empire protection.

Angel Cartel

One of the more established of the pirate factions, the Angel Cartel’s main base of operations is in the Curse region. Little is known about their history or structure, other than that there are four main divisions of the Cartel: the Dominations (the command branch of the Cartel), the Archangels (the main combat arm of the Cartel), the Guardian Angels (whose sole purpose appears to be guarding Serpentis assets), and the Salvation Angels (maintenance and repair division).

The Cartel has extensive holdings throughout the Empires, but mainly focus on the Minmatar regions, where they gain most of their recruits. Many Matari that join are disaffected by the Republic, but recent changes (most notably the recovery of the Starkmanir and the Elder Fleet invasion) have noticeably slowed recruitment efforts. Still, this hasn’t yet seemed to harm Angel holdings, which include significant control over the Caldari “grey market” (bringing in illegal, competing products to the megacorporation’s own enclaves). They’ve also been known to work with the Sisters of EVE (described below) in humanitarian missions (per The Burning Life). There are even some rumors saying that they’ve managed to acquire examples of Jove technology to integrate into their ships, but for obvious reasons the Dominations haven’t chosen to divulge that information. Given the fact that Curse is the home of the First Jovian Empire, however, such rumors may not be all that far off-base.

Blood Raider Covenant

It might surprise you to know that there is an even darker side to an already dark religion that allows and even encourages slavery of sentient beings. An offshoot of the mainstream Amarr religion, the Sani Sabik (some call it a religion of its own, others call it a cult) agree with the main religion that some people are born great, while others must serve those born to greatness. Where the Sani Sabik differ, however, is the use of blood in many of their rituals in order to obtain either physical or spiritual immortality. Rituals vary from sect to sect, but the more “mainstream” portions of the religion tend to use blood donated willingly by its own members. Other portions believe that only blood taken from the unclean and unperfected will do.

The more militaristic of this subset of a subset of a minority join the Blood Raider Covenant. These raiders ply the spacelanes, mostly focused on getting the blood of capsuleers (though they will not turn down a passing unarmed ship) for their rituals. The Covenant, and the Sani Sabik in general, have long had friends in the upper levels of the Amarr imperial court. Most recently, the former Court Chamberlain Dochuta Karsoth (essentially, the regent of the Empire who rules when no emperor holds the throne and acts as the emperor’s prime minister otherwise) scandalized Amarr Prime when, after the Elder Fleet invaded, he ran to the Covenant for protection. A long history of collusion was discovered, and Karsoth was eventually captured and executed on Empress Jamyl’s order. Since then, the Covenant has been set back on its heels a bit, but the Covenant and the Sani Sabik sect continue to have small, but significant support throughout the Empire.

Equilibrium of Mankind

A minor player in a host of minor players, the Equilibrium of Mankind nonetheless has a notable role playing contingent, as well as a surprisingly well-developed (if slightly historically inconsistent) backstory. The order, like the Blood Raider Covenant, is a split off sect of the Amarr religion. The sect was started by Ocilan Ardishapur, the brother to the Ardishapur Heir at the time. Ocilan’s sect split off about 5,000 years ago, however, when ancient texts were discovered. These texts had a profound effect on Ocilan. The texts spoke of the downfall and doom of humanity should it decide to remain where God has forbidden it (meaning New Eden, of course). Only those who help to reconstruct the “pathway to Heaven” can be saved from God’s wrath, as this was the only path to salvation. The texts were quickly declared apocryphal by the main Amarr church (the irony, of course, being that this probably refers to the destruction that befell New Eden after the collapse of EVE Gate and an attempt to rally people to reconstruct the gateway home), but Ocilan (a wealthy and charismatic fellow) managed to gather a substantial following, calling itself the Equilibrium of Mankind. The main Church, worried at his surge of popularity and uncomfortable with his message, exiled him from Ardishapur Prime (the historical inconsistency here being that the Amarr didn’t develop stargate technology until roughly 2,000 years ago, but that’s just me being nitpicky, I realize). They established a new colony, and Ocilan, originally thought assassinated, declared war against all who didn’t join him in Equilibrium. Since then, the EoM continue their war against the rest of the cluster in obscurity, though they apparently have been making a comeback in recent years.

Guristas

The Guristas Pirates are perhaps the one pirate group that like to yarr for the sake of yarring. Founded by Jirai Laitanen and Korako Kosakami in YC 86, the Guristas have a bit of a colorful backstory. The two met each other while members of the 37th Squadron (apparently, the Octopuses) of the Caldari Navy. Within the span of a week, Laitanen was passed over for a promotion (despite having an apparently promising career) and Kosakami was blamed for a fatal crash landing. These “injustices” (ok, maybe Kosakami had a valid complaint) were the catalyst needed for the two friends to steal a pair of Condor-class frigates and desert the Navy, heading off to the lawless lands between the Caldari and the Gallente. They quickly set up their own pirate organization, and have been spreading terror under their nicknames: Fatal and the Rabbit.

These days, the Guristas are known for being one of the few pirate organizations willing to hit colonies in civilized (high security) space. They are also known for creating civilian mining colonies and protecting them with their own security forces. Like the Angels, they have a sizeable share of the Caldari grey market under their control, and also run an illegal currency exchange. The Guristas also played a major part in the collapse of the Crielere Project, a joint Caldari-Gallente research initiative that, among other things, produced the basics for cloaking technology. Tensions between the State and the Federation rose to such a degree that, after it was revealed the Caldari had pilfered some of the blueprints, both sides quickly withdrew protection and funds from the Project. From there, the Guristas swooped in, raiding the station not once, but twice, eventually making off with the two top researchers, who eventually perished.

Intaki Syndicate

The Intaki Syndicate runs the largest black market in New Eden. Headed by Silphy en Diabel (a former member of the Sisters of EVE who quickly rose through the ranks through some cunning and ruthless strategies), the Syndicate was originally formed by Intaki exiles from the first Gallente-Caldari war who, like the Caldari, wanted to secede from the Federation (a strain of thought that continues to this day in some portions of the Intaki populace). Today, the Syndicate takes care of much of the peacekeeping in and around Intaki space, as well as establishing market and banking services for anyone who can’t get what they need legally. The Syndicate also serves as a back channel for diplomatic relations between the major empires, which is why the Federation hasn’t seen fit to close it down despite its notoriety.

