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Made in ca
Storm Trooper with Maglight



Ottawa

Now, this is more of a collection of musings, observations and speculation, rather than one question with a clear-cut answer... Anyway, as far as I'm aware, there are only two races/factions in the galaxy that are known to frequently feast on souls: daemons and Drukhari. That seems a bit odd, given the differences between them: daemons are made of pure Warp energy, while the Drukhari actively avoid the Warp and anything psychic. Because of this, I strongly suspect the ability and inclination to eat souls are not limited to them.

Could other Eldar (such as Craftworlders and Harlequins) theoretically eat souls, yet for moral reasons choose not to, like vegetarians?

Can psychic tyranids like Zoanthropes devour souls? I think they can and do.

Does the daily sacrifice of psyker souls to the Golden Throne represent a case of soul-eating, or is it more like the souls being burned for fuel? If the former, do you think the Emperor is knowingly and voluntarily eating the souls fed to him, or is he being fed "intravenously" (so to speak) like a comatose person?

Are psychic blanks immune to having their soul eaten, or would their soul simply provide no nourishment (or even be poisonous) to the eater? I'm thinking such souls would be harmful to the eater, but that any psychic being would avoid eating them anyway (in the same way that we are instinctively reluctant to eat something that smells bad).

The lore sometimes mentions that those who have their souls eaten by daemons face eternal torment. Why's that? Is it a sarlacc pit situation, where they are digested forever by the daemon that ate them? And is this dark fate only for the souls eaten by daemons? Because I can't really see how the souls eaten by the Emperor or Drukhari would end up in the Realm of Chaos: the Emperor's throne room and Commorragh are both places where the Dark Gods' reach is kept to a minimum. My thinking is that those souls are either destroyed, or added to the "soul-force" of the one who ate them (you are what you eat, as the saying goes).

Can a soul be partially eaten, and its owner kept alive? Now, this isn't in any canon lore I'm aware of, but I can definitely picture a Drukhari kabal having pens full of "soul cattle", just like vampires are often depicted keeping live humans to feed upon so they don't have to always go out looking for new victims.

.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2024/09/05 15:52:12


Cadians, Sisters of Battle, Drukhari

Read my Drukhari short stories: Chronicles of Commorragh 
   
Made in gb
Preparing the Invasion of Terra






The term "eat" is too basic to describe what both Daemonic entities and Drukhari do to mortals.

When a mortal dies their soul joins with the Warp, which is filled with predators (thank you War in Heaven) that will hunt, torture, and consume the soul.
The Warp exists outside of the flow of time and the laws of realspace so a soul ending up in "eternal torment" isn't poetic, it can be fully literal.
Of course, selling your soul to a Daemon means said Daemon can do whatever it wants with your soul when you eventually die.

For the Drukhari, they don't eat the soul of a mortal being. They siphon their pain to stave off the slow consumption of their own souls by Slaanesh. It's like a recharge, which is why the Drukahri have to keep doing slave raids and why Vect is so worried about the Ynnari who's souls are not consumed by Slaanesh but instead absorbed by Ynnead in order to empower the new god.

As for the Emperor? I would imagine it's quite similar to what happens with Ynnead or Slaanesh. The soul is sacrificed, it's power absorbed by the god/not-god to keep the powers of said god/not-god going.
He also absolutely does not care about those Psykers because he is the ultimate "ends justify the means" dudebro.

Also Blanks (like gingers), don't have souls. That's why Daemons and Psychic beings are hurt by them and everyone else with a soul wants to throw up when one is near.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2024/09/05 17:18:31


 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






On the Golden Throne? I know the Dark Eldar helped repair it, and I was reading in another thread that it’s not new nor novel technology to them.

So it could be it’s the suffering of those plug into it that is sustaining The Emperor, rather than a constantly replenished soul buffet?

   
 
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