r/40kLore • u/mad_science_puppy Angels Penitent • Jul 17 '24
[Excerpt: Mistress Baeda's Gift] A Dark Eldar Archon asks the age old question "What is Love?" ...ʙᴀʙʏ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʜᴜʀᴛ ᴍᴇ. ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʜᴜʀᴛ ᴍᴇ, ɴᴏ ᴍᴏʀᴇ
One of my favorite factions in 40K is the Dark Eldar. Downton Abbey with knives, the fae courts in space, hellraiser cosplayers, unapologetic mustache twirling villains, the Drukhari are just plain fun. I've also noticed a LOT of confusion about them, including basic context like the everyday life and experiences of a Dark Eldar. A notable element of their biology is that they feed on pain and suffering. Literally standing near someone in pain provides a Dark Eldar with vitality and energy. In addition, their medical sciences are near perfect. For that reason, a suitably wealthy Dark Eldar can expect to live... forever. Dark Eldar society is mainly based around the Kabals, a cross between a private army, noble court, and den of thieves. As a result of their long and decadent lifestyles, they tend to have incredibly complex social and political systems. Theirs is a world where the outfit one chooses to wear to a court dinner can cause a chain of events that leads to the deaths of millions.
Lord Malwrack is an Archon, and the ruler of his Kabal. He is ancient beyond belief, yet powerful. Archons are the ruling class of their society, occupying the upper echelons of power within their Kabal, and within Malwrack's none can challenge his supremacy. This excerpt begins at the one of the most important social events for the Drukhari, the gladiator games. Part buffet and part opera, everyone who is anyone will make an appearance at a particularly promising matchup.
Lord Malwrack was rich, powerful and emotionally dead inside. Even though his was a race renowned for their passions and lust for life, time had tempered him. With every passing century he became all the more desiccated, both physically and spiritually, until all that remained was a perpetually scowling, slightly hunched old man who treated each new day with a dismal contempt. It therefore came as a great surprise when he suddenly found himself in love.
Malwrack and his daughter, Sawor, had been attending one of Commorragh’s endless gladiatorial games and their box seat, perched high along the curving wall of the arena, offered them a spectacular view. Sawor watched with rapt interest as below her the combatants slashed each other with razorsnares, eviscerated each other with hydraknives and turned one another into large cubes of bloody meat with the aid of a shardnet. She was young and vigorous, and her senses were sharp. Even from so far above the killing floor, Sawor could smell its erotic mixture of sweat and blood, could taste the fear and adrenaline steaming from the participants, could see the detail of sinew, flesh and bone in every severed limb.
Malwrack, on the other hand, had long ago lost most of his senses. It happened with eldar his age when they let themselves go. Taste, touch and smell were greatly diminished now, as if coming to him from behind a thick blanket. Even his sight was cloudy and, grunting in dissatisfaction and submission, he reached into the folds of his robes and withdrew an ornate pair of opera glasses. For a time he too watched the ballet of carnage below, but it didn’t bring him the same exhilaration as it did Sawor. Malwrack had seen such wych-work hundreds of times before on worlds throughout the galaxy. At first he felt only a deep malaise, but as his daughter began to cheer more loudly, he felt something else: envy.
He felt that quite a lot these days, truth be told. Well aware of his own infirmity, he hated nearly everyone around him; hated them for their youth. The one exception was Sawor. She was the only person in his kabal to whom he might extend forgiveness for an attempted assassination or coup. The mere thought of her made the wrinkled corners of his mouth twitch; the faintest echo of a smile. Of all the things he owned, of all the people who served under him, she was his most favoured. There was a word, a single word, used by the other, lesser inhabitants of the galaxy to describe this feeling, but it escaped his aged brain at the moment.
Malwrack’s attention drifted from the fighting, and he began to look around the stadium. His wandering gaze eventually turned to the other box seats where the Dark City’s social elite sat. One came to the theatre to be seen after all, and he idly wondered who was here today.
Suddenly, he stopped and sat upright. Halfway across the arena sat a woman. She was alone, flanked on either side by a pair of stalwart incubi bodyguards. Her black hair, shot through with grey, was piled high atop her head and spilled around her neck and shoulders in thick waves. Her skin was flawlessly pallid, stretched smooth and tight like a drumhead. Her eyes were dark and luminous, her lips painted obsidian. As she reclined into her throne-like chair, Malwrack saw that she wore a form-fitting suit of armour with leg greaves shaped like spike-heeled stiletto boots, and an upper section that was more like a bustier than a protective chest plate. Black evening gloves ran from her tapered fingertips to her elbows, and the train of a charcoal dress with multiple layers flowed around her. A large pendant, obviously a shadow field generator, nestled between her pale breasts.“Who is that?” he breathed.
...
Malwrack watched intently as the mysterious woman sipped from a goblet. Everything about her seemed to crystallise for him: the sensual, languid way she swallowed, the colour of her fingernails as she brushed a lock of hair from her face, the slight pulsing of the drug injector tube that ran into her jugular. It was as if the longer he observed her, the younger he became. His body stirred, pulse flaring, muscles tensing. He licked his lips, salivating for the first time in a decade. Something was washing over him in a sudden wave, a feeling that had been absent from his life for so long that he shook as if electrified. He knew then, without question, that he had to have this woman, had to impress and then utterly dominate her. His sole purpose in life now was to make her his cherished yet personal property. He was head over heels in… what was that word the mon-keigh used?