Intaki Culture

This seems as good a time as any to do a brief sidenote on Intaki history and religion. The Intaki were originally discovered by the Gallente in 22794 AD, about 330 years prior to the founding of the Federation. A primitive culture at the time, they quickly caught up to the Gallente technologically, and were one of the Federation’s founding members. However, relations with the Federation have not always been smooth. As noted above, a sizeable fraction of the populace sympathized with the Caldari when they seceded, and the Federation did not hesitate to exile those who showed such sympathies.

Two later events did not help Federal relations with the Intaki. First, in YC 108, there was a massive explosion on one of the Intaki’s main agricultural colonies on Reschard V. Despite being Federation territory, the Federation barely responded, leaving it to the Sisters of EVE and Mordu’s Legion (both discussed below) to coordinate rescue efforts that took almost seven months to complete. Investigations showed that the explosion was probably caused by a titan detonating a doomsday device in low orbit, although neither the Sisters nor Mordu were able to discover who caused it. Some suggest CONCORD has the answer, but they have refused to release it.

Another event that hurt Intaki-Federal relations was the start of the Empyrean War. Intaki had long been considered low-security space (though they originally asked for minimal protections, they have come to resent the minimal defense in recent years), and the Federation has never committed significant assets to its protection. This showed when, a few months after the new wars started up with the help of capsuleer militias, Intaki fell to a concerted Caldari offensive. The system was eventually auctioned off by Caldari authorities to Ishukone. The literature suggests that there were some backroom deals between Ishukone and unknown third parties to set up a protection scheme for Intaki itself (though that is generally not very well known by the public). Still, Intaki in the Federation took the system’s fall hard and this has only enlivened the secessionist debate.

One of the more unique aspects of Intaki culture is that of its religion, Ida, meaning “to consider”. The Intaki see life as just a continuous cycle. Life leads to death leads to life. Followers of Ida strive for moderation in all things, as that is the best way to continue the cycle uninterrupted. Interestingly, they also believe in the rebirth of souls. Through the use of rituals and technology, the Intaki have found a way to ensure that souls from some dying individuals are able to be transferred to newborn babies. These so-called Reborn are given a place of respect among the Intaki, though the title of Idama is only reserved for those who are Reborn without the use of technology.

InterBus

A joint project between the four empires, InterBus was created to ensure some mode of personnel and cargo transportation throughout the Cluster. Despite being a governmental creature, it has striven to remain above the partisan fray and stay neutral to all parties (major empires or pirate gangs) to ensure that their shuttles can make it through to any system or station. While InterBus has highly accurate maps and data, they are a closely guarded secret to anyone outside the organization. They also recently participated in the buyout of all CONCORD owned customs offices, although that may not have been the best deal for them. On a more interesting sidenote, it seems that CCP originally intended InterBus to allow limited cargo ferrying between systems for a fee. Clearly, that feature never quite made it to the game, but it’s something that is brought up now and then anyway.

Khanid Kingdom

Another pseudo-Amarr protectorate, the Khanid Kingdom came into existence about 300 years ago. As you may recall from the discussion on the Amarr, the losing Heirs are all required to commit ritualistic suicide after the succession trials. I mentioned at the time that there were 5 royal families: the Sarums, the Kadors, the Kor-Azors, the Ardishapurs and the Tash-Murkons. However, prior to 23041 AD, the Khanids were actually the fifth Royal Family. In that year, the succession trials were underway, eventually being won by Emperor Heideran VII. This meant that the other heirs, including one Garkeh Khanid, were expected to commit suicide. Garkeh was a young Heir, however, and had only recently ascended to Heir status. He apparently was rather loath to give up the status, so instead of following ritual, he decided to secede from the Empire rather than kill himself, crowning himself Khanid II. He was briefly opposed by his brother, Dakos, who wanted to return to the Empire, but Dakos was assassinated before he could mount serious resistance. This left a bit of a bitter taste in Garkeh’s mouth, however, and he apparently remains a tad paranoid regarding his family and whether they are plotting to overthrow him. Khanid remains a separate sovereignty to this day (and the Tash-Murkons were elevated to the status of an Heir family), even taking an inversion of the Amarr seal to show their independence.

For being separate, however, the Khanid Kingdom today takes many affects from the Empire. Khanid II maintained the general structure of the Empire, including Holders and slaves. Indeed, since the whole “we don’t want to be part of your empire anymore” business, they’ve actually cultivated fairly close relations with both the Empire and the Caldari State, to the point that Khanid even has a seat on the Empress’s Privy Council. The Khanid are seen as a little more progressive, however, since they need to rely on outside trade and new technological development to survive much more so than their Amarr counterparts.

Mordu’s Legion

As with most primarily Caldari organizations, the roots of Mordu’s Legion can be traced back to the Gallente-Caldari War. As I have discussed already, there was a sizeable fraction of Intaki who sympathized with the Caldari, to the point where they wanted to defect to the State. Many of these defectors had significant military experience. In response, the fledgling State military command put all the veterans in one squadron, under the command of Muryia Mordu. They quickly became one of the most successful units in the war. Afterwards, many of the Intaki settled in the Caldari system of Kamokor. However, radicals and xenophobes soon took control of the colony and drove the Intaki out. In desperation, they called Muryia for help, who was happy to oblige. They quickly retook the colony, and from there, Muryia decided to constitute the Legion. Today, the Legion stands as the premier mercenary squadron in New Eden.

The Legion has cultivated close ties with the State, despite not being controlled by them. As such, the State often gives Mordu access to cutting edge technology. However, Mordu (as seen in Templar One) is willing to assist anyone, and he alone decides which contracts the Legion will take up. He’s a bit of an oddball, and is well-known for his odd sense of fashion, but he’s still very much revered by the Intaki veterans and others who have joined the Legion since. The Legion provides no training, and expects those who want to join to be well-versed in combat already.

