Originally when I created what would become Jesmine, I had a bit of a problem.
I, the player, like the Federation. I like their lore, the design quirks on their ships, stations, their weapons, their combat-styles, their stirring-pot culture(s), their ideals, the politics, the way they structure their little covenant of nations, their whole cause and the promises it can hold and the richness it can go to in RP, and I think it's sad that there are not as many who delve deeper into this than there are.
But, ultimately, what I like the most about the Federation is their duality; on one hand you have everything the Federation strives to be and tries to uphold – on the other, the side-effects of that struggle and what effect it has on them. The Federation is bad-ass, and frankly the arrival of FW added much needed visibility to their darker sides. The Federation is not perfect and never will be, but the constant struggle for that state of perfection interest me, along with the people who are part of that and all the different avenues of RP it can create for the players.
So, given this fact, I was worried how I was going to manage a pro-Empire Amarrian religiously convinced in her cause, instead of idealistically and culturally convinced as my only other two toons at the time was. It wasn't that big a problem in the end.
Must like the Federation, the Empire is also very dual in nature. They have everything they strive to reach – that divine goal that they aspire to share with everyone. Then there is the side-effects of that, and much like the Federation it's causing problems for them. Sometimes big problems. People simply don't build gigantic fleets for centuries to get to you, if everything is totally fine.
The fact is, the Empire and Federation have opposite problems in regards to how players view them; they have different ideals for how to do it, but both want what is “best” for humanity. The Federations darker side is hard to spot for most shallow* players, while the Empire's brighter side is the one hard to spot for most players, or so it seems.
*Most who merely glance at the Fed as a RP possibility fail to notice the darker sides to this faction, or simply don't think that playing to them is very interesting. On the other hand, for the Empire many seem to miss the brighter sides to the Amarr Empire in favor of the word SLAVERS printed on every surface of their image. I suspect a good reason the Empire seem to have more players is due the fact a theocratic 'evil' Empire is ultimately a lot cooler than a 'goodie-two-shoes' Federation. Once most players delve deeper in Amarr RP they can notice the nicer sides to it; there are no super-religious feudal-system states on this planet but Federation's are not that hard to find. Thus the Empire is more 'exotic', and there are fewer people who will delve deeper into Fed-RP than those who will look over Empire-RP.
I am however, getting slightly off topic here.
Alexander Kamyú Allisieer, is a Federal Intaki – an Assembly citizen and a patriot. He is ultimately loyal to the Federation so long as the Assembly is part of it; an extension of one's loyalty, if you will. Before that, he cares for his closest associates so long as they remain part of or don't conflict with, the Federation. Before the Assembly he's loyal to his family and closest friends.
Arivana Faersto, is one of Alex's oldest friends and have stuck with him for this long. Her loyalty is more directly tied with the Federation itself, not really having much of a home. Her friend(s) and associates before that however, so long as they remain friendly or at least neutral with the Federation.
Jesmine Aerim Kyriel, is an Imperial Holder and a religious Amarrian who take her responsibility seriously; the one she was entrusted with from God. She will support the cause of God and follow his will to the point where she's willing to continue her support for her House, no matter how small It may be or it's political and/or social status. She firmly believes that if the light of God is to reach everyone without the Empire being destroyed or destroying itself then there must be peace. Combine with this the fact she views slavery to be an extremely ineffective method of converting non-believers and you have a very disliked lord among hard-liners. Jesmine is willing to do anything it takes to bring the Empire to a position where it actually serve it's divinely appointed purpose, even if she one day may have to go up against it to do so.
As such... my 'factional loyalty' at this point is divided, about 60-40 between Federation and Empire, but it ultimately depend what character I play with at the time and what they decide to do. What is extremely unlikely however, is any sudden face-heel-turns and defections to other factions...
Ethan has pretty simple loyalties :
1) Selfless loyalty to Kyoko Sakoda, he'd happily be permanently be killed to ensure she was safe.
2) Veto Corp, in which he always acts for the betterment of the corporation, over any one person.
3) The Guristas, who's cause he will support until the bitter end.
That is very interesting. I don't think I will ever have any toons ask Verone out IC, so I'll ask here: Is there a spesific reason he would support the Guristas no matter what? Why exactly the Guriasta, why not any other faction?
Also, how did he come to ditch the Fed to begin with? He could in theory ended up being loyal to Kyoko in a version of Veto loyal to the Fed or any other faction, for that matter. If only her and Veto count besides the Guristas, I think it's nice to know why the Guristas get that kind of comitment.
Within the Empire though, it's a bit more nuanced.
And this, for all you Amarr faction types out there, is why Rodj stays interesting despite having hewed to the same faction for God only knows how many years.
I don't quite follow. Elaborate, please?