Exarch

"It is no madness, nor uncontrollable ire which the war-mask brings. It is an urging, to release what is inside, fighting to get out. I struggle with it, but I am its true master, exerting my will. It is no frenzy, no bloodlust that would swamp me, but a perspective. I see things unseen, pain and misery beneath, which you hide from. It is my duty, to prepare your mind. You will see horror, witness death and agony, and must confront it. This is my duty, to lead you down that dark path, from which all others recoil."

—Exarch Kenainath Deadly Shadow of the Striking Scorpions, speaking of his nature and role to one of his wards.

Asurmen, Phoenix Lord and first of the Eldar Exarchs

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 Eldar Paths with their promise of new experiences and development of new skills 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 very first Exarchs were the Phoenix Lords.

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 are destined for a life of never-ending violence. An Exarch assumes the ancient name of the first Exarch associated with his Aspect Shrine. Each name is associated with a set of Exarch Armour the Exarch wears in battle. If the Exarch is killed, another Aspect Warrior of his Aspect Shrine may take the armour and the name, becoming his replacement. 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 first Exarch's armour and name. Stored within the Exarch Armour is the spirit of the very first Eldar hero to have worn it and the spirit of every other Exarch to have followed in using that particular suit of armour. When the new Exarch dons the armour for the first time, these spirits merge with his own, and the collective Exarch, using the name and mannerisms of the first Exarch to have worn the armour when dealing with others, now draws on the accumulated memories, experiences and abilities of all of them.

Becoming an Exarch

To understand what it means to be an Exarch, one needs to understand something of the Craftworld Eldar's psyche and way of life. Since the the birth of "She Who Thirsts", the name the Eldar give to the Chaos God Slaanesh, the Eldar have sought ways to avoid the psychic pitfalls that led to their ancient empire's cataclysmic Fall. Their lives are now strictly regimented so that they can avoid being consumed by the psycho-emotional excesses of the past that ultimately sealed their doom. Each Eldar choses a "Path" that he or she will tread: the Path is both a role (be it artist, cook, engineer, explorer, warrior,etc.) and a form of psychological protection. By compartmenting his or her mind, an Eldar can draw upon his volatile emotions to enhance his chosen craft, and then lock them away within his or her mind when they are not needed. For all their differences, all of the Eldar Paths have one danger in common: if the Eldar fails at compartmentalising his emotions, 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 are 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 the Eldar Paths, for the warrior must draw on anger and hatred, which are the most powerful and therefore the most dangerous of emotions for the Eldar. Often, an Eldar treads the Path of the Warrior not due to interest in its teachings and experiences, but because a momentous event in his life has unhinged his mental balance -- such as a terrible personal failure or the loss of a loved one -- and uncontrollable anger starts polluting his work and his life. These 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 choose to embody, each Aspect Warrior must learn to do what in the Eldar Lexicon is known as "donning and removing one's war mask" -- learning to segment the mind so that it is possible to enter a state of heightened agression and bloodlust when necessary, and then safely return to everyday life when the demands of war have ended. 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 guide.

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 only after a long time. Some can avoid the pull of the Exarch, sensing that they have begun to lose themselves to their war mask. These individuals switch their Path with due haste to avoid this fate.

Once an Aspect 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 further access to his Aspect Shrine, sadly informing his former ward that the next time they meet, they will greet each other as equals. The Exarch-to-be, often furious at the rejection, will then wander around the Craftworld, trying to go on with his normal life, but will soon find himself unable to do so: other Eldar 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, and his only desire will be to return to his Shrine and make war. At this point, the Infinity Circuit will once again intervene and guide the warrior's steps to one of the Shrines of his chosen Aspect whose Exarch has fallen in battle. He will enter that Shrine, and don the former caretaker's empty Exarch Armour. 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 their greatest protectors.

Exarchs are regarded with both awe and revulsion by other Eldar. When an Eldar Lost on any other Path passes on, his Spirit Stone 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 slowly see it corrupted with their blood-madness. When he dies, an Exarch's spirit is absorbed into his armour, and so, over time, an Exarch's armour ultimately becomes a miniature Infinity Circuit. In truth, an Exarch is actually an Eldar body inhabited by a multitude of Eldar souls. The collective will mingle and assume the name and mannerisms of the first inhabitant of the Exarch Armour, but the Exarch can draw on the experience and personality of the entire multitude of existences. Other Eldar are horrified by this, believing that an Exarch's existence is akin to living death. When an Exarch interact on very rare occasions with Eldar who are not on the Path of the Warrior, he will feel only their fear, revulsion and pity.

In day to day life, an Exarch serves as the caretaker for his Aspect Shrine, and of the Aspect Warriors, arms and armour within them. He will train the Aspect Warriors, instill proficiency with their Aspect's chosen wargear, and teach them the underlying philosophy of both the Path of the Warrior and their particular Aspect's approach to it. He will guide them in duels and mock battles, and in training exercises to augment their stamina and awareness. But most important of all, the Exarch 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 when the time for battle has ended. It is for this reason that for all their pity and revulsion that Exarchs are held in high respect by the Eldar, for none can teach other Eldar how to avoid the pitfalls of the Path of the Warrior better than one who has fallen himself to its siren call so many times across so many different lives.

When an Exarch's body dies, whether from age or on the battlefield, his armour will be brought back to his Aspect Shrine, to wait for a new bearer who will restart the cycle anew by adding his soul to the armour's 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 impersonation of the long-dead Eldar hero Eldanesh and the the blood-sacrifice who will awaken Khaine's Avatar on a given Craftworld. The chosen Exarch will strip off his (or her) armour, and his Spirit Stone will be ritually severed from it. This will also remove the Eldar's individual soul from the collective pool of souls 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 boldly step forward into Khaine's shrine, and the doors will close behind him. A few moment later, the Avatar of Khaine, 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 the once sleeping power of Khaine that lay dormant within the Craftworld's Infinity Circuit.

The second exception to the cycle of an Exarch's life is on those rare occasions where a Phoenix Lord falls. Similar to a normal Exarch, a Phoenix Lord can be revived when an Exarch of his Aspect dons his armour. 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 Exarch's collective souls in the process, leaving only himself, "alive" once more to bring the fierce joy of battle and blood to all of the enemies of his people.

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. 48, 55-184

Gallery

Fire Dragons Exarch

Howling Banshee Exarch leading her Aspect Warriors

Shadow Spectres Exarch leading his Aspect Warriors

Shining Spears Exarch

Striking Scorpions Exarch

Swooping Hawks Exarch leading his Aspect Warriors

Warp Spiders Exarch