Aunty Teinyhr's Minmatar Fiction Corner

Fiction Portal Player Fiction
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Here I will type up some fiction for my own personal enjoyment, from my personal point of view, the Minmatar being the main focus of the stuff I’m going to write. None of these are official lore in any capacity nor will they necessarily follow established fiction.

The formats will probably mostly follow the style of earliest Chronicles, “infodumps”, item descriptions or such.

EDIT: I originally intended this for my own enjoyment and necessity to get something written every once in a while, but I have since had requests from other people to use this thread, and I couldn’t be more happy to say that yes, if you have minmatar oriented fiction you want to share, you are welcome to do so in this thread, without needing to ask a permission.

The Krusual Saphrem

It is an accepted fact that the Krusual historical records are the most well preserved of all the Minmatar Tribes, and of particular note is the scattered knowledge of the earliest annals of Minmatar history, back when the Tribes still warred between each other for resources and land. Majority is recorded in cave paintings, folk stories and, every once in a while scientifically certifiable evidence is found in the nooks and crannies hidden by time in the ancient lands of the Krusual.

One such story that survives more as spoken legend than anything - but noticeably, in legends of also the Sebiestor and Nefantar - is the story of the Krusual Saphrem. The ancestral lands of the Krusual werent as abundant in arable land as those of the many other Tribes, resulting often in resource shortfalls. That is when the Krusual took up arms, raiding usually Nefantar holds - as they shared the same continent and typically were the easiest opponents to reach - and liberating them of their grain, livestock, and if pressed, also their lives.

The most fearsome and respected members of these raiding parties were the “Saphrem”, clad in simple but effective leather armor, these warriors were typically tall and stocky men armed with heavy, two-handed battle-axes called the “saph-rem” (“man-splitter”). It was said that these men would enter a combat trance, channeling the wind spirits they worshipped, and that their form of combat had been described as “incorporating more grace than you’d expect, coupled with stomach-emptying carnage.” As time passed, just seeing such warriors heading towards them was enough for all but the most foolhardiest or the most well-paid defenders to simply turn tail and flee.

But despite legends of their prowess, the Saphrem were hardly invincible. While devastating one-on-one combatants, they were at disadvantage to superior numbers, which any enemy commander worth their salt would endeavour to exploit - and even the most battle-raged warrior would have to stop once they had no more blood in their body left to fuel it. As weaponry and defences also eventually evolved, the once-mighty Saphrem would have to yield to them.

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Anti-Shakor & Anti-Tribal Republic Movements

Prior to Elder War, Maleatu Shakor was the Brutor party leader who in order to garner public support offered people the blood of the Amarrians, freedom for the Minmatar still enslaved, and an end to appeasement politics - this, and a new era of prosperity to the Minmatar would all be forthcoming if the Sebiestor were dislodged from the seat of power, namely the Prime Ministers seat. His stance was particularly liked and supported by the Brutor and the Krusual groups in the Parliament.

And his time would come at last.

The Elder War of YC 110 brought great turmoil with it, and to Shakor, the position of Sanmatar, the “True Matar”, leader of all Minmatar. The first couple of years after the Elder War were spent on reorganizing the previously Gallentean styled democracy to a Tribal Council led Republic. The general outlook on the future of the new Tribal Republic was one of cautious hope and optimism for all Tribes. It was told, and sold, that the Minmatar now would return to the glory days of the ancient Minmatar Empire, how the Tribes should have been if it weren’t for the Amarr.

–

Over a decade has passed since Maleatu Shakor became the Sanmatar, and he has found that promises are easy to make, but keeping them is a lot harder: The war against the Amarr is still unfought, indeed it showing signs of never actually to be manifesting at all, and in recent years the Tribal government seeming more interested in waging a shadow war against its own people in the name of quelling dissidence has given rise to a credible Anti-Shakor and “Return to Democracy” Movement within the Republic.

Vast majority of the Minmatar living in the Republic today have been born free, and for most, the Gallentean inspired Parliamentary Republic was the only form of government they had ever known. Imposing ancient customs and stricter Tribal authority on their lives has not sat well particularly in the members of the “young adult” demographic.