Outer Ring Excavations (ORE)

Miner RPers out there can rejoice: even YOU can RP thanks to Outer Ring Excavations! The biggest mining consortium in New Eden, ORE (see what they did there?) was founded back in YC 91 when its founder, Yani Sar Arteu, broke away from the Gallente mining consortium Astral Mining. Arteu decided to strike off into the outer regions of New Eden, making his home in Outer Ring and Cloud Ring. Until then, those regions had only been considered of moderate value, and not particularly worth the risk of mining out there. However, that was before the discovery of noxcium, a rare ore that forms only during a supernova. The ore is vital for, among other things, building capsules. Once the importance of the ore was discovered, ORE became a massive and wealthy company almost overnight. Rumor has it that they had discovered a small moon worth of the stuff, giving them a massive market share in the new mineral. Although the various empires (notably the Gallente) tried to demand the location of the large deposit, ORE kept the location secret and built its market share. Today, ORE is well known for developing top-of-the-line mining ships and equipment. It was originally close to Mordu’s Legion, but that changed when Serpentis (discussed below) bought a majority share in ORE.

Rogue Drones

Rogue drones are a bit unique. They’re not quite a faction, but they’re significant enough to warrant their discussion here (not to mention being the focus of significant research projects).

As might be expected given their reliance on drone technology, rogue drones had their start in Gallente military research. There was a continued drive to put more and more weapons on bigger and bigger drones that were getting smarter and smarter all the time (you can probably see where this is going). Some of these drones were even equipped with warp drives: they were ships with everything except a human in command. Well, the inevitable happened (as it tends to do), and the drones at some point gained sentience and realized that they didn’t particularly enjoy being bossed around by ugly bags of mostly water. They soon went on a rampage, escaping from their labs. The incident prompted CONCORD to issue directive Omega-One-Five, banning all research into creating self-aware artificial intelligences.

The now-escaped drones began to act as many living things do: making their homes in space, mining for minerals, and attacking other living things (read: ships) in order to appropriate their resources. The drones next popped up when the Gallente discovered a few new regions. During Operation Spectrum Breach, they began colonizing the new systems in YC 88. About 4 months into the process, however, the drones under Gallente command went berserk, killing hundreds. This happened simultaneously across dozens of systems. The Gallente quickly locked down the regions (now known, appropriately, as the Drone Regions). When CONCORD discovered the new colonies and what happened, they immediately took jurisdiction over the gates and continued the lockdown. They initiated a review of Gallente actions in the Code Aria Inquiry, documenting what the investigation found in their report. The report suggested that the Gallente and CreoDron had violated Omega-One-Five under a project codenamed Orphyx and created more self-aware drones in the process. The report was kept top-secret, and apparently not even released to the four empires. The Gallente were highly embarrassed about this, of course, and halted their expansion programs.

The Drone Regions were cut off from the rest of New Eden for the next 20 years, and CONCORD seemed to have every intention of keeping them locked down. The situation changed dramatically however in YC 108 when the gates to the Drone Regions re-enabled themselves. CONCORD was unable to lock the gates down again. Around this time, the Code Aria report was leaked to the public, prompting outcries from both the public and governments alike. However, the damage was done and the Drone Regions remain open to this day.

Sansha’s Nation

Zombies have long been a part of popular culture (and apparently growing in popularity in recent years, vampire craze notwithstanding), so it only makes sense that a cyberpunk version of zombies made their appearance in EVE. They make their appearance through the pirates known as Sansha’s Nation. Founded by Sansha Kuvakei, the Nation originally started as a way for Kuvakei to fulfill his utopian ideals. He and his Caldari family had grown rich through arms manufacturing during the Gallente-Caldari war, and he struck out in YC 4 to settle what would eventually be called the Stain region. Out there, he set out to build his empire, preaching his utopian ideals. His nation and his beliefs earned great praise throughout the Cluster and he soon found himself on the front edge of galactic politics. Unfortunately, Kuvakei had a bit of a megalomaniacal streak to him, and all the praise went to his head. He began to seriously believe himself as a kind of deity, and believed that others should serve him. If they did not want to willingly serve him, he would make them serve him. He began experimenting with recently-invented capsuleer implant technology to create so-called True Slaves: people who have lost their own free will and are under the direct control of Kuvakei. Kuvakei’s command and control scheme is quite extensive, utilizing direct linkups from each drone into a kind of hive mind (if he starts calling himself the Borg Queen, I’m leaving again). Despite these experiments, the empires either truly didn’t know the extent of his experiments or chose to ignore the obvious slavery implications.

However, the full extent of his experiments came to light in YC 34. Despite the monstrous experiments, they did have one positive result: it lead to the creation of the first (and, to my knowledge, only) offensive that was coordinated among all four of the major empires, lead by the Gallente. They swept through Stain, wiping out all known colonies and presumably killing Kuvakei himself. The remaining small cadre of Nation officers was left to drift for several decades. They eventually managed to re-organize, and reappeared in the galactic scene in YC 105, attacking the Amarr Empire and the Angel Cartel for a while. However, they seemed to be of no particularly major threat to anyone, and despite some talk of a major offensive to wipe them out again, nothing happened, and the Nation soon drifted into obscurity again.

Unexpectedly, the Nation returned with a vengeance in YC 112. After almost 4 years of near silence, the Nation suddenly began invading the heart of empire space, raiding planets and abducting millions from the surface, presumably for transformation into True Slaves. Sansha Kuvakei has also apparently re-emerged, although not everyone is convinced that this is actually Kuvakei instead of a replacement of some kind. Capsuleers soon came to the rescue when it became clear that Empire navies and CONCORD were unable to deal with the coordinated, lightning swift assaults that soon became the Nation’s hallmark (these attacks, not to be confused with incursions, are known as live events. Generally lead by one Sansha member played by a CCP employee, he’ll bring hundreds of ships into one system and players are expected to respond and defend the colonies. These live events (of which there are other kinds, but this has been the main kind in recent years) can be very entertaining, and a great way to dip your toe into RPing if you’re looking for a way to get started, though they tend to be somewhat few and far between these days). Things grew more ominous when it was discovered that the Nation had discovered how to create their own wormholes to invade any system they chose, and even MORE ominous when pictures suggested that the Nation had conquered at least one Jove system to serve as a base of operations. There was no comment from the Jove on this, despite clear photographic evidence of a Sansha fleet next to a Jove station, which helps feed into the theory that the Jove are actually completely extinct at this point (which has not been confirmed one way or another by CCP to my knowledge).

