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[[File:Asurmen_Art.jpg|thumb|170px|Asurmen, [[Phoenix Lord]] & first of the Eldar Exarchs]] |
[[File:Asurmen_Art.jpg|thumb|170px|Asurmen, [[Phoenix Lord]] & first of the Eldar Exarchs]] |
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⚫ | An '''Exarch''' is a former [[Eldar]] [[Aspect Warrior]] who has lost himself upon the Eldar Path of the Warrior and is unable to ever leave it again. At this point he is considered to have abandoned the greater Eldar Path with its promise of new experiences and constant development in favour of a constant life of bloodshed. The Eldar becomes the elite warrior called an Exarch; simultaneously, an Exarch is a priest of [[Kaela Mensha Khaine]], the Eldar God of War as well as a caretaker of the individual warrior shrine, and trainer, teacher, and instructor for other Aspect Warriors. The sacrifice of an Eldar Exarch can summon an Avatar of Kaela Mensha Khaine. He is equipped with ancient and powerful Eldar weaponry and armour. Each Eldar Warrior Aspect has its own particular kind of Exarch. On the battlefield, an Exarch commands an individual squad of Eldar Aspect Warriors. Exarchs are formidable opponents, and most of them can use their often potent psychic and combat abilities to help the whole squad of Aspect Warriors under their command |
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⚫ | An '''Exarch''' is a former [[Eldar]] [[Aspect Warrior]] who has lost himself upon the Eldar Path of the Warrior and is unable to ever leave it again. At this point he is considered to have abandoned the greater Eldar Path with its promise of new experiences and constant development in favour of a constant life of bloodshed. The Eldar becomes the elite warrior called an Exarch; simultaneously, an Exarch is a priest of [[Kaela Mensha Khaine]], the Eldar God of War as well as a caretaker of the individual warrior shrine, and trainer, teacher, and instructor for other Aspect Warriors. The sacrifice of an Eldar Exarch can summon an Avatar of Kaela Mensha Khaine. He is equipped with ancient and powerful Eldar weaponry and armour. Each Eldar Warrior Aspect has its own particular kind of Exarch. On the battlefield, an Exarch commands an individual squad of Eldar Aspect Warriors. Exarchs are formidable opponents, and most of them can use their often potent psychic and combat abilities to help the whole squad of Aspect Warriors under their command. |
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− | Exarchs are regarded with both awe and revulsion by other Eldar. Awe, because Exarchs single-mindedly pursue a side of their nature which most Eldar fear to even contemplate. Revulsion, because the Exarchs have become trapped in the Warrior Aspect and destined for a life of never-ending violence. An Exarch assumes an ancient name associated with the Aspect. Each name is associated with a set of Exarch armour the Exarch wears in battle. If the Exarch is killed, another Exarch of his Aspect may take the armour and the name. The same armour is worn by many successive Exarchs over thousands of Terran years. The Exarch breaks with his old life, continuing the legendary life of the single heroic identity represented by that Exarch's armour and name. Worked into the armour is the [[Spirit Stone]] containing the spirit of the very first Eldar hero to have worn it. When the Exarch enters the armour this spirit merges with him, adding its own accumulated memories, experiences and abilities to his own. |
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+ | ==The Path of the Warrior's Death End== |
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+ | To understand what it means to be an Exarch, one need to understand something of the Eldar's psyche and way of life. Since the the birth of [[Slaanesh|"She Who Thirsts"]], the Eldar have sought ways to avoid the pittraps that have led to their cataclysmic Fall. Theire lives are now strictly regimented, to avoid being consumed by the psycho-emotional excesses who ultimately sealed their doom. Each Eldar choses a "Path" that he will thread: the Path is both a role (be it artist, cook, engineer, explorer, warrior,...) and a protection: by compartimenting his mind, an Eldar can draw upon his volatile emotions while he is busy with his chosen craft, and then lock them away in a part of his mind when they are not needed. For all their differences, all Paths have one danger in common: if the Eldar fail at storing his emotions away, if his compartimentation fails, he will eventually be consumed by them. Instead of being an Eldar fulfilling a role, he will become the living enbodiment of that role, forever perfecting it but unable to lay it down. Such Eldar ar then said to be Lost on their chosen Path. |
