Editing Eldar (section)

===War Mask===
To understand the Eldar at War it is important to understand the existence of the War Mask. The galaxy of the 40th/41st millennium is a dark and violent place, where not fighting means death (or worse); would this was not the case, but for the Eldar the call of Khaine comes with even greater and greater frequency as the galaxy continues to grow darker.

The War Mask is not a physical thing, but a way of separating their normal self from their war-self by mentally creating a mask, or mental construct, that takes the form of an artificial alternate personality, essentially creating an alternate version of themselves that can be worn or discarded when needed; this alternate self will even take upon itself a new name.

It is within the Shrines of Khaine that an Eldar will, under the guidance of the shrine's exarch, learn to create their War Mask. Before a battle an Eldar will enter their warrior shrine where they will perform the ritualistic donning of their Armour; each piece of Armour in place strengthens their War Mask until who they were is safely hidden away behind their alternate self, essentially entering a dormant/hibernation-like state as their War-self now stands in their place. This War-self is able to perform the truly horrific acts that the galaxy calls upon them to perform as all emotions that might cause their blades to falter, such as empathy or kindness, are locked away; what stands in their place is a cold-blooded sociopathic killer, a warrior of the god of war and murder who will perform any terrible act they are called upon to do. An Eldar could be the most kind and gentle being in the galaxy but upon wearing their War Mask they become a heartless, ruthless, fearless killers; most people outside of the Craftworlds will have little if any experience of Eldar that are not currently wearing their War Mask, which adds to how they are viewed by the greater galaxy.

Eldar Guardians are usually provided a temporary War Mask by a seer before they enter battle. Storm Guardians are made up of those who have already walked the path of the warrior and have their own Mask already.
 
When the bloody work is done an Eldar will remove their War Mask, returning to their normal self without any memories of any atrocities that they may have had to perform as they are now safely locked away within their War Mask (although it is known for Eldar to weep upon removing their War Mask without knowing the reason why).

In this way the Eldar turn the bloody work of Khaine into a tool that can be wielded or put away at will without losing themselves to Khaine's dark influence once the fighting is done.

Exarchs are those Eldar that find that they can no longer separate themselves from war, having lost themselves along the Path of the Warrior. These individuals are held in equal parts awe and revulsion by the rest of the Eldar population, for their souls now belong to Khaine. Their souls will no longer join with the rest in the infinity circuit; rather their own Armour acts as a small self-isolated circuit, containing all the souls of its previous owners (they essentially merge together to create a stronger whole; even when not wearing the Armour itself they remain as a single consciousness). If the Armour is destroyed it will be reformed within their Shrine (in a similar way as the Avatars of Khaine), waiting for the next one to wear it; if the shrine itself is destroyed then the Exarch can be housed within a [[Wraithlord]], until the shrine and Armour are restored, making it very difficult to actually permanently kill an Exarch (this happens to the Fire Dragon Exarch that appears in 'Valedor'). Upon becoming lost upon the path, they will seek out an empty shrine for themselves and prepare to welcome those who seek them out. These individuals are not insane berserkers, but act as priests, guides and teachers to those who find themselves upon the warrior path (for whatever reason), as it is their role to help those that follow them achieve control over their dark impulses and find focus and balance within themselves, so that they too won't lose themselves to Khaine.

Outside of their shrines Exarchs hold no power over their Craftworld, and have no political power to influence the decisions made by the Craftwolrds leadership. Autarch's are the only warrior cast that holds any high position within the wider Craftworld society, and that only applies to the act of Warcraft. Eldar Autarch's are those Eldar who have walked the many different Paths of Khaine, and have not lost themselves; they have faced the darkness within themselves and have overcome it many times over. Having proven themselves more than capable of mastering themselves against Khaine's dark influence they now walk the path of Command and will now be responsible for leading the Craftworlds Warhosts. Depending on the Craftworld in question the courts of the Autarch's may hold greater or lesser influence over the direction a Craftworld chooses to go.

Outside of times of combat and war, the Eldar will put aside their Warmasks; the idea that someone who has lost themselves to Khaine would be then put in charge of the everyday goings-on of the Craftworld, or even worse their diplomatic relations would be a horrific notion upon most Craftworlds, as it would go against the very idea of the Path system itself.