Editing Eyrzeke (section)

== History ==

Eyrzeke is, like many other Horizon’s End players, a veteran of [[Star Legacy]]. On SL, he encountered the intense pressure and hostility of other players and was driven into poverty, forcing him to build ships that didn’t have hyperdrives or shielding systems. This experience of having virtually no iron with which to build a functional ship proved to have a lasting impact on eyrzeke not just for the rest of SL’s lifespan, but also for his career on HE years later.
[[File:Aetnacorvwreck.webp|thumb|A screenshot taken by eyrzeke of a salvage haul, in this case an Aetna-class Corvette.|303x303px]]
Eyrzeke began his HE career as a salvager for [[Imperial Nova|ImperialNova]], having been recruited and trained by [[_Longy]]. He gained a reputation as a salvager; one Novan officer claimed that he was "the best in the galaxy." After some time, eyrzeke started building his own ships, including a version of the starter shuttle hull which he modified with an upgraded [[Navigation Computer|navigation computer]], which proved popular with new players since it was free. Several of eyrzeke’s first creations were hardly notable in their own right, except that they usually merged several machines together and always stubbornly utilized sphere shielding systems, all in order to save [[iron]].

After a long hiatus, eyrzeke returned several months later, quickly joining up with a nation known as [[Shadow]] which was embroiled in a costly war against the faction [[RentDueYesterday]]. It was here that eyrzeke began to refine his cheap ship designs, and he engineered several cargo freighters which proved to be effective and cost-efficient. Eventually he began to experiment with the idea of cheap, expendable [[warships]], sporting the same ion thrusters and bubble shields as his [[tradeships]] did, but being formatted for combat rather than cargo runs. The first few attempts at such a warship were not successful; however, his efforts at shipbuilding were noticed and he was promoted through the ranks, eventually being put in a place that he could abandon an empty outpost claim in favor of an abandoned pirate factory in the Floro Mountains on [[Vask]], which he made his new home base.

During the [[Horizon Federation-RentDueYesterday War|RDY war]], a [[Horizon Federation|serverwide alliance]] formed to defend themselves against rampant [[piracy]] and, since the aggressors engaged in combat for fun rather than for [[Credit|credits]], to defend against what some called "terrorism." [[Amcar]], an alliance member led by a highly talented builder named [[Consue]], had recently lost several cargo freighters sporting the regular loadout of afterburner thrusters and box shields. Seeing the losses that accumulated during the course of the war, eyrzeke spoke out against Consue, calling her an "idiot" for manufacturing and losing those expensive cargo freighters; as a result of this outburst, eyrzeke was exiled from Shadow.

A few hours after negotiating the release of the Floro Mountains territory as a Shadow outpost, eyrzeke founded a settlement called [[texas]]. Its core values were freedom, independence, and informality; this last trait was emphasized by the settlement's name being all lowercase. Eyrzeke also was a believer in recruiting and training new players, and made a point of taking in untested players to advise and supply them, in the hopes that they would become formidable forces in the galaxy someday. It wasn't long before texas gained notoriety for recruiting large numbers of players; sometimes the number of active recruits in just that one settlement outnumbered most established nations on the server.

One of the reasons this came to be was that texas now had a large roster of starships at its disposal. These vessels shared the same core affordability as their predecessors, but now covered many more roles than mere cargo trading; ships ranging from multirole miners like the venerable Mastodon light freighter to hulking capital ships like the Josu heavy frigate were designed, produced, and fielded by texas recruits and players across the galaxy alike. With an array of actually decent ships now available, texas capitalized on its fame to improve its economy, offering blueprints, ships, and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8_W4lDELCU even their own members] (volunteers of course) in exchange for credits. "Zekeships," as they were known, became popular across the galaxy for their affordability and versatility; they were used for cargo hauling, mining, and AI hunting.

Over time, as texas' member count stabilized, eyrzeke turned his attention to training his most talented members into capable officers who could take over for texas, in case the need arose. And rise it did; two of these "protégés" would end up taking leadership of texas in the coming months. [[SIG130]] was one such officer, and would go on to found [[lonestar]] on the same values of texas, the capital; lonestar and texas are presently led by [[XiJinping_]], eyrzeke's second officer.

As of December 2024, eyrzeke is most well known for [[Zekeships|his various starship designs]], as well as his role in the foundation of texas and lonestar alike.

[[Category: People]]