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+ | The Path of the Warrior is no different than the others in this aspect, but it is one of the most dangerous of Paths, for the warrior must draw on anger and hatred, which are the most dangerous emotions of all. Often, an Eldar treads the Path of the Warrior not by interest, but because a momentous event in his life has unhinged his mental balance (be it a terrible personal failure, the loss of a loved one, ...) and anger starts polluting his work and his life. Those Eldar will then be subtly led by their [[Craftworld]]'s [[Infinity Circuit]] to one of the Warrior Shrines, where the Shrine's Exarch caretaker will welcome them and start leading them on the Path of the Warrior. |
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+ | Whatever Aspect of War they ultimately embody, each [[Aspect Warrior]] must learn to do what in Eldar is known as "donning and removing one's war-mask": learning to compartimentalize his mind, and be able to enter a state of heightened agression and bloodlust whan necessary, and then safely return to his everyday life when war is not calling. This is the most important lesson of the Path of the Warrior, and only when an Eldar has succesfully learned it will he be allowed to change Paths by his Exarch caretaker. |
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+ | An Exarch is an Eldar who has become Lost on the Path of the Warrior. He is unable to remove his war-mask, and exists in a permanent state of agressive bloodlust, seeking out battle and strife. There is no predetermined pattern to becoming an Exarch: some warriors do so after their first engagement, the visceral sensations of killing the enemy and losing comrades overwhelming them. Others do so after a long time, while some can avoid the entrapment, sensing that they start to loose themselves, switching Path with due haste to avoid their fate. |
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+ | Once a warrior becomes unable to remove his war-mask, the others of his Shrine will quickly become aware of it, and the Shrine Exarch will bar him access, sadly informing his former ward that the next time they'll greet, they will do so as equals. The Exarch-to-be, often furious at the rejection, will then wander around the Craftworld, trying to go on with his life, but will soon find himself unable to do so: other Eldars will shun and avoid him and he will find himself unable to meaningfully communicate with those few that will dare answer him. His past activities will hold no appeal for him anymore, his only desire being to return to his Shrine and make war. There, again, the Infinity Circuit will intervene, and guide his steps to one of the Shrines of his Aspect whose Exarch has fallen. He will enter that Shrine, and don the caretaker's empty armor. Once he places the helmet upon his head, his fate will be sealed: he transforms into a living incarnation of war, a servant of [[Kaela Mensha Khaine]], an outcast amongst his own people yet at the same time one of his mightiest protectors. |
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+ | For there is a particularity to the Exarchs, one that makes them regarded with both awe and revulsion by other Eldar. When an Eldar Lost on any other Path passes on, his [[Soulstone]] will be added to the Craftworld's Infinity Circuit, his excesses in life forgiven. Not so for an Exarch; the fusion of a soul so tainted with bloodlust and so dedicated to Khaine with the Infinity Circuit would taint it. When he dies, an Exarch's spirit remains with his armor, so an Exarch's armor ultimately becomes a miniature Infinity Circuit. An Exarch is no mere Eldar, it is an Eldar body inhabited by a multitude of Eldar souls. The collective will mingle and assume the name and mannerism of the first inhabitant of the suit, but the Exarch can draw on the experience of a multitude of existences. The other Eldar are horrified by this, believing the Exarch's existence as being akin to living death. Those few times an Exarch will interact with Eldars not on the Warrior Path when not at war, he will feel only fear, revulsion and pity coming from them. |
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+ | In day to day life, an Exarch serves as the caretaker for his Shrine, and of the Warriors, arms and armour within. He will train the Warriors, instill proficiency with their Aspect's gear, and teach them the underlying philosophy. He will guide them in duels and mock battles, and in training exercices to augment their stamina and awareness. But most important of all, he will teach them how to don and remove their war-masks, how to call on their hatred and how to ignore and safely store it in their minds. It is therefor that the Exarchs are held in high respect by the other Eldars, for who could teach better how to avoid the pitfalls of a Path than one who has fallen himself so many times in so many different lives? |
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+ | When an Exarch's body dies, wether from age or on the battlefield, his armor will be brought back to his shrine, to wait for a new bearer who will restart the cycle anew by adding his soul to the collective link. There are only two possible exceptions to this immuable cycle. |