Several notable high profile Minmatar capsuleers are considered unofficial leaders of these movements, giving “untouchable” figureheads for anti-tribal sentiment.

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Disclaimer: This is especially my own imagination/headcanon and not a guideline on how these should be viewed by the community at large.

Rituals of the Ancient Minmatar

The ancient Minmatar practiced many rituals for various purposes. An unknown number of rituals have been eradicated under Amarrian occupation, but scant few have survived to the modern age, most notable and well known example of which would be the Voluval ritual.

Recently rediscovered fungus, a mold known as “Hapa” was known to be used in funeral and founding rituals; When a clan founding ceremony was held, the mold would be powdered and scattered around the ceremonial site to bless the new clan and cleanse the new beginning from old grudges.

–

Some lesser known rituals among the tribes are various forms of harvest rituals and winter solstice celebrations in the agrarian society era. Harvest rituals typically involved sacrificing something for the spirits of the land to ensure a good harvest for the following year: Offerings could range from fruit to hand made idols to animal and - in desperate times of famine - even human sacrifice, whatever the shamans inferred the spirits would want for their favour or forgiveness. Such rituals indeed are not unique to the Minmatar, similar beliefs and rituals are known to have existed in almost all documented cultures of New Eden.

–

The more unique rituals Minmatar do have, and practice to an extent even today, are various rituals pertaining to death and birth. Various Tribes have different beliefs of the afterlife, or, even pre-life, and rituals are similarly varied.

For example, for the Vherokior, life is a path a soul chooses to travel, and thus a baby born into the world is welcomed with a celebration and temporary shamanistic markings no other Tribe is known to practice. Similarly, death is not the end, and not the time of mourning but giving the soul of the departed a good sendoff with a feast, song, and dance in their memory. A Vherokior funeral is likened to a farewell party by their circle of friends and family more than a somber reminder of mortality.

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Meshes of loyalty
(Posted with welcome from the the OP.)

Me and my sister against the cousin, me and my cousin against the rival, me and my rival against the outsider, and me and the outsider against the Enemy. That is andesh.

When all other ways close, the way of the knife opens.

A Minmatar person’s social life is often organized along loyalty owed, either by association to a group (clan, circle, tribe, cohort, military unit, university class, what have you) or by personal loyalty from one individual to another. These loyalties often form partial hierarchies - two people of the same family are closer than two people from different families of the same clan, and two people of the same clan are closer than two people of the same tribe but of different clans. The hierarchies also mesh - a clansister of close blood is likely to be closer than someone you served with in the military, but that sister-in-arms might easily be closer than a more distant cousin.

The loyalties and associations of an individual Minmatar born and raised in fairly stable conditions rarely collide with each other. There might be some fun poked at someone who is so in love that they prefer their lover’s clan to their own primary circle, but as long as the interests of the groups can be met at the same time this does not become a serious issue.

Serious loyalty conflicts are a staple source of drama in stories, holovids, plays, and games. In the extreme, some clans hold that if a solution where two loyalties cannot be satisfied at the same time, and neither can be abandoned with fair compensation, the only honorable way is ritual suicide or even an honor killing. In practice, this is practiced only rarely, as various ways to resettle and renegotiate loyalties and compensate for apparent breaches of association exist.

It is seen by many as typical for Minmatar to quarrel and argue things fiercely inside a group, but to close the ranks of that group against anyone perceived outside of it. While how much brutal honesty among close associates is valued is a wildly varying cultural norm, many Minmatar do classify their contacts and associations to concentric spheres such as family, clan, tribe, other Minmatar, foreigner, enemy. The exact names and definition for the “tiers” vary but the idea is quite universal, and anyone who is closer “inside” is seen as someone to be defended against those “outside”.

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Ourumur

Ourumur is a word carved thousands of years ago on a cliffside in the Sobaki Desert.

