Editing Nobledark Imperium Notes (section)

== The Proto-Eldar and General Eldar Biology ==

The eldar were not always a race of long-lived super-psykers. Once they were just a bunch of primitives banging rocks together, just like everyone else. Early in their history the eldar were invaded by a race known only as the [[Nobledark_Imperium_Notes#Mon-Keigh|Mon-Keigh]] (as in the original Mon-Keigh, from which the more common use of the term is derived), which wreaked havoc on the proto-eldar until they were finally defeated by the eldar folk hero Elronhir, and helped contribute to the eldar’s rather paranoid attitude towards other species. The Old Ones noticed the proto-eldar’s “small talent for war” and uplifted them to serve as front-line soldiers during the War in Heaven.

The eldar would have only been a late-Stone Age/Bronze Age species when this happened. This can be seen in the fact that the eldar had a murder god (Khaine) that was only secondarily shoehorned into the role of a war god, as opposed to a straight-up war god that honored martial talent and discipline. Before the invasion of the Mon-Keigh and the War in Heaven, the Eldar had no grasp of the concept of wide-scale killing or genocide. This disparate nature of worship might have made Khaine a bit loopy, and may have contributed to Khaine’s team killing rampage during the War in Heaven. Even Isha has a bit of a primal streak that she occasionally lets off the leash after 60+ million years.

This sudden technological shift is also part of the reason behind the eldar’s infamous cultural posturing. In their minds, the eldar believe that they deserve to be the dominant species, because they’ve fucking earned it. They were a race that had just figured out bronze was a good idea that was suddenly expected to be soldiers in an interstellar war where the power levels were almost beyond modern comprehension, and they had to learn on the job. So in their mind they’ve earned their position by going through hell and back during the War in Heaven, something that few other races besides the Orks and Hrud can attest to.

The eldar underwent massive genetic engineering twice in their evolutionary history: once when they were initially uplifted by the Old Ones, and again during the sixty million years they had to get good following the War in Heaven. This means they had a lot of time to figure out as many alleles as possible for longevity and health. The eldar could have possibly even engineered themselves to live longer than pre-Fall eldar would have, but they simply found reincarnation to be a more effective solution. The point is that by the time of the Fall, the eldar had tinkered with their genetic code so long that many of the artificial modifications were seen as a normal part of the eldar genome because everyone had them.

However, this should not be taken to mean that the eldar were able to reach the levels they did simply because they had the advantage of being uplifted and a head start. Much like how human evolution on Earth relative to other animals was defined by the production and manufacture of tools, the evolution of the eldar seems to be defined by their longevity. The eldar are naturally graceful, but that agility is enhanced by years of training, much like how older humans are able to move more efficiently because they have had more time to know the quirks and limitations of their body. The same is true of psykery. Psyker species are noted to have longer developmental times proportional to their degree of psychic power, and long lifespans allows for greater refinement and control of psychic power. This would have led to a feedback loop where psychic powers would select for long lifespans, and vice versa.

The unique eldar method of reproduction, where the male inseminates the female over several periods, seems to have been present early in eldar history, despite seeming to be a liability to any species without an incredibly long lifespan. It seems that this method of reproduction was present even in the early eldar, but the low reproductive rate was offset by natural twinning, given the high prevalence of multiple births in eldar society (enough that eldar titans are often designed around twins in some way).

Eldar are physically and sexually mature at 30 years of age, age of majority is about 45 or so for most Craftworlds, but even after that individuals are generally considered to be immature and inexperienced for the next two to three centuries. Physically but not mentally mature (the best comparison in human terms would be dumbass, hot-headed young adults in their late teens/twenties with more youth than brains). Given eldar don't really get feeble with age, or at least [[Nobledark_Imperium_Notable_People#Eldrad_Ulthran|not until they are 10,000+ years old due to pre-Fall genetic engineering]], as well as their clannish and tribal nature, it is no surprise that eldar societies usually tend to treat the gerontocracy as the wisest and most responsible members of society ([[Nobledark_Imperium_Notable_People#Eldrad_Ulthran|usually]]). Eldar adolescence (as in 30 or so, eldar that are 70+ are considered young and [[Tau|full of starry-eyed idealism]] but not adolescents) about as [[Dwarf Fortress|fun]] as you can expect for the Enforcers, who have to deal with keeping a bunch of rebellious, hormone-driven descendants of super soldiers in line, and tend to be extra harsh on them to keep them from slipping down the same path that the Old Empire, Commorrites, and Crones did. Injuries that break bones have been mentioned in some cases. This is one reason why Biel-Tan started requiring mandatory military service and shipping its youngsters out to serve in order to temper them a bit (which started the tradition of the other Craftworlds doing something similar, because Biel-Tan is the most influential Craftworld to the other Craftworlds).

Eldar ears are covered in mechanoreceptors (mostly microscopic sensory hairs and pits) The pointed shape of the ears, their ability to move independently, and their position away from the body gives the eldar an amazing sense of balance and proprioception, which help contribute to the agility and grace the eldar are so well known for. That said, the mechanoreceptors of the ear are calibrated for air currents and balance. Physically touching them is much more stimulus than they are supposed to receive and gives a much potent sensation. Eldar being sapient they figured out how this natural adaptation could be abused early in their history, just like humans have with their areas of high neuronal density that aren't supposed to be used that way (e.g., lips).

Eldar tend to have more vibrant “birdy” hair colors than humans. For example, Eldar with black hair tends to have hair that is a shiny iridescent black like a crow and eldar with red hair are described as having hair that is a hue too bold and vivid to be mistaken for human, in contrast to the more mammalian, earthy tones of reds, browns, and blacks you see in humans. Modern eldar don't bald like humans do and their hair tends to produce oils that make long hair easier to manage. Indeed, although many human cultures see eldar men as looking feminine long hair is seen as a sign of masculinity in eldar culture. Completely shaven heads are seen as a sign of sickness or being in a state of mourning and sorrow.