Farseer

The Seers are responsible for leading the Aspects. Those that become lost upon the path forever in the same way as Exarchs are known as Farseers. A council of the most powerful Seers generally governs a Craftworld. Seers come in a wide variety with divination being the most common skill. There are two other types of Seers Warlocks and Spirit Seers.Warlocks are Seers who follow the path of the Seer but have not been lost to it, and have previously traveled the path of the warrior. They use their powers to assist other Eldar in battle, shielding them from harm and attacking their enemies. Spirit Seers are Seers who specialize in communication with the dead; unsurprisingly they are most prevalent within Iyanden and sometimes lead squads of Wraithguard in combat.

Unsurprisingly, the role of the Seers is to look into the future and try and discern the best path for the Eldar to take. This is done through the casting of runestones, fragments of Wraithbone and other psychosensitive materials that react to the convoluted, probabilistic skeins of space-time. By reading the throw of these stones, the Seers can often determine what will be the most beneficial course of action, though it is rare that they can discern true results any great distance into the future. On occasion a powerful Seer will receive a portent of some calamitous event, and be able to steer the Eldar away from disaster and doom. With so few Eldar remaining, the Seers attempt to preserve every Eldar life they can.

However, this ability to see the future and react upon what is seen has caused the Eldar to be distrusted by other races. Occasionally, a Seer will see that by attacking a certain world, fleet or base, Eldar lives will be somehow saved from a future event; Eldar forces will then suddenly attack unannounced, and quickly withdraw as soon as their goal has been accomplished. This, along with the Eldar tendency to view all other races as inferior, has led other races to deem them as fickle, aloof and untrustworthy. Also, the most powerful Farseers have even shown the ability to steer future events so that other races fight each other rather than the Eldar— one of the greatest examples being when the famed Farseer Eldrad Ulthran of Ulthwé (a Craftworld which places greater emphasis on the Path of the Seer) secretly facilitated the rise of an obscure Ork warlord named Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka, who would eventually become a significant enemy of the Imperium of Man.

The Farseers lead in times of war as well as peace. On the battlefield their powers of precognition allow them to foresee the enemy's attacks and movements and warn their comrades against imminent changes on the field of battle. While less capable of foreseeing events in such harried conditions, the Warlocks, especially those who have already tread the Path of an Aspect Warrior, will often serve as officers in battle, leading units of other Eldar and helping to coordinate the overall battle, as well as to lend support utilizing their considerable psychic powers.

As many Farseers age however, their bodies slowly turn to a form of psychically active crystal, a transformation caused by their constant exposure to the chaotic energies of the Warp. When the time has come they go to the Dome of the Crystal Seers and join the crystalline bodies of the Farseers that came before them.