In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war…and the harrowing tales of those who’ve borne witness to it. Welcome back, dear readers, to our multi-part series delving into the intricate tapestry of Warhammer 40,000 lore. Today, we’ll be throwing a light on the dark, twisted saga of the Eldar – a once-noble race now reduced to a shadow of their former glory.
The fall of the Eldar is a tale as vile as it is fascinating. It began when the Eldar, consumed by shameless depravity and lust, discarded their nobility and pride like refuse into the scrap heap of history. This sequence of madness seized the Eldar for years. During this time, hundreds of Eldar worlds were set aflame, the screams of battles and perverse acts only interrupted by the laughter of those heartlessly trampling over the fresh corpses of their kin.
In the midst of this catastrophic descent into debauchery, the warp – the chaotic, psychic reality parallel to our own – absorbed and amplified the Eldar’s decadence. And then, from the warp came a scream. A scream so chilling, so horrifying, that it snuffed out the lives of hundreds of billions of Eldar. In a single, horrifying moment, an entire civilization was extinguished, its light snuffed out like a candle in the void.
This horrifying scream marked the birth of a new, terribly perverted chaos god – Slaanesh. Upon attaining form and divine consciousness, Slaanesh became the embodiment of the Eldar’s doom. With her first breath, she tugged at the souls of billions of Eldar, pulling them from their bodies, intoxicated by the power she wielded. The universe bore witness to her maniacal, deafening laughter as she looked upon it for the first time, giving rise to a realm known as The Eye Of Terror.
The Eldar’s fall, however, proved advantageous for the Imperium of Mankind. The emergence of the Eye of Terror dissipated the warp storm that had gripped the galaxy, allowing humans to resume their interstellar flights. The surviving Eldar, scattered across the galaxy, were left in shock and grief, their connections severed.
Those who fled to the craftworlds decided to undergo a complete societal reformation, choosing specific disciplines, or paths, to follow strictly. The Eldar would train and follow these paths until reaching mastery, after which they’d choose a new path, the old complementing the new, and the cycle would continue. This system was designed to help the Eldar comprehend different aspects of their character and find their place in the cosmos.
But even this adaptive strategy carried danger. Some Eldar, consumed by their chosen path, would lose their sanity, unable to abandon their path even at the cost of their lives. These unfortunate souls were known as the Lost Ones.
Following the cataclysm that spawned Slaanesh and the Eye of Terror, Eldar society had to adapt drastically. Their central worlds were destroyed, the greater part of their race devoured by Slaanesh – the One Who Thirsts. But the Eldar would not bow down to extinction.
Even before the fall, the most perceptive among them had gathered their followers and set out for the most distant worlds of their empire. These were the Exodites, the outcasts who rejected the benefits of their civilization for a life of asceticism and modesty. Many perished during their resettlement or in clashes with Orks and other warring races of the galaxy. Yet, they achieved their goal, finding a new home on the wild and dangerous planets of the outer space frontier.
Thus continues the tale of the Eldar, a testament to the resilience and survival drive of one of the greatest races in space. Stay tuned for our next installment as we delve deeper into the fascinating lore of Warhammer 40,000.
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