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+ | The first is when an Exarch is chosen to become the Young King, the blood-sacrifice who will awaken Khaine's [[Avatar]]. The chosen Exarch will strip of his armor, and his Soulstone will be ritually severed from it. This will also remove the Eldar's individual soul from the mingled link that is the Exarch. The Young King will then have the runes of War, one for each Aspect, carved into his back. Clad in his own blood, he will then don a cloak, and be given the Avatar's weapon. He will then boldly step forward into Khaine's shrine, and the doors will close behind him. A few moment later, the [[Avatar]], fully empowered, will walk out and go to war. Of the Young King, no trace will remain, for he will have been consumed, body and soul, by Khaine... |
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+ | The second is in those rare occasions where a [[Phoenix Lord]] falls. Similarly to a normal Exarch, a Phoenix Lord can be revived when an Exarch of his Aspect dons his armor. However, in the case of a Phoenix Lord, there is no collective mingling of souls: his pre-Fall soul is so old, so strong (and some whisper so tainted by [[Slaanesh|"She-Who-Thirsts"]]) that it will absorb and consume all of the lesser's Exarchs collective souls in the process, leaving only himself, "alive" once again... |
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==Sources== |
==Sources== |
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*''Codex: Eldar'' (3rd Edition) |
*''Codex: Eldar'' (3rd Edition) |
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*''White Dwarf '' 127 (US), "Eldar - Exarchs," pp. 13-52 |
*''White Dwarf '' 127 (US), "Eldar - Exarchs," pp. 13-52 |
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+ | *''Path of the Warrior'' (Novel) by Gavin Thorpe, pg. 55-184 |
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==Gallery== |
==Gallery== |
Revision as of 09:13, 26 September 2012
An Exarch is a former Eldar Aspect Warrior who has lost himself upon the Eldar Path of the Warrior and is unable to ever leave it again. At this point he is considered to have abandoned the greater Eldar Path with its promise of new experiences and constant development in favour of a constant life of bloodshed. The Eldar becomes the elite warrior called an Exarch; simultaneously, an Exarch is a priest of Kaela Mensha Khaine, the Eldar God of War as well as a caretaker of the individual warrior shrine, and trainer, teacher, and instructor for other Aspect Warriors. The sacrifice of an Eldar Exarch can summon an Avatar of Kaela Mensha Khaine. He is equipped with ancient and powerful Eldar weaponry and armour. Each Eldar Warrior Aspect has its own particular kind of Exarch. On the battlefield, an Exarch commands an individual squad of Eldar Aspect Warriors. Exarchs are formidable opponents, and most of them can use their often potent psychic and combat abilities to help the whole squad of Aspect Warriors under their command.
The Path of the Warrior's Death End
To understand what it means to be an Exarch, one need to understand something of the Eldar's psyche and way of life. Since the the birth of "She Who Thirsts", the Eldar have sought ways to avoid the pittraps that have led to their cataclysmic Fall. Theire lives are now strictly regimented, to avoid being consumed by the psycho-emotional excesses who ultimately sealed their doom. Each Eldar choses a "Path" that he will thread: the Path is both a role (be it artist, cook, engineer, explorer, warrior,...) and a protection: by compartimenting his mind, an Eldar can draw upon his volatile emotions while he is busy with his chosen craft, and then lock them away in a part of his mind when they are not needed. For all their differences, all Paths have one danger in common: if the Eldar fail at storing his emotions away, if his compartimentation fails, he will eventually be consumed by them. Instead of being an Eldar fulfilling a role, he will become the living enbodiment of that role, forever perfecting it but unable to lay it down. Such Eldar ar then said to be Lost on their chosen Path.
The Path of the Warrior is no different than the others in this aspect, but it is one of the most dangerous of Paths, for the warrior must draw on anger and hatred, which are the most dangerous emotions of all. Often, an Eldar treads the Path of the Warrior not by interest, but because a momentous event in his life has unhinged his mental balance (be it a terrible personal failure, the loss of a loved one, ...) and anger starts polluting his work and his life. Those Eldar will then be subtly led by their Craftworld's Infinity Circuit to one of the Warrior Shrines, where the Shrine's Exarch caretaker will welcome them and start leading them on the Path of the Warrior.
Whatever Aspect of War they ultimately embody, each Aspect Warrior must learn to do what in Eldar is known as "donning and removing one's war-mask": learning to compartimentalize his mind, and be able to enter a state of heightened agression and bloodlust whan necessary, and then safely return to his everyday life when war is not calling. This is the most important lesson of the Path of the Warrior, and only when an Eldar has succesfully learned it will he be allowed to change Paths by his Exarch caretaker.
