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Well, as you do when you've got time bored at work, I've been coming up with some more fluff for my exodites (with the view to building up to an exodite codex). I've been thinking about how to make the exodites truly different from the other Eldar cultures, what what's known about them in the fluff would do to them as a society and what real-world cultures I could use as inspiration (like the rest of the official factions do).

To come up with this, I've taken one assumption and run with it,. which is that exodites are Eldar that have basically descended into technobarbarism in the generations following the fall. Not a fantastic logical leap, but one that lets me play with a load of cool possibilities for them

Now, as with all fan-based stuff, it's a work of pure fiction, but I'd like to get some feedback on whether you think it fits with the general feel of 40k, what other ideas I could use, or just whether you like it or not!

The first thing is how do the Exodites deal with Slaanesh? The Craftworlders were shielded from the initial shockwave by their wraithbone ships and protect themselves today by spirit stones and the Path. The Commorites were protected by being in the webway, and replenish their souls with what is effectively vampirism.

So, how would the exodites deal with Slaanesh? Initially, I expect that their world spirits and simple distance would have protected them. As for protecting themselves now, that

Starting from what we know, although all sorts of survivalists fled in the exodus, but basically the Exodites were led by what amounts to doomsayers and fanatics. How would a devolved society led by religious fanatics deal with the out of control eldar psyche and the temptations of Slaanesh?

That led me to look at how real-world societies in a (loosely) similar situation behaved: witch-hunts in the Middle-Ages.

The idea being that it's fear of reprisal that keeps the otherwise free exodites from falling into the clutches of excess. In my mind, that would neatly explain two otherwise conflicting descriptions of exodites in the fluff (that they're wild, free and welcoming of Corsairs and Outcasts, and that they're dour fanatics). They can be as wild and free as they like, but overstep the bounds and you will be hunted down by your community.

That neatly dovetailed with the little dudes I'd converted (pic below) for my Cult of Kurnous/counts-as Striking Scorpions, and also ties in a little with the Wild Hunts of Warhammer Fantasy Wood Elf fluff so I wrote them a little codex-style fluff piece:

The rune-concept depicting the Cult of Kurnous hints at its true function within exodite society. Although it sports the horns of the Hunter, it also evokes Khaine the Kin-Slayer. If an exodite oversteps the bounds of excess and invites the gaze of She-Who-Thirsts, shadowy members of the exodite clans will gather in the shrines of Kurnous. Adorning themselves with blood and feathers, they don the masks of the Hunter God and slink off through the shadows, mercilessly hunting their kin.


What do you think?

It also leads me onto the next core aspect of the Eldar that you'd need to address: how they protect their heightened psyches from the horrors of warfare. The Commorites simply revel in the pain and anguish around them, while the Craftworlders enter a dissociative state becoming unfeeling psychopaths. For the exodites, I doubt the former method would work, so I ran with the 'dissociative state' idea. That brought me to the Berserkergang of Norse and Germanic history. Berserkergang was the trance-like state Berserkers entered prior to battle, aided by the use of psychotropic drugs and animalistic ritual.

The idea being that, rather than the cool calculating psychopathic War Mask of the Craftworld Eldar, the exodites would through ritual and drug use whip themselves up into an animalistic frenzy, completely dissociating themselves from their peace-time personality and forming their minds into the shape of the predatory animals that frequent their worlds. Their War Mask isn't a War Mask, more of a Predator Mask (and not the gribble four-mouthed thing with dreads...). Again, I wrote a couple of little codex-style fluff pieces to get the ideas across. The second one is still a bit WIP so I'd appreciate some feedback

1.
Heralding the drums of war, many disparate clans and groups of exodites commune in ruined temples to their old gods. There, during barbaric rituals of psychotropic drugs and bloodletting, they whip themselves into a primal frenzy. Bedecked in blood and warpaint, the Wild Hunt pours forth through the webway, sweeping all before it in animalistic fury.

2. After the latest failed interrogation attempt, the eldar captive paced the cell like a caged beast, blood dripping down its tattered shirt. His Catachan auxiliaries said they'd seen the look in its eyes before, in the predatory beasts that stalk their homeworld. A blank stare of animal cunning, lacking all higher though, no thought but evaluating ways in which it can sink its teeth into you. Sadly he thought, as he nursed the wound on his arm, he hadn't taken that particular comment as literally as he should have done.

Any thoughts?

Going back to the protection from Slaanesh aspect, one train of thought that I went down was why the exodites remain on their worlds if it makes them so vulnerable. My idea, to try and add a little of the doomed helplessness that pervades all the Eldar fluff, is that they're trapped there. I doubt the exodites would have the military might to be questing into the Eye of Terror for Spirit Stones, so their only protection would lie in the great psychic shields of their World Spirits. If they leave the sanctuary of their worlds, they're subject to the same draining of spirit that afflicts Corsairs. Cue another fluff piece

All Eldar must protect themselves in some way from the predations of She-Who-Thirsts. The Dark Kin torture their prey to replenish what is lost, and Craftworld Eldar undertake perilous missions into the Eye of Terror to retrieve new spirit stones for each generation. Spirit stones are a rarity on Exodite worlds, being so far from the crone worlds at the heart of the old Eldar empire. Instead, great veins of wraithbone run through Exodite planets, channelling their world spirits in a great psychic shield from The Great Enemy. However, once an Exodite leaves the sanctuary of their worlds, they are subject to the inexorable draining of their lifeforce that befalls all unprotected Eldar.

