# What do dark eldar do for fun?



## Reaper45 (Jun 21, 2011)

I'm trying to write a fan fiction and this is something that is stumping me. I have the DE codex and I understand the basics of their culture. The only thing I can think of that they would be doing for fun is things that involve torturing slaves and planning ways to kill. Anyone have any thoughts on the subject?


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Take a stroll down the streets of Commoragh and let nature take its course. :spiteful:


----------



## CraftworldSurathin (Dec 18, 2011)

I really think slaughter and pain covers it. The Dark Eldars tastes are so depraved and overindulged that nothing "normal" would satisfy them. I'm sure they have the equivalent of games, movies, and sports (in fact the codex mentions the Wych arenas, which are a spectator event), but they would have to be extremely intense to sate a Dark Eldar. Hell, now that I think on it, EVERYTHING the Dark Eldar do is for fun, including fighting, killing, and raids.


----------



## cegorach (Nov 29, 2010)

As soon as i saw the thread my immediate reaction was "you don't want to know"

I know that is not helpful, but if you want to describe it just come up with the most horrifying things you possibly can, then mix them all together and you have something that would amuse them for an hour at most. At least thats my view of it. 

But I am not sure how much free time they would have with all the scheming and plotting and fighting and "research" they all seem to do. Commoragh does not really seem like a good holiday destination to me and I am not sure how many non-lethal activities they would have planned for you.


----------



## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

Part of the problem with GW writing in codexs is that they only focus on the nasty parts and the gruesome as they give you a stereo type, blood murder rape drugs tourture thats all dark eldar do?? Hell no they are a civilisation like any other, they will still have to work, they will still need people to do everything or control the slaves that do it for them, but not every person in the culture will be committing unspeakable acts all the time, they will have to eat and shit like the rest of the universe, i imagine drink,drugs,sports,sex,fighting will be an escape from other activities like training, building,repair. Dark Eldar will need everything and more that you and i need to exist, they need to rest, so they will need a place to rest, they will need things to put in those places, which will mean either stealing/buying/or building things, which means there must be someone selling or designing and manufacturing things.
Think about it this way, If Jeff the DE needed his spliter rifle fixing, he might take it to Bob the DE weapon smith who carries out the repairs, he might be a crooked injured DE who cant fight but is skilled at tech, but Bob gets his kicks by testing the repaired weapons by shooting them at tied up slaves/xenos. Also Bob has a contract with a local DE pie shop.... anyway what im saying is for a culture to exist it need support from non military types and even if your culture is identified by its murder and tourture antics, it still requires a functioning infrastructure involving manufacture and trade.
Maybe read up on some ancient cultures like rome and look at what people did then for fun,many of the things they might have done for fun we wouldnt dream of doing or is illegal in our cultures.


----------



## mob16151 (Oct 20, 2011)

I saw the title of this thread and immediately thought, whatever the hell they want. :biggrin:


----------



## Child-of-the-Emperor (Feb 22, 2009)

bitsandkits said:


> Part of the problem with GW writing in codexs is that they only focus on the nasty parts and the gruesome as they give you a stereo type, blood murder rape drugs tourture thats all dark eldar do?? Hell no they are a civilisation like any other, they will still have to work, they will still need people to do everything or control the slaves that do it for them, but not every person in the culture will be committing unspeakable acts all the time, they will have to eat and shit like the rest of the universe, i imagine drink,drugs,sports,sex,fighting will be an escape from other activities like training, building,repair. Dark Eldar will need everything and more that you and i need to exist, they need to rest, so they will need a place to rest, they will need things to put in those places, which will mean either stealing/buying/or building things, which means there must be someone selling or designing and manufacturing things.
> Think about it this way, If Jeff the DE needed his spliter rifle fixing, he might take it to Bob the DE weapon smith who carries out the repairs, he might be a crooked injured DE who cant fight but is skilled at tech, but Bob gets his kicks by testing the repaired weapons by shooting them at tied up slaves/xenos. Also Bob has a contract with a local DE pie shop.... anyway what im saying is for a culture to exist it need support from non military types and even if your culture is identified by its murder and tourture antics, it still requires a functioning infrastructure involving manufacture and trade.
> Maybe read up on some ancient cultures like rome and look at what people did then for fun,many of the things they might have done for fun we wouldnt dream of doing or is illegal in our cultures.


This. 

The Dark Kin are a civilisation, so have to function like one to survive (albeit a fucked up one). It is a civilisation focussed on individual survival, where slaves likely perform the majority of the menial work. 

As for entertainment perhaps focus on events like gladiator bouts, racing (which is a part of one of the Dark Eldar short stories currently in publication), gang warfare et cetera. Of course the Harlequins also visit Commorragh on occasion.