Its original meaning has been lost to time, but linguists and armchair archaeologists have later theorized it to mean “nothing”, owing in part to the complete scarcity of resources and the remoteness of the location where it was found. No settlements are known to have existed near it, nor have surveys carried around the area found any signs of such within a reasonable travel distance from the carving, even with modern transports methods.

Ever since its rediscovery some fifty years ago it has been the subject of human curiosity - who carved the word, and why? What does it really mean? Given what is now known of the area, prevailing theory is that the carving is the work of a lone hermit, most probably a Vherokior shaman on a spirit quest. How they eked out a living in the area with no stable water or food supply is a mystery, though it is possible the area could have been slightly more hospitable thousands of years ago when the word was carved - no geological evidence of that has been found yet, however.

Similarly perplexing is the word itself, if indeed it has been carved by a Vherokior shaman, why does it not then correspond with any known linguistics of modern or ancient Vherokior languages? It is possible that the word came to him or her in a shamanistic vision, and if so, then the word is indeed indecipherable to anyone but the person who wrote it.

–

Altough worn-down by sands, wind and time, the carving still exists. Its exact location has been kept secret from the public in an effort to preserve it for thousands of years to come, and also to prevent foolhardy wannabe-explorers getting lost in the desert.

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NOTE: Aside from the sourced pieces about the Ndokassi, all of this is just my headcanon, not to be taken as official lore.

Minmatar And Advanced Technology

Especially in the capsuleer community, Minmatar technology tends to be the butt of jokes and ridiculed for its perceived primitivity and poor construction. It is largely done in good humour, but there are some fools who also believe the jokes to be a true portrayal of the Minmatar capability in technological fields.

To rectify some of these misconceptions, we need to go back in history, to the times of the original Minmatar Empire. Unlike the other great powers, Minmatar never developed ship-mounted warp drives, but this was possibly more due to the perception that they were not needed. A familiar piece of technology to many spacefarers that has its origins in Minmatar ingenuity is the “Acceleration gate.”

Acceleration gates are complex systems that are marvels of technology in their own right, utilizing localized gravity manipulation to hurtle a ship of any mass at superluminal velocities, and warp corridor generation so that the ship and its inhabitants will not simply die gruesome deaths upon reaching FTL speeds in conventional physics. The limitation and what has made acceleration gates considered antiquated is that their ability to create stable warp corridors scales with size - a relatively small acceleration gate can easily hurtle ships across a solar system, but to reach another solar system would require gates of signifigantly larger size. It is believed that such an acceleration gate was being planned by the Minmatar Empire, as the small star empire could not rely forever on the ancient stargates it had found, but this “interstellar gate” was evidently never built, most likely due to Amarrians launching their conquest of Minmatar worlds.

Another, until recently rather obscure piece of Minmatar technology are the Ndokassi, similarly from the Minmatar Empire era. Ndokassi were advanced storage containers, typically measuring a third of a meter on each side, and were capable of preserving biological matter for hundreds of years. The technology was lost at some point during the period covering the contact, invasion and occupation by the Amarr Empire, but recently, some intact Ndokassi were found in a farm field on Huggar (Pator III). More incredibly some were found to contain spores of culturally signifigant Hapa mold, indeed preserving them for what could be estimated to be at least 700 standard years.

Such devices were known to be produced by the Minmatar Empire long before Gallente and Caldari even achieved spaceflight.

–

To return to modern prejudice towards Minmatar technological prowess, is that Minmatar favour “antiquated” technology such as nuclear fission or projectile weaponry. While on the surface, indeed, such technologies are inferior to what most other empires use, for the Republic there are considerable benefits: Minmatar worlds have abundant fission fuel material reserves and considerable industry is centered around that production, thus favouring their use helps in stabilizing the comparatively small Minmatar economy. Additionally, over decades and decades, Minmatar have developed their reactors to operate at peak efficiency, producing little waste yet exceptionally high output for their size.