While Craftworlders and Commorites may slip away like ghosts in the webway, the Exodites fight a desperate battle for survival, shackled as they are to their worlds.

The next thing to answer is that if they're so backward (comparative to the other Eldar factions), how can they maintain and produce the technology to allow them to be a player of any sort of significance on the scale of 40k? Reading the first few pages of the Path of the Warrior by Gav Thorpe where food from exodite worlds was eaten by Eldar on Alaitoc, the answer struck me as trade. I can see the Craftworlders providing arms and armour to the exodites either through trade or in a similar way to which modern governments arm particular groups in areas of conflict where they have interest. For the Dark Eldar, it would have to be a more sinister trade. The first thing that sprang to mind was beasts and drugs native to exodite worlds. Then, I thought that if the exodites viewed humanity in the same way as other eldar (closer to vermin than equals), they would have no qualms about selling any captives to the Dark Kin for weapons and armour. Another fluff piece

Although many exodite worlds are able to craft rifles and blades for their warriors, they lack the industrial base to manufacturer more complex eldar technologies, he majority of which is traded with their Craftworld and Commorite kin. There is a strong trade of rare delicacies, exotic furs and live wild beasts with both the Craftworlds and Commorragh. However, trade with the latter is often in darker materials.

Raiding parties of exodites hunt through their webway vicinity for backwards, feral or feudal worlds. Using psychic enchantments they lure unwitting people into dark woods or deep lakes, whereupon they're sold to their dark cousins to sate their needs. Despite authorities' searches continually finding no hard evidence of them, local myths and legends persist of the 'fey folk of the woods' who prey on the unwary and the impious.

What I've tried to do there is weave in some of the old gaelic folklore about 'fey folk' who would abduct lost travellers in the woods. Doing a little more research into it showed that many real-world cultures have some very similar myths about beings that lure the unwitting to their deaths in dark forests or deep waters. So, I came up with an idea for that interstellar map page they have in every codex:

Throughout the frontier worlds of the Eastern rim of the Imperium, myths abound of various fickle and fiendish forest folk. Stories of hunters lost in the woods, stumbling upon parties of beautiful human-like xenos. Some tell tales of being guided back to the safety of forest paths, while others were hunted through the boughs and branches by whooping and screeching wildmen.

Yet others tell of beautiful xenos who through deceptive magics lure the unfaithful or the unwitting into the heart of forests, or the depths of lakes, never to be seen again. Punitive expeditions against these xenos rarely find more than a fleeting trace of their presence. The myths of many disparate worlds share similar themes. Some members of the Ordo Xenos have theorised that these beings may in fact be one and the same species, if they exist at all beyond the folklore of backwater worlds. Below is a map charted by the discredited xenobiologist Milesus the Fourth of these myths, recorded during his extensive travels among rogue trader fleets operating on the Southern and Eastern rims of the Imperium.

Below that is the standard galactic map with little blurbs of these myths, based on the various myths that abound in real-world folklore about these beings that abduct, capture or lead astray the unwary. For example:

Lessk of Novgoria III
Locals talk of fickle men of the woods, sometimes helping other times hindering lost and weary travellers

Keelpa of (need a Scottish-sounding name)
Said to appear to lone wanderers on the shoreline with promises of companionship, only to drag the unwitting and unfaithful to the depths of their lakes

Satryadii and Syrenii of Southern Ultramar
The former is said to spirit away women in wild revelry, while the latter appears to seafarers luring them to the depths with enchanting songs

There's loads of others that I can draw on too, just need to come up with names for them the idea being that you could build up a map of exodite activity from the Imperium's perspective using the ramblings of a discredited Ordo Xenos explorer. Various other galactic maps show the location of known exodite worlds which we can use to plot the locations of these myths.

I've got other cool ideas that I wanted to incorporate too, like how many statues of Ares in ancient Greece are often depicted in chains as if they were afraid that he would escape, and how that might tally with the exodites' racial memory of Khaine as the killer of Eldar:

While the Craftworld Eldar embrace Khaine as a necessary evil, and the Dark Kin deride him as a label placed upon them by the dour fanatics of the old empire, more than anything the Exodites fear Khaine. Throughout their lands, great statues of the War God stand in chains. Exodites lay gifts to placate the slayer of eldar, in the hopes that the gaze of the War God will fall elsewhere.

I've got loads of other little snippets of fluff that I've come up with, but those are the basics just thought I'd share them to get some sort of critical response and see if anyone else has any cool ideas

I like it. You fluff adds flavor to an Eldar faction that is sadly ignored by Games Workshop and Black Library.


As for dealing with anything Slaaneshi in nature, I suspect that a ruthless and merciless purge would come about at even the slightest hint of anything relating to She-Who-Thirsts. In that way, they are no different than the Imperium. So, I think you are spot-on with comparisons to Medieval witch hunts. It's better to be safe than sorry.


I also like the Skin-Walker aspect. Animism would indeed likely pop up over time, much as it did in many primitive cultures on Earth with a strong connection to the natural world.

