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So this might be a bit of a dark topic, but what do we know and suspect about the life and handling of slaves in the Dark City beyond, "It's terrible, and there's so much screaming"?

If memory serves, the 7th edition Dark Eldar codex talks about craftworlder slaves being used as aritsans/factory workers, and I think there's a bit on the Path of the Archon that describes a sort of... living area where slaves were allowed/required to build various structures.

While it's easy to imagine all slaves being scooped up, promptly tortured to the point of death, and then swiftly replaced to feed the appetites of the drukhari, this seems like too narrow of a view. A few things to keep in mind:

* Slaves are one of the primary currencies of the dark city. Slaves are money.
* Commorragh is huge and has a population to match.
* Commorragh seems to see fit to use slaves as labor at least some of the time implying that machines aren't taking care of every last mundane necessity.
* Dark eldar have access to borderline magical medical science.

So with all that in mind, it seems like a smart archon would probably have some relatively torture-light logistical systems in place to support his personal slave supply. For instance...
* Are there food production facilities? Are slaves making soylent green and/or manning meat vats?
* Do the true kin allow/force slaves to have offspring, humans that are raised as slaves in Commorragh their whole lives? I get that the place is brutal, but a couple extra food rations and a midwife are probably smaller investments to get a new slave than a realspace raid would be. This would be akin to ranching rather than hunting. Hunting might be more fun, but having a ranch means you still have a steady supply of slaves if your usual hunting grounds start to dry up for some reason.
* How much protection are slaves given? In Gangs of Commorragh, we see some slaves that are basically just out at a construction site, but they do have a few kabalites warding off would-be sabaeurs. You have to have some sort of shepherd watching your sheep, right?
* How not-crummy can a slave's life get? I imagine the ones that are sent off to be torture fodder probably aren't in condition to do much labor afterwards, but what about the slaves that get thrown in the not-for-torture (yet) pile? Can you aspire to become like... a cup bearer or even a performer or something?
*Commorragh isn't big on psykers, so how do they handle psychic individuals in their slave population? How do they deal with the occassional wyrd boy or nascent human psyker? What about infections/corruption? I rather like the idea of having my genestealer cult grow in power among a kabal's slave population, but it seems like the sort of thing the dark eldar would test for before "importing." On the other hand, spending too much time and energy running checkups on all your new slaves seems like a staggering amount of overhead. That's like checking every dollar bill that goes into your register for signs of counterfeit.

Also, we're all pretty sure that at least one kabal has discovered that laughter is more powerful than screams and has thus dedicated entire spires to non-stop tickle torture, right?

The Dark Eldar make slaves not so much for labor as for sustenance. Yes, there are some that are pressed into manufacturing, particularly other Eldar, but the vast majority are essentially livestock, to be "processed" through the arenas for the masses. Literally "bread and circuses" rolled into one.

We also don't know whether there are certain metaphysical conditions that might affect for example the "taste" of the pain and anguish caused to a slave. The Dark Eldar trilogy by Andy Chambers for example certainly seems to suggest so, with a particular innocent Eldar Exodite captive providing much more delectable (and powerful/nourishing) anguish than the average captive. I could see how a captive taken forever from their life and family elsewhere might prove more tasty and nourishing than a beaten down slave born in Commorragh with no experience of any other life.

Although Dark Eldar raids can be seen as analogous to hunting, their scale is probably more analogous to trawl fishing. The Dark Eldar, particularly the Haemonculi faction the Dark Cornucopians, see the galaxy as their plaything and brimming with prey for the taking. Right before the events of the Gathering Storm, Vect had declared it to be an age of plenty. When the hunting grounds are full of entertaining prey, why settle for something as boringly conservative as farming/ranching? Commorragh society also has values of bravado and audacity, which is why in the Dark Eldar codices they say the Dark Eldar frown on use of poison antidotes as the refuge of the weak. Settling for farming slaves could be similarly seen as an admission of weakness or fear, and attract enemies.

Wyldhunt wrote:
* How much protection are slaves given?

* How not-crummy can a slave's life get? Can you aspire to become like... a cup bearer or even a performer or something?