The Minmatar favouring projectile weaponry over “superior” magnetic acceleration cannons is often also disparaged, but as anyone who has had to face Minmatar ships in combat can attest, a fusion round is just as terrifying thing to hear tearing through armor and bulkheads as an antimatter bolt would. Considerable technology has also gone into developing special munitions and projectile weapons that can fire at fractions of speed of light and deliver superheated plasma or titanium sabot rounds to whomever it may concern.

Most importantly, most of these technologies are relatively cheap to design, manufacture and maintain, allowing without excessive costs for the smallest of the four empires to field a large navy that is still a credible threat to anyone looking to provoke it.

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No Unwed Males

Vherokior Tribe is known among the Minmatar as the Tribe that places a lot of traditional value on families over clans, and of the family unit, uniquely among the Tribes women are generally held in somewhat higher regard than the males. This is of course not an unversal rule, nor does it deny men the opportunity to advance on their own merits; for example the current Tribal Chief of the Vherokior is a man.

There are however, some clans that due to tradition and circumstances of their formation are highly matriarchal and where men, even highly succesful men, are seen as “the weaker vessel.” As an extreme example, an unnamed clan based in Molden Heath has a particularly harsh and one could say, unjust view that a physically adult male without a spouse is not considered socially an adult.
While this does not prevent them from working or owning property, they are in the eyes of the complex social system of the Clan “the lowest rung on the ladder”, that is to say they have the least authority or right to self-governance.
It could be said that because of this, for the men, finding a mate in this clan is as important as getting a Voluval mark.

By contrast, then, women of this clan are seen as highly independent and capable, and do not have similar obligations in finding a mate - but most do: After all, love hasn’t suddenly ceased to exist.

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The Renouncers

Many Minmatar spiritual beliefs include the idea that all spirits that people believe in are real in some sense, and incorporate the Amarr God as a spirit among spirits in their cosmologies. Sometimes he is depicted as an evil deceiver spirit, sometimes the Elder of the True Amarr people, sometimes a God gone mad, or the leader of Chaos trying to consume the world.

Renouncers are a version of Minmatar spirituality that includes the acknowledgement and subsequent renouncing / denial of the Amarr God in their rituals. This version of spirituality is a mix and match of original Minmatar beliefs, new beliefs born in slavery, and Amarr theology. In a reflection of the reality of persons in slavery and during the Rebellion, Renouncers believe that in some respects the Amarr religion is true and God indeed has some power over people and will reward those who serve HIm, but that the God is also evil or at least the wrong god for the Minmatar, and must be resisted even at the cost of risking his punishment.

Renouncers typically have an annually recurring ritual where the Renouncement is formally performed and membership in the clan/tribe renewed.

See Heathens and heretics - #40 by Cain_Aloga.

I now and forever renounce the Evil God
I will not obey His commands
I will not follow His followers
I will not fear His punishment

Let me live a dutiful life
Let me find my Fate and fulfill it
Let my ancestors smile when they see me
Today, and on the day of my death

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Cripes. Uh. A thread-aliving bump for now. I’ll endeavour to post something in a few days.

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Memory Crystals

crystal

(Image source: Pixabay)

Legends surviving in the Tribes hold that hundreds of years ago before the Great Regression, the Minmatar had the technology to extract and transcribe a persons essence into quartz crystals. These legends are considered to be reinforced by the fact that every once in a while historical excavations dig up uniform crystals from what are either believed or known to have been places of worship or places of other communal importance.

‘Essence’ is understood to mean to capture their very spirit into the crystal, something that is considered abhorrent by several Vherokior clans, who maintain that trapping an essence in to one form is to rob it from its freedom. It is thus held by said Vherokior clans that it was a form of extreme punishment for extreme transgressions.

There are some accounts from historians from other Tribes who claim that Tribes and clans who had no such spiritual notions used the technology to preserve ancient wisdom and anchored ancestor spirits on this plane, for future generations to learn from. This mismatch in beliefs over sanctity of essence or spirit understandably was a source of some friction and point of many a debate between shamans of different Tribes and even clans in the same Tribe.