Thanks man yeah that sort of merciless purge, sometimes of the innocent who have simply transgressed, is exactly what I was looking for

I hadn't even looked into native american mythology actually, so thanks for the skin-walker thing I'm sure there's plenty of untapped stuff there I can work in. Plus, as the saying goes: creativity is nothing more than spreading your sources widely

Ok just bringing some ideas or views about how the Exodite culture is or can be in some worlds.

1st i'll start with the Slaanesh protection:

As i see it Exodites choose to resort to a more *basic* way of life to avoid boredom and the dangers of it (in theory it was their mastery of the galaxy and safety wich led them to explore other experiences) This way the Exodites refuged themselves with a crude version of the Path that use the Craftworlds, but instead allow flexibility and huge knowledge it involves non-stop survival needs. The most basic example is comparing living in a city with living in the wild, in the city you have all your needs covered as long you got money but living in the wild means you need to devote yourself to hunt/gather and basically you never have enough time to get fully bored.

Also the Maiden Worlds seems to work in a kind of *Gaia* situation (or just imagine Exodites worlds are pretty much the world of Pandora from the movie Avatar) for them the world is Alive and they can somehow connect to their ancestor memories living at the core of the World spirit in certain places (but not in a full mind share like the movie one) so as long they remain in their planet they are *attuned* to the World spirit wich may work as a massive soul stone for all the Exodites of the planet.

the Exodites may be shackled to their worlds, but nothing prevents them to join other Eldar societies and use their own ways of protection, after all most of those are *attuned* to the Eldar psyque and should allow any Eldar regardless of their origin to shield his soul from Slaanesh (of course this kind of change seems to be pretty rare and in best of cases happen once or twice in a lifetime not something a simple Eldar uses as he sees fits)

2nd Waging war on their enemies and their tech lvl.

When figthing i see them a bit like Aspects warriors but less absolutely focused in a single path just taking a kind of *animal persona* they do not wage war but more precissely Hunt the vermin and threats that infest their world adapting predator behaviour and tactics so i picture them as acting like packs of wolves hunting when facing large threats or using fast hit and run tactics like prey birds with smaller faster enemies or just laying low and striking a deadly blow at the hearth of larg groups of enemies like a crocodile waiting in a river for some prey.

should they use some kind of constructs like an Avatar fashion i see them more as a version of Kurnous/Lileath, this Avatar will not be awaken when they wage war but mostly when they feel their world it's in grave danger representing their emotions taking shape in the ultimate Hunter or world protector from their myths.


3rd Trading Tech

While i'm not against some tech trade with Craftworlds and Commorragh i don't think they do it very often, just think of them like space Amish farmers, they probable can herd way more animals than they truly need for surviving, their trade will be more focused in replenish some harder to obtain materials for them (wraithbone or other oddities) and protection from outside threats that just straight up technology, i see most of them using advanced materials to build their weapons and adapt them to their animals.


I think most of Exodites may fit in a kind of mix halfway Amish (we don't need all those tech wich leads to deviant ways ) and Survivalists (we only felt alive and in the right place when surviving in our own in the nature) also they aren't technologically impaired just refuse to use it due the implications, but it's not hard to imagine they keep some of the more powerful ones stacked should they need to defend themselves.

The best comparison i can imagine about how Exodites may be it's the film Avatar but being more aware of what's outside the planet so if they go to war they gather their hi-tech weapons (of course adapted to how they ride/use the animals of their world) and attack back in full anger knowing it;s not just a little threat coming from nowhere.

Thanks man some really good ideas there. The sort of 'predatory animal persona' thing is a lot of what I was going for, but I wanted to steer clear of the Path system as that's pretty iconically Craftworld Eldar. More than anything, I wanted to make something that's different to the existing Eldar factions.

I've read about communing with their world spirits and turning planets against their invaders which is cool too, and I've got that worked into a bit of the fluff I'm working on at the moment (I'll post that up when it's done...).

Lord Perversor wrote:
...just think of them like space Amish farmers...

Ugh, I really really want to avoid this description of them. Every time I read it it makes me shudder.

'Space Amish farmers' is not a concept that should be present in the 40k universe, save for the odd planet that's the background for a 'nid invasion (which coincidentally seemed to be the exodites primary role in older fluff).

Hence why I'm trying a bit of a re-cast as 'wild, tribal eldar technobarbarians'. Think more 'Carib headhunters' than 'space Amish'.

As for access to high-level tech, it makes for a lot more of a compelling culture for them to have regressed to the point that they can't manufacture a lot of it anymore. Firstly, there's been generations upon generations of eldar living as exodites since the fall. If they did not use their advanced technology, the ability to make it would likely have been lost. Think about it. I'd wager a significant proportion of the population back in the 1930s could put together a transistor radio. Half a dozen generations later, could a teenager today? That's without intentional technological regression!

Secondly, if you say that they could use these advanced technologies to defend themselves, but they jsut choose not to, it makes them seem helpless and slightly idiotic/simple.Painting them as technologically regressed, but fierce and barbaric puts a different sort of backlight to them as a faction

I do agree that the trade with the Craftworlds/Commorragh would be raw materials and foodstuffs traded for weapons and soul stones. Wraithbone would still be a core technology they'd retain though as that's sung directly from the warp. I'd see no issue with them using that

Well when i refer them as *Amish* i mean mostly due the similarities in their life choice .