If slaves are worth something to their owner there's bound to be some sort of protection for them. A guard if the slaves are being moved ofc, and otherwise safe enough quarters and work surroundings that others don't steal them. This being Dark Eldar, though - I can easily imagine some of them would make the slave pens seem like a place you can escape from (hard but possible) so they get to hunt the occasional escaping slave for fun.

Rising to a better position does seem possible, and is even likely - why should the master race bother doing all the tasks needed to keep slave pens, for example? Better let some none-too-exciting scribe write the lists and a properly subservient (to his betters) administrator etc pass out daily tasks. One might even be set free for good service, if one survives, since the longer you survive the more jaded you become and thus provide less entertainment compared to a fresh slave.

As a matter of fact I think I remember a footnote of a rescued human slave, a pretty influential sage or such, who was later executed for heresy and his works about Dark Eldar society forbidden. The thing that ticked the Inquisition off was how he had made himself so useful that he actually gained enough power and influence in Comorragh to live as a "free" man, lording it over human slaves while giving advice to raid leaders. That's not something humans need to know, they should only hate and fear.

Slaves are property. Killing a Black Heart Kabal slave is, essentially, stealing from Asdrubael Vect. Go right ahead.

There are references made to Haemonculi prisoners ultimately earning their place as wracks.

These all seem like very sensible and realistic thoughts on the logistics of Commorragh society. I especially like the analogy of Dark Eldar raiding being closer to trawl-fishing than hunting.

The point about them looking down on professions or practices that might constitute weakness (such as slave-ranching) is something that's often overlooked with dark eldar society. People take a surface glance and assume that they must be an entire race of psychopaths/sociopaths, which might be true but probably isn't on closer observation.

Above all else, the Dark Eldar abhor and ruthlessly punish perceived weakness of any sort. If anything, that's the fundamental tenet around which their society revolves. They're an advanced-level lawless meritocracy. It's always worth looking at the dark eldar's practices with that greater clarity in mind than just assuming they're all murderous nutjobs

locarno24 wrote:
Slaves are property. Killing a Black Heart Kabal slave is, essentially, stealing from Asdrubael Vect. Go right ahead.

There are references made to Haemonculi prisoners ultimately earning their place as wracks.

Yeah, slaves are basically property, currency, or food and material. Certain slaves and prisoners are far far more valuable than others. Don, t Rob vect though.. . May not end well. At all.

A basic human slave is likely low vs a space Marine. A eldar or others.. Diffrent story. Very valuable commodity.

Human slaves, they have no shortage of.

If I remember corect a big majoraty of the weapons dark eldar use is slave labour, inkkuding all the skiffs and boats. By the time they have learned the craft they must be worth much more then newbies who might very well be used for sustenance.

Keep in mind this is a sociaty that arteficaly make babies and accelerate growth periods to make fresh eldar soldiers. Trueborn have that name because they have had a normal and privelddged childhood. (Normal for eldar at least.) I don't thini cloning is common except when haemonculy body swaps or have bodies on standby.

That combined with the nature of the portal satelite reams I think life there wouod be very different then on earth, for any species.

 jhe90 wrote:


Yeah, slaves are basically property, currency, or food and material. Certain slaves and prisoners are far far more valuable than others. Don, t Rob vect though.. . May not end well. At all.

A basic human slave is likely low vs a space Marine. A eldar or others.. Diffrent story. Very valuable commodity.

Human slaves, they have no shortage of.

Definitely. An astartes prisoner is most likely to be used as an adversary in the arenas - he is not only a serious threat to an inexperienced wych but also be easy for a hemonculus to keep alive - would be considered pretty much equivalent to a prized warbeast like an khymera alpha.

Compare the effort and money put into caring for a prize racehorse today....

locarno24 wrote:

 jhe90 wrote:


Yeah, slaves are basically property, currency, or food and material. Certain slaves and prisoners are far far more valuable than others. Don, t Rob vect though.. . May not end well. At all.

A basic human slave is likely low vs a space Marine. A eldar or others.. Diffrent story. Very valuable commodity.

Human slaves, they have no shortage of.

Definitely. An astartes prisoner is most likely to be used as an adversary in the arenas - he is not only a serious threat to an inexperienced wych but also be easy for a hemonculus to keep alive - would be considered pretty much equivalent to a prized warbeast like an khymera alpha.

