The Day of Darknessĭespite having made great strides in space technology, the Minmatar Empire did not manage to expand very far or develop a large space fleet before its fateful first encounter with another empire: the Amarr Empire. As well as colonizing much of the Pator system, the Minmatar Empire was able to settle colonies on a number of planets and moons in several local systems, usually depending on ancient star gates but initially using ships accelerated to near light speed. Minmatar technology developed at a respectable pace in this period, and a little over a millennium later they made their way into space. In the end, perhaps promoted by a combination of trade and the spread of a mystic belief system, the tribes understood that cooperation was a far better way than war.Īfter a general peace between the tribes was established in AD 20374, a global culture developed, and the Minmatar eventually unified in a loose empire. Certain legends and fragmentary histories indicate that internecine warfare between the tribes, and even between clans of the same tribe, was commonplace in the early period of the world. Over the next ten thousand years, several distinct civilizations developed on Matar and gradually became aware of one another, as technological advances allowed for regular trade. Over the centuries these colonies lost their advanced technologies, as a lack of supplies and the loss of knowledge led to an inevitable breakdown. Indeed, when the EVE Gate closed, most of the settlements on Matar survived and even prospered once they recovered from the initial crisis. Matar was quickly colonized by numerous expeditions attracted by the prospect of settling a world that would require no terraforming and very likely support self-sustaining colonies. News of these discoveries made the CMS-17 system a prime target for colonization, and it was soon renamed “Pator,” with the fourth planet becoming known as “Matar.” In AD 8017, the Terran explorers of the CMS-17 system were delighted to discover two temperate planets in the circumstellar habitable zone, and even more so when they found that one of these worlds, the fourth planet from the sun, was blessed with particularly hospitable conditions. The Minmatar will forever resent the Amarr and yearn for the days before the empire’s accursed ships ever reached their home world. Almost invariably they remain deeply attached to their enslaved kindred and will go to extraordinary lengths to recover them. The Minmatar have created a form of government truly reflective of their historical tribal culture. As all seven tribes of Matar have united again and found a new sense of their identity in the Empyrean Age, the development of the Minmatar Republic has swung away from Gallente ideas of unadulterated democracy. Perhaps most of all they are proud, and many of them believe that democracy, though it served them well at first, will never restore what was taken from them by the Amarr Empire. The free Minmatar peoples are resilient, ingenious, and hard working. It is worth noting that many of the larger criminal groups in New Eden are run by people of Minmatar heritage. A fair number make their living on the darker side of the law, acting as pirates, smugglers, and peddlers in all kinds of illegal goods. Many are itinerant laborers, roaming from one system to another in search of work. The remainder, who are not part of any formal organization, live as freemen throughout the world. A very large proportion, almost a third, remains enslaved within the huge Amarr Empire, while a fifth resides within the Gallente Federation, creating a powerful political bloc that contributes in no small part to the constant state of tension between Gallente and Amarr. While the Minmatar Republic is the official state, only a quarter of all Minmatar currently alive are part of it. The Minmatar are the most numerous of all the races in New Eden, but their vast numbers are dispersed widely and divided into many factions. Initially modeling its recovery after Gallente Federation notions of democracy, the Minmatar Republic was born through the cooperation of four major tribes. Once part of a thriving and technologically capable tribal civilization, billions of Matari were enslaved by the Amarr Empire for more than seven hundred years, until a mass rebellion freed most, but not all, of those held in servitude. Of the four major races of New Eden, none has endured more tragedy and suffering than the Minmatar.
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