Amish choose to live a simple and avoid mordern compliances of technology, Exodites choose to live simple but harsh lives and avoid most of the commodities the Eldar takes for granted (lore tells that the old Eldar empire had no need for real manual labour and absolutely no struggle to live, since all their needs was covered by their tech and knowledge )that they felt led their kind to the fall.

This no mean they are idiotic just that they avoid to fall in the same mistakes they ancestors did and try to avoid them by their lifechoices, thus choosing nomadic lifestyles where hunting and survival are paramount skills but avoid sedentary and farmer lifestyle because they *feel* it's a step back to the wrong direction.

As i see it each Eldar faction have their own diferences and lives differently .

Dark Eldar do whatever pleases them but take advantage and revels in make other suffering.
Craftworld Eldar stick to a rigorous (monk like) life they are free to pursue any goal but must stick to strict guidelines
Exodites are truly free to live as they wish (but being mostly planetbound) but avoid indulge in an easy life so they enjoy being survivalists and live in the wild.

And yes i don't believe they keep arsenals of high tech weaponry hiding to face possible threats but considering how most of Eldar take pride on traditions i can see them taking care of their weapons in a similar way as space marines do with their relics, and while they may not be mass producing them they can know how to maintain and fix them properly.

Exodites use spirit stones. Only instead of implanting them in the Infinity Circuit, they break the stones over an altar or site where the escaping soul merges with the World Spirit.

Exodites too wear spirit stones and when they adie they are taken beneath the earth into one of the great tribal barrows. They are laid to rest there and their spirit stones are broken upon the altars of the world spirit.

...Because their worlds are home to their departed spirits and shelter them from the predations of Chaos, the Exodites will fight very fiercely to protect their planets. To abandon a world is akin to abandoning the souls of your ancestors to the warp, for without constant replenishment the world spirits diminish slowly and become vulnerable. Just as the wraithbone core of a Craftworld can unwittingly harbour a daemonic intelligence, so the standing stones can provide egress to daemons from the warp should the psychic paths be left unguarded.

p. 17, 2nd edition Eldar Codex

The Exodites do not follow the Path system. They are primitive by choice and are still familiar with the technologies of the Craftworlds (the Tyranid Codex in its description of Hive Fleet Naga also describes an Exodite worldshrine having an air defence web, presumably lasers or other ranged firepower):

The Eldar path determines the way of life for all Craftworlders but not for the Exodites. Because of this they seem wild and individualistic compared to other Eldar, more independently minded and adventurous by far than their cousins...More importantly, the Exodite societies are more rigorous and physical than those of the Craftworlds. Where the Craftworlds cling to the past and preserve all they can of their fallen civilisation, the Exodites have turned their backs upon ancient traditions in favour of a simpler and harder way of life. Their minds are tougher and more straightforward but not so subtle and ultimately less powerful than the Craftworld Eldar.
...
Although this lifestyle is in many respects a primitive one, the Exodites have many advanced technologies and are familiar with all the sophisticated materials used on the Craftworlds. It is by choice that they live as they do, and their way of life has proven every bit as successful as that of the other Eldar.

p. 16, 2nd edition Eldar Codex

Yeah I get that it's a similarity of lifestyle choices, but it's a comparison I'd like to avoid if necessary.

It's less that it's not a viable way they could exist, more that barbaric tribal witch-hunts is more interesting of a concept than just choosing to live a hard lifestyle.

In my vision, the first few generations of exodites truly did live as you've described, living a hard life to avoid the excesses of their past. However, I thought I'd take that a little further to try and establish some unique fluff for them. Over the generation, their choice of a barbaric lifestyle became less and less of a choice, and more and more what their society actually was.

It's a subtle difference between a society that chooses to live as savages, and a society that has actually regressed to being savages. The former feels a little more Star Trek while the latter feels a little more 40k.

A subtle difference, but an important one.

Edit: slightly concerned that I've come across as dismissive of your ideas which I really don't want to do :S one of the best things baout the 40k fluff is the open-ended, unexplained parts of it that let you come up with your own interpretations no reason what I think exodites should be like is in any way more valid that what anyone else thinks, and you've definitely got some cool ideas too I'll definitely be pinching my favourites of those and weaving them into my own interpretation

First of all, what parts did you use for your conversions?

Anyway, I really like the direction you've taken them. The predator masks and culling of the weak are very 40k. Can the exodites use their Gaia connectivity to wear or control the animals on their planets? If so, maybe they can they shed their excess "bad vibrations" into prey animals, driving the scapegoats into a frenzy, and then use a wild hunt to literally purge their psychic darkness. Cut the animals off from the world spirit before the hunt, and unintentionally create a feeding ground for daemons outside the protection of the local waystones, which drives the exodites to be ever more vigilant in their repression...

Thanks man gald you like it

The ones pictured there are dark eldar wych legs (and left arms, although some have sylvaneth tree revenant arms), kabalite warrior torsos, harlequin swords and heads/hair from wood elf wild riders the wild rider heads don't have necks so i repurposed some spare scourge heads for that. If you fancy it there's more on my plog in my sig

Nice idea with funnelling bad vibes into animals as scapegoats. In my interpretation, they control the wildlife through psychically controlled implants (for extra grimdark), but the effect could be the same

You have created a very interesting trend and post, Ynneadwraith.