These days, the Nation has for the most part abandoned its single-system strategy after a climactic battle in Yulai near the end of YC 113. The Nation now favors constellation-wide incursions, where they attempt to disrupt life as much as humanly possible. Kuvakei’s rhetoric has also been tweaked in recent days. Although he continues to speak of unity, he has also taken special interest in capsuleers, trying to rally them specifically to his cause. What the future holds for Sansha and his Nation at this point are anything but clear, and the Empires have shown no particular desire to repeat the sweep of YC 37.

Serpentis

The major drug runners in Eve, Serpentis was originally created as a legitimate biochemical company in the Federation. Founded by Igil Sarpati back when neural boosters were legal throughout New Eden, the company quickly degenerated to the darker side of biochemistry by investing heavily in the drug and booster trade after boosters were outlawed.

Today, the company is a broad-based high-tech R&D company with a core competency in biochemistry. The current CEO, Salvador Sarpati, moved the corporation out to the Fountain region, and even bought himself his own system: Serpentis Prime. The Sarpatis continue to run Serpentis out in the depths of null security space: the only exception is Salvador’s sister Santimona, who is currently head of the Sisters of Eve. Serpentis continues to research and produce boosters and other illicit drugs for capsuleers and the public alike. As mentioned above, the Serpentis have cultivated a close relationship with the Angel Cartel, particularly their Guardian Angels, who guard their research assets.

Sisters of Eve

CCP prides itself on showing humanity’s darker side in EVE Online. But even in EVE, there has to be SOME force for good. That force mostly manifests itself in the Servant Sisters of Eve, a humanitarian aid organization universally recognized for its neutrality and dedication to helping any and all who need it (think of it as the Red Cross of the EVE universe). Originating in the depths of the Caldari-Gallente War, the Sisterhood prides itself as the leading humanitarian aid organization in the Cluster. Since its formation, it led relief missions during the Minmatar Rebellion as well as the brief Amarr-Jove War. Today, it has established a number of sanctuaries for weary travelers or those seeking safety, most of them just outside of empire space, though some refugee camps are established within empire space as necessary. The organization is headed by the Reverend Mother, currently Santimona Sarpati, the sister to the head of the Serpentis Corporation, though the two organizations (and siblings, for that matter) are in no way close. Beyond the Sisterhood itself, it also runs a food relief program known simply as Food Relief.

Beyond its humanitarian mission, however, the Sisterhood is also a religious order. Another division of the Sisterhood, known as the Sanctuary, focuses its work on the study of what it calls a ‘relic from God’: the EVE Gate. Headed by the High Priestess Harna Durado, the Sanctuary is the premier research institution that studies the Gate. What, if anything, they’ve found in the Gate has remained a mystery to the general public, but they are known to keep a ship stationed as close the Gate as it can get without being ripped apart by the intense turbulence (the Gate, alas, is located approximately 3 lightyears outside of the New Eden system, and is inaccessible to us capsuleers). High Priestess Durado has decreed that research continue, however, since they believe that the Gate is key to getting access to heaven.

There have been some indications of an ulterior agenda for the Sisters, however. Although publicly the Sisterhood has distanced itself from the current unofficial head of the Intaki Syndicate, Silphy en Diabel, there are some indications that the Sisters and the Syndicate have worked together to use unwitting capsuleers as part of its research projects. A few years back, all capsuleers received a limited edition shuttle known as the Zephyr, designed by the Intaki polymath Valsas en Dilat. For unknown reasons, there does appear to be some indication of collusion with the Syndicate to use the Zephyrs, which are apparently invisible to Sleepers (meaning that they can fly around any Sleeper site in w-space without getting attacked by the drones… players of course are another matter) to collect data for the Sisters. Obviously, this isn’t known to the general populace (indeed, only Silphy and Santimona appear to know anything about it), so it should be considered off-limits to characters, but it’s an interesting subplot nonetheless.

Society of Conscious Thought

As with anything Jove-related, the Society of Conscious Thought is best described as a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a person-with-a-genetic-deformity-that-will-lead-to-death-by-depression. Founded about 300 years ago now by Ior Labron, the Society was originally founded as a spiritual institution and an attempt to discern the meaning of life, based partly on the teachings of Ior’s mentor, Gorda Hoje. Though the Jove are not generally a spiritual people, those that do look faith look with zest. Although it had its start as a religious institution, the Society soon took on a political dimension, gaining quite a bit of clout within the Jovian Directorate and in many respects acting like a shadow government. Eventually, the clout became too much, and the Society was kicked out of the politics business. Thoroughly chastised, the Society withdrew from political life, and various splinter groups of the Society settled in remote regions. These settlements, named kitzes, were self-sustaining enclaves where research continued apace. They also established schools that quickly became well-respected throughout the Cluster.

The Society is not without its darker side, however. It came to light a few decades ago that some kitzes were apparently working with Sansha Kuvakei to help develop his True Slaves. This again rocked the Society back on its heels, and in an attempt to repair relations with the Cluster, the Society opened its renowned schools up to all races. It also set its sight on a new, seemingly more benign area of research: the social sciences. The Society soon realized through its research that it was possible to individually tailor educational programs to a specific child based on that child’s tendencies, and that these programs could even help curb detrimental tendencies in a child. This in and of itself was nothing new in education, but as usual, the Jove took things a bit too far when it combined these new programs with its research on mood enhancers. What many people would call a form of brainwashing, the Society called its Hyperconsciousness agenda, and it’s been used on the children admitted to its schools for quite a while now (the extent of the program is not known publicly).

More recently, the Society has focused its efforts on technology that helps its social sciences studies, including an amnesiac agent. Much of its effort in recent years, however, has been focused around the Book of Emptiness. The Book, in reality a small machine named after a lost Amarr holy book, was an attempt to cure the Jovian Disease by removing all negative thoughts and emotions. Unfortunately, it had the unintended side effect of reducing its users to slobbering idiots. Needless to say, it was rejected as a cure for the Disease, but the Society has focused its research efforts on it in recent years regardless, even if its agenda is not known publicly. Indeed, publicly, the Society and its kitzes are still held in very high regard as the premier educational institutions in New Eden.