----------



## Reaper45 (Jun 21, 2011)

bitsandkits said:


> Part of the problem with GW writing in codexs is that they only focus on the nasty parts and the gruesome as they give you a stereo type, blood murder rape drugs tourture thats all dark eldar do?? Hell no they are a civilisation like any other, they will still have to work, they will still need people to do everything or control the slaves that do it for them, but not every person in the culture will be committing unspeakable acts all the time, they will have to eat and shit like the rest of the universe, i imagine drink,drugs,sports,sex,fighting will be an escape from other activities like training, building,repair. Dark Eldar will need everything and more that you and i need to exist, they need to rest, so they will need a place to rest, they will need things to put in those places, which will mean either stealing/buying/or building things, which means there must be someone selling or designing and manufacturing things.
> Think about it this way, If Jeff the DE needed his spliter rifle fixing, he might take it to Bob the DE weapon smith who carries out the repairs, he might be a crooked injured DE who cant fight but is skilled at tech, but Bob gets his kicks by testing the repaired weapons by shooting them at tied up slaves/xenos. Also Bob has a contract with a local DE pie shop.... anyway what im saying is for a culture to exist it need support from non military types and even if your culture is identified by its murder and tourture antics, it still requires a functioning infrastructure involving manufacture and trade.
> Maybe read up on some ancient cultures like rome and look at what people did then for fun,many of the things they might have done for fun we wouldnt dream of doing or is illegal in our cultures.


I never thought of it that way. I really assumed that most DE could fix their own stuff. As to what cultures I should be looking at I'm thinking the vikings for one. They were raiders primarily but they were traders as well. The huns could be another example. they were barbarians but they did have culture allot like the romans they just didn't care enough to leave a mark. I'm also thinking that I should be looking at Vlad the impaler he strikes me as a great example of how a DE acts.


----------



## HOGGLORD (Jan 25, 2012)

They basically do for fun what I do for fun.
Watch other people suffer. :grin:


----------



## LukeValantine (Dec 2, 2008)

bitsandkits said:


> Part of the problem with GW writing in codexs is that they only focus on the nasty parts and the gruesome as they give you a stereo type, blood murder rape drugs tourture thats all dark eldar do?? Hell no they are a civilisation like any other, they will still have to work, they will still need people to do everything or control the slaves that do it for them, but not every person in the culture will be committing unspeakable acts all the time, they will have to eat and shit like the rest of the universe, i imagine drink,drugs,sports,sex,fighting will be an escape from other activities like training, building,repair. Dark Eldar will need everything and more that you and i need to exist, they need to rest, so they will need a place to rest, they will need things to put in those places, which will mean either stealing/buying/or building things, which means there must be someone selling or designing and manufacturing things.
> Think about it this way, If Jeff the DE needed his spliter rifle fixing, he might take it to Bob the DE weapon smith who carries out the repairs, he might be a crooked injured DE who cant fight but is skilled at tech, but Bob gets his kicks by testing the repaired weapons by shooting them at tied up slaves/xenos. Also Bob has a contract with a local DE pie shop.... anyway what im saying is for a culture to exist it need support from non military types and even if your culture is identified by its murder and tourture antics, it still requires a functioning infrastructure involving manufacture and trade.
> Maybe read up on some ancient cultures like rome and look at what people did then for fun,many of the things they might have done for fun we wouldnt dream of doing or is illegal in our cultures.


Yep GW tends towards overly black and white naratives...or black and gray anyways.

On the same vain we could talk about chaos. Chaos clearly have comradely, and shared religious beliefs yet they are always shown doing the most evil thing imaginable regardless as to whether its counterproductive or not.

Where are the stories of word bearers holding feasts and rituals to honor new converts that come willingly? Or the stories of iron warriors in the trenches sharing grim and perverse jokes to lighten the mood. Hell even two follows of khorne engaging in honorable one on one combat and the winner sparing the loser because of the idea that such a great warrior would better serve their lord dead then alive. These are the kinda of stories missing from the DE, Chaos, or even the chaos daemons book. Hell the only insights into so called bad armies having fun or doing not retardedly evil crap is necrons and orcs.


----------



## CraftworldSurathin (Dec 18, 2011)

LukeValantine said:


> Yep GW tends towards overly black and white naratives...or black and gray anyways.
> 
> On the same vain we could talk about chaos. Chaos clearly have comradely, and shared religious beliefs yet they are always shown doing the most evil thing imaginable regardless as to whether its counterproductive or not.
> 
> Where are the stories of word bearers holding feasts and rituals to honor new converts that come willingly? Or the stories of iron warriors in the trenches sharing grim and perverse jokes to lighten the mood. Hell even two follows of khorne engaging in honorable one on one combat and the winner sparing the loser because of the idea that such a great warrior would better serve their lord dead then alive. These are the kinda of stories missing from the DE, Chaos, or even the chaos daemons book. Hell the only insights into so called bad armies having fun or doing not retardedly evil crap is necrons and orcs.