In my personal opinnion the barbaric and tribal references are perfect matches for the Exodites. In your ideas you are refering to spirit animals (totems), kurnous and the wild hunt (celtics), the warfare and their religion (Gaia and the spirits of the Earth, Pandora, Sintoism...)

1 Warfare: Kurnous is the first reference, hunting tactics, dragon raiders and lizard handlers may were the most important ideas. But I think that you could consider the spirit constructs, the Driads and the treeman. And more important a kind of shaman connected to the natura and powerfull in the psychics. (Ogham, Druids)

You could consider also some kind of werewolves or hybrids, like the new wood elves, or maybe a darker variant, a wendigo.

2 Society: If there is a barbaric tribe, there is also some kind of rulership class. The duels and the fraticide wars are common even in the Saim-hamm eldar, the most barbaric of the craftwordls.

3 Religions: Priests, shamans. What they reverence? Morrai-Heg, Kurnous, Lileath? I could see a trinity of those gods and may be diferent psychic disciplines depending wich one they revere.

4 Isolation: Of course that they are isolated. But they can trade with their dark kin or the craftworld one. May be the are protected by a corsair fleet, may be they have relations with the arlequins. Have they a webway portal?

May be your exodites celebrate some kind of Dream of a summer Night, I mean that may be there are some rituald that let the spirits of the wild (oberon and titania) to posses the bodies of the eldar.

Beyond the most obvious nordic, celtic and asiatic references found in the eldar you could focus in a more unknown culture. Maybe they are spirit necromancers of the gods of the land (kumbanda, santeria, voodoo), maybe the exodites live in a sabana word riding lions...

This is animalistic idea seems far too Slaaneshi for the Eldar to use it. Honestly, your fluff seems more like what an Eldar Chaos cult would look like than what Exodites would look like. It basically contradicts a lot of what we know about Exodites in general.
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Exodite#Society
EDIT: literally took me 4 edits to get the URL right. been too long since I posted on dakka.

Since you ask, just a quick description of the way I choose to view Exodites:

The original fluff describes early Exodites not as religious fanatics - they were "doomsayers" only compared to degenerated hedonists of pre-fall Eldar societies. So they were more like "pure thought" ones, untouched by pre-fall depravity, disgusted by ways of their kin. So they moved to "quiet worlds". In Poland, we have a saying, that translates rougly to "f#@$ck all this nonsense, I'm going to live in the forrest". Exodites did just that.

But that was just a start. Simple life on primitive worlds leads to two things: a) heavier dependancy on one's skills of survival, and b) heavier dependancy on social connections with those few living souls you have around you. But because there were so few of them, and Eldar are a psychic race, they could develop a "psychic connection" with animal wildlife of then-developing Maiden Worlds. This in turn could lead to huge variance between Exodite tribes from different planets. Maiden Worlds were designed to reject harmfull lifeforms, but aftershock of the Fall could easily alter this property via psychic resonance with Exodites living on them. So your concept of "techno barbarians" could be the result of being close enough to Eye of Terror, so there was a slight influence of chaos on worlds you now try to describe, while more distant worlds remained pure and even Amish-like. As I see it, what you're trying to describe is a world "half way through" to becoming Dark Eldar like, slipping into society driven by animalistic hunger/primitive instincts. Which could also happen, because this particular world of yours had a particularily widespread predators for example...

As far as protection against Slaanesh go - in original fluff, Exodites do wear Spirit Stones and have World Spirits to store their souls, but as long as they live, they are probably protected by their simple lives - you cannot easily corrupt a being, which is basically a struggling animal in it's natural enviroment. No animal is evil or perversed "by nature" - they just hunt/breed/protect their offspring. But by that logic, it is possible, that Exodite worlds are much more vulnerable to reach their own little "falls" if they are exposed to war/alien races/external influence for too long and "peacefull" ways of Exodites are shaken for too long. And individual Exodites who go wandering the Webway should be much more prone to becoming corrupt by chaos/madness/depravity.

Just food for thoughts...

 Justycar wrote:
You have created a very interesting trend and post, Ynneadwraith.

In my personal opinnion the barbaric and tribal references are perfect matches for the Exodites. In your ideas you are refering to spirit animals (totems), kurnous and the wild hunt (celtics), the warfare and their religion (Gaia and the spirits of the Earth, Pandora, Sintoism...)

1 Warfare: Kurnous is the first reference, hunting tactics, dragon raiders and lizard handlers may were the most important ideas. But I think that you could consider the spirit constructs, the Driads and the treeman. And more important a kind of shaman connected to the natura and powerfull in the psychics. (Ogham, Druids)

You could consider also some kind of werewolves or hybrids, like the new wood elves, or maybe a darker variant, a wendigo.

2 Society: If there is a barbaric tribe, there is also some kind of rulership class. The duels and the fraticide wars are common even in the Saim-hamm eldar, the most barbaric of the craftwordls.

3 Religions: Priests, shamans. What they reverence? Morrai-Heg, Kurnous, Lileath? I could see a trinity of those gods and may be diferent psychic disciplines depending wich one they revere.

4 Isolation: Of course that they are isolated. But they can trade with their dark kin or the craftworld one. May be the are protected by a corsair fleet, may be they have relations with the arlequins. Have they a webway portal?

May be your exodites celebrate some kind of Dream of a summer Night, I mean that may be there are some rituald that let the spirits of the wild (oberon and titania) to posses the bodies of the eldar.

