Matisse Blackroot

This is my rock. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
My rock is my best friend. It is my ISK. I must mine it as I must mine my wallet.

Without me, my rock is useless. Without my rock, I am broke.
I must laser my rock true. I must mine faster than those who are trying to gank me.
I must fill my ore hold before they bump me. I will...

My rock and I know that what counts in mining is not the yield cycles,
the strip miner animations, nor the sound of the lasers.
We know that it is the cubic meters that count. We will mine...

My rock is stubborn, even as I, because it is my grind.
Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its ore type, its reprocessing rate,
its market value, and its refining tax.
I will keep my rock bookmarked and aligned, even as I am aligned to station.
We will become part of each other. We will...

Before Aura, I swear this creed. My rock and I are the lifeblood of New Eden.
We are the suppliers of Tritanium. We are the saviors of industry.

So be it, until victory is mine and there is no enemy, but AFK miners!


Ode to the Miner's Tears

In belts of veldspar, quiet and deep,
A miner dreams of ore to keep.
But gankers warp with wicked cheer,
Harvesting salt — the miner’s tear.

“Why shoot my Hulk?!” the miner cries,
As Catalysts swarm from cloudy skies.
The lasers stop, the cargo’s bare,
And local fills with miner’s despair.

The pirates laugh, their killboard grows,
The miner’s anguish freely flows.
For every wreck that Concord clears,
A thousand cups of mining tears.

So raise a glass, you roaming fleet,
To salty cries both loud and sweet.
For in New Eden’s endless gears,
The richest ore is mining tears.