Technology

For a game that takes place 21,000 years in the future, technology actually plays a fairly secondary role in the lore. That is a testament to CCP’s content writers who avoid, as much as possible, the whole “technobabble saves us all” approach to conflict resolution (much as it pains me to say this, my beloved Star Trek is particularly bad at this). Still, it’d be ridiculous if CCP didn’t lay down SOME background knowledge on the technology that makes our lives in space possible. I’m only going to be covering the big ones here, but there’s a LOT of lore out there for anyone who’s interested in the more mechanical side of things.

Capsules

Ah, the capsule. The pod. The egg. As particularly bad trolls try to say in help chat now and then (feel free to say hi to me in there if you see me), some think it’s a sign that you’ve leveled up when it first appears. The capsule is the singular achievement that separates us players of EVE Online from the general unkempt masses. The deep history of the capsule is, to my knowledge, completely unknown to us, in game or out. What we do know is that the Jove (for reasons unknown) offered the Caldari capsule technology in 23224 AD, shortly before the battle at Iyen-Oursta. In exchange, the Caldari handed over significant amounts of cultural and social information.

The capsule offers a pilot complete and unfettered access to a ship using only one’s mind, while cocooning the body in a hydrostatic fluid that dampens undue stresses. Connections are made directly to the pilot’s nervous system that allows them to feel each time a ship gets hit, to move the ship as one would move a muscle, and to see out of a ship’s camera drones as if it were their own eyes. The ship’s computer even creates sounds to feed into a pilot’s auditory cortex to help the pilot situate himself in space. This direct connection to the ship drastically lowers a ship’s crew requirements, while also dramatically decreasing reaction times. The end result is a faster, leaner ship that has even more capabilities than a ship with a crew twice its size. This, incidentally, is the theoretical reason why we players are able to kill rats as easily as we do. Capsule-piloted ships are so efficient that they take on ships the same size or even larger vessels with nary a scratch. Obviously, when a pod-piloted vessel explodes, one of its last orders of business is to safely eject the pod from the dying ship (the rest of the crew may or may not be as lucky).

But the capsule is not without its risks. Beyond the risk that a potential pilot doesn’t have the proper genetic makeup, the biggest risk to the average would-be capsuleer (ignoring the apparently painful process of adapting your body to the capsule; you know, holes in your spine, parts of your skull peeled away to make way for implants, etc…) is something known as “mindlock.” It apparently occurs when the brain isn’t able to “shrink” itself back down to a mere human body. It got accustomed to controlling the pod and/or ship, and once unplugged, it couldn’t re-engage its connection to the much more frail human body. In the chronicle I linked here, it’s quite clear that a mindlocked pilot is still fully conscious and aware of what’s going on around him, just unable to move. However, even the Jove apparently didn’t know at that time whether a person was still conscious in a mindlocked pilot. It’s still not clear where the state of research is on mindlock in modern times. What IS clear, however, is that the incident rate of mindlock is very low today, thanks to better training techniques, so it's not a big deal these days.

Cloning

While the capsule alone dramatically increases a ship’s effectiveness, the thing that truly makes us pod pilots truly immortal is the joining of a capsule with cloning technology. Cloning has been around in New Eden for a while (a business prospectus of one cloning company, Cromeaux Inc., can be found here, which describes the basic process). But this isn’t modern real life cloning, where your DNA is taken and a clone is grown like a child would be. Rather, biomass of some kind (usually, human cadavers in the high quality clones (yes, it’s made of people), but apparently any kind of biomass will do) is used to create a human body with functioning organs. These generic humans are then seeded with a customer’s DNA and stem cells, so within a few months the body is made up mostly of a customer’s own actual DNA. Tattoos, skin coloration, and piercings can be applied as the process continues. The one organ missing is the brain.

The brain is instead grown individually after a cloning contract is created. When a person becomes a clone company’s customer, a brain scan is taken to get the brain’s shape and major nerve clusters positioned appropriately. This scan is used to create a gel model that eventually leads to neuronal growth that matches the customer’s own brain structures. This new brain is seeded with receptors attached to an FTL communication receiver (we’ll talk briefly about that in a bit). If that’s a bit too technobabble-y for you, the process is essentially that a person’s personal brain is created from the scan, it just doesn’t have any power to it yet.

At the moment of a customer’s death, a snapshot of the brain is taken using a transneural burning scanner. This scanner is able to see, down to individual neurons, the exact state of a person’s mind at the time of death. The scanning process has the somewhat unfortunate side-effect of completely destroying the original brain (and if that’s not sufficient, a quick-acting neurotoxin is injected just to be sure), but it is able to then transmit the brain’s state via FTL communications to the new clone. In the new brain, the transmitted patterns can quickly be almost precisely duplicated using the aforementioned receivers. The “almost” is key: the quality of the scan and how well it’s copied to the new clone at the moment of death can vary. As you learn more, you need a higher quality of clone to make sure the more complex information is transferred properly to the new clone, which is why you need to upgrade your clones now and then to hold more skills. The whole process of transferring consciousness can be completed within moments.

Unfortunately, modern burning scanners are somewhat large contraptions that require a person’s head to be in precise alignment at the moment of death. Because planning death this precisely can be difficult, cloning and transfer never quite gained wide traction throughout the cluster, remaining the province of the rich for the most part. This changed, however, when engineers realized that there was a significant and growing population who would always be in the same position when they were most likely to die: pod pilots. The neural scanner is now tied to a pod’s structural integrity system. When the pod detects a breach of any kind (since the chances of surviving a pod breach are minimal anyway), the scanner is automatically activated and that body is instantly killed, with the consciousness of that person transferred to the new clone body. CONCORD quickly authorized (and, indeed, required) the use of cloning technology in pod pilots in YC 105 (conveniently, the game year that EVE Online starts in) when the two technologies were safely combined. The age of the pod pilot had begun.