Beyond the most obvious nordic, celtic and asiatic references found in the eldar you could focus in a more unknown culture. Maybe they are spirit necromancers of the gods of the land (kumbanda, santeria, voodoo), maybe the exodites live in a sabana word riding lions...

Thanks man, and cool ideas I like the idea of druidic spiritseers. It's a cool mental image to have a forest littered with dryad-like wraith-constructs, with conduits to the world-spirit running through the ground. Alone, defiant, the spirit-shaman stands before the shambling horde of plaguebearers. Steadily, he raises his arms, drawing long-dead spirits from the earth beneath him. Eyes aglow, figures of twisted wraithbone stalk from the shadows, howling their rage at the daemonic interlopers.

I'd definitely expect exodite worlds to have at least one webway portal, if not be well connected themselves. I wouldn't have thought the eldar of the empire who terraformed the Maiden Worlds would have neglected to connect them to the webway.

I've expanded a little on what could be done with worship of the gods at the bottom of this post

 Lord_Inquisitor_Doge wrote:
This is animalistic idea seems far too Slaaneshi for the Eldar to use it. Honestly, your fluff seems more like what an Eldar Chaos cult would look like than what Exodites would look like. It basically contradicts a lot of what we know about Exodites in general.
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Exodite#Society
EDIT: literally took me 4 edits to get the URL right. been too long since I posted on dakka.

I must admit, I don't get the Slaaneshi link. What I imagine chaosy eldar to be like is vastly hedonistic, wild dancers and other sensual things.

I don't mind contradicting a fair few of the things that we know about exodite culture because, in my opinion of course, the existing fluff is pretty weak. It paints a picture of exodites as backward, hippy eldar whose sole purpose (it feels) is to be rolled over by the latest world-eating threat.

They've got no teeth.

That's what I've tried to do with my fluff. In the universe of grimdark, tried to give them some teeth.

Still, the way I see exodites is like the rest of the 40k universe: fantastically varied to the extreme. Like IG regiments and SM chapters, somewhere out there is an exodite world that conforms precisely to the vision you have for them. If you want an exodite culture that fits the existing fluff for them, then by all means!

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I thought I'd expand slightly on a couple of other ideas about the exodite society I've built for my exodite army

As descendants, primarily, of religious fanatics and zealots (or at the very least, led by them), it would follow that their culture would lean heavily on the worship of the Old Gods.

Cult of Asuryan
These religious leaders who lead the exodus would eventually become the lords and chieftains of the exodite clans. Pitching themselves as rulers chosen by Asuryan before his destruction at the hands of Slaanesh, the cult of Asuryan claims divine right to rule.

I use these to represent Autarchs and Archons in my army:



Cult of Lileath and Cult of Morai-Heg
The Cults of Lileath and Morai-Heg provide the foresight and future-scrying that Farseers do on craftworlds. I'm imagining a pairing of maiden and crone, where the maiden/Lileath enters a drug-induced trance to receive visions of the future, then the crone/Morai-Heg interprets the drug-addled visions (taking inspiration from native Indian medicine men, and also the eldar lore of Lileath receiving prophetic dreams and Morai-Heg being the goddess of wisdom).

The War Wyrds and Wyrdlords are the warriors of these cults (counts-as Warlocks and Farseers). Rather than the Ghost Helms of the craftworlders, they fuse their warp-protected helms directly to their skulls.



Cult of Isha
The Cult of Isha are the healers of the exodites. Haven't expanded much on them so far. Can't imagine them having a military presence.

Cult of Kurnous
I've already expanded on this cult above. Their function is to hunt down any exodite who strays too far down the path of excess.



Cult of Ynnead
A cult that has only recently taken form in exodite society, counts-as Wracks.

Entrances to exodite world spirits can be found in claustrophobic halls built beneath burial mounds. There, the wraithbone framework that permeates Maiden Worlds runs right to the surface, and the bodies of the exodite dead are interred.

The defenders of these barrows have long known of the existence of Ynnead, the nascent eldar god of the dead, their constant proximity to the dead making his heartbeat a constant beating thrum. In their pre-battle rituals, the Cult of Ynnead ingest copious amounts of the Eldar drug Painbringer (purchased from the Dark Kin, along with their ranged weaponry). This heightens their resilience to levels not otherwise possible for an Eldar (Wrack T4). The quantity ingested is even enough to numb any sensation of pain for the duration (Wrack FnP).

However, a lifetime of these repeated extreme dosages has a number of side effects. Firstly, it slows the Eldar's natural phenomenal speed and reflexes, as well as their wits and intelligence. They are still far superior to a human's, but definitely below the average Eldar. The slower pace at which they stride across the battlefield is what gives them their name: 'Walkers'.

I basically made these guys up solely because I wanted to try out the Ossefactor on Wracks in my army, but they fit quite well with the rest of the fluff in case it hasn't come across, I've tried to include references to barrow-wights and Draugr of norse mythology (undead guardians of burial mounds), as well as the Aos Sidhe of Irish mythology who lived beneath mounds.



Cult of Faolchu
Another cult made purely so I can use Swooping Hawks. Need to come up with some convincing fluff for these guys as I've already made the models!



Of course, this is just the fluff for my particular exodite world as I've gone into a bit more detail on their culture. I wouldn't want to say that all exodites are like this or other people wouldn't be able to make their own!

