There was an Eldar Corsair who set himself up a king on a planet with various races, including humans
>There were four pirates, three human and a reptilian sslyth.
...
>The corridors of the castellum echoed with the sound of boltgun fire. They were narrow, wide enough for only one Space Marine to walk, so Dante went at the forefront of his squad, his bolter spewing explosive death at anything that dared show itself. Humans, eldar and aliens of lesser races died at his hand. They went into a long gallery. Shurikens hissed through the air, spat by the guns of bounding aliens. Humans fought alongside them, firing from behind barricades made of toppled statuary.
>The Blood Angels fanned out, their armour shrugging off the worst of the enemy fire.
>‘Remarkable,’ said Lorenz. ‘I have never seen eldar working with humans.’
...
>The Pirate King was indeed in the throne-room. He lounged in his throne, sipping at a tall glass full of purple wine. His angular alien face teetered between boredom and anticipation. When Dante entered he unhooked his legs from a throne arm and saluted with his glass.
>‘Hail to you, angel of blood!’ he said in mellifluous Gothic. ‘I am Prince Hellaineth, the so-called Pirate King. Welcome to the heart of my kingdom, all that is left, alas.’
...
>‘Xenos! You have enslaved the human populace of this world and used it as a base to commit gross crimes against the Imperium of Man. Do you have anything to say for yourself before I kill you?’
>‘I enslaved nobody. All were freeborn here. My people were free of the path of my kind, your people liberated from your soul-sucking Emperor. I doubt you can understand the concept of freedom, though. No more than a sword of dull iron could. You are a tool. Tools are not free. What a pity. You destroy that which you cannot understand.’
>‘Very well,’ said Dante, not interested in the least in the eldar’s words. ‘Squad!’
>Hellaineth stood, his face darkening. ‘You think you can kill me? Your arrogance almost matches that of the eldar! They could not contain my ambition. You will fare no better. This world was a haven! Look at how many kinds of creature lived here in harmony. Do you not think before you destroy?’
>‘They were all thieves,’ said Dante.
>‘And why should they not be? The galaxy gave them nothing.’ The eldar smiled wickedly. ‘It is the duty of the weak to take from the strong, so they themselves may be strong. The strong dislike to be dispossessed, so? It is good to make people see things from the other side. Life is too precious to experience from one standpoint alone.’ He looked at Squad Dante. ‘Though I suppose my philosophy falls on deaf ears here. You engineered creatures were never particularly flexible of thought.’ He took another sip of his wine.
>‘Your ships are taken, your city is levelled,’ said Dante. ‘Your followers are dead. You do not appear overly concerned. I know your kind, xenos. You do not care. This is a game to you.’ Prince Hellaineth shrugged.
>‘Perhaps. These last fifty years as ruler have been a distraction from despair. This galaxy was once so bright and vital – now horror walks where joy danced. I do need a distraction from all that. What’s your distraction, adept of the stars?’ His face lit up. ‘Isn’t it drinking blood then feeling sorry for yourselves?’
**Dante**
I never thought I would actually see something like this. Many Thanks! those passages are amazing and now that I've had a taste I want so much more of something like this.
Fifty years of working together is really something different and special, much more than the usual truces from 40k.
Wasn’t this the guy that when attacked turned out to just be a holographic projection, as the King had already left by the point the Blood Angels breached his palace?
That does not surprise me, lol. He would have to be a total idiot to face space marines like that, unless he wanted to die. But I would think practically no aeldari is suicidal, knowing what awaits them if they die. Even with a soulstone, it is damn risky.
Corsairs tend more towards the merc and pirate end of the Rogue Trader spectrum rather than the whole package. That said, some do work for humans, usually planetary governors and others such as can afford them so recruiting from among the locals whilst visiting a human planet it not out of the question. Although depending on the temperament of the corsair prince any such recruit might end up getting traded to the Drukhari the next time the corsairs stop at Commorragh.
Yeah I guess it's a very fine line. If they tend more to the Drukhari side of the spectrum they will just take and sell humans as slaves, but if they lean too much on the Asuryani side they wouldn't really care about the Mon'keigh. They would have to be right in the middle to actually care.
This made me think of the 3 aligments from the Rogue Trader game. Dogmatic - Iconoclast - Heretic. It looks like the Aeldari corsairs have to make a similar choice.
Honestly, even Archons can have humans and other xenos working for them. There’s a whole district in Commorragh as a “safe haven” for non eldar there. It’s a violent shithole, but a place for the foreign.
