I happened to recently recall an old thread about including Dark Eldar in an Inquisitor's warband. As my memory serves me, it was the consensus that it would be possible if the Xeno was able to fool and manipulate the Imperial official sufficiently.
This made me think of Elva, who's quite taken by the aliens. It wouldn't take much effort for an Eldar(no matter their sect) to fool her into a pawn like position(its happened countless times before with the craftworld and exodite kin). However, the issue I just ran into is just that fact. Elva comes into contact with Eldar more often than the average person, so if she was seen traveling with a native of the Dark City, a Ranger or pirate or whomever, wouldn't be so easily fooled. And then all hell would break loose.
I'm just wondering if this idea is worth taking any further. I think it'd be rather fun to try out and add some rather interesting flavor, yet I don't want to go too overboard or play something I can't justify. (If I where to play him, he'd be one hell of a trump card).
Presumably any Eldar clever enough to manipulate her would be clever enough to make up some excuse and keep out of the way if there any other Eldar around who might get in the way of their plan.
Sounds to me like a good basis for a scenario, or even a short campaign ;)
Personally, I don't see a big problem here. There are several ways around it which wouldn't involve the dark eldar leaving the warband. It's by no means certain Elva would believe the word of a stranger or occasional contact over that of her current companion, or that an eldar would care enough about what their dark cousin was doing to a Mon'Keigh to interfere unless their own plans were directly affected. It's even possible a farseer might have foreseen some obscure long-term benefit to such a partnership.
There's certainly no reason to exclude a dark eldar character from your games completely, if you think it would be a good addition to your collection of characters.
I've often got the impression that the relationship between dark and craftworld eldar is a bit more complicated than mutual loathing, although they're not buddies. Certainly harlequins have been specified as aiding any eldar. Also, eldar are great in a way because you can always assign them 'inscrutable purposes' as an excuse for almost anything.
No problem, you just need a suitable excuse. I find the idea of the Dark Eldar covertly feasting upon the souls of those the Inquisitor interacts with to be hilarious.
"Damn, another one of my contacts turned up as a shriveled corpse. Do you know what kind of horror could have caused this!"
*dark eldar shrugs*
QuoteI've often got the impression that the relationship between dark and craftworld eldar is a bit more complicated than mutual loathing, although they're not buddies.
Yes indeed, it's far more complicated. A close comparison might be to compare varying philosophies of the Inquisition. A Monodominant will generally want to kill a Xanthite, though when faced with a daemonic or alien invasion there's a good chance that they'll put racial survival as top priority (well, maybe not the monodominant...)
Anyway, that's a far from perfect example, but it gives a similar flavor. The attitudes are similar, then mix in the fact that the eldar have been around long enough to be less naive about the universe (and have a much more direct knowledge of what their "afterlife" is) then there starts to be an increased flexibility with things. In many cases they'll want to kill each other and generally regard the other side as fools but at the end of the day they have a lot more in common then they want to admit. There is certainly president for them cooperating (though a lot more president involving them fighting).
That was a complete ramble and I apologize. I swear, normally I can talk more articulately about these things.
Something which I have been tempted to make use of in a character is this passage from the 3rd Edition DE Codex -
QuoteOthers I saw, humans amongst them, who took to this depraved life with natural empathy. They bowed down to the Eldar and treated them as lords, in return for favours. It is claimed that the most promising are taken as apprentices by the Haemonculi. Most end up as twisted creatures in permanent agony, but others survive and learn, to be let free again into the outside world to spread their corrupt ways.
I think there's a lot of potential in that for a villain character...