Editing Eldar (section)

===Technology and the Children of the Stars===
For untold millennia the dominions of the Eldar ruled the stars, unopposed and unchallenged. Unfettered by the oppressive claim that Slaanesh holds over their immortal souls, their psychic might was matched only by their technological mastery.

No other race has ever replicated the Eldar’s unique approach to technology, nor have the Eldar taken learnings from the ‘primitive’ races that have inherited the galaxy. Eldar technology adheres closely to natural biological shapes and structures. To them, there is no real difference between technology and nature in the Eldar mind - they are a single process by which the Eldar imbue living things with function and functionality with life. The materials the Eldar use in their engineering are complex and varied ectoplastics that can be formed into solid shapes under psychic pressure. In some respects they are more like living tissue than inert substances, growing and reacting to their environment in a similar way to plants.

According to the Eldar section of the Warhammer 40,000 Compilation, the Eldar may have always been psychic, with their Psychic powers manifesting themselves into a variety of unusual talents. One such natural ability is referred to as psychomorphism by the human Xenobiologists of the Imperium. In crude terms, this gives every one of them the ability to psychically shape matter and create simple artefacts from raw materials.

By making use of psychokinesis and empathic telepathy they can influence the structure of growing matter. This empathic ability may have been particularly important during the early development of the Eldar race enabling them to promote the fruitfulness of edible crops and reshape the growth of trees to make simple shelters. The first Eldar villages and towns are supposed to have been living structures grown from trees, often covering many square miles and reaching high into the air.

Because of their psychic abilities, the Eldar race learned how to make and shape raw materials at a very early stage of cultural development. By means of their mental powers, they were able to refine minerals and shape the resulting metals and stones into whatever they wanted. Eldar technology has a very ancient history and the pace of its progress is closely tied to the slow evolutionary development of the race, which saw a steady growth in competence and knowledge over a very long period of time. The Eldar did not have a sudden sharp defining industrial phase such as the one's throughout human history, but rather a steady constant growth over countless millennia; their unique technology is entirely their own (if anyone tells you that they were simply handed their tech by the Old Ones, which has never been mention in the lore, then they don't actually know what they are talking about; the Warhammer 40,000 Compilation is the only source that goes into any detail on how the Eldar developed their tech - Page 36- this bit of misinformation needs to disappear once and for all. A bit of a history lesson, the origins of this particular headcanon began on fan forums during the first thirteenth black crusade campaign. During a discussion about the 'Priests of Mars' book, the theory was thrown out and unfortunately people began to believe it was actually 40k canon). In other words the level of traditional Eldar tech is heavily influenced by the Psychic skill level of the individual or individuals crafting it at the time. This is not great given Slaanesh's oppressive influence in 40k forcing them to curtail the use of their Psychic potential, forcing them to use the far safer but far more heavily controlled and focused Witch paths.

At their zenith nothing was beyond them; the worlds and stars of the galaxy were mere playthings to them, to be extinguished and rekindled on a whim. Surfing solar flares was a pleasant pastime, and their very dreams could be made manifest with but a simple wish; death itself was but an inconvenience as they had already outgrown the mundane notion of mortality. They strode the galaxy as gods, and in doing so brought about their own damnation. There was nothing left to strive for, for they could already do anything that their wonderful minds could conceive of. Even after their cataclysmic fall from grace and subsequent loss of most of their creations they are still one of the most technologically advanced races in the galaxy, only surpassed by the Necrons.
 
In the aftermath of Fall, the many fractured and shattered fragments of the Eldar race, alike in many respects, took deviating paths when it came to their approach to technology.

The Exodites saw the creeping corruption and abandoned the rotting core of their Empire. Eschewing the conveniences of technology almost entirely, they sought out a more humble and honest life through toil and hard work. They farm and herd their livestock and live an almost entirely nomadic lifestyle as their ancient ancestors once did.

