Dark Eldar
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In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000, the Dark Eldar are a Kindred of the Eldar, an ancient and advanced race of elf-like humanoids. Their armies usually have the advantages of speed, though they are often lacking in resilience. They are the thematic equivalent of the Warhammer Fantasy Dark Elves, and indeed Dark Elves in general. The Dark Eldar revel in piracy, enslavement and torture, and are sadistic in the extreme. Dark Eldar armies make use of various anti-gravity skimmers such as Raiders and Ravagers to launch high speed attacks. They strike with little or no warning, using an interdimensional labyrinth known as the Webway to traverse the galaxy safely and far more quickly than most races are able to with their Warp jumps.
The Dark Eldar are unique amongst the Warhammer 40,000 factions in the sense that they do not occupy many planets, but rather one dark city - Commorragh. They are mainly pirates, though are sometimes used as mercenaries.
Dark Eldar, like most Eldar Kindreds, make use of advanced technology, including anti-gravity devices, dark matter (in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, something more akin to antimatter) weaponry, nanotechnology and psychic artifacts. While Dark Eldar do make use of psychic devices, they do not use psychic powers themselves. Psykers are treated as playthings in Commorragh, and given the twisted sadistic nature of the Dark Eldar, this necessarily involves pain and torment for the psyker.
Games Workshop decided to make the Dark Eldar as a separate army, after it became fairly common to see gamers collect "Dark Eldar" armies, which are total conversions/customizations of Eldar miniatures while still retaining the standard Eldar rules. It was also relatively convenient to add the Dark Eldar to the existing Eldar storyline without any conflict, right at the catastrophe that destroyed the Eldar homeworld.
[edit] History
Once part of their sister species, the Eldar, the ancestors of the Eldar race were the cause of the Fall. Before the Imperium rose to power, the Eldar ruled the galaxy and spread beauty and grace to all the worlds within it. Perfectly set in their power, they turned their energies inward in an attempt to improve themselves to the point of perfection. The Eldar sought to experience emotions and sensations to their fullest extent, disregarding the morality of their actions. Foreseeing a terrible outcome, the Seers of the Eldar warned against these "pleasure cults," warning that no good could come out of them. The Eldars' many excesses caused the Chaos God Slaanesh to be born, and its birthcries tore a hole in the centre of the Eldar Empire, leaving only a few Craftworlds that were on the fringes. The hole through which She Who Thirsts (the Eldar's name for Slaanesh) tore from the Warp still remains; it is known by the Imperium as the Eye of Terror.
The remaining Eldar were forced to decide a way to survive after the fall. The Eldar split into two factions: The Eldar of the Craftworlds fortunate enough to escape the Fall decided to resist Slaanesh, and follow a path of restraint and balance. The few young survivors in the core Eldar worlds refused to surrender their lives of hedonism. The survivors rallied around those ruthless enough to rule their kin. The newly-formed Kabals escaped to within the Webway itself and founded the city of Commorragh, escaping the predations of Slaanesh through the protection of the Webway and the suffering of their victims. To differentiate these Eldar from their more benign kin, they are called the 'Dark Eldar'.
[edit] Commorragh
Commorragh is the city-state belonging to the Dark Eldar race. It is said to be impossible for outsiders to find, and anarchy and terrorism are a well-established way of life for its debased inhabitants. It is widely believed to be hidden deep within an inter-dimensional labyrinth known as the Webway, described by the Eldar as a "dark stain" growing within their holy pathways. It is a city known to have "wandering shadows that tear apart the unwary" and is bathed in a crimson half-light.
During the final weeks of the Eye of Terror campaign, which followed the 13th Black Crusade of Warmaster Abaddon the Despoiler, the Eldar collapsed several Webway portals leading to Commorragh, isolating it from much of the Webway. Given the mutable nature of the Webway however, the Dark Eldar can still use artificial Webway portals to create temporary tunnels, and thus are largely unaffected.
In the short story by Gav Thorpe, The Torturer's Tale, Asdrubael Vect, Lord of the Kabal of the Black Heart, relates to the torture slave, Gideon, how the Dark Eldar arose and how Commorragh came to exist. In this story, Vect makes it clear that Commorragh exists within the Webway:
"It seemed there was but one way of escaping Her and that was to flee their homes and leave the physical world behind forever. We came here, into the realm between worlds that we created to traverse the galaxy safe from harm. Here, the Great Enemy's grip is weakened, yet to our Lord's horror it was not wholly broken. He had bought his people time, a little instant of time but nothing more. Others followed him, each choosing a place for themselves, building new shrines and around them great palaces. Here, where you sit now, is one of the chambers of the original Temple of the Black Heart. You are very privileged, you know. Not many survive to get this far. Most of them break before they even reach the second level."
