The Stars, Our Ruination (An RPG Resource)

[Mazer Rackham]

[Placeholder for resource gathering, discussion and preparatory content for Eldar-themed games.]

 

++ THE STARS, OUR RUINATION ++

 

++ THE AELDARI DARK AGE ++

(A Treatise upon the Aeldar, and premise for roleplaying them in M30 and beyond,

compiled by Ordo Xenos Scriptor Primo, Adept Hyronimus Bosch, M.42,

by the blessed command of His Most Learned Masters =[REDACTED]= of the Ordo Xenos.)

 

 

 

'It was not a quiet thing. To go silently into the Night was beyond us, for night had already come, and it had a name: She Who Thirsts.'

- Warlock Ranoch Alai'Karadryel, First Soulguard of the Shrine of Wayfarers, Craftwold Alaitoc.

 

'Hell is empty, and all the devils are here!'

- Gwillim Shiek'Caspar, Human Dramatist and Sage.

 

 

 

The Great Remembrance:

 

The Imperium of Man has stood the test of time, forged in and by events which have echoed darkly throughout millennia of our existence. It falls to the great edifaces of the Imperium to recount their part in it, for each has committed acts of courage and atrocity as they will in the name of the Emperor, yet each account differs in degree to either impress or expose. Mainly, Imperial history comes from deeply entrenched sources within the Inquisition, or even the Space Marines, who dutifully keep such records, the latter more intact than the first, for Astartes are ever in want to recount their grievances and shortfall, and, likewise, their opportunities for vengeance.

 

Not many, indeed few, are alive today in this, our 42nd Millennium that would recount the steps of the Emperor on Ullanor with any great clarity - but the few who do can recall the lustre of his armour, and the colour of the dust upon his cloak. Such radiance exists in thier memories alone, and so, little by little and oft poorly understood, such remembrances are stored, hidden away as the great treasures they are - for there is nothing more important than being close to the fabric of origin, the weave of historical events both great and terrible, from which all subsequent existence and decisions flow.

 

It gives a reason for persistence in the face of an uncaring universe, and yes, oblivion threatened upon that people in the howling darkness, each a small spark in a mightier conflagration, convulsing, shimmering, and provided succour by their cause - an immortal man of immortal power. It is a source of thier courage, and a long thread of hope, thinly extricated from the violent roil of warp storms and silent thunder of the cosmos, to cling to, to remain upright in the gale which batters them.

 

Yet, the Eldar experience this as well - except almost every Eldar remains close to the source, to this fountain of youth which pervades all they do. It is a thing quickly countenanced upon that race since birth, their gestational development replete with songs of warning, of temperance, even ensconced in the strange, precarious, otherworldly safety of the womb. These songs were old when the stars were young, and so, whilst the Humans of the Imperium struggle to even comprehend the incredible adversity heaped upon them at birth, and by the time they have done so are likely dead, the Eldar are given the understanding of their birthright - the heavens are the inheritance of these immortal creatures, for they were not only made from it, but for it, and each day they exist is a deep connection not just to the beginning of their ancient race, but the commencement of the universe the Imperium and Younger Races take for granted.

 

It is a story recounted always, and doomed to an eternal ruin, even as they see the lesser races make the same mistakes they themselves did. The Eldar remember their glories, and their histories, and the time when all was shining and peaceful. Through intemperance and wantonness, they discarded it, and in that great disposal of life and sanity, became bitter and resentful of themselves, lomging for a return to wonder and the absence of the shadows stalking their souls. It is this which proves so challenging in their encounters with other races, since Mankind's oft wilful ignorance and blundering folly reminds them so closely of their own tottering towards doom, the promise of eternal certainty and peace eclipsed in the half light - half-life - of the dark ravages of a wounded heart and limitless mind.

 

The Differences of the Everlasting Mind:

 

The so-called aloofness perceived by the other races is a byproduct of self-inflicted wounds, and the painful admission their race was responsible for much of the tumult which now engulfs every living thing, and now to them falls the task of surviving the downfall of that inherited existence. Indeed, the motives of the Eldar are deeply - and intentionally - concealed and misunderstood that races ignorant of the true scale of the threat find them capricious and incomprehensible. In part this is due to the motives of the Dark Kin, who, acting as slavers and reavers break even the fragile peace that exists betwixt the flickering lights of Mankind and Eldar threading order in the black canvas of the galaxy.

 

The concealment is also a defence mechanism against the inevitable - that the scale of the fall should be revealed, and the Eldar's power be appraised for the fraction of what it once was. To understand how the facade of projected sovreignty is applied is to grapple with the instantaeneous nature of the ancient race's technology, a mirror of the completeness and adroit comprehension capable in the Aedar mind, and the seeds sown into the ultimate downfall.