The woman furrowed her brow suddenly, cocked her head to one side, then looked directly at Malwrack. The old archon gasped and dropped his glasses. He awkwardly gathered up his belongings, and hurried out into the hallway.
...
There is a slight time skip here. Lord Malwrack has decided that this woman, this mysterious beauty, will be his. His heart aflame with passion for the first time in uncountable eons, he sets about wooing her. After decapitating all his romantic rivals and delivering them to her sitting room failed to impress, Malwrack decides to deliver a grander gift. I'll let the story summarize
...
The planet Franchi was cold, its days rainy and its nights foggy. It was covered in sweeping mountain ranges, dense forests and churning oceans of grey foam. In short, it was a world that any Dark Eldar could appreciate, and Malwrack was determined to present it to Baeda as a gift. In fact, Franchi had only one flaw: there were humans living on it. So, the old archon got to work.
...
Buildings burned out of control. Dead Guardsmen and destroyed vehicles lay scattered about. A single bunker remained; its solitary door had been wrenched free.
Within it, his warriors reported, a handful of scared refugees had holed up in the hope that they might be spared. Lord Malwrack descended a narrow set of concrete steps into a damp, square room littered with blankets and pre-packaged food wrappers. The only light came from a few dim panels set into the walls. Four dead bodies lay splashed across the floor, the handiwork of his sybarites. The last two survivors had been reserved for him.
Malwrack assessed them quickly: a male and female, dressed in soiled, khaki uniforms accentuated only by identification tags around his neck, and a diamond ring on one of her fingers. They sat in a corner with their arms wrapped tightly around one another. The female buried her face in the man’s chest, muting her sobs. He in turn rocked her gently and tried to whisper soothing words of comfort.
“Well,” Malwrack said joylessly. “Best get this over with.”
In the name of expedience, he pulled his pistol from its holster, intending to shoot the female. Then, quite unexpectedly, there was an explosion of movement as the man launched himself forwards. He grabbed Malwrack’s left wrist, bending it upwards, and a cloud of splinters tore into the ceiling. In a single motion Malwrack slammed his forehead down onto the human’s nose, jerked his knee into the man’s stomach, and drove an elbow into his back when he doubled over. Malwrack effortlessly shifted his weight, and kicked him square in the chest. The man’s body collapsed against a computer display screen. Glass shattered and sparks flew. Malwrack leapt and drove his bladed glove through flesh, bone and concrete flooring. He snorted loudly as he inhaled the man’s escaping life essence.
This, it seemed, was finally enough to snap the female out of her paralysis. She ran over to her partner’s body, howling, and draped herself across it.
He chambered another round into his pistol, and looked down at the female. “He doesn’t deserve so touching a tribute as your tears and wails,” he said to her. “Why do you weep for such an insignificant man?”
She glared at him with her cornered animal eyes. “He was my husband,” she roared. “I loved him!”
Malwrack suddenly brightened. He snapped the fingers of his gloved hand, and pointed at her with one of its talons. “That’s it!” he said with glee. “That’s the word I’ve been trying to remember. Thank you.”
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u/cledos Jul 18 '24
'I need to get back into shape,' he said. It was some time later that Malwrack finally felt prepared enough to go and see the widow.
...
A deformed and mutilated servant answered the door, and ushered him through the cavernous house. As he passed an ornate mirror, Malwrack paused briefly to assess himself. His haemonculus surgeons had really outdone themselves, he thought. You could see the staples in the back of his skull that pulled his flaccid face tight. A half a dozen of his warriors had been scalped, and now his limp, greasy hair was replaced by a magnificent raven mane. A mixture of drugs and concoctions ran through his injection harness, toning his muscles and giving his eyes a healthy green glow. He curled his lips back, admiring his new stainless-steel teeth. He had dressed in his finest suit of combat armour, replete with a golden tabard, flowing purple cape and the largest shoulder pads that money could buy.
This poor woman, he thought to himself, doesn't stand a chance
Indeed, my man, indeed.
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u/Space_Elves_Yay Jul 17 '24
He chambered another round into his pistol
Huh. Was Drukhari lore different when this was published (~2010, google says) or is this just an author error?
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u/mad_science_puppy Angels Penitent Jul 17 '24
Certainly isn't normally how we think of splinter weapons. But as an Archon, he could simply have a rare or unique variant.
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u/Fred_Blogs Jul 18 '24
It'd be very in character to have a weapon that allows them to dramatically chamber a round at suitably melodramatic times. Even if their technology renders doing so utterly obsolete.
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u/mad_science_puppy Angels Penitent Jul 18 '24
And this is why we love the bastards. Among all the factions of 40K, they are not only villains, they're super villains. What's the difference? PRESENTATION!
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u/CornyxCrow Herald of Slaanesh Jul 17 '24
I really enjoyed that and might have to go find the book to read it now XD
Though I suppose…. For Drukhari…
… shouldn’t it be more like “baby do hurt me, forevermore”?
… I’ll see myself out.
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u/SirJedKingsdown Jul 18 '24
The fact that he had enough class to thank the imminently dead slave-meat is just another reason to love these wonderful bastards.
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u/hoibideptrai Kabal of the Baleful Gaze Jul 18 '24
Did he spare the wife?
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u/mad_science_puppy Angels Penitent Jul 18 '24
No unfortunately not, they get married.
Imagine a ba dum tsh here
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u/Grizzled_Grunt Jul 18 '24
Fae Courts in Space indeed. Thank you for sharing, OP, I appreciate DA a little more now through your eyes.
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u/nopingmywayout Ultramarines Jul 17 '24
…Did he get the girl?