The Craftworld Eldar have an odd relationship with their tech, in some ways mirroring that of the Imperium of Man. The Craftworlds as a whole maintain the fundamentals of their post-scarcity society but actively forbid the use of much of their more high-end and more dangerous technologies. They do not fear these technologies themselves but more so how such unbridled power might affect them; they are not just in a war for the survival of their race, but for the salvation of their very souls. They look upon what befell their ancestors and what their arrogance wrought, and denounce it; a life without struggle and self-restraint is but the first footstep down the road to damnation. They don’t go as far as their Exodite kin, and still encourage innovation such as the creation of the Vyper that was created by artisans of the Saim-Hann, or the creation of the armour and weapons used by the Aspect warriors after the creation of the Path system, but they still eschew most of the technologies that allowed their predecessors to grow complacent; unfortunately for them, that also means that they are deliberately making things more difficult for themselves. However, the Eldar of Craftworld Ybraesil are noted for their [[awesome| balls to the wall raids of Crone Worlds]] for spirit stones ''and'' wunderwaffen, so YMMV. It is worth keeping in mind that Craftworlds are trading Vessels; or as they are so dismissively referred to as "Cargo-haulers" by Pre-Fall Eldar. Comparing the Craftworlds to the Pre-Fall Eldar Dominion would be like comparing a seafaring Cargo ship to the might of the US, at the height of its power and influence. Well, sort of. Cargo ship or not, a Craftworld is nearly as large as a planet and seems to use compressed space technology/sorcery like a tardis. It's more like a super cargo ship invented by gypsies to live in and travel around in trading vast quantities of whatever to countless destinations forever. It was very much not a normal vessel even by pre-Fall standards. Still a trading vessel, though.
*A good example would be: "The World of the Bloodied Sword" By Gav Thorpe that had an arsenal of forbidden weapons known as the Akliamor, hidden under the Palace of Tranquility on the planet Akliamor. Knowing that these [[Dark Matter]] doomsday weapons were no longer safe, the Eldar chose to destroy them so as to remove any chance of them ever being used again.
*Units such as the [[Hemlock]] and the [[Wraithguard]] are used only in the most dire of circumstances, as their use requires the removal of souls from their resting place within the Infinity circuit, an act that the Craftworlders view as no better than grave robbing.
*Ybraesil are going out of their way to hunt the crone worlds, for they hope to secure not only the Tears of Isha, but also ancient technologies and doomsday artefacts with which to tip the balance of fate, like the Corsairs, whose Dissonance Cannons are a mocked-together version of a weapon found on a Crone world that was capable of shattering reality itself.
*Yme-loc has recently created a new and devastating weapon powered by the souls of the dead. It can scour entire continents of life in mere minutes, the souls of the living torn from their bodies by a vast ghost-storm.
*Biel Tan are making use of a limited form of pre-fall tech within their [[Void Spinner]]s. The webs unleashed by these weapons are infused with what is essentially Wraithbone nano-bots, that were previously used to create life; if you're going to create a custom planet, you might as well create custom life forms to populate it. Biel Tan has reversed the concept, and now these wraith-bots erase all life that they come in contact with, even leaving the ground they land on devoid of all life; this is especially useful against Orks, as it also destroys their spores.
*The Phoenix Lords books introduce weapons, that take the form of a piece of jewellery, that are keyed to wipe out a single form of life from a world (and we mean an entire world, not just one or two), whilst leaving all other life unharmed. Alongside these world cleansing devices, we are shown small personal shield devices that take the form of a piece of jewellery, such as a ring, brooch or necklace, that are powerful enough that it allowed them to surf, Silver surfer/Green Lantern style, on Solar Flares for fun; you could fire a Nova cannon at them and they wouldn't even care.
*During the Jain Zar book, in the Phoenix Lords series, an Eldar is shown using a common piece of tech that takes the form of a ring. The way in which it is described sounds very similar to the Kara Kesh devices from the Stargate universe.
