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So after reading through the Dark Eldar codex I got the impression that because they were in the webway the fall affected them differently by turning them into freaky soul vampires whereas the craftworlders just have to avoid hedonism and saying slaanesh three times in the mirror.

Is that accurate? Or could a craftworlder get his (life saving) jollies off torture and a Commoraghan repent of his ball-gag happy ways and walk the Path?

 Wraithlordmechanic wrote:
So after reading through the Dark Eldar codex I got the impression that because they were in the webway the fall affected them differently by turning them into freaky soul vampires whereas the craftworlders just have to avoid hedonism and saying slaanesh three times in the mirror.

Is that accurate? Or could a craftworlder get his (life saving) jollies off torture and a Commoraghan repent of his ball-gag happy ways and walk the Path?

They tend if they must fail, go Harlequin. They actually tend to mesh poorly together. Many generations and much apart, and the only Dark eldars that could master an Eldar life is the Incubi. And they must slaughter a revered Eldar warrior and rebuild his soulstone, so they would be as welcome as Taliban-fighters in a neighborhood full of former US Marines if you catch my drift. The only other way for them is to join the path of the Laughing God.

 Wraithlordmechanic wrote:
Or could a craftworlder get his (life saving) jollies off torture and a Commoraghan repent of his ball-gag happy ways and walk the Path?

That's how I see it. Well... kind of. It's far more likely for the former than the latter. Part of the reason for this is that Dark Eldar as we know them can be ridiculously old, and are only sustained by the feeding on pain and suffering - going onto the Path would cut that off and suddenly their age would catch up with them.

Thanks for the quick replies.
What I'm more curious about is not how likely it is to happen but rather if it could happen at all. Whether Dark Eldar are doomed to nibble on other's souls as slaanesh nibbles on thiers or if they could go to rehab and live without feeding on others.
It sound like you guys are saying they aren't such a different animal- they just solve the same problem in different ways.

 Wraithlordmechanic wrote:
Thanks for the quick replies.
What I'm more curious about is not how likely it is to happen but rather if it could happen at all. Whether Dark Eldar are doomed to nibble on other's souls as slaanesh nibbles on thiers or if they could go to rehab and live without feeding on others.
It sound like you guys are saying they aren't such a different animal- they just solve the same problem in different ways.

Bingo, there you said it. They are only generations apart, not a different species.

In the Path of the Renegade BL novel by Andy Chambers, we have an example of a Craftworld Eldar becoming a ranger then siding with Dark Eldar. He starts to develop the same thirst that the Dark Eldar do (but which he never did experience even as a ranger). Later he turns on the Dark Eldar, and that is the last we know of him as he escapes. It is possible he returns to being a ranger, or a corsair, or returns to the craftworld. It is therefore possible that the nascent thirst he experienced would fade away again.

In the Path of the Warrior BL novel by Gav Thorpe, we find out a Striking Scorpion is actually a former Incubus. He was defeated and surrendered. After having some sort of cleansing ritual done on him by the seers, he became a Scorpion and took an apparent vow of silence. Karandras made a point of saving this character because it was a symbolic victory of the Path system over the Dark Eldar. This reformed Incubus had no need for any consumption of souls.

We also know from the codices that the Harlequins recruit from both craftworlds and the Dark Eldar.

In [i]Path of the Outcast[i] also by Gav Thorpe, we see some corsairs, including one former Dark Eldar. She experienced no soul thirst.

Thus it appears that movement is possible between the craftworlds, Outcasts/corsairs, and the Dark Eldar. It seems it is the lifestyle of the Dark Eldar combined with living in the Webway that leads to the soul draining effect, and thus their thirst for soul consumption. Even when not bound by the Paths, Outcasts do not experience it if they do not fall to the depths of the Dark Eldar.

In one of the Eldar books.. Path of the Outcast, a young and adventurous Eldar Ranger actually betrays all his friends and joins the Dark Eldar, and succeeds, so I wouldn't say that they don't or can't mix, just that, due to the rigidness of the Craftworlders and Exodites they would simply never allow themselves to turn into that, because of the way they were brought up. I suppose it's different for Rangers, being the outriders and exiles of the Craftworlds and all that, but it's still possible

As far as I saw it, the Path and the Thirst are both ways to avoid Slaanesh.

The Path avoids becoming consumed by the same desires that led to Slaanesh, thereby avoiding becoming her servant in life, and all their spiritstones keep their souls safe after death.

The Dark Eldar don't worry about the 'while living' part of that, and use others' souls to avoid dying at all, thus keeping their souls from Slaanesh.

I seem to recall Outcasts, Exodites and Corsairs were living lives with a much higher risk of something horrible involving Slaanesh happening to them, but even Exodite worlds had Infinity Matrices.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
To add, that means either Eldar could use either method to try and avoid the Dark Prince, but upbringing would make different methods unlikely.

Like the post above me states all 4 elder cultures have there own means of escaping Slaaneshes soul drain.

Craftworlders with the soul stones and the path lifestyle

Dark eldar by feeding on the souls of others

Exodites are shielded by the world spirit and have there own infinity matrix

and Harlequins souls already belong to the Laughing God so they don't worry about Slaanesh.

Corsairs I imagine use either soul stones, soul stealing, or slowly die lol

I don't see why eldar can switch between any of these methods whenever they feel like it barring being a Harlequin, I would imagine you have to be something special for the Laughing God to take you under his wing.