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Exodites I don't think are explored enough in lore because we don't have them as models so we only get teased bits about them here and there and I suspect any good lore on them is very old stuff.


For Craftworlders they all require a spirit stone, which can only be obtained from the core worlds within the Eye of Terror. I recall that they are created where Eldar fell on those worlds.

So whilst the Craftworlders can breed as much as they would like, they would only breed as much as they can up to their limit of harvesting Soulstones. Because otherwise, as noted above, any who die without one would be carried into the Warp and Slaanesh.


Couple that to a naturally longer lifespan and slower reproductive rate and social elements that I think discourage rampant breeding and the Craftworders are a "dying" race in so much as despite the generations since the Fall and the birth of Slaanesh, their populations have not recovered anywhere near what they could have done.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

Sadly I can’t find anything to confirm Wraithbone needs tending/pruning, so I’ll withdraw that concept from the discussion, until such time as a decent reference can be found.

Reference below:

Iyanden had become a strange and unsettling place for the surviving Eldar. So many had died that the wraithbone of the infinity circuit hadbecome overcharged with psychic energy and had grown unchecked...Normally this process would have been kept in check by the craftworld's Bonesingers, but they were too few and the dead too determined.

The Iyanden supplement, p. 22

 Overread wrote:
Exodites I don't think are explored enough in lore because we don't have them as models so we only get teased bits about them here and there and I suspect any good lore on them is very old stuff.


For Craftworlders they all require a spirit stone, which can only be obtained from the core worlds within the Eye of Terror. I recall that they are created where Eldar fell on those worlds.

So whilst the Craftworlders can breed as much as they would like, they would only breed as much as they can up to their limit of harvesting Soulstones. Because otherwise, as noted above, any who die without one would be carried into the Warp and Slaanesh.


Couple that to a naturally longer lifespan and slower reproductive rate and social elements that I think discourage rampant breeding and the Craftworders are a "dying" race in so much as despite the generations since the Fall and the birth of Slaanesh, their populations have not recovered anywhere near what they could have done.

Are we sure that’s not conflating Waystones (worn on the person, a comparable life pod for the soul) with Soul Stones, into which deceased souls are coaxed from the Craftworld to crew Wraith Constructs?

 Overread wrote:



Couple that to a naturally longer lifespan and slower reproductive rate and social elements that I think discourage rampant breeding and the Craftworders are a "dying" race in so much as despite the generations since the Fall and the birth of Slaanesh, their populations have not recovered anywhere near what they could have done.

Yes, the impression I got was that the Craftworlds were slowly depopulating.

The obvious parallel of course is Tolkien's elves, who stopped having children.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

 Overread wrote:
Exodites I don't think are explored enough in lore because we don't have them as models so we only get teased bits about them here and there and I suspect any good lore on them is very old stuff.


For Craftworlders they all require a spirit stone, which can only be obtained from the core worlds within the Eye of Terror. I recall that they are created where Eldar fell on those worlds.

So whilst the Craftworlders can breed as much as they would like, they would only breed as much as they can up to their limit of harvesting Soulstones. Because otherwise, as noted above, any who die without one would be carried into the Warp and Slaanesh.


Couple that to a naturally longer lifespan and slower reproductive rate and social elements that I think discourage rampant breeding and the Craftworders are a "dying" race in so much as despite the generations since the Fall and the birth of Slaanesh, their populations have not recovered anywhere near what they could have done.

Are we sure that’s not conflating Waystones (worn on the person, a comparable life pod for the soul) with Soul Stones, into which deceased souls are coaxed from the Craftworld to crew Wraith Constructs?

I might have mixed up the terms yeah.
I have been playing Diablo 2-3 recently so - - might also have lifted the name from there

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:


Are we sure that’s not conflating Waystones (worn on the person, a comparable life pod for the soul) with Soul Stones, into which deceased souls are coaxed from the Craftworld to crew Wraith Constructs?

As Lexicanum lays out, these seem to be interchangeable terms for the same thing:

Spirit Stones are made out of psycho-receptive crystals called waystones. At the moment of the Eldar's death, the stone acts like a 'psychic trap', absorbing their psychic self and preventing it from entering the warp and being consumed by the nemesis of the Eldar race: Slaanesh.[3a] The Waystone can then be brought back to the Eldar's own Craftworld and embedded into its wraithbone core where it will grow into a larger spirit stone.[3a] Once the stone is implanted, the Eldar's soul can travel freely through the wraithbone, mingling with other Eldar souls and forming part of the communal spirit of the Craftworld itself.[3a] All the souls within a Craftworld collectively exist inside the Infinity Circuit.[3a] In times of dire need, the Eldar are also able to retrieve the spirit stones of long dead Eldar heroes and place them into the artificial bodies of Wraithguards and Wraithlords.[3b] These constructs are then piloted by the Eldar soul, which experiences reality as a dream. This process is considered necromancy in Eldar culture and is only used as a last resort. The Eldar Warlocks who specialize in this process are known as Spiritseers.[3c] Iyanden, an Eldar Craftworld with a very small population is known for its greater use of these 'living dead'.[3b]

https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Spirit_stone

The use of 'Soul Stones' seems to be limited to some older comics, and is likely a reimport from other languages, as e.g. german translations usually use 'Seelenstein' which translates back to 'Soul Stone', when talking about these stones. German has no real equivalent for 'Spirit' that preserves the distinction between 'Spirit' and 'Ghost', so it makes sense that we use 'Seele' instead.

