40K Lore: Trapped Spirits of the Aeldari
With a force of Aeldari pushing through Imperial territory, it’s time to learn about their corrupt, perverse technology.
A detachment of Aeldari has been spotted pushing through Imperial Space recently, and though they were battling the traitorous legions of Chaos and the all-consuming forces of the Tyranids, it can be assured that whatever their schemes are, they are up to no good.
You can see treachery and heresy burning within its strangely compelling and even…beautiful…eyes…
These seemingly benevolent acts are likely a ruse, meant to lure good Imperial citizens into a false sense of security. Or perhps it’s a trick, meant to raise suspicions about their true motives and we’re simply playing into their hands–well, you Loremasters are much to clever to fall for such a ploy. But just in case–that we might be prepared for trouble when it certainly comes to threaten the loyal citizens of the Emperor, let us learn about their foul technology.
It all begins with their means of preserving their dead. Trapping their souls in so-called spirit stones:
Eldar spirit stones are small, seemingly precious stones carried on an Eldar‘s chest, used to save their souls from destruction by Slaanesh. They are made out of psycho-receptive crystals called waystones. At the moment of the Eldar’s death, the stone acts like a ‘psychic trap’, absorbing their psychic self and preventing it from entering the warp and being consumed by the nemesis of the Eldar race: Slaanesh.
The Waystone can then be brought back to the Eldar’s own Craftworld and embedded into its wraithbone core where it will grow into a larger spirit stone. Once the stone is implanted, the Eldar’s soul can travel freely through the wraithbone, mingling with other Eldar souls and forming part of the communal spirit of the Craftworld itself.[3a] All the souls within a Craftworld collectively exist inside the Infinity Circuit. In times of dire need, the Eldar are also able to retrieve the spirit stones of long dead Eldar heroes and place them into the artificial bodies of Wraithguards and Wraithlords. These constructs are then piloted by the Eldar soul, which experiences reality as a dream. This process is considered necromancy in Eldar culture and is only used as a last resort. The Eldar Warlocks who specialize in this process are known as Spiritseers. Iyanden, an Eldar Craftworld with a very small population is known for its greater use of these ‘living dead’.
It is believed by some Eldar that when enough Eldar souls have been gathered within the Infinity Circuit’s of the Craftworlds, a new god will emerge; Ynnead, Eldar God of the Dead. It is hoped by Farseers that this god will be powerful enough to vanquish Slaanesh, freeing the Eldar from their doom. Spirit Stones are also an Eldar vehicle upgrade that allows the spirit to control the vehicle in case the pilots are incapacitated, in a similar way to the Power of the Machine Spirit.
There is one primary source of spirit stones: the old Eldar homeworlds now known as Crone Worlds. Acquiring new spirit stones is extremely dangerous because the Crone Worlds exist within the Eye of Terror. In Eldar Mythology the spirit stones were created by Vaul from the Tears of Isha. This is taken as a metaphor for the crystallization of the psychic energies of the Eye.
Note, this map is out of date–current events make mapping the Eye of Terror difficult at best, utterly heretical at worst.
You see? They trap only the remains of the soul in these tiny stones. What kind of fate is that for anyone to suffer? And the worst of it is that they use their dead! Whether they’re sacrificed by becoming entombed within the bodies of their walking war machines–and truly, can you imagine any warrior wanting to fight on when they could be resting or dead! I can’t imagine any warrior wanting to be entombed like that, damned to fight for eternity.
Still, I suppose it’s a better fate than to be psychically devoured by an impossibly strong will. Take heed Loremasters, when the Aeldari are around, their foul corruption threatens the very fabric of our society. And No matter how compelling the Aeldari may seem, no matter how wise, or beautiful, or somehow tragic their existence… remember that it’s in the Emperor we find our salvation.
For all that their technology is a perversion of the very idea of life and death, at least it *works* don’t even get me started on Ork “technology” again. Still not fully recovered from that.
