[Warlock in Training]

Okay the Dex and fluff seems to point at DE as Consuming Souls of others to stave of the draining of their own souls by Slannesh, It also says why they hide in the Webway. However DE do not wear Spirit Stones, they do not infact belive in them from what little fluff there is. Vect himself and other DE Lords seem to devoure 1000s of soul in short periods to stay alive. Other go out with near certainty of death and souls to be eaten by Slannesh to get souls themselves.

WTF is the writers trying to paint here? Here we have a Race of arrogant but far, far from stupid. Yet the fluff shows stupidity at its highest form. They literaly fear Slannesh and dying, but they embrace death and sacrifice themselves for slaves to partake pleasures in. This makes no sense at all. Thats like saying a CSM is trying to acheive Daemonhood, but doesnt want to please his god. Its contridicting.

So does someone read any fluff as to why DE throw their lives away when their a dying race, live a die sooner rather later lifestyle, and have no protection from Slannesh laying claim to their soul like their Craftworld cousins?

 

[ChaosRedCorsairLord]

I never really got it either.

Possible reasons:
-Who's gonna take care of their full spirit stone after they die? A dead DE is useless to living DE, so why bother with the burden of taking care of your dead mate's spirit stone?
-Spirit stones are risky to get, you need to travel to the Crone worlds in the Eye of Terror, which would result in even faster soul leeching and is hugely dangerous. The craftworld eldar go and acquire them to help their species as a whole, a DE does not care for anyone but him/herself.
-Tradition.
-Ignorance.

 

[Creon]

1) They are not on a Craftworld, and their hidden city does not have an Eternity Circuit. Remember, these are the developments of those who left the decadent and self-indulgent worlds of the Eldar. The DE are those who didn't choose to abandon the fleshpots, but managed to survive anyway.

2) They sacrifice other souls to keep Slaanesh distracted from the entire DE race. They actually don't see their Eldar brethren as the same race. Remember, psykers attract the attention of warp entities, so the DE shun those powers. And psi is required to make soul stones.

3) After so many millenia trapped and hunted, they've gone collectively crazy. They may have had reasonable explanations aeons ago for what they do, but probably just keep doing it cause the Eldar revel in Excess...of all sorts.

 

[darkreever]

Don't forget that while a soul-stone would keep your soul safe from being devoured by Slaanesh, you also are stuck in that thing for anyone else to do as they please. That includes undoing the soul-stone, making a pact to trap something worse within the stone with you, or destroying the stone and releasing your soul to be devoured anyway.

 

[Commissar Ploss]

The DE really don't give a damn about anything. Not even their own existence...

CP

 

[Lord of the Night]

The Dark Eldar have no protection because the soul-stones were not developed at The Fall. The Craftworld Eldar developed them after The Fall once they realized Slaanesh was not done with them yet. The Dark Eldar never got them and found a different method, divert Slaanesh's attention. By doing the Dark Prince's work and the kind of cruel and abnormal brutality that Slaanesh's followers practice, the Dark Eldar think they can ward Slaanesh back and keep him/her at a distance.

The Dark Eldar fear Slaanesh and death but they know that unless they brave and risk the latter, then the former will get them much sooner. Once they die they are afraid but they accept what is happening to them. They know the risks of their lifestyle and embrace them because if they dont then their doom will come a lot faster.

However Dark Eldar are not inherently evil. They are products of their own environment. When they are born they are raised to be arrogant and cruel to others, its either that or end up dead or far worse. Bechareth from Path of the Warrior is a prime example. An Incubus who surrendered to the Craftworld Eldar and found peace in their ways of life, a Dark Eldar who desired something other then mayhem and carnage.

They are my favourite race and for good reason. They are awesome, ive read their codex and I don't see any stupidity. It makes sense when you think about it, and re-read it a few times.

 

[normtheunsavoury]

To the DE it's a necessary evil, they sacrifice the souls of others to protect their own. They don't, won't, can't use soul stones so that option is out of the window so they have to do something to protect themselves.
It really doesn't matter to them that they might slaughter some humans, tau whatever, They don't view them as equals, they barely consider them sentient.
It doesn't matter to them that their actions may be feeding Slaanesh, there's nothing they can do to stop that and there's nothing they can do to stop Slaanesh, so why bother?

 

[ChaosRedCorsairLord]

I doubt the DE view what they do as evil. To them torture is cooking, Draining the souls of others is having a nice meal, murder is politics and slaves are money. Good/Evil is a point of view.

 

[popeyethesailor]

didnt the grey knights blow up an infinity circiut on a DE world in one of the GK books

 

[Nick_dog]

I also have trouble understanding the DE fluff. I understand they have to take lives to protect their themselves.That in itself is a cool concept. However, why would they go completely insane and deprived? Such a society would not function. I can see them as a pirating and slavers empire as it is a necessity. What I can't understand is why they cannot trust there fellow brother or Cousin Elder.

On a side note, sacrificing humans instead or using soul stones is actually a smart idea. For one it wouldn't be that hard to attack feral worlds unprotected from the Imperial forces. This would be far more preferably then hunting for soul stones in the warp.

What actually happens to them when they stop sacrificing lives? I know Slaaneshtakes them, but how?

Hope the new models come out soon and it sic

 

[Justindkates]

The DE fluff was thrown together in a hurry for 3rd edition and never finished. They are the new squats, the bastard child of 40k that just kind of hangs around but no one at the company really gives a damn about.

When I heard they were getting the next codex update I almost thought some one at GW must have been on sick leave.

 

[ChaosRedCorsairLord]

Space: Pirate, backstabbing, BDSM, raping, torturing, emo Elves. It's like GW took all the behaviours that society frowns upon added spock and mashed them up together. I'm surprised GW didn't throw in a bit of cannibalism too.

 

[Creon]

Think of it this way. Eldar, given no rigid structure, go way overboard in everything. This is what caused the Creation of Slaneesh. Dark Eldar are simply the living remainders of the culture that had gone so far in the nature of excess that they're irretrievable. Humans, when seeking more and deeper pleasures do the same thing, and these are immortal elves. Remember, most DE were ALIVE during the creation of Slannesh. They REMEMBER the Doom of the Eldar. This is going to warp anyone who was left who had the last dregs of sanity remaining.