Uh, not a CSM player here, but I don't think a follower of Khorne would spare anyone. And why would they 'lighten the mood'? Don't they LOVE being in the middle of death and destruction?


----------



## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

Chaos = retardedly evil crap. Can't take a break from Chaos, it's a life time commitment.

However, I imagine that the Dark Eldar will stroll thorugh the torture gardens, smiling at their rivals as the assassin sneaks up behind them. There's no end to the intrigue and war in the Dark City; I can't imagine that the Dark Eldar get much time off in between fighting, scheming, plotting, manipulating, blackmailing, bribing, and hiring protection from killer's blades. 

Doesn't Vect spend all his time either fighting his enemies or murdering his Archons? I can't imagine that the stress that puts on you (ok, maybe not Vect, but some other and less genius Archon/Dracon) lets you have any free time at all really.

Midnight


----------



## LukeValantine (Dec 2, 2008)

Not really, older editions and stories told of martial pride and religious fervor, its only been lately that CSM have become mustache twirling ass holes.

In fact some followers of chaos are actually all about planning and controlled structure like the iron warriors and thousand sons. See by your words alone we have seen how outside of 40k novels most bad guy armies are now just seen as a just a bunch of cardboard cut out villains who only exist to be evil. 

I Ask you this did all nazi's love killing people? Did the Mongolian hordes just kill and rape because it was fun? no they had a ideology and goals that set them on a path of death and destruction.

I imagine to that their are DE that do things like just relax or take recreational drugs, or hell even leave the dark city to get away from other back stabbing ass holes.


----------



## stephen.w.langdon (Jan 1, 2012)

Watch spartacus, I like to think that the DE are based on this idea of the Roman Empire, but more extreme

A society at the hight of its power, that indulges in the most depraved acts to satisfy the masses yet still a functioning society none the less that functions on all levels


----------



## Reaper45 (Jun 21, 2011)

MidnightSun said:


> Chaos = retardedly evil crap. Can't take a break from Chaos, it's a life time commitment.
> 
> However, I imagine that the Dark Eldar will stroll thorugh the torture gardens, smiling at their rivals as the assassin sneaks up behind them. There's no end to the intrigue and war in the Dark City; I can't imagine that the Dark Eldar get much time off in between fighting, scheming, plotting, manipulating, blackmailing, bribing, and hiring protection from killer's blades.
> 
> ...


The book blood gorgons is about a pirate band of CSM, while it does have betrayals and the conspiring, the blood gorgons themselves respect the idea of brotherhood and having a good time. Just because a follower of khorne on the battlefield will slaughter anything in their path doesn't mean that they won't spare a brothers life. They still are space marines just because they follow chaos doesn't mean their values of honor and corruption are twisted, to the point of no return.


----------



## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

Well, in Soul Hunter the Black Legion let prisoners loose and watch as they rip the guards apart with their bare hands or murder them with improvised weapons. In Blood Reaver the 'protagonists' flay and crucify a Marine Errant, and in Lord of the Night Sahaal tortures an astropath by slowly shredding him until eventually 'feeding him to the Warp'. Ok, so they're all books about Night Lords, but my point still stands.

Midnight


----------



## LukeValantine (Dec 2, 2008)

So your basically saying that I can read a book about ultramarines and instantly know how BA, SW work.....good to know.


----------



## Reaper45 (Jun 21, 2011)

MidnightSun said:


> Well, in Soul Hunter the Black Legion let prisoners loose and watch as they rip the guards apart with their bare hands or murder them with improvised weapons. In Blood Reaver the 'protagonists' flay and crucify a Marine Errant, and in Lord of the Night Sahaal tortures an astropath by slowly shredding him until eventually 'feeding him to the Warp'. Ok, so they're all books about Night Lords, but my point still stands.
> 
> Midnight


Keep in mind who the black legion is. Abaddons own. Not all CSM legions are going to be the same.


----------



## LukeValantine (Dec 2, 2008)

Also note night lords have always been a mentally and morally screwed up chapter, in fact they probably did those kinda things when they where loyalists, just only to people they thought were bad.


----------



## Phoebus (Apr 17, 2010)

The latest Chaos Codex has fluff bits like the speech Harkan Ironfist gives to other followers of Khorne (it's in the Berzerker section, too...). Sure, Khornate warriors will have drastically different definitions of "honor" than Loyalist Astartes, but it's obvious that they are NOT just mindless killers, and that distinction, mutual respect, dedication, etc., all matter to them.

