Dark Eldar Fluff
This was first written eight and a half years ago. As Games Workshop has revised their fluff, I thought that I too could revise mine a bit. You can find the original articles here and here. The two of them separately are rather small, so I will combine them into a single whole this time around. First up I'll talk a little about my thoughts and the Dark Eldar. Then we'll have a story that tells about the old times and The Fall and the current state of the Dark Eldar as it pertains to members of my Kabal, Rillishelwe Mor. Finally, we'll have a little discussion of practical evil and some of the rationalizations that El T'taes uses to keep up appearances amongst the Dark Eldar. I hope you enjoy!

I got into Dark Eldar by accident. A friend of my (Hi Jericho!) gave me the Warrior sprues that came in the boxed set with 3rd edition. They sat around in the back of my car for a while until I finally decided to put them together. They looked sort of interesting, so I thought I'd pick up the codex to find out a bit more. There was a lot of interesting stuff in there, but it was very dark and a little too evil for me. On the other hand, I already had the models, and the game looked interesting. One thing lead to another and I started collecting an army and finding out more about 40k and about the Dark Eldar. The thing about how evil they were kept bugging me, though. For those of you that don't know me in real life, I'm pretty much a goody-two-shoes. I try not to kill spiders when I trap them and put them outside. While it's just a game, I thought that maybe I could come up with a bit of backstory or "fluff" that might come a bit closer to my sensibilities.

I didn't want to rewrite everyone's Dark Eldar, just mine. I wanted them to have their own origin story and a reason to be different from the other Dark Eldar, but I also wanted to put a little of that grim/dark sensibility into the story to keep it somewhat in line with the rest of the 40k universe. There are some parts that I haven't fully rationalized yet, but I'm working on it. The biggest one, of course, is the Haemonculi and their Wracks and Grotesques. I've been toying with an idea for them for several years now. It's not fully formed yet, but I think it has some promise. The idea stems from a quote from Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. "Pain, even agony, is just information before the senses. Control the output and you control the input." This brought to mind the idea of sort of a monk who chose a path of pain to achieve self-understanding or consciousness of the universe or what-have-you. I am and know quite a few martial artists, and the idea of someone seeking out pain to prove that they can "take it" is certainly credible as well. I am not currently using Haemonculi, Wracks and Grotesques, but I may use them in the future and if so, I'll see if I can't flesh out this idea more. Next up, the story. The Harlequins make performances about various histories for both Eldar and Dark Eldar, so I tried to write this at least partly in the tone of a story-teller, though this would be a story almost no one else would actually know. In addition, this backstory also gives me a "reason" to pick up an Eldar force, representing the pre-fall version of my Dark Eldar, Lan Rillishelwe.

Not my Dark Eldar, I found this on the web
and kept it as a good example of how to do a cool base.

Lan Rillishelwe and Kabal Rillishelwe Mor
Listen children, to a story that was written long ago. This was a time before the Mon-Keigh came down from the trees. This was the time of the Eldar. We lived for centuries and harnessed sopshistocated technology, the power of magic and even the powers of our own minds. At that time we were so powerful that the very stars lived and died at our command. The leaders of our people, the Farseers, could see into the future, looking down the possible path of each choice presented to them. This gave them the power to make the best choice, as long as they used it. Over time, all of this power jaded us and began to corrupt us from within. our pride, however, prevented us from seeing the corruption as it grew.

There was an exceptionally gifted young Farseer, Taeslan, the leader of his people. Their world was known as Lan Rillishelwe, The Bright Shimmering Song. Taeslan could look further along the paths than most, and he studied the futures carefully. He used this power to guide and nurture his people and their world prospered. There was, however, a point that he could not look past. All of the possible futures seemed to point to it, yet it was hazy and try as he might, he could not see it or see past it.

Taeslan, sensing something was wrong at the heart of Eldar society, guided his people away from much of the decadence the more centralized Eldar followed, and helped them find a path that cherished life in all its forms. Although Lan Rillishelwe used his farsight to avoid warfare when possible, they knew that sometimes they had to stand up for a noble cause. When they decided that armed opposition was called for, the people acted as one. Most battles could be avoided by small things. A messenger could be diverted, an important fuel or ammunition depot blown up, or an army simply led in the wrong direction. However, when called for, the Warhost of Lan Rillishelwe would appear out of nowhere, strike like lightning at the enemy’s weakest point, then leave almost unscathed, with the enemy in ruins. Even in these lightning raids, however, the forces of Lan Rillishelwe would leave most of the enemy demoralized and scattered, but alive, due to their care for all Life.

As the time of the Uncertainty grew closer, Taeslan and his people traveled the webway, attempting to warn others of the potential danger. They even traveled into the shadow realms that had been created inside the webway itself, attempting to warn the Eldar there. It was while they were on this mission that the Uncertainty caught up with them.

The Fall of the Eldar and the birth of Slaanesh were the future that Taeslan could not see. The corruption and decadence of the Eldar spawned a new god of Chaos, Slaanesh. As the Twisted One came into being, there was a huge psychic outpouring. Most of the Eldar race were wiped out in that instant. There were a few that were far enough away that they only felt the disturbance of the outpouring. Those that were trapped in the webway, however, suffered a different fate. Where once their span of years was measured in centuries, they are now truly immortal. However, the price for this immortality is evil. Their bodies live on, though they fade further and further. The only thing that will rejuvenate them is cruelty. Slaanesh saps away at them and the only way to stave him off is to be cruel to others. This constant choice of the self over others, has driven them to new depths of evil. Many relish in this and attempt to outdo each other in acts of depravity. Those who do not are thought weak and attacked, to be enslaved or have their own souls given as payment for others in the warped, shadowy realm of Commoragh. It is in this society that Taeslan now lives, under the name El T’taes.