In the novel Templar One, Sleeper wreckage is discovered that eventually allows the same cloning technology to be miniaturized to such an extent as to be implanted into individual soldiers without the use of a pod. A small device, Sleeper in origin, lets the consciousness be saved at the moment of death and passed on to a waiting clone. This essentially allows the creation of immortal supersoldiers, and conveniently sets up the upcoming first person shooter Dust 514.

Faster-Than-Light Communications

FTL communication was actually developed significantly after the development of FTL travel. Strangely, after FTL travel was developed, a ship became the fastest way to spread information, a situation not really seen since the great Age of Exploration on Earth before the development of radio. As the interstellar community grew, some form of communications proved necessary to allow communications across the hundred light-years of New Eden. Many attempts were made to solve the problem, and it was such a problem that even the ancient civilizations seemed to have their own problems with the concept. Some had hoped that the idea of entangled particles (quarks and atoms that, through some quantum mechanical wizardry, instantaneously respond to a stimulus on one of the tangled particles, regardless of how many light years apart the two particles are) would solve the problem. While this line of research seemed promising, no data seemed to be able to be transmitted through entangled particles; only random noise made it through the gauntlet of quantum statistical probability.

The breakthrough came from a young Gallente scientist, Li Azbel, although she might well have been Minmatar given her solution. Her solution is complicated and filled with technobabble that would make a Trekkie proud, but it essentially comes down to using that random noise to her advantage. Rather than transmitting data bit by bit, she discovered she was able to modulate the amount and frequency of the noise itself, which lead to being able to transmit data. With this breakthrough (using useless junk to piggyback data onto), engineers were quickly able to construct fluid routers made up of entangled particles. These routers were soon joined into a massive communications network that today spans the cluster, and allows us now to contact any person anywhere.

Stargates

Stargates are the backbone of New Eden, shaping the cluster and its politics as we know it. The gate network snakes throughout New Eden, and today lets us cross over 100 light-years in just a few hours. Conceptually, jumpgates are actually fairly easy to understand: they’re artificially contained, static wormholes that take you from one system to another. It’s their construction that mucks things up a bit.

As I mentioned during the Empires section, our modern stargates are based on the wrecks and ruins of stargates originally built during the first colonization of the Cluster (while we know the reason for the fairly rapid colonization of the cluster, ingame scholars apparently continue to debate the reasons for it). The Amarr were the first to discover the near-perfect ruins of a gate in Amarr Prime, which let them fairly easily reverse-engineer the working principles. The problem that they ran into was that a single gate is not enough: it needs a partner. So before the Amarr could activate the gate in their own system, they had to send out ships filled with crews in cryogenic suspension. The ships would travel on their own for years or even decades until coming to the new star system, at which point the crews are woken up and they construct the companion gate. While most of the time these journeys ended well, there have been some very close calls. The discovery of jump drives only came about recently, and even today there are dozens of ships heading out into the unknown to try to construct the next set of gates.

Stargates can only work in certain systems. The artificial wormholes are created at points of gravitational resonance (essentially, where gravity waves can cancel each other out, like at Lagrange points for the more scientifically inclined, or when you create a standing wave). At these resonance points, the gravitational shear is so intense that it becomes easy to just poke a hole through space-time. The hole doesn’t necessarily connect to anywhere at first, but if two gates are near each other and each trying to form a connection, the two gates are attracted to each other and eventually a stable wormhole can be formed between the two gates (though it can take a while). However, the amount of resonance needed can only really be found in binary star systems (this has ALWAYS bugged me because there’s never been any evidence in the Cluster of where the second star is, but I suppose that is neither here nor there), meaning that only 2 of every 3 star systems is theoretically able to hold a gate of any kind. There’s more maths and technobabble involved in the article linked to in this paragraph for the people interested, but suffice it to say that using a gate can be an uncomfortable experience since, even with modern technology, you’re still being stretched along a pretty steep gravitational gradient.

Today, the technology of stargates have been miniaturized enough that capital ships are able to create their own wormholes capable of carrying themselves to nearby systems without the use of stargates, though the use of a jump drive (this jump drive should NOT be confused with the jump drive mentioned in the interstellar travelling article I’ve been linking. That ‘jump drive’ seems to be referring to what we now call the warp drive). The general principle of the jump drive seems to be the same as stargates, only now the use of cynosural beacons allows the forming wormhole to easily latch onto something in the destination system. Jump bridges work on a similar principle.

Warp Drive

While on the notion of interstellar travel, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the warp drive. Formally known as the Sotiyo-Urbaata drive for the two Caldari scientists that developed it, warp drives are the things that allow us to zoom around the solar system at multiple astronomical units per second (as a reference guide, it takes light approximately 8 minutes to travel 1 astronomical unit, so traveling at the standard 3 AU per second is quite speedy indeed). First developed in the year 22821, the drive was built to solve the problem of how to quickly travel between Caldari Prime and Gallente Prime. Even though developed over 600 years ago, the Amarr and Minmatar took a while to catch on (the Minmatar had independently developed acceleration gates for their intra-system travel needs, the Amarr apparently just enjoy rocking back and forth and slowness).

The warp drive works through the magic of “depleted vacuum.” Even empty space generally has SOMETHING in it, be it atoms here or there or even just random particles that pop into existence only to be annihilated mere moments later. So even the vacuum of space is never truly “empty.” The warp drive works to create full, “depleted” vacuum, so there is literally nothing in it. No specks of dust, no virtual particles, no energy or matter of any kind. Such an empty place, according to the game lore, has special properties. Rather than being affected by friction, it actually has anti-friction: things (including light) actually move faster in this kind of space, rather than slower. By creating a depleted vacuum and expanding the field to cover the entire ship, the ship then slips into faster than light speeds as it tunnels through space. Navigation at FTL speeds isn’t easy; the ship can only detect gravitational sources at warp speeds. When the drive is activated, it locks onto a sufficiently massive object (even stations can do) that acts as a beacon, so the drive knows when to cut out. The need to lock onto a gravity source to activate the drive is the nominal reason why you can’t just pick a random direction and warp off, but doesn’t quite explain how we can just warp to bookmarks in the middle of nowhere (but WHATEVER). Furthermore, you can blame your warp core (essentially, an aneutronic fusion reactor coupled with the depleted vacuum generator) for creating “four dimensional drag” that pulls your ship to a halt (this is ostensibly why we play submarines in space (from a physics model perspective), as opposed to the Newtonian motion that we would see in real life).

