Main Menu

News:

If you are having problems registering, please e-mail theconclaveforum at gmail.com

The Meaningless Trio.

Started by Denzein, April 19, 2011, 03:56:19 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Denzein

Since the Fall itself there have been Eldar dissatisfied with the way of life the Path follows. From the darkest cousins who spend their time inadvertently worshipping She Who Thirsts with their depravities, to those who merely seek excitement that is unavailable when restricted to a single way of life at a time. We are the Eldar, are we not? For whatever purpose the Old Ones gifted us with the ability to feel a vast spectrum of emotion, to master any skill we set our phenomenal minds to... Why should we limit ourselves to the achingly slow crawl of the Path?

The puritan has their answer: The Path saves us from Her. They are incorrect. Isha saved us from She Who Must Not Be Named when she gave us her tears - With them we cannot be devoured no matter the depths our souls sink to. With the Tears of Isha we are immune to Slaanesh and Her temptations, so there must be another reason for the Path to be necessary in our society.

I don't pretend to be expert in our philosophies, but I believe that the only reason the Path still exists today is because if we focus on one thing to the exclusion of all others we master that skill to a greater level than if we have other things on our mind simultaneously. This is all well and good, and I have no quarrel with this fact: It's true, so why should I? The problem arises because the belief has taken one key variable from the equation. Agenda.

We Craftworld Eldar are a curious breed to examine from without. We live our lives for the sake of living them, the Paths we tread mere time wasting activities to occupy our minds until we shuffle from the mortal coil. We do not set out to accomplish things with ulterior motives in mind: That we leave to the seers, and with good reason. They're best at it. We live for life, and live as a byproduct of that.

Not my friend. Not Ashrah. Not Nothing.

He spat in the face of the Path when it took his love, Aishrah. He threw himself from it with an agenda. He cast off the shackles we place upon ourselves for what we believe to be our own good. He filled his mind with hatred, with loss, with deadly purpose.

He abandoned the way of the Scorpion just a few months from completion, and took up the way of the Outcast. His grief was so complete that not even Khaine could help him satisfy it, and he turned to the Dead Ones for guidance. They were silent, predictably, and this proved the final straw for him. He left blessed Ulthwe about a month after her death, taking her spirit stone with him and refusing to relinquish her to the infinity circuit. He holds her with him to this day, and has never taken her from the chain about his neck. I have sympathy for any fool that tries to take her. They will suffer before they die.

I know not what his agenda is, but he moves from place to place with such purpose he must be being guided by some visionary goal or another. The thought of what runs through his mind scares me, sometimes. No Eldar is meant to be as full of hate as he - not even the Darkling cousins of whom we do not speak. They hate for pleasure. He hates because it's all that can take away the despair. He hates himself for hating, even.

He never shows it, though. It's all inside.

I left about forty cycles after he did, as I had sworn I would on the day of his departure. He had asked me to accompany him on his search, and being the only friend he had I said yes, to the despair of my peers. I trod the path of the Warlock in the guise of the Avenger back then, and I stayed just long enough to complete the road. They wanted me to stay, to choose another path. I told them I already had. I took my ghost helm and singing spear - Ulanesh - with me, guessing they would be of use to us. The Farseers were displeased with me for that.

It was easy to find him, I just followed the trail of corpses. It seemed he had been slaughtering for the fun of it for the forty years he had been alone, terrorising the idiot Humans into believing they were plagued by a bloody handed Daemon. At the sight of me he seemed to surface from deep water, he embraced me like a brother. Now I realise he saw me as his savior, pulling him from the bloody mess of an existence he was dooming himself to. He remembered his ambition, and that was perhaps the scariest part of our reunion. His drive returned.

Ashrah, you see, is possessed of a singularly powerful force of will. If he sets his mind to something he will achieve it, and nothing and no-one can get in his way. I have seen his mere presence unnerve psychically receptive Humans, such is the aura his furiously powerful will gives off. They are less receptive to it than I, but I have been around him for too long for it to bother me much now. Other Eldar, on the other hand, it can terrify. He seems to be the manifestation of all things the Path is put in place to protect from: Ambition, freedom, choice.

I am not his opposite, but I am his only counsel. He listens to me if I tell him something, as he should. I am several hundred cycles older than him, after all. I act as a coolant to his thought processes, encouraging him to plan his movements before carrying them out. We are close.