Lan Rillishelwe, once The Bright Shimmering Song, is now Kabal Rillishelwe Mor, the Shimmering Song of Death. They realize that if they show weakness before the other Dark Eldar, they will fall to the whims of another Kabal. El T'taes still dreams of his gift for seeing the future, but that vision has become cloudy and dark. He can no longer look into the future to find the best choices, he simply has to make them the best he can. El T’taes knows that in the staring contest that is the Dark Eldar existence, he cannot blink. He disguises his mercy with practical rationalizations (such as those below) and leads his forces on raids to keep from appearing soft and weak. He has managed to maneuver his Kabal so that it is aligned with Asdrubael Vect for protection, yet he keeps as low a profile as possible to avoid others setting their sights on him and his kin. He is sickened at the grisly things other Kabals do for sport, but he cannot show it.

All members of Kabal Rillishelwe Mor are aware of these issues. They would like to leave Commoragh, but any mass exodus would leave behind those that act as spies in other Kabals or the few that have been captured by others. Unwilling to leave their kin behind, they stay at the fringes of Commoragh society, acting enough to throw off suspicion. They still need cruelty to survive, though they alleviate this by taking as good a care of their bodies as possible. They also achieve quite a lot simply by killing those Dark Eldar and others that attempt to hurt them. Indeed, the road from the edge of their small pocket dimension to their spire is paved entirely in the skulls of those that have tried to bring down members of the kabal.

These are mine, though there will be some
repainting and overhauling to do.

I may be Evil, but I'm not Stupid
Finally, a discussion about practical evil. There are a number of armies in the 40k universe that are commonly viewed as evil. For that matter, almost all of them can be viewed that way. (I remember seeing a comment a while back. "Humanity is a monster. Chaos is a monster. Orks are a monster. Tyranids are a monster. Necrons are a monster. The Eldar, in their own elegant way, are a monster. Tau are the guy who walks into the haunted mansion with a flash light.") This may present a role-playing challenge for good players, however. The most commonly accepted definition of evil at its most basic level, is a concern for the self above all others. Popular portrayals of evil, however, seem to mesh this with something else, usually rudeness and insanity of one form or another. The problem is that if you are insane, you don’t use your resources well and you won’t get far. I’ll leave the rest of this article to my alter-ego, Archon El T’taes...

I may be evil, but I'm not stupid. …or rude, or insane, or unthinking, or childish and petty. Certainly, I can be callous and cruel when the situation demands, but I won’t throw away good warriors just for a whim. Those Warriors cost me time and effort, as well as resources to train or to hire, getting them killed off to satisfy a whim would be a ridiculous waste. If I want to remain in power, I need to get the most out of all my resources, even the living, breathing ones.

These sorts of illusions about evil are perpetuated by those few insane dictators that rose to power through others’ fear of their unpredictability. Very few of them spent much time at the top, since that insanity made them inherently unstable and incapable of wielding power effectively. Although their instability lost them the power they had gained quickly, it also gave them a wider reputation than those of us who maintain our power through rational means.

Simply because I am evil doesn’t mean I have to be rude either. You will get much farther with a smile and a gun than with a gun alone. Insulting someone or ignoring them just makes them angry. If I want them to do something for me, or even just keep myself in their good favor, I’ll be the height of courtesy. On the other hand, should I want to anger them so that they will make irrational decisions, then insults and abuse are the order of the day. Just because I don’t like someone doesn’t mean I’ll be rude to them either. Sweet words and kindness lull the mind into false security, and a dagger in the dark is worth a thousand blades at dawn. All archons know this, too many believe their own lies enough to forget it.

Too, there are certain actions which seem obviously evil, but may be counterproductive. At times, certainly, it may be useful to shoot fleeing enemies in the back, so they will never bother you again. At other times, however, allowing them to escape may be a useful device. If they escape, they may fill the ears of others with tales of your power, with your reputation growing with each telling. In addition, if enemies hear that you don’t shoot them as they run, they keep that option in the back of their minds, meaning that they will never fight like their back is against a wall, since they “know” that running away is an option. Remember that if you invade your enemies minds, their hearts will not be in the battle.

“Look out for number one.” While that sounds like a good idea, it’s just that sort of short term planning that prevents Chaos raids from becoming true Black Crusades. Certainly, I would like to be the leader, but if that’s not practical, I’ll support an Archon that can be the leader. I will offer what assistance and advice I can and make myself invaluable to him or her. Being the power behind the throne is good for me and will allow me to increase the power of my Kabal, without making me a big target. In addition, should the Archon become a liability, it will be much easier for a trusted advisor to know of coming trouble, or make a quick assassination if necessary. Know what you want and why it can be good for you.

-Archon El T'taes, Kabal Rillishelwe Mor

Muahahahaha! Webway portal Ambush!

Thank you, El T’taes. Remember that evil still has the same problems as good, it sometimes just uses a different set of tools.

If you enjoyed this, email me and let me know

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