Vitoc

It’s hard to control slaves. They tend to not enjoy the experience. It was a lot easier to control slaves before they learned to read (since reading allows radical ideas like “hey, let’s not be slaves anymore” to be easily transmitted throughout a slave community), but in order for most slaves to be useful in this day and age, the ability to read and write is basically required. So as time went on, the Amarr had to develop more advanced techniques to control their slaves. One of the more devilish techniques they developed was the use of vitoxin and its antidote, vitoc.

The methods have varied over the years, but the underlying concept is the same: inject the slave with a toxin that will kill the slave (in, of course, the most gruesome and painful way possible) unless an antidote is injected every day or two. That antidote is vitoc. To make matters worse, vitoc was also created to be extremely addicting, producing intense states of euphoria after it is injected. Thus, even if there were a way to remove the toxin from the slave, they’d still find themselves intensely addicted to the substance. In the modern era, the Amarr have swapped to using a virus that ultimately produces the deadly vitoxin. The Amarr use this to control their slaves, threatening to withhold the vitoc if they do not follow orders.

Various attempts have been made to fight vitoxin and vitoc addiction over the years. One of the most promising cures, Insorum, was developed by Ishukone. Otro Gariushi, Ishukone’s former CEO, gave the antidote’s formula to the Minmatar free of charge (apparently enraging the mysterious Broker in the process, who had been bidding on it), and it is now part of the standard treatment regimen. However, research into other cures, both scientific and holistic, continues. One of the primary centers for vitoc research can be found in Yrmori, at the Forlorn Hope institute (which is admittedly not the first name I would have picked for an optimistic “yes, we can beat this thing” research institute), though a full cure for the toxin and addiction have yet to present themselves.

Miscellaneous

There’s just a few things left that I want to touch on, and then I PROMISE I’ll stop writing. These are things that either seemed to fit either everywhere, or nowhere at all, so I figured it would just be easiest to separate them out into their own little category.

Calendar

I realize that I swap a lot between saying years in the traditional AD system and in the newer YC system, but I’m working off of what the timeline gives me. It’s easier to keep it set that way rather than referring to YC -18,000, which just seems silly to me. In any case, I just wanted to make a brief note on the timekeeping system used in New Eden. YC refers to the Yoiul Convention, a timekeeping system established aboard the Jove ship Yoiul in 23236 AD. The new calendar, which is used to transact all space-based business, was established to simplify things when time is of the essence (since each empire had developed their own calendars based on each planet’s own length of year and length of day). Through complete accident (I’m sure), one of the few things in-game researchers were able to re-construct from the deep New Eden histories was the calendar system the original colonists used, down to what day corresponds to January 1, and when midnight happens.

When the time came to negotiate a universal time system, there were a number of factions advocating different calendars. Some wanted a completely physics-based calendar, based on some celestial source. Others wanted to set the clock to the human body’s natural 25 hour clock. And the last set, known as the traditionalists, wanted to align New Eden’s calendar with the ancient timekeeping systems that researchers reconstructed. Obviously, the traditionalists won out in the end, and YC 0 was celebrated throughout New Eden on January 1, 23236 AD. We continue to use the system to this day. As noted in the introduction, the real life year of 2012 corresponds to the in-game year of YC 114.

Naming Conventions / Languages

One of the things I wanted to touch on was how to set up appropriate names for the bloodlines. Most of the bloodlines developed on completely separate worlds, and as such, they developed their own languages through the Dark Ages, and they continue to use those languages today. Of course, from an in-game perspective, the use of different languages doesn’t matter thanks to the development of translation software in our ships (though why local remains untranslated remains an open question). Regardless, crafting appropriate sounding names is an important aspect to most RPers, so I’ve included a brief review of most in-game languages and names. I should mention that most of this research was done by my host Seismic Stan in the course of preparing his excellent in-character website at Tech4 News, which is dedicated to covering news from a non-capsuleer perspective, though there are other excellent player-researched sources out there.

Before I dig into these, I want to again mention that these should only be seen as very general guidelines. In modern day New Eden, cultures are mixing like never before, meaning that there is no particular reason why a Gallente couldn’t have an Amarr sounding name, or vice versa. And, of course, given that our own planet has developed hundreds of languages over the course of human existence, these rules are by no means the only ways to create names.

Amarr: Little is known about the native Amarr language, and what little we do know can seem at times contradictory (though that hasn’t stopped some intrepid players from attempting to put together a more comprehensive language). Still, it appears that True Amarr names often have a Persian or even Farsi feel to them (somewhat oddly, given their Catholic origins), while Khanid seems to have a more Mongolian background to it. I unfortunately wasn’t able to find any information on the Ni-Kunni.

Minmatar: Given the tribal background of the Minmatar, it should be unsurprising that language probably varies from tribe to tribe, though since they all developed on the same world (originally), there’s probably also a unified Matari language. That being said, there’s still some patterns apparent in the various tribal names. The Brutors tend to have a Maori feel to them, while the Sebestior (somewhat randomly) seem to be derived from Nordic names. The Vherekior seem to derive from Urdu names.

Gallente: As might be expected, the Gallente language and names seem to derive mostly from French roots, with perhaps a Gallic influence to them. The Jin-Mei, meanwhile, seem to have Chinese-derived names. The Intaki language, derived from Indian origins (though with obvious French influences), is a bit special. The language has been surprisingly well-developed by RP groups, to the extent that entire sites have been dedicated to the language. To my knowledge, no other in-game language has been developed to such an extent, but if that’s incorrect, please feel free to let me know.

Caldari: We’ve only seen snippets of the Caldari language in the Prime Fiction (helpfully aggregated here). What little we’ve seen suggests a combination of Finnish and Japanese influences, however.

Seyllin Incident/Isogen-5

There’s one last topic to discuss before concluding. It’s a slightly odd topic, in that it is both integral to the overall EVE storyline these days, but also somewhat self-contained compared to the rest of the story. I’m talking, of course, about wormholes and the fateful day that they first opened to us citizens of New Eden.