Aishrah, who now only lives in her spirit form, I cannot communicate with. Ashrah can, because she was his lover and is eternally hung about his neck, as if they were in constant embrace. I can only assume that they are as in love as they were before her death, although she may well have not forgiven him for refusing to allow her the Infinity Circuit. I am speculating, as the best of my kind profess to do with great effect. I have no illusions of my own limited capabilities.
We go now where ever Ashrah says, there is no doubt that he is the leader of our sorry little band. We have hunted Orks, kidnapped members of the primitive Human Inquisition and annihilated those that Ashrah saw fit. I think he is hunting Aishrah's killers, although that is again mere speculation.

We are the meaningless trio, and we have purpose. How damned are we.

Hysh (In low Gothic "Void")

WS: 77
BS: 72
S: 55
T: 52
I: 108
WP: 99
SG: 83
NV: 86
LD: 82

EQUIPMENT: Singing spear, Short sword, Shuriken pistol (with reload), Ghost Helm, Wraithbone plate armour (on chest and head only, 2 points of armour on all other locations), chameleoline cloak.

SKILLS: Catfall, Lightning Reflexes, Night Vision, Camoflage (when wearing cloak), Dodge, Mind Speech.

PSYCHIC POWERS: Wyrd Telekinesis.

++++

Ashrah (In low Gothic "Nothing")

WS: 95
BS: 72
S: 66
T: 55
I: 112
WP: 78
SG: 78
NV: 99
LD: 91

EQUIPMENT: Long Rifle (good for 50 shots before needing to recharge), Shuriken pistol (with one reload), Scorpion chainsword (as chainsword but dealing 2D10+4 damage), Knife, Rebreather, Mesh armour (Chest only, 2 pojnts of armour on all other locations), Chameleoline cloak, Plasma grenade.

SKILLS: Catfall, Lightning Reflexes, Night Vision, Camoflage (when wearing cloak), Furious Assault (when using chainsword), Dodge.


NOTES:

The background is a WIP, I started writing it today when I realised none of it was actually written up. C&C on that would be nice, as well as the profiles themselves. Do they fit with what other people have done for Eldar? Are the Initiatives to low/too high?

Suggestions for improvements are welcome, I'll get the models up soon I promise.
Purveyor of the finest quality lies, half-truths and betrayals.

Kaled

I'm not expert on the Eldar, but I like what you've written and I definitely like the style you've done it in.

Have you read the Dark Magenta articles on the Eldar?  There's some good stuff in there that might be of use to you.
I like to remember things my own way... Not necessarily the way they happened.

Inquisitor - Blood Bowl - Malifaux - Fairy Meat

Lucidum

Wow, that's some extremely good writing on that backstory there, love it.

As for the characters themselves though, it seems kind of like you're giving them too much equipment. Ashrah in particular seems a tad overloaded...I mean, he's carrying a long rifle AND a scorpion chainsword plus a knife and shuriken pistol? It just seems a tad excessive. In my opinion that might be a tad overpowered, but I'm no expert.

Aurelius 12

I too am not an eldar player or collector, but I like the story a lot, and the stats certainly feel appropriate and suitably competent! They're pretty powerful, but then that's what I'd expect from Eldar.

I would echo the statement about amounts of equipment. Not so much the longrifle/chainsword combo, but the knife and pistol as well. They're definitely 'sensible' and realistic, I just don't really think you'll ever actually use them in games.

One thing I've started doing is assuming that characters have access to their peripheral kit during campaigns (assuming they have some kind of base) but in actual missions they generally don't carry them.
And the Saint did weep when she saw how lost the people were. Seven tears fell upon Gomorrah. Seven tears to wash away their sin. A deluge of heavenly tears drowned their world in an ocean of forgiveness. The people cleansed in a sea of nuclear fire.

Dolnikan

The background is very good, I just wonder how they resupply.
Circles of the wise My attempt at writing something, please comment on it if you have any advise.

Ulgavitch

I'm impressed with that background, though I'd like a little more description as to why Ashrah pursues death as an aim - does he not realize that indulging his love of power and killing opens him further the corrupting power of Slaanesh? Or is he so 'free' that he indulges himself without realization of the danger he is in?

Even if he has the tears of Isha, craftworlds and eldar souls have been consumed by the daemons of chaos before...

