This is the third and final part of Mark726's guide to the alternative power-brokers of New Eden.
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-gifted 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 (the Amarr, in their infinite kindness, gave Kuvakei a number of Matari slaves to experiment on).. 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 travellers or those seeking safety, most of them just outside of empire space, though some refugee camps are established within empire space as necessary. The head of the Sisterhood, known as the Reverend Mother, is currently Santimona Sarpati. She is the sister to the CEO 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 for 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 sights 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 been focused its efforts on technology that helps its social sciences studies, including an amnesiac agent. Much of its effort in recent years, however, has 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.
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