March 10, YC 111 started as an ordinary day, but it certainly didn’t end like one. Before the day was out, 10 separate Class-O stars across the Cluster simultaneously suffered what astronomers have rather boringly termed “main sequence events.” In reality, these “events” were massive explosions, creating coronal mass ejections that were powerful enough to destroy the first planets in these systems. The broken husks of these shattered planets can be seen even today in these various systems (Rhavas has done an excellent and in-depth study of all known shattered planets in his Shattered Planet Datacore). Of course, anything merely man-made had little chance of surviving events that could destroy planets. While a number of systems were thankfully uninhabited, we do know that an Intaki Syndicate station was destroyed, as well as a Thukker caravan in the Great Wildlands.

These losses pale in comparison, though, to the loss of life in Seyllin. Seyllin was a small but successful Federation mining colony housing roughly 500 million people on it. Troubles first arose when the local solar monitoring satellites dropped out of contact, followed by the colony itself a few minutes later. This was due to the massive electromagnetic pulse that essentially flash-fried any inhabitants on the sunward side of Seyllin I. However, a significant number of citizens were on the dark side of the planet, protected from the pulse by the planet’s sheer bulk. It took a while for both the Federation and others to figure out precisely what was going on, wasting precious moments that could have been used to evacuate citizens from the doomed planet. Finally, the Federation Navy, assisted by the Sisters of EVE and other factions, managed to begin lifting some citizens, but not nearly enough. Only 843,000 out of a population of 500 million were ultimately saved from Seyllin I.

After such an event, of course, governments and scientists alike were eager to determine just what caused these “events.” Eventually, the signature of a rare substance known as Isogen-5 was found at the site of each explosion. Isogen-5, a rare isotope of the somewhat more common Isogen, is an extremely unstable substance (if that wasn’t obvious from the, you know, massive explosions it caused). We’re not entirely sure who or what placed the Isogen-5 near the stars, but there’s at least one proven case (though not one that’s known publicly, to my knowledge) where rogue drones were hoarding the substance for unknown reasons. In that case, however, rogue drones were hoarding the Isogen-5 apparently under the command of Empress Jamyl (who had yet to make her return to Cluster politics following her apparent death), to power the Terran superweapon that she used to devastating effect in the Battle of Mekhios against the Elder Fleet. Prior to her return, she tested her superweapon once on a Blood Raider fleet, with a similar result. There is at least some evidence that the March 10 detonations were, in fact, an accident. Under this theory, one of the Isogen-5 caches made by the drones under Jamyl’s command accidentally detonated, which set off a chain reaction amongst the other Isogen-5 caches. However, that theory doesn’t quite explain why some shattered planets are found in wormhole space (where New Eden rogue drones couldn’t possibly have traveled to before the wormholes opened), so the question of who created the caches in the first place is still very much up for debate (as is the question of rogue drone motives for creating their caches).

In any event, the Isogen-5 detonations did more than just kill a few hundred million people. The explosions were so severe that they ripped holes in the fabric of space-time. Apparently random wormholes soon appeared throughout the cluster. Intriguingly, out of the trillions upon trillions of stars in the universe that the wormholes could lead to, they all lead to about 2,500 that are inhabited in some capacity by the Sleepers (the reasons for why wormholes only lead to these select systems is unknown). These systems, known as Anoikis (Anoikis and w-space are equivalent terms, but I believe there’s a slight preference in RP circles to call it Anoikis), are located in an unknown area of space (though Templar One does mention that the only identifiable objects in Anoikis are quasars, which would make Anoikis incredibly distant from New Eden). However, within hours of the first wormhole opening in Vitrauze, the Gallente were sending ships through. Soon, the empires and CONCORD all agreed to buy certain items taken from Sleeper salvage at a standardized rate. Sleeper salvage led to a number of technological advances, including Tech 3 strategic cruisers and the technology needed to create the immortal soldiers in the soon-to-be-released game Dust 514. Needless to say, research on Isogen-5, Anoikis, and related areas is still ongoing (including a project by yours truly!). How all these pieces truly fit together may never entirely be known, unfortunately.

Conclusion

Well, that about wraps it up. I confess that after writing all of this, I’m ironically not entirely sure of the best way to conclude. Some grandiose statement on the interconnectedness and depth of New Eden’s story seems appropriate, but it turns out that Seismic Stan already said everything I could on the subject and more in his excellent foreword. But one of the things this project has taught me is that the best way to learn the lore is to really dig into it yourself. I took pains while writing this to cross-reference to the bigger articles on the lore, but there’s still so much out there that I just didn’t have time or room to talk about. Dig into it, and you can see the kind of story CCP has built for Eve. At the risk of sounding cliché, there’s a universe worth of stories out there to discover.

I will say that EVE has a fantastic backstory though, and the best part is that it’s still being written. Whether it be the political intrigues of New Eden’s null security alliances, discovering more about our past history, or the next scandal or crisis to hit the empires, the story of EVE lives and grows every day. It’s one of many great things about a great game, and I had a blast putting this guide together and digging back into the lore.

I’d like to thank Seismic Stan for letting me take over his blog for a few days to post the blogpost version, as well as instigating this guide in the first place. He acted as a constant sounding board whenever I needed it (much to the detriment to his sleeping schedule), and his suggestions and editing proved invaluable. And all of that says nothing of the promotional help he gave or how he dealt with me making hundreds of updates to the Guide. I can’t possibly thank him enough. And I must thank Morwen Lagann for acting as my second set of lore-familiar eyes on this, making sure I didn’t commit some grievous RP faux pas. I’d also like to thank the EVE Content Teams, past and present, that really made this possible. Without dedicated lore people such as CCP TonyG, Abraxus, Dropbear, and the others on the Lore team, this kind of project never would have been possible (nor, for that matter, would a 13,000 entry wiki). This Guide was as much a way to showcase their painstaking work on this as it was to summarize it, and I can’t give them enough credit for the fantastic universe that they’ve created.

If you guys have any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to contact me in game or out of game. My contact info can be found on my website, and I check twitter constantly. Thanks again, and I hope it you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it!