Denzein

#6
 ;D Thanks for all the positive comments about the background guys! I suppose it's kind of hard to write stories for two years without picking up some tips and tricks...

@Kaled: I literally just read it after reading your comment, and It's awesome. I think I'll switch out Telepathy for Mind-Speech on Hysh, it's the idea I was going for anyway. I can't wait for that armoury, I'm stuck with what to do for the Singing Spear.

@Lucidum: The equipment is a bit much probably, but I'm just giving them what's on the model (Which is the Ranger), as I can't convert to save my life. It comes with a pistol in a chest-houster, a plasma grenade on the belt and a sword hilt visible under the cloak, which limits what I can give them to keep them from being over-equipped while also retaining the look and feel of the Eldar I want to represent: Namely a dark-as-hell Ranger and a rogue Warlock.

I've made Hysh a Singing Spear which he's holding, so he kind of has to have at least a shortsword as well to justify why there's a bulge in his cloak ('scuse me). Ashrah is just the straight Ranger model with all the conversion pack lovelies added to it which means he's carrying a long rifle in his hands, so he can't lose that, and it's the same story with the rest of his weapons bar the knife, but then he's a Ranger, and what self respecting Ranger wouldn't carry a knife?

I think Aurelius solved the problem best actually, with a sort of armoury of stuff they have during a campaign. One thing I've failed to mention is their home - big fail on my part. My GM came up with where they're currently residing, it's a deserted and derelict splinter of a craftworld that they discovered floating through space.

@Aurelius12: Your reply is in Lucidum's by happy coincidence.

@Donikan: They scrounge around really, but their previously mentioned home (for now) explains where they get their ammo and repairs from.

@Ulgavitch: Ashrah is a relatively young Eldar (well...as young as you can be having nigh on completed the Aspect of the Scorpion) , so he will be less clued up than others on the guiles of Slaanesh. I like to think that he's unwittingly walking into his own obliteration at the hands of Slaanesh, partly due to the reason(s?) below.

As for why he's a testament to what happens if you make Jack the Ripper a space-elf with a chainsaw, it's because Eldar feel emotions on levels that Human's can't even begin to fathom. I kind of took that and ran with it, coming up with the idea that the love he felt for Aishrah was so much more than we can understand (and forbidden, as they were both studying the Path of the Scorpion at the time), that when it was ripped away he simply couldn't cope. That's why he went on a 40 year killstreak, he just can't deal with loss.

As for your parting comment I like to think that Eldar can protect themselves from Slaanesh with ignorance, just like Puritan Inquisitors can protect themselves from corruption by destroying it and refusing to acknowledge its power. That's why Hysh thinks they way he does about Spiritstones, and I'm well aware that both my views and his may turn out to be utterly wrong. Best bit about it is that it doesn't matter if he's wrong or right, it makes for interesting narrative either way.

'cuss I'm callous like that. Warbands are there for story, as long as they are fulfilling that I don't care how they're doing it.



<3

Purveyor of the finest quality lies, half-truths and betrayals.

Lucaren

looking good, I think I finally get his fluff now (I do the GMing for this warband among others :P )
and I don't find the amount of equipment an overload in the game, as Aurelius 12 says there rarely all used in a game. Also the characters aren't to powerful cause they always run out of steam and get bogged down (well Ashrah does, havn't seen Hysh in action yet) so yeah they run out of steam then get swarmed or shot in the face and all goes well :P

Stormgrad

I like your background for them and i love the style in which it is written, I like your idea about the eldar feeling on a more intense level, if Ashrah and Hysh have been friends for a long time it would also explain the extreme loyalty felt by Hysh towards Ashrah despite how off the rails he seems to be going

Denzein

Quote from: Stormgrad on April 21, 2011, 02:07:49 PM
I like your background for them and i love the style in which it is written, I like your idea about the eldar feeling on a more intense level, if Ashrah and Hysh have been friends for a long time it would also explain the extreme loyalty felt by Hysh towards Ashrah despite how off the rails he seems to be going

Thanks! Although it isn't actually my idea, it says they do so in the current Eldar Codex for 40k. They've been friends since before Ashrah started the Path of the Scorpion, so a good few hundred years at the very least. Hysh is much older though, being about 3000 as opposed to Ashrah, who's only about 1500-1750.
Purveyor of the finest quality lies, half-truths and betrayals.