There are several proof-of-concept applications of transcribing digital data into crystal lattice in the modern era, but whatever method the ancient Minmatar used has either failed to last the test of time, uses methods that have not been unlocked in modern times despite decades of study, or are simply an ancient myth erroneously linked to unrelated discoveries.

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The Eternal Torch

“At a distance of 1.3 AU from Matar is a statue named the ‘Eternal Torch.’ Erected by the government shortly after the formation of the Republic, it is meant to symbolize the everlasting passion and resilient spirit of the Minmatar people.”

It is not perhaps surprising that this Eternal Torch isn’t the first, nor likely the last of its kind. What is considered to be the original Eternal Torch has been burning since time immemorial inside various mountainholds of Tronhadar Valley, and throughout the centuries immense pains have been undertaken to keep it alight, as countless people have also bled to keep it safe.

The term “eternal torch” is slightly misleading, since the base it sits on isn’t as imporant as the flame itself. If the legends are true, the flame has been alight ever since the Minmatar Tribes agreed to an universal peace on their home planet, almost three thousand years ago. Said to be sourced originally from a fire lit to commemorate the event at the Great Caravanserai, It has since been carried in literal torches, braziers, lanterns, in most direst of times, even bare candles.

It is thought that seven flames, sourced from the very same flame as the rest, were in the care of each of the seven Tribes. Little is known about the rest of them, but all are assumed to have been lost at the latest under the Amarrian occupation of Matar. As ever, though, Krusual are proud to claim that theirs has never been extinguished under their long watch.

It is from this ancient flame the new torch was once ceremoniously ignited through a carefully constructed proxy lantern delivered to the site, as the main flame hasn’t left the Krusu mountains since the Days of Darkness.

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The Defective Motorcycle

Amongst the motorcycle clans of the Sebiestor Tribe, there is a particular ritual to be performed when two young (or not so young) people wish to become married and become rider & pillion passenger.
This ritual is the Defective Motorcycle, which is a nonfunctional motorcycle owned by the parents of the young person involved. Traditional gender roled clans assign the motorcycle to the parents of the woman who is considering marriage.
In such clans, the man considering marriage is required to engage in several sessions with his intended’s father, during which they attempt to diagnose and repair the Defective Motorcycle, using the materials & tools available to them.
The purpose of the ritual is to demonstrate the technical aptitude of the young man, as well as his stubbornness and commitment to finish a job that has been started.
When the parents are already minded to accept a marriage proposal, the Defective Motorcycle frequently requires little more than fresh fuel and new tyres. However, a much more difficult motorcycle may be given to the proposer, especially one from a clan who were traditional opponents. The owner of the Defective Motorcycle is also expected to offer counterproductive advice, to measure the proposer’s stubbornness and willingness to defy authority.
Upon successful repair of the Defective Motorcycle, the new couple are then allowed to ride together on the same machine, until such time as a more formal marriage ceremony is arranged.

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Resetting thread auto-closing timer.

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The signal squeaks and squawks, it beeps angrily before the bi-tonal shifting flicks faster, eventually crashing into white noise, by turns louder, then softer … Connection. “Sister-niece.”

Feeds hum. He’s surprised the GalNet still works, even here. His neural jacks itch in the stale air. Wires coil around themselves, down and around the side of the old couch that half fills the cramped chamber. A ‘Captains Quarters’ abandoned along with everything else the Tribes built here. Filters whirr as he smokes, blowing rings of hazy purple smoke. Maddening, knowing that just a few decks down those things are farming mutaplasmids and hatching spirits know what else, in rooms made by the Republic. For the people of the Republic.

“Yes, I am. Krirald is still within our borders. Whatever the present ‘situation’ with Perun Clade, yes! And those baseliners you preach so much about are here, now, trying to dodge frakking Silverfish in Civilian hulls with no extra prop. And where are you?”

Strangely lank crepuscular beams cut the red haze, touching parts of the oversized Khumaak hanging on the wall. The only spectra in the light left are those that illuminate planes where augmented sight might yet miss some crucial detail.