Compare the effort and money put into caring for a prize racehorse today....

Agreed, although it's important to note a couple of things that probably mean that despite being valuable, I doubt the Astartes would be treated well.

1. The motivation for its owner is to keep it fighting fit, not its general wellbeing. Having it perpetually fighting and then dose it up on roids before a fight would be a perfectly valid strategy.
2. Despite being prized, they're still on the disposable end of things. They're frequently put into situations where they could wind up dead. Even if they are prized, I wouldn't think much of their long-term survivability. That would skew any 'care' the DEldar owner gives them to the short-term end of things.
3. Even if the Dark Eldar is a bit of a humanitarian and wants to treat the Astartes as well as it can, it's from an alien species that not only enjoys inflicting but also enjoys receiving pain, and from a culture that prizes complete lack of weakness as a primary virtue. A Dark Eldar's idea of 'caring for' an Astartes is probably wildly different than what a human might expect. Probably something akin to lavishing with gifts and luxuries one second, and then torture the next.

Actually, thinking about it, that's probably not a great deal different to the horse's perspective in a racing stable, so yeah. Analogy holds pretty well.

Also, that last point seems like the perfect way to instill Stockholm Syndrome within someone...

The most likely fate of any Space Marine prisoner is to end up in the arenas. That means any capturing Kabal is likely to sell them on to the Wych Cults, who I would imagine are the only ones likely to hold any Space Marine prisoner for any length of time, barring a few eccentric Archons that want to keep dangerous "pets" in a menagerie for example. Haemonculi admittedly take an interest too but Space Marines in their hands are also likely to be expended quickly.

The Wych Cults IMO would view the Space Marine and any other particularly dangerous prisoners as prime attractions. They are still ultimately to be expended, but it would be as part of major shows that presumably could demand higher ticket prices for admission. A lowly new Wych might only face a Space Marine by being the sidekick of a major arena star, or as being part of the "warm-up" act, in which case the Marine might win (to set the stage for later downfall at the hands of the main star). Of course a good performance or unexpected upset win could be just how a new Wych gets their lucky break at the big league.

I love how nuanced and complicated Commoright sociaty gets when you actually delv into thoughts on "how could this possibly work".

If there was one thing the 7th ed codex had going for it it was fluff. I relaly liked the story of how Vraes Maledrich wanted an enormous statue of himself built but the Flayed Skull was based in a region that where the atmosphere was so toxic most slaves wouldn't have lasted long enough to get any work done, so he raids an Ork world to get some hardy slaves. What I like most about this is that slave raiding can be very carefuly thought out so that the captured slaves fulfill a specific requirement as opposed to just mental nourishment. At that point the logistics Wyldhunt and others have mentioned become a pressing issue for any Kabal, Cult or Coven.

 Ynneadwraith wrote:


Agreed, although it's important to note a couple of things that probably mean that despite being valuable, I doubt the Astartes would be treated well.

1. The motivation for its owner is to keep it fighting fit, not its general wellbeing. Having it perpetually fighting and then dose it up on roids before a fight would be a perfectly valid strategy.
2. Despite being prized, they're still on the disposable end of things. They're frequently put into situations where they could wind up dead. Even if they are prized, I wouldn't think much of their long-term survivability. That would skew any 'care' the DEldar owner gives them to the short-term end of things.
3. Even if the Dark Eldar is a bit of a humanitarian and wants to treat the Astartes as well as it can, it's from an alien species that not only enjoys inflicting but also enjoys receiving pain, and from a culture that prizes complete lack of weakness as a primary virtue. A Dark Eldar's idea of 'caring for' an Astartes is probably wildly different than what a human might expect. Probably something akin to lavishing with gifts and luxuries one second, and then torture the next.

Actually, thinking about it, that's probably not a great deal different to the horse's perspective in a racing stable, so yeah. Analogy holds pretty well.

Also, that last point seems like the perfect way to instill Stockholm Syndrome within someone...

He's still essentially a 'fighting dog'. So a certain amount of brutalisation is to be expected.
And yes, the gifts followed by torture is very apt. Compare The Torturer's Tale - probbly the first decent length bit of proper fiction for the Dark Kindred.
http://www.thedarkcity.net/t2926-the-torturer-s-tale