This is really well thought-out! You've taken an oft-ignored faction and given them some much-needed thinking.

One thing that bugs me a bit is the use of the title "cult" to denote the various aspects. It gets used a lot in 40K, and if anyone can think of a good synonym it would be a nice change-up.

Cult, Paths, Chapters, Kabbalas, Clans, Warbands, Tribes... All are used names in different codex.

To found something original may you refer to something historical, celtic names: descendants (kʷlan(n)tā- ), warrior, hero (neit-s), watchman (φarjāno), family (kenetlo)



If not, you cand still put more original references as Dreamers or Singers. (Dreamers of Lileath, Singers of Kurnous...)

 Lord_Inquisitor_Doge wrote:
This is animalistic idea seems far too Slaaneshi for the Eldar to use it. Honestly, your fluff seems more like what an Eldar Chaos cult would look like than what Exodites would look like. It basically contradicts a lot of what we know about Exodites in general.
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Exodite#Society
EDIT: literally took me 4 edits to get the URL right. been too long since I posted on dakka.

Hmmm, well I had a spark of inspiration about this last night (irritatingly as it kept me awake!). I think you are right that it leans a little towards the Slaaneshi side of things, but that's a good thing.

One of the main things about the eldar is the inescapability of their situation. If you think about the Craftworld Eldar and the Dark Eldar, both of their methods for avoiding Slaanesh's predation fall right within the realms of Slaanesh.

The Craftworld Eldar practice their paths, where they dedicate themselves to a single facet of their existence, moulding themselves entirely around it to the exclusion of all else. Only when they have perfected that particular facet, can they move onto the next. Sounds pretty solidly Slaaneshi-perfection to me...

The Dark Eldar live the wild lives of their pre-fall pleasure-cult ancestors, replenishing their souls with those of the ones they torture. Sounds pretty solidly Slaaneshi-pleasure to me...

Both branches of eldar believe that these practices keep them safe from Slaanesh. However, it's equally likely that Slaanesh doesn't consume their souls simply because they're providing her with power simply through existing. As one of the few remaining eldar gods, Slaanesh remains a fundamental part of the eldar psyche.

nou wrote:
Since you ask, just a quick description of the way I choose to view Exodites:

The original fluff describes early Exodites not as religious fanatics - they were "doomsayers" only compared to degenerated hedonists of pre-fall Eldar societies. So they were more like "pure thought" ones, untouched by pre-fall depravity, disgusted by ways of their kin. So they moved to "quiet worlds". In Poland, we have a saying, that translates rougly to "f#@$ck all this nonsense, I'm going to live in the forrest". Exodites did just that.

But that was just a start. Simple life on primitive worlds leads to two things: a) heavier dependancy on one's skills of survival, and b) heavier dependancy on social connections with those few living souls you have around you. But because there were so few of them, and Eldar are a psychic race, they could develop a "psychic connection" with animal wildlife of then-developing Maiden Worlds. This in turn could lead to huge variance between Exodite tribes from different planets. Maiden Worlds were designed to reject harmfull lifeforms, but aftershock of the Fall could easily alter this property via psychic resonance with Exodites living on them. So your concept of "techno barbarians" could be the result of being close enough to Eye of Terror, so there was a slight influence of chaos on worlds you now try to describe, while more distant worlds remained pure and even Amish-like. As I see it, what you're trying to describe is a world "half way through" to becoming Dark Eldar like, slipping into society driven by animalistic hunger/primitive instincts. Which could also happen, because this particular world of yours had a particularily widespread predators for example...

As far as protection against Slaanesh go - in original fluff, Exodites do wear Spirit Stones and have World Spirits to store their souls, but as long as they live, they are probably protected by their simple lives - you cannot easily corrupt a being, which is basically a struggling animal in it's natural enviroment. No animal is evil or perversed "by nature" - they just hunt/breed/protect their offspring. But by that logic, it is possible, that Exodite worlds are much more vulnerable to reach their own little "falls" if they are exposed to war/alien races/external influence for too long and "peacefull" ways of Exodites are shaken for too long. And individual Exodites who go wandering the Webway should be much more prone to becoming corrupt by chaos/madness/depravity.

Just food for thoughts...

Sorry, I missed this earlier :S love that Polish phrase though! Definitely going to use that one myself

Very interesting, and fits nicely with the older, existing fluff of the exodites. However, it still paints them as pretty helpless in the face of even some of the minor conflicts that occur in the 40k universe, which is exactly what was required from exodites in most of the fluff (they're usually a punching-bag to set up the latest planet-eating threat). What I was trying to do is give them a little more bite

I like the idea that my eldar could be part-way through a social transformation to the eldar's more barbaric past (although I see the Dark Eldar, and Fall itself, as more of a high-born decadence with horrendous acts committed through boredom/desperation than anything animalistic). Fits with the technobarbarian theme

I also like the idea of exodites being able to psychically connect to the animals around them. Perhaps that's where they originally formed the idea of regressing to more animalistic behaviours as a barrier against Slaanesh. As you say, it's a lot harder to corrupt an animal than a person.