*In the [[Blackstone Fortress]] series of stories a device called a Foryniomhu, or a Scourge was accidentally discovered. Normally placed into a ship, it was a contagious psychic weapon used to put down violent rebellions with the barest minimum effort on behalf of the Eldar. They would pop into a star system, activate the device that would release a single pulse, then leave. All those affected would become highly infectious to everyone around them, regardless of species, but wouldn't immediately show any symptoms; everyone affected would also become infectious. Within weeks their bodies would start to die rapidly, along with anyone else affected. Entire planets or even system wide civilisations would quickly collapse as the unstoppable psychic contagion spread unopposed. No one was immune to the contagion, nor was there any chance of a cure. Only a second pulse from the device could end the effects, and that would only happen when the Eldar were satisfied that any armed revolt had been quashed. This is not a biological plague but a psychic one (essentially magic) so its effect on AI is unknown, however anything with a psychic presence would be susceptible to the weapons effects. The device, ironically found on a ship called Isha's Lament, was destroyed in order to stop Chaos forces getting their hands on it: If they had it would have been an instant "I win" button for Chaos. Although deeply unpleasant, you could in theory (depending on how stubborn the opponent) put down a violent uprising with a very small loss of life; if they throw the towel quick enough you might not lose any.
*During the Heresy the [[Iron Warriors]] and [[Emperor's Children]] legions end up activating the security system of a Eldar "shrine world", which unleashes a never ending swarm of intangible warriors made of smoke and light. These constructs wield weapons that bypass the armour of the Marines, phasing through armour as if it wasn't there, and leaving corpses without a single wound of any kind. Along with these spectral warriors marched large crystalline constructs, twice the height of a Marine, whose crystal bodies formed from the surrounding walls. Their limbs pulsed with energy that they unleashed from their hands in searing beams of power, and could tear apart tanks and fortifications with ease; if not for the ascension of Fulgrim both legions would have been wiped out.
*On the Crone Worlds a device that takes the form of a publicly accessible console was found, whose function was to grant the "wishes" of the user, and make it into reality; Unfortunately the device was quickly discovered to be corrupted by the power of the Dark Prince. They had access to what is essentially artificial genies, without those pesky wish limitations or restrictions.
*The Phoenix Lord books also reveal that the weapons and armour used by the Aspect shrines have their origin in the gladiatorial arenas that came into being as the Eldar Dominion descended into hedonism, as it was from these arenas that the original Phoenix Lords armed themselves in the wake of the Fall.
*Craftworlds still make use of portable devices that can be carried around with the them, the same way you would a pocketknife. These devices can take many different forms, such as Phase crystals that allow the user to become intangible, Portable Webway Portals that can be used to open up a small temporary Webway tunnel from anywhere they want (this is especially effective when used on Jetbikes), and small crystals that turn into a glittering mist that infiltrate and override alien tech such as in 'Throne World' where a single one of these devices was able to override the technologies protecting the Golden Throne.
*They make use of cosmetic devices such as a hairbrush that can change the style and colour of their hair instantly to what ever they feel like at the time. They can also change their skin colour with such devices as easily as you can change your socks (so yes darker skinned Eldar are very much a thing). You could in theory have Eldar in every colour of the rainbow if you really wanted.
*During the Heresy [[John Grammaticus]] was given a pair of Eldar "scissors", that can cut through time and space (we're going full star vs the forces of evil here), that allowed him to appear near the ruins of [[Hive city|Ababa Hive]] on Terra during the [[Siege of Terra|Siege]]. (What the hell Eldrad, just handing out items that have the ability to cut through time and space like they're candy; what a dick).
*Dire swords are a very interesting addition to the Eldar list of weapons. Created after the Fall, they make use of inhabited Soul Stones in their creation, but only certain stones are capable of being used. If a creature of the Warp attempts to consume a soul within a Spirit Stone and the soul manages to kick the demon out, then the soul becomes completely immune to their touch and is now lethal to the creatures of the Warp. When a creature is hit by a Dire Sword the soul within reaches out and destroys the soul of the opponent; they are weapons capable of coursing True Death to their opponent, be they demon or mortal.
More cynical view could argue that they may have more similarities to dirty mon-keigh than they prefer to admit: namely, they also lost the technologies and/or psychic techiques required for creation or safe usage of these wonders. So, they may have stockpiles of these shiny toys, but if they were to use them, they might quickly run out, possibly also exploding in the process. As shown by the Fireheart, once the Craftworlds were able to get hold of one from the stockpiles of their Dark cousins they were able to replicate it without to much trouble, so depending on the level of the tech we are talking about it could dictate their ability to reproduce it.