 

To Mankind, now wallowing in desperate stagnation, leaps of innovation is frowned upon, but yearned for, that things may improve and make the life of those who serve Him easier, safer and that duty may be done swiftly. It is a groaning shift of a leviathan, putting wheels into motion that may not resolve their screeching resentment of activation for centuries. Yet, it is within the power of the Eldar to deliver - now - and always has been. Indeed, this impatience is waht brought about the depths of gluttony, the terrible hunger of want - for unlike the hard-serving toilers found under the Imperium's own auspice, the Eldar became idlers, lackadasical dreamers, and fondlers of lethargy.

 

Therefore it is the shame of this that precludes inspection, the desultory glances and guarded secrets, but it is not the sole thing.

 

Completing the trifecta of burden is the simple truth: The Eldar must hide their own words and souls from the very one who pursues them eteranally. Known from Eldari Lexicii as She Who Thirsts. As all Emperor-fearing and loyal servants know, words and names have power, and the secrets of the universe are terrible. Think well of the maxims imparted by Inquisitor Lord Czevak, who has the most dealings with this old xenos race, and you have the soul of the Eldar in written, solid form.

 

'Ask not the Eldar a question, for they will give you three answers; all of which are true, and terrifying to know.'

 

These truths are most evident as stemming from the great division in the Aedar's empire and character in a cataclysm known as the Fall.

 

The Doom of the Asuryani:

 

Via a translation of ancient texts, the exact date of the Fall is surrounded and obscured by events only described as the 'Terror'. The long-shrouded texts within the Black Library carry reports from outliers such as Exodites, and the original inhabitants of the Craftworlds. Launched in a mix of desperation and technological supremacy, these cosmos-faring colossi carried many hundreds of thousands of Eldar into the glacial embrace of galaxy-spanning tours which would take aeons to complete. Bookended afore and after by ruinous bloodletting, the final collapse of the old race-as-was appears to have occurred in Imperial terms around M.25.

 

The first claws of She Who Thirsts scratched through the embryonic miasma of the warp, and into the Asuryani psyche at around M.18 with the plethora of pleasure cults, and general malaise that began to take hold in many different echelons of the culture. What was an idle fetish became an obsession, what was benign became malignant. All things were achievable to the Eldar will, thier command of psychic mastery and utter control of thier own, Old One given technological prowess, and so they engineered whim into cudgels of  cultural, psychological and emotional mortification.

 

The sane formed enclaves, preaching restraint and withdrawal from hedonistic delinquence, a return to old ways of order and challenge against the troubles of soul and firmament. Yet all knew they were somehow altered, all marked for a death at the hands of a wickedness wearing their face, speking their tongue.

 

This was the abandonment of reason in a slowly pulsing wound, which was desperately trying to be stemmed, the lifeblood of a civilisation, of a race, being poured out to rapturous applause, a libation to oblivion.

 

This was the First Aeldari Dark Age.

 

The Setting:

 

Just before the Fall, the Aeldari were not yet fully doomed. A full spectrum of differing ideals, goals, paths and possibilities were in competition. Sects operated which were to form the burgeoning Wych and Cabal cults, along with the tender flickering of the Craftworld's Path of Seer, Warrior and Outcast. These Temples or Shrines to the Aspects were not yet fully established, nor were all the Eldar gods slain or imprisoned. The Asuryani had large fighting forces, mainly composed of robots and professional warriors pushing out on the fringes of known space, ever expanding the empire, with their deities in harness to these goals - and the previously benign warp become more and more tumultuous...

 

The Factions:

 

• The Coreworlds:
  • The Aeldari once lived on many worlds, but their homelands, the crucible of their birthplace was what now abides in the Eye Of Terror (Croneworlds). The cults of deviance had easily taken root here, for like Terra, where there are riches and power, there is decadence aplenty.
• The Corsairs:
  • The Eldar who sail the stars, exploring, fighting, raiding and repelling the enemies of the Eldar. They form the ad-hoc navy of the Craftworlds they support, or pitch thier aid to noble houses with whom their idiosyncrasies align.
• The Craftworlders:
  • The city-sized spaceship voidfarers who have abandoned the Coreworlds in order to be free of the excesses and extremes, those who heard the call of reason, and saw the frightful menace swelling to encompass their race.
• The Exodites:
  • Outcasts of easy living and the knowledge of conurbation, these frontier-types value practicality, animal husbandry and agriculture, blended with the technological marvels to facilitate it. Shirking all but the Outcasts and Pathfinders who tread the Road of the Wanderer, and maybe the Corsairs they deal with, they immerse themselves in caretaking the maiden Worlds entrusted to them.
• The Hedonists:
  • A gestalt nomenclature for the rebellious, insane, or depraved. Varying degrees of line to be crossed or those that have been. Found in Corsair parties and Coreworld salons, these salacious slaughterers and pleasure-indulgers are as varied as those they despise or ignore as weak. In control of several noble houses, if not subverting them from within, their reach is long, and their appetites deep.