He frowns “You’d hope Karin Midular would see the situation as it is: How our resources can be best used and how diplomacy could be the brighter path … I do! I do mean it, soddit girl.”

Technically he has no heart. A ghost. And an inker of other ghosts. But the gentle metronome thump inside his chassis serves to remind him that, just like the People of the Path, he is still all too human. It echoes, the lack of furnishings reflecting back all the ticks and other tiny noises.

“Don’t give me that ■■■■! I’ve seen the kill reports. You with your fancy friends swanning about in high-end flashy ships. You’re ALREADY IN POCHVEN. Why can’t you see that it’s your own people, Tribal people coming here to take what’s theirs?”

The words seem trite: memes thrown around by baseline humans living air-can to air-can, scraping out a life and striving for something more. Heavy machine noises growl from the corridor. His gaze flicks to the entry hatch, to the pad on the table and back again.

It is the Hermit in the Cave.
The Hunter at the Belt.
The Harvester among the Rocks.
The Blue Star Path.

“No … NO! We don’t talk crazy Triangle lingos or cozy up with the splitting Kybers! We’re trad Minmatar, mostly, heh. Living and harvesting … in Krai Perun, yes. Which is partially in the Republic. It is Clarice! Physically, topographically. The gates are open. We are Matari. Working Minmatar space. And ■■■■ anyone who’d try and keep us out!”

He winces as the connection is closed. She’ll come around.

Matar_Perun_Path
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I’m gonna buy some more time.

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The Legend of the Sun Goddess

A tale sourced from a handful of Vherokior clans and subtribes recount a legend from what is known as a “god-spirit” - simply put, a very strong spirit that can even affect our plane of existence. Vherokior, for their thousands of years of exile in the vast deserts of Matar came to regard the sun and the moons as great spirits in equal measure.

Worship of the sun and moon as gods or beings of great power was a common practice among many Tribes and most known early societies of New Eden, of course, but for the Vherokior who lived under the wrath of a scorching sun at day and equally harsh moons in the frigid nights, the three spirits - the Sun Spirit, known as Kohoa, and the Moon Twins Riki and Romu - were powerful spirits whose tempers were best left untested.

The legend of the Sun Goddess consists of three parts, summarized thusly:

The first part details the origin of the Goddess. Kohoa had always existed, but originally as a chaotic spirit that lashed out violently to those around her. As aeons passed, eventually the other Gods grew tired of her destructive and uncontrollable nature, and locked her out of the Realm of Spirits and shackled her to the Great Void. It was at this time Riki and Romu were created to curtail her great power as well.

The second part details how a powerful shaman - Svaipur - in a time before there even were Tribes, unbound the shackles of Kohoa, who then struck out immediately in either surprise of being freed or in releasing untold millennias of suppressed rage, and killed the shaman. Being as strong as she was, she destroyed the shamans very spirit as well so that this great shaman could never be reborn. Immediately realizing what she had done, Kohoa was overcome with guilt and sorrow, and swore for all eternity to protect the children of the one who let her free and whom she had so carelessly removed from the Great Circle.

The third part of the legend details how Kohoa would eventually befriend the Moon Twins, how Kohoa would go on teach the children of Svaipur spiritual enlightenment and how, as long as Svaipurs lineage existed, she would protect them from harm through Her Chosen.

What are thought to be (relatively speaking) very recent additions to the third part of the legend, is the calm fury and retribution of Riki, whose twin was cast down from the sky in an act of incredible hubris by the Children of Matar. Kohoa’s power cannot affect Riki, for the Twins were created as her antithesis’, so she has to helplessly watch the foolish Children reap what they have sown.

Boiled down to its core, the legend is essentially a series of fables on how great power must be tempered with great discipline. Secondly: That if you wrong someone, you should make amends, and thirdly: You shouldn’t grow complacent on receiving good fortunes.

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@Teinyhr thank you for your efforts in Matari Cultural Revitalization. Always a pleasure to read your posts.

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Hey there, thanks for the kind words! Actually made my day. :slight_smile:

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Been meaning to write stuff but haven’t. Thread-open-keeping post.

