Introduction
The Eden cluster harbours relics & ruins of several ancient races, many of those now extinct. This article aims to give an overview of these ancient races, along with a short summary in order to understand the Eden cluster and it's history better as a whole.
Do note that for some ancient races, there's still left alot of room for speculation & theories, as they have left very little tangible remains to investigate.
Extinct ancient races
Here follows a list of races whom are suspected to be no longer among us. The reasons can be varied, from a collapse of their civilization by natural phenomenons to outright wars of genocide. Much research still needs to be done to fully understand these races and what happened to them.
Terrans
They are suspected to be the oldest race of New Eden. Their origin is unknown but many of the oldest artifacts share a certain similarity that we all attribute to this ancient predecessor race.The best known relic that is tied to the Terrans is the massive EVE Gate in the New Eden system. Various other ancient structures are also attributed to the Terrans, among them the tunnels of Caldari Prime and the Crystal Steppe of Matar. There's also various ancient relics that are not tied to any known race and hence get attributed to the Terrans, like mysterious old weapons and strange devices.
Most of these relics are in terrible condition and are often bought by corporations in the hopes of making an important technological discovery by reverse-engineering these artifacts.
The only recent excavation of ancient Terran tech that was in relative good condition was the weapon used by Empress Jamyl I to demolish the Elder fleet at the Battle of Mekhios. However, outside it's extremely destructive nature, not much is known about this weapon.
Yan Jung
Among the oldest races that once existed are the Yan Jung. From the artifacts recovered from Yan Jung sites, it's known that they were masters of gravitational technology and possessed advanced force field knowledge.
Most relics found have been devices of defensive nature like advanced forcefields and gravitational repellers, as if to defend themselves from a powerful invading force. Archaeological research has indicated that these invaders were likely the Sleepers who brought down the Yan Jung civilization.
While not much is known about where they lived, archaeological digs in the Deltole system in Gallente space seem to indicate that this was once their home system or at the least a very import system to them.
On top of this, it's believed that the Jin-Mei are the descendants of the Yan Jung despite the absence of relics & ruins that would tie them to this ancient race. However due to similarities in language between Jin-Mei & Yan Jung texts this theory remains plausible.
Talocan
This is one of the more recent discovered ancient races. When exploring a site known as Devil's Dig Site in Caldari Space, it was discovered that it was the home of a yet undiscovered race, the Talocans. The reason that they evaded discovery this long can be attributed to their migrant culture, as it was unveiled in researching the site.
From relics it is known that this ancient race mastered spacial manipulation and hyperspace mathematics, both very useful for an interstellar migrant culture. This knowledge allowed them to access the wormhole systems and keep them for themselves for a long time, until the arrival of the Sleepers. What occurred next is unknown, but both civilizations ceased to exist on an active level.
It is believed that their end came to be through biological warfare, as so many structures of both races have remained intact.
The most well known relics of the Talocans are the Black Monoliths that are present in various Talocan sites, both in the New Eden cluster as wormhole space. Their purpose is still a mystery despite the various theories surrounding it.
Feythabolis
This region is home to a little known extinct civilization, brought down when the Angel Cartel moved in. All we know from the Feythabolis civilization is from the little bits & artifacts the Angel Cartel shares & trades with archaeologists.
The Feythabolisians were a civilization of progressive thinkers and egalitarian political philosophers that rose up after the collapse of the Eve Gate. Their social culture allowed them to thrive in the remote isolation of this region. However this came at the cost of their technological prowess and were easily conquered by the Angel Cartel who then decimated their civilization and subjugated it's citizens.
It is believed that only the Angel Cartel has a deeper understanding of this culture through the various rare art collectors among their high ranking members. However these people are known not to share any of these treasured artifacts & ancient texts with researchers...
Despite their ancient history, the Feythabolis civilization is rarely mentioned when the ancient races are brought up.
Takmahl
Despite being counted as one of the ancient races, the Takmahl are actually more part of the younger races, as they are an offshoot from the Amarr Empire. Exiled for heresy, shortly after the Amarr age of space-flight began, the Takmahl fled into deep space, founding a new space-faring civilization, independent of the Amarr.
As they advanced, the Takhmal became masters of biological, genetical and cybernetical engineering, expanding the limits of human biology through technological means.
After centuries, the Amarr rediscovered the Takmahl, but they only found empty structures and abandoned facilities... For reasons unknown to this day, the Takmahl civilization died out after they had a thriving culture for centuries....
Most of our current knowledge from the Takmahl comes from a strange archaeological site discovered in amarr space, known as The Labyrinth. Home not only to fanatical archaeologists who dream of discovering fabled treasure, but also to Blood Raiders, hoping to find heretical texts that defy the Theology Council teachings, it is a dangerous place to visit.
