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I was thinking about this when reading about the glass hex, which the Haemonculi are unable to revive dead dark eldar from.

Normally, they can revive and regrow a deceased dark eldar so long as they receive the corpse within a day of death. Presumably this can be done from a small fragment of corpse if they can regrow entire skeletons etc.

I am guessing that Necron weaponry must be especially feared as gauss in particular diassembles the target at the molecular level. Distortion weapons likewise seem like a candidate to irreversibly kill a dark eldar if their entire body is sucked into the warp. Other very powerful weapons that can vapourise a body in its entirety must also be very threatening.

Can all of these (including the glass hex) be defeated by simply providing a tissue sample to the Covens before leaving Commorragh? It seems like this would make the fear of the glass hex misplaced.

Seemingly, yes.

When we first got proper Dark Eldar Background, Warriors were described as entrusting a finger to the Haemonculi, so they could be resurrected after death.

Providing nothing untoward happens to the soul, it seems they are functionally immortal;

'Immortal' as long as you can pay huge fee (or someone doesn't pay more for you to stay down). Yes, you can ask for credit but this only works once and it might be a fate just as bad as death. Then there is the fact Big S doesn't just wait around for the reincarnation, if you are fighting something that can snatch your soul or are plain unlucky to be caught in transit, it's curtains for you (and possibly for these who are trying to bring you back, because the older the corpse is, the bigger chance something else than the soul of the departed jumps into reformed body).

I think it's also implied or stated somewhere that eldar souls get slurped up especially quickly/easily in locations with a strong Slaaneshi alignment. So dying on a Slaaneshi daemon world or in in the midst of a horde of Slaaneshi daemons might functionally render the drukhari unrezzable.

Again please don’t ask me to cite, because I don’t have the book anymore, but…..

There may have been something in that first proper Dark Eldar Codex (not you 3rd Ed. In your hole, on you rug. Dirty boy!) which explained there was a ritualistic part to the finger donation thing, which tied the soul to it.

So provided nothing too awful happened to the rest of you, your sexy tasty Eldar soul still had a mortal tether/shell, which time and again has proven, erm, proof, against Slaanesh, who has to wait until the yucky meaty bits have stopped twitching.

This could very well be head canon, so until someone can provide citation, keep your salt handy.

This 'tether' only works if you provide enough souls, pain and suffering to overcome the pull (effectively bribing Slaanesh to let you go for now). This was detailed in DE trilogy books. And it's not even a sure bet anymore, not only the great rift made the pull considerably worse, but it turns out Ynnead as Eldar god of death laughs at such measures (in Ynnari books group of DE trying to attack the protagonists were devoured by Ynnead, souls and all, instantly turning their bodies, bits left with Haemonculi included, into sterile dust). So, there's that too.

Well, at least I’d not plucked it out my backside 😂

I do wonder about the exact price of getting rezzed by a haemi. I was under the impression that part of the reason warriors and wyches are so "comfortable" wearing paper thin armor and riding death traps into unnecessary battles for the lulz was because they knew they'd stand a good chance of getting brought back to life if they died. Which suggests that kabals and cults provide "life insurance benefits" to their minions.

But then conversely, you hear about how expensive it is for an archon or archite to get rezzed. So maybe it's a "how much do you have on you?" situatino?

 Wyldhunt wrote:
I do wonder about the exact price of getting rezzed by a haemi. I was under the impression that part of the reason warriors and wyches are so "comfortable" wearing paper thin armor and riding death traps into unnecessary battles for the lulz was because they knew they'd stand a good chance of getting brought back to life if they died. Which suggests that kabals and cults provide "life insurance benefits" to their minions.

But then conversely, you hear about how expensive it is for an archon or archite to get rezzed. So maybe it's a "how much do you have on you?" situatino?

The insurance policy probably has other specific terms such as how fast the resurrection will be.

The head of a Kabal might for example have the entire output of a torture room all to themselves and thus regenerate faster than an ordinary Kabalite who is stuck as one of many in a resurrection pod above another torture chamber. So think of it as the difference between flying on a private jet and being crammed into economy class. They both get you there but one is considerably more comfortable and faster.

An Archon or Succubus probably would need fast resurrection anyway as otherwise they might lose their position to usurpers if it is left vacant for too long.

Indeed I think one of the key benefits Kabals and Wych Cults provide is life insurance (perhaps they get a bulk discount?). It seems Kabals also tend to form long lasting relationships with Cults and therefore another likely benefit for Kabal members is admission to the Cult arenas in order to partake of the pain and suffering. Basically a ticket to the company canteen.

Being poor. Same as in real life

Haemonculi also have a vested interest in keeping the resurrections going.

The Kabals bring the Haemonculi new subjects, both for experiments, and the arena and their “other” purposes.

Best results require said Kabals to be fighting fit. And customer loyalty is always desirable.

So whilst the Haemonculi are most likely negotiating with the upper hand, it may simply not do to price yourself too highly.

Also though Dark Eldar society always has a certain amount of infighting, backstabbing, and scheming, the Haemonculi have to be at least somewhat reliable with their resurrections, otherwise they would lose their customers to rivals that are more reliable. They are basically in the insurance business and all insurance businesses have to be seen to pay out enough to attract customers.

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:There may have been something in that first proper Dark Eldar Codex (not you 3rd Ed. In your hole, on you rug. Dirty boy!) which explained there was a ritualistic part to the finger donation thing, which tied the soul to it.

I quite like that. A bit like the folklore and legends of otherworldly beings with souls or lives hidden in an external container.

True death for a Dark Eldar is probably more a question of how many times you can afford it. I suspect everybody can probably afford at least a few at those who can't go out of their way to save up. Becoming more and more desperate if they're in deep debt.

Those are the Drukari who go around raiding and pillaging undefended civilian targets. They can't afford to fight stuff that can fight back. Which might represent the bulk of Drukari, given that they are known as pirates and raiders mostly.

I guess that Dark Eldar raiders that get ganked by some poor farmhand with a rusty autogun are most likely poors who can't afford a resurrection, which is why they are raiding farms in the first place. Imagine being the one farmboy who killed one dark eldar who was raiding your village, you probably contributed more to the eventual extinction of the Eldar than when a Space Marine squad that just assassinated an Archon. The guy you killed can't afford a resurrection!

Worth remembering that most battles in 40k (or any setting, for that matter) are not going to be like the tabletop where dedicated effort is made to balance the two sides. Especially for DEldar the overwhelming majority of their battles will be overwhelmingly in their favor and chance of death is relatively low.

 Grey Templar wrote:
True death for a Dark Eldar is probably more a question of how many times you can afford it. I suspect everybody can probably afford at least a few at those who can't go out of their way to save up. Becoming more and more desperate if they're in deep debt.

Those are the Drukari who go around raiding and pillaging undefended civilian targets. They can't afford to fight stuff that can fight back. Which might represent the bulk of Drukari, given that they are known as pirates and raiders mostly.

I guess that Dark Eldar raiders that get ganked by some poor farmhand with a rusty autogun are most likely poors who can't afford a resurrection, which is why they are raiding farms in the first place. Imagine being the one farmboy who killed one dark eldar who was raiding your village, you probably contributed more to the eventual extinction of the Eldar than when a Space Marine squad that just assassinated an Archon. The guy you killed can't afford a resurrection!

It’s the vicious circle, but also part of the Dark Eldar bravado thing.

I’d wager most can afford a couple of resurrections without going too far into debt. But if you’re unfortunate in the field? There’s only one way to pay off your debt - and that’s conducting further raids. Which risks further resurrections. And deeper debt.