Dark Eldar and Eldar Questions

[bignbadbum]

So.. I've recently begun reading Path of the Renegade and have also begun an Eldar Army to play with(I've read PotW/S, and the Dark Eldar codex as well).. And a thought occurred to me.

Dark Eldar attempt to become near-immortal through the constant absorbing of suffering and pain that sustains their souls, correct? They also feel a constant drain on their souls from Slaanesh(and have since the Fall), but it is dampened in the Webway to an extent. Lastly, when they die they are able to be regenerated by Haemonculi with a piece of their flesh/DNA.. And enough suffering to draw their souls back into their bodies.

So with all that said this leads me to my next set of questions.. Do Craftworld/Exodites feel this drain at all? I do not recall reading anything saying they do, but neither do I recall reading anything saying why they don't or that maybe their spirit stones prevent it to an even greater extent than the Dark Eldar method.

Going from there.. Craftworlders and Exodites use the spirit stones to absorb their souls when they die so they are not devoured by Slaanesh. If that is the case and Dark Eldar do not have this protection when they die, how are their souls still even in existence to be able to be drawn back into their regrown bodies. Since time flows differently/doesn't flow in the Warp and Slaanesh actively hungers for Eldar souls how are they not devoured instantaneously when a none spirit stone using Eldar dies, or at least not devoured enough to be able to be used to revive the dead.

Is this just some fluff inconsistency or are there things I'm missing here?

Now moving to the side a little, but still on topic.. How do things work if a Dark Eldar joins Craftworld society?(I know in Path of the Warrior there was an Incubi turned Striking Scorpion) Does his newly acquired spirit stone stop the drain as mentioned above? Is there some other process on the Craftworlds that prevent them from slowly being drained away? And how would say someone who was steeped in Dark Eldar society make the shift to being a Craftworlder? In the fluff I am writing for my army, I plan on having an Archon who joins the Craftworld and becomes and Autarch. How would one of the elite of Dark Eldar society manage the reform to craftworlder? Would they still have some need to feel suffering and pain or feel a drain with a spirit stone? Would they age exponentially if they were already several thousand years old due to not having any sort of suffering to nourish their bodies?

Just some things I've been thinking about of the past couple days and wondering if someone could provide answers or discussion.

[chriscrowing]

As I understand it - Slaanesh drains the souls of Dark Eldar as they give themselves over to the hedonism which birthed her. The Craftworld Eldar follow the Path which means they do not partake in hedonism, hence to not feel the 'drain.' Similarly the Exodites adopt a lifestyle of self imposed rusticism making them like the Eldar Amish, so their souls are not drained by hedonism and decadence.

Secondly, the devouring of the Eldar soul is not instantanoues (unless the death of the eldar and destruction of spirit stone is by a slaaneshi entity) - the Eldar retain soul cohesion and consciousness after death (humans don't) but when in the warp 'unprotected' are effectively a beacon of tastiness for the roving consciousness of She Who Thirsts. Their consumption by slaanesh is inevitable, not instantaneous.

While I would think it unlikely and extremely rare, I would imagine a Dark Eldar could decide they wish to enter onto the path, seek out some Craftworld kin and probably be vetted somehow by the Seers. Upon taking on the Path, their souls would be protected by the contstraints of the Path and their new spirit stone. They would be considered to have repented (if you will) of their previous lifestyle, and while such could be regarded as a win for the dwindling Eldar species I doubt they'd ever be fully trusted by the Craftworlders.

Also, I don't think Eldar age naturally - it is mentioned that Eldrad was about during the Heresy for example...

[Galatan]

While I would think it unlikely and extremely rare, I would imagine a Dark Eldar could decide they wish to enter onto the path, seek out some Craftworld kin and probably be vetted somehow by the Seers. Upon taking on the Path, their souls would be protected by the contstraints of the Path and their new spirit stone. They would be considered to have repented (if you will) of their previous lifestyle, and while such could be regarded as a win for the dwindling Eldar species I doubt they'd ever be fully trusted by the Craftworlders.

Also, I don't think Eldar age naturally - it is mentioned that Eldrad was about during the Heresy for example...

This has actually happened in Path of the Warrior.

One of the striking scorps is in fact a former dark eldar incubi. His whole identity is kept secret by the shrine and I don't remember 100%, but I think only the exarch knew the whole background of the incubi in his ranks. The former dark eldar doesn't say much though (actually nothing), so it is kind of unknown how he got one the craftworlds in the first place.