The [[Drukhari]] on the other hand still have access to much of what has been lost or hidden away by their cousins, but there are a number of reasons why they utilize such ancient technologies only rarely. Firstly, because of Slaanesh the Dark Eldar cannot function as a psychically sensitive society in the same way that other Eldar do. Therefore, after the Fall those who had made a home within the Webway and would later become known as the Drukhari were forced to completely redevelop and recreate their tech from the ground up using far more mundane and labour-intensive methods. As depraved and loathsome as they are, the Drukhari are a testament to the ingenuity and creativity of this ancient race; the weaponry manufactured within the [[Commoragh|Dark City]] is just as advanced as and infinitely more demented than those psychically grown upon the craftworlds.

Though almost useless to them, the Drukhari very rarely trade items from their hidden, ancient hoards to their Craftworld cousins, and only then at exorbitant cost. Such artefacts include the Fireheart, which causes planets to turn themselves inside out: Valedor actually reveals the original purpose for the Fireheart was as an agricultural tool, used in the reshaping of worlds and the creation of customised solar systems, but could all too easily be turned into a tool of war. Other such artefacts from the days of the old Aeldari empire possess the power to kill stars, to suck the life force from worlds, and/or to exterminate whole races of sentient beings in mere moments. However, the Dark Eldar dare not use such artefacts openly for they would attract the violent displeasure of the Dark City at large should their existence become known.

Consider that the Dark Eldar can make use of mirrors that transport those looking into them into the heart of the nearest sun. They can put Black Holes into small ornate boxes that can be carried around in a coat pocket. They can create pocket dimensions with ease, as with Khaine's Gate, where they simply threw up dimensions for the Daemons to run through, in order to stop them from entering the Dark city (this was a temporary fix until they could fix the problem properly). They are capable of turning their enemies into living wind chimes for their own amusement; they can also turn you into a ring or a fetching brooch, that is not only immortal and near indestructible, but also in constant soul destroying agony, all whilst you are still fully conscious and aware of every horrible thing that is happening to you (don't allow yourself to be taken alive). ''They can steal stars and planets.'' Therefore, a weapon that even the Dark Eldar would keep secret and refuse to employ must be horrifying indeed.

In short, the Dark Eldar are tech-rich but psychically stunted, the Craftworld Eldar see the careless use and overreliance on such technologies as the road to damnation, and the Exodites will feed you to their pet t-rex if you offer them the use of a calculator.

There is another thing to consider: though the [[Imperium]] fights these different factions on a semi-frequent basis, very rarely do they ever find themselves up against any of the true high end stuff; most conflicts according to GW normally go along the lines of [[Guardian|Eldar Guardians]] pointlessly firing upon terminators, doing no damage and suffering horrible casualties in return, which is just stupid when a handful of fire dragons or dark reapers will wipe them out with effortless ease (oh well, we can't have the poster boys actually go up against anything that might hurt them, now can we). Dark Eldar raids for example are more akin to rich kids going on safari (it's much more of a prestige thing, the more challenging the more they can boast to their mates/rivals/enemies when they get back) accompanied by disposable clones mostly armed with weapons ([[Splinter Weapons|splinter weapons]]) designed to immobilise their targets with agonising pain, rather than to kill (in their official description they are specifically referred to as hunting rifles); no point taking the herd species back to the Dark city if they are dead. However when ever one of the more powerful relics are rolled out there really isn't much anyone can do about it.