Exploring this site is further hampered by the Amarr authorities who deem any research into the Takmahl as heretical in nature.
Ancient races still in existence to this day
Only two ancient races are still active today in some form. These two are the enigmatic Jove and the mysterious Sleepers.
The Jove Empires
The Jove are the oldest race in existence to this day. Their origin lies in the Curse region, now inhabited by the Angel Cartel. When the Jove had to move out for reasons not fully understood, they settled in the regions we now know as the Jove Empire Region.
The current Jove Empire is known as the Third Empire, risen up after a second dark age. They are mostly known for their advanced technology compared to what the 4 empires can field. However the current Jove technology is only a primitive version of what they once had, lost in the dark ages as they struggled to rebuilt their society after the emigration.
While information seems to suggest they don't have a large standing military, it is compensated by their vast intelligence network, allowing the Jove to be aware of anything that occurs in the cluster. They also contribute to the Concord initiative to maintain the peace through superior technology.
However, as you can read in 'Shrouded in mystery, the Jovian race', this Jovian intelligence network also allows them to meddle in a variety of affairs, influencing political shifts among the 4 empires and their conflicts.
Still alot remains to be discovered about the Jove, as they are reluctant in sharing information about themselves. Coupled with their silence the past few years, there has been an increasing demand for an investigation into Jove space to find out more about them.
The Sleepers
The first evidence of this civilization was found in the Ani Constellation, in Minmatar space. Through these artifacts it was discovered that the sleepers were masters of virtual reality, neural interfacing and cryotechnology.
But it was only with the opening of the Wormholes that new information was revealed about them, and with it their activity through drones. While the current fate of the Sleeper race is unknown, their Sleeper drones are still active, guarding the various sites in wormhole systems with their life.
It's often summarized that the Sleepers are an offshoot of the Jovian race, left behind when they evacuated the area to the current Jove Empire region. Those who were left behind had to find a different solution to whatever threatened them.
Considering the Sleeper technological masteries, it's often believed that this threat is the Jovian disease. In an attempt to find a cure, they destroyed the Yan Jung civilization. Apparently, their efforts did not yield the proper results as they entered wormhole space, challenging the Talocan civilization there.
What happened when the Sleepers and Talocans met isn't known, but the fact that Sleeper drones are actively guarding all sites is a good indication that the Sleepers came out as the victor in their meetings. Whatever occurred it was not a classical war of firepower, as many installations are still very intact, Talocan and Sleeper alike.
However, research in the remaining Talocan structures seem to indicate that they've been used in a variety of Sleeper research program for unknown causes, perhaps to find a solution to the Jovian disease.
To this day, very little is known about the Sleeper civilization, only that their technology is beyond ours and that whatever we can retrieve from the wreckage of the Sleepers advances our technology, as one can see in the fabled advanced tech 3 cruisers.
Myths & Legends about unknown ancient races
With all that said, there's still rumours and tales about undiscovered ancient civilisations. While most can be waved away as old folk's tales and fantasy stories from adventurers, a few do merit a deeper investigation.
The Enheduanni
All we know about this race has been shared to us by a Jove agent known as Grious. They are supposed to be masters of Quantum & Particle physics. According to Grious, this mysterious race is no longer human, whatever that means... From the same source, it's also implied they directed the early history of certain young races for their own selfish reasons.
Considering the Enheduanni are the enemies of the Jove, any claims that this race is evil & acts selfishly have to be seen in this light. Also, no known relics & sites can be tied to this mysterious yet powerful civilization to this date, making the Jove claim hard to validate.
The Sefrim
A race of angelic beings, described in Amarr Scriptures. While most religious texts describe various mythological beings, the Sefrim are different. As can be read in the scripture 'Ametat and Avetat' ,their arrival is linked with traceable cosmic events like eclipses & impacts. On top of this, the lengthy stay of the Sefrim combined with the long stay of their gift, the Ametat and Avetat give credibility that they might have been more then religious mythological beings.
However, outside this nothing is known, making any claims to their existence hard to verify.
If the Sefrim are an actual race, then most likely they were one of the ancient races, either the Jove or their mysterious adversaries, the Enheduanni, or one of the now extinct races, who for reasons unknown decided to intervene in the development of the Amarr race.
Conclusion
As one can see & read, there's still alot of information to discover about the various old civilizations across the Eden cluster. With this, ancient technologies might await discovery by a brave adventurer venturing in deep space!
At all times, one has to keep in mind the Jove meddling, as they often show up when someone discovered new sites or relics about the ancient races, often trading valuable technology in exchange for whatever new information or relic you found!
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