As for my opinion on the matter. Even though the eldar are a fractured race, they still see themselves as eldar. Although they have very wide differences in opinion in regarding how to live their lives. I don't think it is an unknown occurrence (although probably very rare) that a normal eldar becomes a dark eldar and other way around. Craftworld eldar live in constant self denial and Iyanna (I kind of miss her somehow, hope she comes back in the next codex) has once stated, live in only a shadow of their formal selves. They live in self denial to prevent them from becoming like dark eldar (eldar who live in extreme states of emotion and can sometimes be unquenchable). Also soul stones are linked to the soul of the eldar that wears it. It doesn't just suck up some soul who happens to be neaby. If I'm not mistaken, soul stones can be linked with an eldar later on, but soul stones are very rare so it isn't as if one breaks they just get a new one. This constant state of self denial and their soul stones prevents the draining of their souls. If a dark eldar joins eldar society I guess it will get a soul stone linked to his soul, that combined with the fact he must choose a path will prevent the soul draining. If a craftworld eldar becomes dark eldar it will be the other way around of course. I think it will even be wise for an eldar to either hide his soul stone really well or ditch the thing as dark eldar know quite a few fun tricks with the things.

As for the other questions. They have mostly been answered already.

[Shamana]

So with all that said this leads me to my next set of questions.. Do Craftworld/Exodites feel this drain at all? I do not recall reading anything saying they do, but neither do I recall reading anything saying why they don't or that maybe their spirit stones prevent it to an even greater extent than the Dark Eldar method.

No, as far as I know non-DE have no issue with "soul leeching", nor can they keep from aging with the whole torture treatment the DE have going on. Eldar do age, if slowly.

Craftworlders and Exodites use the spirit stones to absorb their souls when they die so they are not devoured by Slaanesh. If that is the case and Dark Eldar do not have this protection when they die, how are their souls still even in existence to be able to be drawn back into their regrown bodies. Since time flows differently/doesn't flow in the Warp and Slaanesh actively hungers for Eldar souls how are they not devoured instantaneously when a none spirit stone using Eldar dies, or at least not devoured enough to be able to be used to revive the dead.

As far as I know, the whole process of the soul going to the warp and being devoured isn't instantaneous. Barring a daemon itself sucking it from the soulstone, just because it gets released doesn't mean Slaanesh gulps it the next second... just that the Eldar soul is now in the Warp, shining bright for all to see and with nowhere to hide. The 4e eldar codex would suggest that Eldrad's soul (or fragments of it) are still not dead, so theoretically an Eldar soul can last for a while there (even though it is ultimately doomed). As for how Dark Eldar do it, well, it's anyone's guess. Perhaps the Haemonculi retain a part of the soul and regrow it as well (Slaanesh essentially eats a copy); perhaps the regrowing body provides a "beacon" for the soul to return to.

Now moving to the side a little, but still on topic.. How do things work if a Dark Eldar joins Craftworld society?(I know in Path of the Warrior there was an Incubi turned Striking Scorpion) Does his newly acquired spirit stone stop the drain as mentioned above? Is there some other process on the Craftworlds that prevent them from slowly being drained away? And how would say someone who was steeped in Dark Eldar society make the shift to being a Craftworlder? In the fluff I am writing for my army, I plan on having an Archon who joins the Craftworld and becomes and Autarch. How would one of the elite of Dark Eldar society manage the reform to craftworlder? Would they still have some need to feel suffering and pain or feel a drain with a spirit stone? Would they age exponentially if they were already several thousand years old due to not having any sort of suffering to nourish their bodies?

Going to a craftworld from the dark kin should be hard to nearly impossible. PotW mentions that a former incubus has done it; I'd imagine it was a nearly torturous experience at first. However, afaik nothing concrete is mentioned. An archon, who's already much more used to the rejuvenating rush of souls and torture, and to the power of having their own kabal, should be incapable of such a change... but "should" is a loose term in the whole galaxy.

[scapegoatboy69]

huh... I'd thought that the Spirit Stones & boring life of discipline were what kept craftworld eldar safe from the Slaaneshi soul draining shenanigans. The Exodites have some kind of hippy-like link to their maiden world that protects them so long as they're on their homeworld & do right by their world spirit. DE are kinda insulated while in the webway and they nix whatever psychic potential they've got in order to hide better, but it gets worse when they venture out or go near warpy-things.

In the DE fluff it says that the longer an Archon is alive the more difficult it is to regenerate. An Archon who has lost his or her ability to orchestrate orgies of violence on that level may conceivably go looking elsewhere for solutions. If they've got some kind of Harlequin contacts it'd be easier to pull such a thing off. It'd probably be easier for an Archon to join up with some normal eldar if he or she actively took measures to hide their identity.

Or said Archon could be in exile and seeking allies in order to exact revenge. Or it could be part of some plot. Or, gasp, he could have decided to take steps to reunite some small number of eldar.

Then there's the whole Phoenix Lord thing, where a suit of armor with a particularly strong spirit stone kinda takes over the body of whoever puts it on. Wouldn't be much of a stretch to imagine armor and wearer working toward some common goal.

[TheDungen]

Doesent the dark eldar have soulstones as well but use them for "diffrent things" (read trapping an enemies soul and torturing it for all eternity)