 

 

 

 

Edited 8 hours ago by Mazer Rackham
Stuffs

[Black Cohort]

I think one of the first things that needs to be established is what exactly do the Eldar look like in this time period.  Some of the Horus Heresy stuff seems to suggest that by that point "Modern" craftworld culture is basically in place already.

[Mazer Rackham]

Agreed. AFAICT the Fall happened something like 10,000 years before the Heresy, but I'm scouring books to try and nail down a date and cobble together a timeline. Once I'm satisfied with that, I can move forward building it up. I'm trying to lay my hands on my 2nd Ed Eldar Codex and go through a few other RT-era sources. On ething I'm certain of, is that the Aeldar Dark Age is going to be grim...

[Trokair]

I think it varied widely.

 

What I have seen of the depiction of just pre and just post Fall seemed to vary much depending on the authors.  So there is probably room for interpretation to what suits.

 

 

I think the general gist is that Exodiet and smaller ships/fleets (relative to later craftworlds) that became the source of the craftworld had already been insular from the general civilisation for a while and already had the start of what we would recognise as their respective depictions later.

 

I don’t think the Aspect Warriror shrines had been as well established, or as wide spread, and certainly the Phoenix Lords were young (if they even counted as Phoenix Lords yet instead just experienced Exarchs). However other aspects such has the concepts of the paths I think were already well established culturally, as a way to find structure compared to the general civilisation and its decline into decadence. They might not yet have served the purpose of the path later (to safeguard the soul form attention of she who thirsts) but I can see how some would seek discipline and structure.

 

 

I think post Fall things would have been very fluid for a while, and also very quick, as the saviours desperately tried to find ways that worked in dealing with the Fall and its affect. They had no more than years, or months, to adapt instead of the decades and centuries they would have been used to. What worked was kept, what did not was jettisoned. Whether in safety of a world net of the Exodiet, or the tunnels of proto Commorragh, or aboard the giant ships that would grow into the craftworld.

[Trokair]

2 minutes ago, Mazer Rackham said:

Agreed. AFAICT the Fall happened something like 10,000 years before the Heresy, but I'm scouring books to try and nail down a date and cobble together a timeline. 

 

Might be poor memory of my part, but I always was under the impresion it was circ M28 ish. 

Dark Age of Technology M15-M20 startish to M24/M25ish, with wrapstorm (and their consequence)  building as the Eldar Fall aprocahes, but then get blown out/lessed by the actual Fall and the Eye of Terror opening. 

 

[Mazer Rackham]

14 minutes ago, Trokair said:

I think the general gist is that Exodiet and smaller ships/fleets (relative to later craftworlds) that became the source of the craftworld had already been insular from the general civilisation for a while and already had the start of what we would recognise as their respective depictions later.

 

That was my impression as well. I've dallied with Eldar many times, and the Codexes generally reported the Craftworlds were launched over time, some as lifeboats, when the Pointies noticed everything was going downhill on the homeworlds.

 

14 minutes ago, Trokair said:

I don’t think the Aspect Warriror shrines had been as well established, or as wide spread, and certainly the Phoenix Lords were young (if they even counted as Phoenix Lords yet instead just experienced Exarchs). However other aspects such has the concepts of the paths I think were already well established culturally, as a way to find structure compared to the general civilisation and its decline into decadence. They might not yet have served the purpose of the path later (to safeguard the soul form attention of she who thirsts) but I can see how some would seek discipline and structure.

 

I agree. The Aspects began with Asurmen IIRC, who led the first people into disclipline, soon joined by Jain'Zar. I think at this time, they're the originals, slapping sense into folks and protecting others. They would have been the earliest rallying points.

 

14 minutes ago, Trokair said:

I think post Fall things would have been very fluid for a while, and also very quick, as the saviours desperately tried to find ways that worked in dealing with the Fall and its affect. They had no more than years, or months, to adapt instead of the decades and centuries they would have been used to. What worked was kept, what did not was jettisoned. Whether in safety of a world net of the Exodiet, or the tunnels of proto Commorragh, or aboard the giant ships that would grow into the craftworld.

 

Indeed, hence the rote disiplines of the Aspects which compliment each other when they work together.

 

I agree things would be pretty cray-cray, since up to this point, the only Eldar who did farming were the Exodites, so manual labour and husbandry (where required) would be long-forgotten skills, rapidly re-acquired. However, since the Eldar have distinctly swifter metabolisms (cognitively or physically) this delay should be failry short. I think the real problem the Aeldar would face is the terror of death - an existential crisis where they are literally terrified of dying.

 

8 minutes ago, Trokair said:

Might be poor memory of my part, but I always was under the impresion it was circ M28 ish. 

Dark Age of Technology M15-M20 startish to M24/M25ish, with wrapstorm (and their consequence)  building as the Eldar Fall aprocahes, but then get blown out/lessed by the actual Fall and the Eye of Terror opening. 

 

Could easily be, like I say, I'm trying to find a source that will give me a good enough 'ball park'.

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 07:38 PM by Mazer Rackham