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Heyy guys, I was just wondering if someone could clear this up for me:

On a craftworld, who has total command? A head Seer? A head Autarch? I haven't ever read anything detailing this.

Also on a side note, in a Warhost led by both a Farseer and an Autarch, who has overall command?

Thanks for any help,

Iranna.

Eldar need very little civil control, those that exhibit traits that could lead them to criminal or depraved acts either go on a Path to temper their emotions (like the Path of the Warrior), are exiled, or go off voluntarily and become Corsairs.

Thus really the Seer Council is the ruling body of a Craftworld, but only influeces broad issues like war and the foreign policy of the Craftworld itself. The Autarchs are the military commanders who determine military strategy and policy.

Yeah, Eldar have enough personal morals to not stir up another chaos deity. I think Slaanesh is reminder enough of what happens when you do something wrong . . .

ArchillesFTW, way to go with those armies! xD im impressed!

As am i.
Anyway the codex says the only Craftworld that doesn't follow this is the Beil-Tian

My understanding of this topic from old fluff is this...

Everyone is considered a warrior of sorts (Guardian), taking the citizen aspect to new heights, similar to greek society where anyone could be called to arms.

The aspect warriors are a sort of specialized military forces (Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force etc.) with Exarchs acting as chiefs of staff, bringing concerns to the table to establish self control and selflessness

Warlocks are Supreme court/congress/senate... ruling as a governing body for which to help with forsight and channeling decisions and steer their people to and from war, as well as representing the guardians and their feelings and thoughts.

The autarch is the focul point by which the aspect exarchs feed their concerns to be shared with their council as a whole, who in turn works in unison with the Farseer, the speaker for the dead, who is a medium to gain insight from the Craftworld fallen as insight for future campaigns, as well as recieving concerns and words from Warlocks to balance the living and the dead. Autarch and Farseer commune together to reach decisions based on all these factors for the benefit of the craftworld.

When in times of war, when the Avatar is needed. The Farseer works with the Autarch to select the "prince" from the existing exarchs to be sacrificed for the future of the craftworld. Ultimately this is selected by the dead searching the soulstones of the living to determine the purest to be sacrificed...

more to follow...

I think they have some sort of Ancient Greek democracy.
They're led by Seer Council which is some sort of senate or areopagus, and Autarch is only a military commander, kind of a multiple Aspect Warrior.

You could almost see it working along the lines of Plato's Republic....as it is more of a Meritocracy...where your position in society is based on your experience along a certain Path.

Citizenry: Guardians, etc
Warriors: Aspects, led by the Autarchs (who handle all military matters where necessary)
Guardians: Farseers and their warlocks act as your Philosopher Kings and their advisers. They govern, while leaving the military maters to the Autarchs and their kin, and the daily running of society to the citizenry.

Based on the Gav Thorpe novels, the Seers do most of the day-to-day governance and turn full authority over to the Autarchs in time of war. At a lower level, on more organized Paths everyone is directly subordinate to their mentor until they become a master in their own right, sort of like an entire society of 16th-century trade guilds.

Yes, I think the top Farseer is in charge and the Autarch is in charge of the military.

Yep, the seers do the role of leading by council. Other sources that mention it aside from those emntioned are DoW novels, the second and third one and also 3rd ed eldar codicies as it states biel-tan are the exception to the seers leading them and are led by military figures.

Vermillion wrote:Yep, the seers do the role of leading by council. Other sources that mention it aside from those emntioned are DoW novels, the second and third one and also 3rd ed eldar codicies as it states biel-tan are the exception to the seers leading them and are led by military figures.

For Biel-tan it's not as simple as that. It just says the Court of the Young King wields political influence, which means they can influence policy not that they are the ones completely running the show. Given that Exarchs are trapped on the Path of the Warrior, their solution for problems is likely war. "When you have a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail." I would think the Farseers still have a role in curbing and limiting which conflicts Biel-tan commits to.

In contrast, in Gav Thorpe's Path of the Warrior and Path of the Seer we see Alaitoc with the Farseers in charge, setting overall strategic objectives, and then the Autarchs being responsible for drawing up the strategic and operational plans to achieve those goals, then Exarchs leading their shrines according to the plan. The Exarchs on Alaitoc are seen to stay clear of the politics.

Yes, but the Biel-tan ar the most militant of all Eldar.

Also in the DoW books it's the exarchs who dictated where the armies of Biel-tan fought.