Probably more so when they're NOT in a berserker rage, that is! :wink:


----------



## Cold86 (Sep 24, 2010)

I would say wait for the new Black Library fiction book about the Dark Eldar to come out. Path of the Outcast i believe its called. It sounds like its gonna be a trilogy all about the dark eldar. The first novel from what ive read looks like its gonna be about espionage and intrigue in the big dark eldar city.

Itll probably give you some really great insight as to what a day in the life of a Dark Eldar Archon is like


----------



## shaantitus (Aug 3, 2009)

I would look to the behavior of criminal gangs in an area of poor law enforcement for examples. Then make it more debauched and psycho.


----------



## Child-of-the-Emperor (Feb 22, 2009)

Cold86 said:


> I would say wait for the new Black Library fiction book about the Dark Eldar to come out. Path of the Outcast i believe its called.


*_Path of the Renegade_.

And it's out now.


----------



## Alhazred (Sep 13, 2010)

Think Oldboy. That or murder, really convoluted murder.

Edit: Ohh or Battle Royal.

Basically messed up asian movie plots...


----------



## chromedog (Oct 31, 2007)

It would be easier to ask "What _don't_ they do for fun?".

Perverted little sybarites that they are.


----------



## All_Is_Dust (Aug 21, 2011)

From what I hear they like to keep it in the family, if you know what I mean :grin:


----------



## Buttons (Jan 23, 2012)

chromedog said:


> It would be easier to ask "What _don't_ they do for fun?".
> 
> Perverted little sybarites that they are.


A game of chess. Reading a book. Long walks on the beach. They are probably desensitized to most things.


----------



## demonlord24 (Feb 9, 2012)

Well, lets see here... They love torturing others, being tortured, and having many sexy times. That's basically them in a nut shell...


----------



## Reaper45 (Jun 21, 2011)

demonlord24 said:


> Well, lets see here... They love torturing others, being tortured, and having many sexy times. That's basically them in a nut shell...


That's pretty much what I figured, but for expanded fluff anything goes. it's only limited to how twisted the person writing is.


----------



## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

I could tell you some things, but I cannot un-tell you... :grin:


----------



## Yru0 (May 9, 2011)

bitsandkits said:


> Part of the problem with GW writing in codexs is that they only focus on the nasty parts and the gruesome as they give you a stereo type, blood murder rape drugs tourture thats all dark eldar do?? Hell no they are a civilisation like any other, they will still have to work, they will still need people to do everything or control the slaves that do it for them, but not every person in the culture will be committing unspeakable acts all the time, they will have to eat and shit like the rest of the universe, i imagine drink,drugs,sports,sex,fighting will be an escape from other activities like training, building,repair. Dark Eldar will need everything and more that you and i need to exist, they need to rest, so they will need a place to rest, they will need things to put in those places, which will mean either stealing/buying/or building things, which means there must be someone selling or designing and manufacturing things.
> Think about it this way, If Jeff the DE needed his spliter rifle fixing, he might take it to Bob the DE weapon smith who carries out the repairs, he might be a crooked injured DE who cant fight but is skilled at tech, but Bob gets his kicks by testing the repaired weapons by shooting them at tied up slaves/xenos. Also Bob has a contract with a local DE pie shop.... anyway what im saying is for a culture to exist it need support from non military types and even if your culture is identified by its murder and tourture antics, it still requires a functioning infrastructure involving manufacture and trade.
> Maybe read up on some ancient cultures like rome and look at what people did then for fun,many of the things they might have done for fun we wouldnt dream of doing or is illegal in our cultures.


^ This, I just have to nudge it back from the first page. In my opinion, if you intend to be writing fluff looking at the lives of Dark Eldar, then in absolute honesty we can't tell you what to write, quite simply because Games' Workshop (Exception: Path of the Renegade, I'm not so sure about that, but I'll like to take a look at it if I get the chance  ) hasn't come up with it really. But Bits' idea strikes me as genius, those little twists of like the blacksmith testing his weapons would allow you to give your characters a link to the audience, whilst keeping with that whole 'sadistic' flavour that we know and love of the DE  I read somewhere one time, that in order to make your setting beleivable, you don't need to set it in the realm of possiblilty, it just has to make sense. i.e; the Dark Eldar murder, rape, pillage and raid all their lives, so therefore who flies their ships? Who builds their houses? What is their economy? Do they even have one? The DE would be interesting, cause as I said, you've practically got free reign when it comes to 'civil' life, as you do with much of the Xenos really. 

Well, I think that made my post seem less than just a random quote followed by a bunch of 'do what this guy said'  Other than that, *bows to Bits* you sir, are a genius.


----------