Ulgavitch

Quote
@Ulgavitch: Ashrah is a relatively young Eldar (well...as young as you can be having nigh on completed the Aspect of the Scorpion) , so he will be less clued up than others on the guiles of Slaanesh. I like to think that he's unwittingly walking into his own obliteration at the hands of Slaanesh, partly due to the reason(s?) below.

As for why he's a testament to what happens if you make Jack the Ripper a space-elf with a chainsaw, it's because Eldar feel emotions on levels that Human's can't even begin to fathom. I kind of took that and ran with it, coming up with the idea that the love he felt for Aishrah was so much more than we can understand (and forbidden, as they were both studying the Path of the Scorpion at the time), that when it was ripped away he simply couldn't cope. That's why he went on a 40 year killstreak, he just can't deal with loss.

As for your parting comment I like to think that Eldar can protect themselves from Slaanesh with ignorance, just like Puritan Inquisitors can protect themselves from corruption by destroying it and refusing to acknowledge its power. That's why Hysh thinks they way he does about Spiritstones, and I'm well aware that both my views and his may turn out to be utterly wrong. Best bit about it is that it doesn't matter if he's wrong or right, it makes for interesting narrative either way.

'cuss I'm callous like that. Warbands are there for story, as long as they are fulfilling that I don't care how they're doing it.

<3

Don't get me wrong there was no harsh criticism there at all! I like what you've done. I was just wondering about the state of their eldar souls. I think that daemons would find them particularly attractive because they are so 'free' about it. After all, the indulging of the eldar mind brought the realm of chaos and reality together! That's the collective, so the danger of just one of them 'off the hook' as it were would be high.

That said, the idea of a super-intelligent, super driven psychopath is terrifying!

Because of this 'freedom' I would imagine that Daemons would find these soul-stones particularly tasty - the difference between battery chickens and free-range ones ;-)

MarcoSkoll

Quote from: Denzein on April 21, 2011, 06:10:29 PMThey've been friends since before Ashrah started the Path of the Scorpion, so a good few hundred years at the very least. Hysh is much older though, being about 3000 as opposed to Ashrah, who's only about 1500-1750.
If I'm right (and I occasionally am), Eldar tend to have a lifespan of about a thousand years, which is mostly limited by how long their body and soul can remain entwined.

Powerful seers and warlocks can live longer - Eldrad was over 10,000 at his "death" - because of their strength of self, although they'll have very worn out bodies by then. ( As can the Dark Eldar, whose evil techniques help keep it so they can hang on to life beyond its natural limits, but at the expense of many, many innocents...)

But for these two, they should probably be somewhat younger. Eldar aren't immortal, they're just long lived.
S.Sgt Silva Birgen: "Good evening, we're here from the Adeptus Defenestratus."
Captain L. Rollin: "Nonsense. Never heard of it."
Birgen: "Pick a window. I'll demonstrate".

GW's =I= articles

Denzein

I'll be honest, I made those numbers up on the fly after reading the dark Magenta article which said this:

The Eldar, on the other hand, are all psychic to a degree where it takes only training and willpower to develop their innate gift into a potent ability. Every single Eldar, be they a child of less than a century, or a long-lived warrior of several millennia, possesses the capacity to become a psyker.

But then they could be wrong too, as I don't think I've ever seen pinned down how long the average lifespan of an Eldar is.

Suffice to say that Ashrah is fairly young, and Hysh is just reaching the end of "middle aged". Actual ages are secondary really, I guess.
Purveyor of the finest quality lies, half-truths and betrayals.

MarcoSkoll

The most recent Eldar codex (which I believe is re-quoting older fluff) gave old age for an Eldar as around the range of a thousand years, provided injury or disease doesn't finish them first.
Not that I'm arguing with Nathan's knowledge of the Eldar, but the wording there is probably a little confusing.

There are cases who will live multiple millennia, but they will be odd cases like Exarchs or Farseers who are no longer alive in quite the same sense (their souls being lost on their respective paths, that of the Warrior or the Seer).

Either way, as you say... secondary. It's more appropriate to think about how old they are relative to other Eldar than how old they might be relative to humans.
S.Sgt Silva Birgen: "Good evening, we're here from the Adeptus Defenestratus."
Captain L. Rollin: "Nonsense. Never heard of it."
Birgen: "Pick a window. I'll demonstrate".

GW's =I= articles