[edit] Gameplay
In the game, many of the Dark Eldar units bear some similarity to the units used by the Eldar army, but twisted to fit in with the darker nature of the Dark Eldar. With the Eldar you have a diverse selection of craftworld armies with unique rules and in general, like the Dark Eldar, Eldar armies are relatively fragile compared to forces like that of the Space Marines. However, this is where the similarities end. Unlike the Dark Eldar, Eldar armies have a wider array of heavy weapons and fast attack platforms and have constantly received additions in regards to miniature line development and additional supplemental rules.
Dark Eldar are lightly armoured and rely more on speed than brute force. In capable hands the Dark Eldar are a more than capable force. However beginners may find Dark Eldar difficult to use, as many of the tactics condusive to a Dark Eldar victory require patience, cunning, and even a little daring. Experience is also important for a Dark Eldar general. A beginner might be tempted to forego subtlety and simply attack the enemy, yet the relatively low troop numbers and light armor of the Dark Eldar will almost always result in a defeat in this scenario. Instead, experienced players use flanking maneuvers, screening, and the like to achieve victory. If deployed and commanded to take advantage of their strengths - speed, close-combat prowess, and hard-hitting firepower - the Dark Eldar are a difficult army to defeat indeed.
[edit] Notable characters
[edit] Asdrubael Vect, Overlord of the Kabal of the Black Heart
Asdrubael Vect is one of the most powerful Dark Eldar, having founded Commorragh after the Fall of the Eldar. He is the Supreme Lord of the Kabal of the Black Heart, the most powerful Kabal in the Dark City. In the past, many have tried to claim power through his destruction, but all have died in the attempt. Vect rides into battle on the Dais of Destruction, a heavily modified Ravager that carries him and his bodyguard. It is also possible that he is one of the oldest Eldar in existence as he was present during the Great Fall. Asdrubael Vect is featured in the third expansion pack to Dawn of War, Soulstorm, riding into battle upon his Dais of Destruction. He himself is personally involved in the Dark Eldar storyline of the campaign, destroying his Dais being the requirement for victory when invading his stronghold. If the Dark Eldar are defeated the Dais of Destruction will be destroyed, though Tahril suggests that Vect himself survives.
[edit] Kruellagh The Vile, Archon of the Kabal of the Flayed Skull.
Kruellagh The Vile is another Dark Eldar Archon, from one of the less respected Dark Eldar Kabals. This is due to their leader's love of killing, and thus they bring in few slaves.[citation needed] Kruellagh uses the unique Soul Flayer, two long spikes protruding from each leg that drain the victim's vital juices, giving her strength. Her name is a pun on Cruella de Vil.
[edit] Lelith Hesperax, Mistress of Death
The leader of the Wych Cult of Strife, Lelith Hesperax is one of the most skilled Wyches known. Lelith is renowned as the most vicious fighter in the arena of Commorragh. In the novel, "Warrior Coven," she is severely wounded in her arena by an Eldar Shining Spear, yet survived to defeat her.
[edit] Drazhar, the Master Of Blades
Drazhar, the Master Of Blades is an extremely skilled Incubus. Drazhar's signature weapons are the Disemboweler Blades, a pair of long serrated swords wielded in each hand.
[edit] Urien Rakarth
Urien Rakarth is the master Haemonculus in Commorragh. He once had a motive to his work, but now lives only to feed his obsession for pain and suffering. Among his creations are the hideous creatures dubbed 'Uber Grotesques' by their master.
[edit] The Decapitator, Mandrake Champion
The Decapitator is a Mandrake, but one about whom little is known. What is known is that he has four arms and a deep craving for flesh and blood. Supposedly, his lair is made up of a thousand skulls. He is known as the master infiltrator and is named after his weapon, the decapitator. There is currently no model available to represent The Decapitator. To make a decapitator you must convert a mandrake and other parts.
[edit] No'akei, the Daughter of Pain
Former handmaiden and bodyguard of Asdrubael Vect, No'akei has since been cast out of the Kabal of the Black Heart for an unknown reason. Angered by her enforced exile, she led a large force of Dark Eldar to the world of Medusa V, in an attempt to capture enough slaves to bribe Asdrubael's followers and launch a coup. However, when she returned to challenge Vect she was betrayed by her own followers; her current fate is unknown.
[edit] Tahril, Archon of the Kabal of the Black Heart
The Archon force leader who was featured in Dawn of War: Soulstorm alongside Asdrubael Vect himself.
[edit] The future of Dark Eldar
After the fourth edition update of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook in 2004, no new army book has been published. However, the new army codex (for Dark Eldar) is expected to be released in 2008-09, along with a batch of new miniatures.[citation needed] The Dark Eldar are also included in the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War computer game expansion, Soulstorm.
Recent pictures and reports of Dark Eldar miniatures and art from a an event in France have been reported on Dakkadakka.com and warseer.com.
[edit] References
- Thorpe, Gav. The Torturer's Tale. Games Workshop. Retrieved on 2006-02-21.
- Johnson, Jervis; and Thorpe, Gav (2003). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Dark Eldar. Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-307-1.
[edit] External links
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