An Exarch is an Eldar who has become Lost on the Path of the Warrior. He is unable to remove his war-mask, and exists in a permanent state of agressive bloodlust, seeking out battle and strife. There is no predetermined pattern to becoming an Exarch: some warriors do so after their first engagement, the visceral sensations of killing the enemy and losing comrades overwhelming them. Others do so after a long time, while some can avoid the entrapment, sensing that they start to loose themselves, switching Path with due haste to avoid their fate.
Once a warrior becomes unable to remove his war-mask, the others of his Shrine will quickly become aware of it, and the Shrine Exarch will bar him access, sadly informing his former ward that the next time they'll greet, they will do so as equals. The Exarch-to-be, often furious at the rejection, will then wander around the Craftworld, trying to go on with his life, but will soon find himself unable to do so: other Eldars will shun and avoid him and he will find himself unable to meaningfully communicate with those few that will dare answer him. His past activities will hold no appeal for him anymore, his only desire being to return to his Shrine and make war. There, again, the Infinity Circuit will intervene, and guide his steps to one of the Shrines of his Aspect whose Exarch has fallen. He will enter that Shrine, and don the caretaker's empty armor. Once he places the helmet upon his head, his fate will be sealed: he transforms into a living incarnation of war, a servant of Kaela Mensha Khaine, an outcast amongst his own people yet at the same time one of his mightiest protectors.
For there is a particularity to the Exarchs, one that makes them regarded with both awe and revulsion by other Eldar. When an Eldar Lost on any other Path passes on, his Soulstone will be added to the Craftworld's Infinity Circuit, his excesses in life forgiven. Not so for an Exarch; the fusion of a soul so tainted with bloodlust and so dedicated to Khaine with the Infinity Circuit would taint it. When he dies, an Exarch's spirit remains with his armor, so an Exarch's armor ultimately becomes a miniature Infinity Circuit. An Exarch is no mere Eldar, it is an Eldar body inhabited by a multitude of Eldar souls. The collective will mingle and assume the name and mannerism of the first inhabitant of the suit, but the Exarch can draw on the experience of a multitude of existences. The other Eldar are horrified by this, believing the Exarch's existence as being akin to living death. Those few times an Exarch will interact with Eldars not on the Warrior Path when not at war, he will feel only fear, revulsion and pity coming from them.
In day to day life, an Exarch serves as the caretaker for his Shrine, and of the Warriors, arms and armour within. He will train the Warriors, instill proficiency with their Aspect's gear, and teach them the underlying philosophy. He will guide them in duels and mock battles, and in training exercices to augment their stamina and awareness. But most important of all, he will teach them how to don and remove their war-masks, how to call on their hatred and how to ignore and safely store it in their minds. It is therefor that the Exarchs are held in high respect by the other Eldars, for who could teach better how to avoid the pitfalls of a Path than one who has fallen himself so many times in so many different lives?
When an Exarch's body dies, wether from age or on the battlefield, his armor will be brought back to his shrine, to wait for a new bearer who will restart the cycle anew by adding his soul to the collective link. There are only two possible exceptions to this immuable cycle.
The first is when an Exarch is chosen to become the Young King, the blood-sacrifice who will awaken Khaine's Avatar. The chosen Exarch will strip of his armor, and his Soulstone will be ritually severed from it. This will also remove the Eldar's individual soul from the mingled link that is the Exarch. The Young King will then have the runes of War, one for each Aspect, carved into his back. Clad in his own blood, he will then don a cloak, and be given the Avatar's weapon. He will then boldly step forward into Khaine's shrine, and the doors will close behind him. A few moment later, the Avatar, fully empowered, will walk out and go to war. Of the Young King, no trace will remain, for he will have been consumed, body and soul, by Khaine...
The second is in those rare occasions where a Phoenix Lord falls. Similarly to a normal Exarch, a Phoenix Lord can be revived when an Exarch of his Aspect dons his armor. However, in the case of a Phoenix Lord, there is no collective mingling of souls: his pre-Fall soul is so old, so strong (and some whisper so tainted by "She-Who-Thirsts") that it will absorb and consume all of the lesser's Exarchs collective souls in the process, leaving only himself, "alive" once again...
Sources
- Codex: Eldar (4th Edition)
- Codex: Eldar (3rd Edition)
- White Dwarf 127 (US), "Eldar - Exarchs," pp. 13-52
- Path of the Warrior (Novel) by Gavin Thorpe, pg. 55-184