Stupid bloody Eldar background 😂😂

Seems the Way Stones are only found on Crone Worlds, at least so far as I’ve been able to see.

The slow depopulation could simply be suffering casualties at a rate which exceeds birth rate, rather than the birth rate being zero?

Indeed, Dark Eldar make no use of Way/Soul/Spirit Stones (except for super fun dirty party time), yet they have babies the natural way.

Plus despite the hazardous nature of Crone World Raiding to gather more, depending how common they are, such raids may be fairly infrequent, needed only as and when existing stocks are diminished.

There’s also the question of whether a Way Stone (here for clarity the ones worn about the person in case of death) are in any way reusable, once the soul has been transferred to the Inifinity Ciruit.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Stupid bloody Eldar background 😂😂

Yeah, I'm not versed on the Dark Eldar so I have no idea how they fit with the lore.

I know a Way Stone is an inherently short term solution, and if left too long the soul can dissipate from it?

Think I’m going to have to brush up on my 2nd Ed and 9th Eldar Codecies.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I know a Way Stone is an inherently short term solution, and if left too long the soul can dissipate from it?

Think I’m going to have to brush up on my 2nd Ed and 9th Eldar Codecies.

Just did. Eldar spirit stones are a short-term item. They plug them into the Infinity Circuit of the craftworld where the soul can wander freely. The Exodites also wear stones and these are smashed upon the altar of the World Spirit, which absorbs them.

Can the elder reproduce? Or is the possible enjoyment of making babies going to expose their souls to slaneesh?

No problem reproducing, other than the time it takes.

Dark Eldar also have a technological solution, essentially Test Tube Babies.

Eldar can certainly reproduce and they are allowed to enjoy pleasures. The main issue is not so much them enjoying themselves or doing anything; its excess.

Eldar are like drug addicts to stimulation. It doesn't seem to matter what the stimulation is, they can become very very hyper focused on it. That's the whole idea of the Path system - you focus on 1 thing for a time then you drop it and change to something else. So instead of engaging 1 thing to excess, you engage many things. Of course alongside that there are those who get locked on a path and have to be strict with how they engage to avoid excess and giving into Slaanesh.

I think the real issue is that Eldar have a social and mental barrier right now. Long lives breed long depressions and their society is basically depressed. Which kills the desire to reproduce at a large extent.
So they are reproducing, but at a rate way lower than normal and at a rate where attrition from wars and the like makes significant dents in their populations and any major loss takes a very long time to never to recover from.



As I see it the Yinnari is basically a shift in attitudes and metal focus. It's younger Eldar rebelling against the dogma and depression of the elders. Pushing back and perhaps, if its fully developed at some stage, its the ground work for the Craftworld Eldar and the Eldar as a whole, shifting from "dying race that's very slowly vanishing" to "active race that's pushing new boundaries".

Ynnead and the Ynnari also offer a different way, which is entirely new.

For 10,000 years, it’s basically been “Way Stone or Torture Prawn” to preserve Eldar existence. Nothing else was known to work.

Hence we get resistance from some “don’t fix what ain’t broke” and acceptance by others “this seems a better and more flexible way”.

The background really needs to give the Ynnari a proper kick in the pants to get it Over. There’s so much potential there, and a lens to better examine all wings of Eldar culture, ancient, existing and new.

Honestly what held it back is that game side and model side Ynnari was 1 box of 3 models and nothing else. Everything else was either Dark or Craft Eldar models, where 50% of that choice (Craftworld) was sorely in need of a major line update.

I think had GW done a major line update to Craftworld THEN released Ynnari along with perhaps a halfdozen models it might have gained far more traction as a faction.

Then again I don't know if its just a case of GW trying to just increase profits by making a new army without making anything new; or if they actually wanted to slow grow the faction a bit lke how Genestealer Cults at the start were a few models of their own and then mostly Imperial Guard models.

Though personally if GW were to add a new Eldar faction with models its GOT to be Exodites

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
For 10,000 years, it’s basically been “Way Stone or Torture Prawn” to preserve Eldar existence. Nothing else was known to work.

...dedicate yourself to the Laughing God?

 Dysartes wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
For 10,000 years, it’s basically been “Way Stone or Torture Prawn” to preserve Eldar existence. Nothing else was known to work.

...dedicate yourself to the Laughing God?

In a novel there were also Eldar that voluntarily turned Genestealer Hybrids because the Hive Mind also was strong enough to make Slaanesh sod off.

They had a Genestealavatar and everything.