dalek sec said:
Hurr Durr Derp said:
Dark Eldar. Let the Craftworld cowards run and hide from their true nature. We may be crashing and burning, but at least we're having a hell of a time on the way down.
What exactly are the differences between Eldar and "Dark" Eldar? My knowledge of the Eldar race is kinda limited.
A long time ago the Eldar ruled the galaxy, and they were massive dicks. They were pretty much all-powerful and their Gods protected them, so they just messed around all day doing what they did best, and what they did best was having massive orgies of sex, violence, and art. Things were all good and well for a while, but these centuries of depravity coalesced in the Warp, eventually causing the birth of the Chaos God Slaanesh, lord of Excess. Newborn Slaanesh was hungry, and claimed the souls of all Eldar for his breakfast. In time, most of the Eldar Gods were slain by the Chaos Gods (the C'tan had a hand in this as well, IIRC). Kaela Mensha Khaine was shattered, Isha was enslaved by Nurgle, etc. Unless I'm mistaken, only Cegorach escpaped, being the god of tricksters and all.
Anyway, some of the Eldar saw this coming just in time and fled. They left the Eldar homeworlds in giant artificial planets called Craftworlds and forever swore off everything that the original Eldar loved so much in an attempt to escape Slaanesh' attention. Basically they're not allowed to have fun, ever. They also crafted the Soulstones, which would trap their soul after they died, so Slaanesh wouldn't be able to claim it. Pretty much everything they do is aimed at their continued survival, and trying to stay as far away from Slaanesh as possible. These Craftworld Eldar are the Eldar of 40k.
The Dark Eldar told the Craftworlders to stick it where the alien suns don't shine when they tried to warn everyone about Slaanesh' coming, and were almost annihilated when the Eldar empire fell. The few survivors retreated into the Webway (which is pretty much a 'world between worlds' used by the Eldar as a means of instant transportation), and built a giant city there, called Commorragh. These 'Dark' Eldar refused to surrender their ways of life, even if it means that they are doomed to have their souls devoured by Slaanesh when they die. In stead of hiding themselves like the Craftworlders, they chose to hold on to everything that made them what they were, and thus to everything that led to their downfall. So basically they know they're in deep shit, but they refuse to give in to fear and give up their messy fun. It could be said that the Dark Eldar are the 'real' Eldar: The Eldar as they were before the Fall.
There are at least two other (minor) groups among the Eldar: First are the Harlequins, servants of Cegorach, the laughing God. While they're more or less allied with the Craftworld Eldar, they are still protected by their God and thus don't need to fear for their souls as much as the rest. It doesn't mean that Slaanesh isn't after them, just that once in a while Cegorach will drop by and kick Slaanesh' teeth in to keep him from stealing a particularly valuable soul.
Then there are the Eldar Exodites. I'll admit that I don't know anything about them, apart from that they too fled the Eldar Empire. In stead of joining the Craftworlders, they settled new, savage planets. They're pretty cool and ride around on dinosaurs or whatever, but there's not really enough of them to do anything worthwhile, and they tend to lay low and mind their own business most of the time.