As regards Spirit Stones, part of the reason I restricted them to being a rare commodity on exodite worlds is the new fluff around how they're gathered. If the craftworlders have to go on exceedingly dangerous missions directly into the Eye of Terror to retrieve them, I'd imagine they're a pretty precious resource. I doubt the exodites have the military strength to do the same, and I'd imagine some craftworlds would be more willing to trade them than others. It's sort of taking a piece of fluff and following it through to its logical conclusion for a particular society (something that I've tried to use when coming up with all of my fluff).

 gnome_idea_what wrote:
This is really well thought-out! You've taken an oft-ignored faction and given them some much-needed thinking.

One thing that bugs me a bit is the use of the title "cult" to denote the various aspects. It gets used a lot in 40K, and if anyone can think of a good synonym it would be a nice change-up.

Thanks a lot man

Yeah I did think that as well. It's a commonly used term in the 40k universe, from Genestealer Cults to Chaos Cultists and I'm sure there's more. I did struggle to come up with a suitable synonym though.

Plus, I did like the alliteration of 'Cult of Kurnous'...

Something more barbaric/arcahic might fit nicely though.

 Justycar wrote:
Cult, Paths, Chapters, Kabbalas, Clans, Warbands, Tribes... All are used names in different codex.

To found something original may you refer to something historical, celtic names: descendants (kʷlan(n)tā- ), warrior, hero (neit-s), watchman (φarjāno), family (kenetlo)

Spoiler:

https://www.google.es/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0ahUKEwiVmo6tvrnQAhXFWCYKHQtFC-MQFggdMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wales.ac.uk%2Fresources%2Fdocuments%2Fresearch%2Fcelticlanguages%2Fenglishprotocelticwordlist.pdf&usg=AFQjCNGGq6mdEY3Rq7fM69V1L2Bg5SNrLw&sig2=pTvg0AYnfObVAUjytbCSOw

If not, you can still put more original references as Dreamers or Singers. (Dreamers of Lileath, Singers of Kurnous...)

The issue is that I wanted to sort-of keep it familiar to readers for the majority of the terms used. Hence using clan and tribe and the like to describe exodite society. Most of the codices keep things simple to help with readability. Things like 'Swooping Hawks', 'Venerable Dreadnaughts' and 'Crisis Battlesuits' are all words that would be familiar to the majority of english speakers. Named characters, planets and codex entries of the eldar word for things are where you can really go to town with using celtic-based words to add in references.

I love the idea of calling them 'Dreamers of Lileath', and 'Hunters of Kurnous' though. That very neatly solves the overuse of 'cult'.

I wonder what others we could do.

'Sons of Asuryan', and 'Daughters of Isha' are some I can think of off the top of my head.

Need good ones for Ynnead (maybe 'Sleepers'), Morai-Heg and Faolchu...

Aspect Administrators of Asuryan? The Leading Lizards, the Facilitating Phoenixes, the Funding Falcons and the Demagogue Dragons (Watchout for the exarch's fiery rhetoric), perhaps?

Those conversions are hugely inspiring. Where did you get so many wonderful bits?

About the skin-walker thing, I'm not sure it's something Exodites would do.

Warging into animals was one of the pass-times of the pre-fall Eldar. They did so to experience the sensations the animals did (mentions of soaring through the air as some kind of hawk and hunting as some kind of lava-dwelling fish are given), it was given as an example of one of the highest forms of their sensation-seeking at the time, so probably the sort of thing the Exodites want to avoid.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Aspect Administrators of Asuryan? The Leading Lizards, the Facilitating Phoenixes, the Funding Falcons and the Demagogue Dragons (Watchout for the exarch's fiery rhetoric), perhaps?

Those conversions are hugely inspiring. Where did you get so many wonderful bits?

Hah the Administrators of Asuryan paints a rather different picture. Perhaps they protect themselves from Slaanesh by making their every waking moment fiercely dull to the point they're incapable of feeling pleasure at all

Thanks man the vast majority of the bits are bought from places like Bitzbox, Bitsandkits, Forbidden Gaming and Letthedicedecide. It's slightly pricier than buying standard units (by a couple of quid or so), but a heck of a lot cheaper than buying the kits for the bits :S only issue can be stock levels meaning you have to buy two lots of postage from two different sites :S

 Robin5t wrote:
About the skin-walker thing, I'm not sure it's something Exodites would do.

Warging into animals was one of the pass-times of the pre-fall Eldar. They did so to experience the sensations the animals did (mentions of soaring through the air as some kind of hawk and hunting as some kind of lava-dwelling fish are given), it was given as an example of one of the highest forms of their sensation-seeking at the time, so probably the sort of thing the Exodites want to avoid.

Ah so there's precedent

Most f what the eldar do today is based on pre-fall practices and technologies, so if warging into animals is possible then I could see exodites doing it nowadays. Perhaps it's actually an ancient trait that eldar are able to do, but was appropriated by the pleasure cults as their society fell into decadence (kind of like how archery today is pretty much purely for pleasure, but back in prehistory would have been essential for hunting).

Warging into an eagle purely to feel the rush of wind against it's feathers would be quite different to warging into an eagle to spy on the movements of enemies.

Perhaps that's something the Hunters of Kurnous watch out for: exodites that become too close to the animals they're warging into, take to much pleasure in the sensations it brings and invite damnation onto their clan.

In my interpretation, exodites are free to live a wilder lifestyle away from the strictures of the craftworlders Paths, but stray too far towards excess and you'll be mercilessly hunted by your kith and kin in what amounts to a witch-hunt...