Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.
Am I mistaken, or wasn’t there some lore that Vect had some hidden wraith constructs he had krukhari’ized into poisony fashion? Just curious because my friend and I were discussing what types of units could be added to the Drukhari roster. Vect as an HQ again obviously came up, my friend mentioned Uriens Uber Grotesque, and I brought up that I could of sworn I had read at some point that these constructs existed but he wasn’t sure.
"Wraith Constructs" are primarily two things, both of which are *very* problematic for Vect/Dark Eldar:
Soulstones:
The psychic little stones that Craftworlders seal their souls inside. How mcuh psychic activity would be needed to use one is certainly questionable. But Craftworlders can use them to allow their departed to control constructs because Craftworlders *save* their departeds' souls in them.
Dark Eldar departed souls get devoured. That fate of a Dark Eldar soul who died or didn't "eat" enough pain/agony is a very central tenant to Dark Eldar culture.
So Dark Eldar are unlikely to have many Soulstones. And they wouldn't have Souls ready to "load" into them either.
Wraithbone:
Wraith constructs are made out of Wraithbone. A material made manifest from the Emperyum. Like all the other materials used by pre-Fall Eldar (and Craftworlders), it is created and crafted via Psykers.
The Dark Eldar actually had to completely redesign every aspect of their materials science after the Fall, because they *will not* use Psykers in the Dark City.
Using Psyker energies attracts She who Thirsts. It's basically the one and only thing truly forbidden in the Dark City. Even outside the Dark City, any Dark Eldar to use it is likely getting devoured *very quickly*. And anyone else nearby, soon after.
As such, Dark Eldar can't actually use the two things that make Wraith Constructs worthwhile. I'm sure they'll make deranged mockeries of Wraith Constructs (they already kinda do), but there's no feasible way or reason to make Wraith Constructs themselves.
Dark Eldar would probably get behind a Robocop type deal. Pull the live (screaming!) brain out of some victim and put it inside a construct with life support systems built in.
All the benefits of a wraith construct, plus all the pain and misery and insanity of a living being trapped inside a robo-shell. What’s not to love?
As with most psychic things, it being in the dark city is risky, though this does lead me to another question. I know Pyskers are essentially banned on pain of death but they let the Harlequins in and that presumably includes their pyskers. Is there any stories or fluff that explains how they handle that?
Pain4Pleasure wrote: Am I mistaken, or wasn’t there some lore that Vect had some hidden wraith constructs he had krukhari’ized into poisony fashion? Just curious because my friend and I were discussing what types of units could be added to the Drukhari roster. Vect as an HQ again obviously came up, my friend mentioned Uriens Uber Grotesque, and I brought up that I could of sworn I had read at some point that these constructs existed but he wasn’t sure.
Path of the Archon, they're know as Vect's Castigators and are thought to be made from pilfered Craftworld wraithbone and soulstones.
greatbigtree wrote: Dark Eldar would probably get behind a Robocop type deal. Pull the live (screaming!) brain out of some victim and put it inside a construct with life support systems built in.
All the benefits of a wraith construct, plus all the pain and misery and insanity of a living being trapped inside a robo-shell. What’s not to love?
This is very similar to the original fluff on the Talos Pain engine. You can see the flayed body (just the torso) of the victim on the old metal model.
But for true Wraith Constructs, I don't see why DE couldn't just steal/kidnap some from Craftworlders and put some kind of control device on them.
-
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2019/02/13 20:44:16
But why steal/kidnap Craftworlders to psychly ask some stolen Spirit Stones to do the DE's bidding, and kidnap other Craftworlders to Psychic up some Wraithbone constructs, put it all together, and hope everyone does what's asked...
When they can just rip up the Craftworlders, sew them back together, and send the result into combat? Much more horrifying and painful that way. More effective too, but that's secondary.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Haemy constructs basically are, by culture, source, and function, the DE version of Wraith constructs. Craftworlders work the Immaterium into constructs of war, driven by the souls of the fallen. Dark City residents work torn and mutilated bodies into constructs of war, driven by the tourtured inhabitants.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/02/13 21:21:55
Pain4Pleasure wrote: Am I mistaken, or wasn’t there some lore that Vect had some hidden wraith constructs he had krukhari’ized into poisony fashion? Just curious because my friend and I were discussing what types of units could be added to the Drukhari roster. Vect as an HQ again obviously came up, my friend mentioned Uriens Uber Grotesque, and I brought up that I could of sworn I had read at some point that these constructs existed but he wasn’t sure.
The answer is yes.
From Path of the Archon:
Spoiler:
‘Gods, no,’ Motley whispered in horror. ‘It can’t be.’
The figures had the distinctive curving forms of wraithguard and wraithlords – the animated guardian-constructs built by craftworld eldar to carry the souls of their dead. Motley squeezed through the cracked wall in a daze. As the trapped souls within sensed his presence the swell of grieving mind-voices grew more frantic. Motley resolutely tried to block them out.
With closer examination he recognised that the machines were not craftworlder wraithguard and wraithlords. They embodied many of the same aesthetics but had undoubtedly been constructed by Commorrite hands. The ordinarily fine, clean lines of the craftworlder’s designs had been weighted down with masses of additional armour and weaponry. Many had had some of their long limbs amputated in order to keep them quick and agile despite their extra burdens of blades and energy projectors, sacrificing their traditionally compact eldar-like forms for greater performance. Everything about the Commorrite copies seemed to add a vicious tension to the original designs.
The machines were constructed out of wraithbone and other psychoplastic materials Motley would have expected to see on a craftworld. The dark kin had no ability to create wraithbone for themselves and only limited ability to shape it. However, the unique properties of craftworlder materials meant they were highly prized by Commorrites. Every piece of wraithbone used for the constructs had to have been stolen from the craftworlds or the webway itself. The contents of the vault represented an unimaginable horde of plunder in Commorragh, but that was not what Motley found most horrifying about it.
There were clusters of spirit stones embedded into the constructs’ carapaces. Each of the war engines had a dozen or more of the glowing gems sunk into their gleaming metal bodies around their foreheads and shoulders. Motley knew that every one of the stones contained a soul caught at the moment of death to keep it safe from the clutches of She Who Thirsts. The spirit stones represented a most despicable theft from their resting place, an act that went beyond grave-robbing to the literal enslavement of the dead.
It was not without precedent, certainly, for spirit stones were a rare and precious commodity in Commorragh, just like wraithbone. They were stolen, hoarded and fought over, twisted into psychically attuned artefacts that the Commorrites could create by no other means.
And:
‘Of course, they’re Vect’s Castigators,’ the kabalite said with certainty. ‘Nobody had seen one in a hundred years. Who’d have guessed they were right here in the city all that time? And so damn many of them, too…’
