Illinfrik - After many generations of wandering throughout the Great Wildlands in relative isolation, Thukker caravan fleets are becoming an increasingly common sight in Minmatar Republic space. As the caravan of the Vulder clan pulled into docking slips at the Trust Partners Trading Post station this morning, the occasion was marked with little fanfare, indicative of the frequency with which Thukker caravans have begun plying this route.
On the whole, the reintegration of the Thukker clans into wider Minmatar society has been positive. Welcomed as long lost cousins, the "Thukker mystique" has made the nomadic tribesmen popular throughout the Republic. Further, their hand in hiding the build-up of the Elder Fleet from prying Amarr eyes has lent an element of war-hero fascination.
This homecoming welcome has been far from universal, however. Established mercantile concerns increasingly view the Thukker caravans as competition. Manovar Hrolf, a shipping magnate and member of the Krusual tribe said, "when they wandered the fringes of our society, the appearance of a caravan was a festive occasion, a chance to trade for goods that you might not otherwise see regularly. Now that they're here more frequently, they're taking on more and more shipping contracts and cutting into my profit margins."
For their own part, the Thukker remain somewhat laconic. When asked about his feelings on plying established Republic trade routes, caravan master and clan-head Aemon Vulder replied simply, "it is good to be amongst cousins." True to his roots however, he hastened to add, "but we are still Thukker."