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“A Spirited Young Lady”

Teinyhr
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An artistic rendition in a realistic style of the capsuleer known as Teinyhr.

Basic Biography

Athryn Myrianna Noduri is a second generation Vherokior capsuleer jack-of-all-trades, originally trained in the Republic Military for force multiplication roles. Once a fierce defender of the Republic in the militia wars though since largely disillusioned of it, today she is one to generally shy away from the spotlight, but has been known to take strong stands and take up arms to fight issues clashing against her own ideals of justice.

She is the second daughter and youngest child of the business magnate Mikkon Noduri and Elenia Noduri, the leading shaman in her clan. She was born in Harjvalt, Gelfiven VI, and spent the entirety of her early life on the planet. After getting her Voluval at age 15, she spent two years of training in the local Civil Protection Services.

A scan of biometric identifiers at the tail end of her service in the CPS flagged her as having genetic compatibility with the hydrostatic capsule, and as a result she was offered free training by the Republic Military School in late YC100. She accepted the offer for reasons known only to herself; It should be noted that at this point in time, capsules and cloning weren’t yet an inseparable combination but would become so in the middle of her training in YC105.

After seven and a half years of rigorous training both in mind and body, a new capsuleer was officially born in early YC108. She had taken up the nickname “Teinyhr” that was given to her by her peers; Intentionally parsed in a Molden Heath Matari dialect on her capsuleer license, translated the name could mean “persistence”, “tenacity” or “grit”.

Extended Biography
Overview

Born a free Minmatar to an affluent and prominent Vherokior family, Athryn had perhaps the best possible start to a life one could hope for in the Tribes. Being a minor celebrity ever since she was born, she had no shortage of people trying to get in her favor, but thankfully even from a young age she seemed quite skilled at reading people face to face. Thanks to this intuition she could maintain many friendships in her youth without getting taken advantage of, but also knew to whom she could actually confide in.

Family, like for most Vherokior, was and still is the most important social circle to Athryn, and her bond with her two older brothers and older sister have always been stronger than anything else. She is their precious baby sister and not even her becoming an Empyrean could change that. While she has caused her parents premature gray hairs by some controversial actions and opinions, similarly their bond is unbreakable. If anything Athryn – often affectionately called ‘Myri’ by her family – could always count on in life, it is familial love and support.

In light of all this it is a mystery that she has never elaborated on, as to why she decided to pursue the path of a capsuleer, an occupation at the time considered near suicidal even at the best of times.
Whatever her reasons were then, today she is a known actor on the interstellar stage, and in her long career has frequently found herself in the middle of monumental moments of recent history.

She herself however regards her greatest achievement (so far) to be all the work she has done to build bridges between her clan and other clans, Tribes and various foreign powers, fostering continued interstellar trade and prosperity for the otherwise relatively overlooked corner of space she hails from.

As a capsuleer that conquered the now infamous training regime of the RMS Special Forces program (known prior to rebranding as “Operations & Command Training”), Athryn’s initial specialization was in various forms of ship-to-ship electronic warfare, and to augment the combat capabilities of friendlies with some groundwork laid for piloting the soon to be released Command Ship -class.

Early in her career she was perhaps surprisingly to many who know her now, a rather violent and eager combatant, often found doing mercenary work for the Republic or the Federation, even preying on fellow capsuleers without provocation. For a time after the CEMWPA was announced, she focused her aggression on capsuleers under Amarr and Caldari militia banners, but eventually became disillusioned and burned out on endless combat with no clear winner in sight. Regardless of that, she in no way turned pacifist, despite erroneously referring to herself as such on a handful of occasions.

In the present day she seems to engage in combat only to accomplish certain objectives, the exact nature of which she rarely divulges to others, and obviously for self-protection.

She is vehemently loyal to her people, though not necessarily the Republic government; Most notably and to some controversy she has publically stated her disdain for Sanmatar Maleatu Shakor several times, and it is apparent she doesn’t hold the Tribal Council in high regard either.

Personality

Close friends of Athryn describe her as a very kind, caring, warm person and someone who radiates almost childlike innocence when she is very comfortable with a person – if she chooses you as her confidant, she makes you feel special.

In contrast, in public perception her personality has often been described by detractors as hard-to-reach, snarky and downright unpleasant, and she herself would agree. While not exactly a public image she has cultivated for herself, it is one she does not mind as long as people most important to her don’t buy into it. Athryn is generally a rather private person with a very rich inner life, and opinions of strangers usually matter little to her.

Karin Midular also known as “The Ray of Matar” was a huge inspiration and a role model to her, and she has tried to follow in Midular’s footsteps with varying degrees of success. It is evident that she has neither the leadership qualities nor charisma that the Ray had at the height of her popularity, but she more than makes up for it in idealism and determination.

Her perhaps most defining personality trait appears to be her strong will or stubbornness – however you wish to look at it; The refusal to yield to the expectations of others and uncompromising desire to forge her own path in life, damn the costs. Despite landing her in hot water and at odds with powers that be more than once, so far this tenacity has served her well, and opened to her doors someone with a meeker personality would have never even dreamed of.

She is known to spend a great deal of care on her appearance, for example maintaining her clan’s traditional, extremely long hairstyle despite the considerable maintenance it requires. When she appears in public, her looks are always tailored to the occasion – traditional clan clothing for official or semi-official meetings between Minmatar, stylish dresses for other high society occasions, etc. Simply put, she loves to dress up, if an opportunity presents itself.

Appearance / Other physical descriptors
  • Athryn has light brown skin and green eyes.
  • Her hair is black, wavy, and typically she prefers it to be knee-length and free.
  • She has a relatively unique, lower-range contralto speaking and singing voice.
  • She has an athletic, somewhat muscular build due to regular exercise, but she retains a healthy amount of body fat.
  • Of her cybernetic augmentations, only the capsule interfaces on her spine are always visible, but ordinarily hidden by hair and clothing.
  • Her clone template is that of a 26-year-old, but she turned 41 this year (YC123).
Tattoos
  • As nearly all Minmatar, she has a naming tattoo.
  • Her Voluval, called “Yetamo’s Tongue” is on her stomach.
  • She has earned various tattoos for her service to the Minmatar cause, and other accomplishments such as the special tattoo recognizing graduating the RMS capsuleer program.
  • She also has a nanotech based war tattoo, though it is very rarely seen, the last time was during her participation in the Kahah Uprising crisis.
Typical Augmentations – Varies by clone
  • Ocular implants with recording functions (including audio), limited zoom capability and various vision modes. Supplier not disclosed.
  • Biomonitor Suite for personal health monitoring. Data can be accessed with and displayed in the ocular implants. Supplier not disclosed.
  • Neural Enhancement Suite manufactured by Eifyr and Co.
  • Ship subsystem control hardwirings from various manufacturers.
  • On rare occasions, her cloned body can contain more cybernetics than flesh, with extensive modifications made to the entire body in anticipation of specific endeavours.

The augmentations are tailor made to be as realistic as possible and impossible to discern with the naked eye or touch. They are very expensive, easily worth as much as an entire spaceship, but she considers the cost to be worth it.

Miscellaneous Info/Trivia

  • She doesn’t like being recloned as it used to make her feel very sick, and getting accustomed to a new body often took her several days. The probable cause for this condition was some (obviously since corrected) deficiency or error in the training she received regarding TBS -based cloning, which while proven, in this particular application was a technology still in its infancy at the time. She has managed to some extent overcome the condition in recent years with rigorous mental training, but it is still an unpleasant experience.

  • In her youth, she was a bassist and backing vocalist of a punk-rock band called “Homeopathic Girl Juice”. The band released two EPs titled “Not For Human Consumption” and “How Not To Do Cunnilingus”. Physical versions are rare collectibles.

Changelog:
1.Minor formatting of text (removing excess commas), changing or altering text placements for better flow, fixing typos, added some hyperlinks. (29.11.2021)

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