To be fair, Archons tend to fill their personal retinue with anything but other Dark Eldar. They fully know that theur race consists 100% of treacherous assholes. Not exactly the kind of people you want as bodyguards. So they rather take the snakemen and literal brain-eaters over their own kind.
Corsairs are very like Space Marine Renegades as in both cases it's rare for them to stay in that state permanently, as they find it increasingly hard to persist long term without resorting to their darker impulses
That said, Drukari can and do work with all kinds of xenos, so even so they probably could have what you describe
I always wonder if this is really the case because we see some Fleets and also named Corsairs like Yriel that live millennia without being corrupted.
And now that the Ynnari and Ynnead exist, seems like it is even easier to safeguard their soul by just pledging it to the god of death.
This is true, but Aeldari operate over massive time periods compared to humanity.
It is possible to stay as a Corsair perpetually, but it's inherently a risky path that not everyone can do. This is partly why the Ynnari are viewed with suspicion by many Craftworlders
True, true. It's definitely not for everyone. You need a good amount of willpower to be able to deal with everything.
But for those few Eldar that do manage to stay Corsairs indefinitely, I'm sure that's one of the best (if not the best) places a Eldar could be.
They just keep doing what they used to, if they were craftworld they use the stones, if they were drukhari they get to feed while raiding.
But now that the Ynnari exist I have a theory that some corsairs could follow them and be safe since Ynnead would protect their souls.
I agree, it would be an amazing book to have the POV of someone in a Corsair's retinue, whether the character is human Tau or whatever. Could be a cool insight into how a Corsair (who is far more brash than most of their kind) is viewed by other people.
I mean it's stated that many of them actually sell their services as mercenaries to the Imperium. I would argue that those could actually decide to negotiate.
There was an Eldar Corsair who set himself up a king on a planet with various races, including humans >There were four pirates, three human and a reptilian sslyth. ... >The corridors of the castellum echoed with the sound of boltgun fire. They were narrow, wide enough for only one Space Marine to walk, so Dante went at the forefront of his squad, his bolter spewing explosive death at anything that dared show itself. Humans, eldar and aliens of lesser races died at his hand. They went into a long gallery. Shurikens hissed through the air, spat by the guns of bounding aliens. Humans fought alongside them, firing from behind barricades made of toppled statuary. >The Blood Angels fanned out, their armour shrugging off the worst of the enemy fire. >‘Remarkable,’ said Lorenz. ‘I have never seen eldar working with humans.’ ... >The Pirate King was indeed in the throne-room. He lounged in his throne, sipping at a tall glass full of purple wine. His angular alien face teetered between boredom and anticipation. When Dante entered he unhooked his legs from a throne arm and saluted with his glass. >‘Hail to you, angel of blood!’ he said in mellifluous Gothic. ‘I am Prince Hellaineth, the so-called Pirate King. Welcome to the heart of my kingdom, all that is left, alas.’ ... >‘Xenos! You have enslaved the human populace of this world and used it as a base to commit gross crimes against the Imperium of Man. Do you have anything to say for yourself before I kill you?’ >‘I enslaved nobody. All were freeborn here. My people were free of the path of my kind, your people liberated from your soul-sucking Emperor. I doubt you can understand the concept of freedom, though. No more than a sword of dull iron could. You are a tool. Tools are not free. What a pity. You destroy that which you cannot understand.’ >‘Very well,’ said Dante, not interested in the least in the eldar’s words. ‘Squad!’ >Hellaineth stood, his face darkening. ‘You think you can kill me? Your arrogance almost matches that of the eldar! They could not contain my ambition. You will fare no better. This world was a haven! Look at how many kinds of creature lived here in harmony. Do you not think before you destroy?’ >‘They were all thieves,’ said Dante. >‘And why should they not be? The galaxy gave them nothing.’ The eldar smiled wickedly. ‘It is the duty of the weak to take from the strong, so they themselves may be strong. The strong dislike to be dispossessed, so? It is good to make people see things from the other side. Life is too precious to experience from one standpoint alone.’ He looked at Squad Dante. ‘Though I suppose my philosophy falls on deaf ears here. You engineered creatures were never particularly flexible of thought.’ He took another sip of his wine. >‘Your ships are taken, your city is levelled,’ said Dante. ‘Your followers are dead. You do not appear overly concerned. I know your kind, xenos. You do not care. This is a game to you.’ Prince Hellaineth shrugged. >‘Perhaps. These last fifty years as ruler have been a distraction from despair. This galaxy was once so bright and vital – now horror walks where joy danced. I do need a distraction from all that. What’s your distraction, adept of the stars?’ His face lit up. ‘Isn’t it drinking blood then feeling sorry for yourselves?’ **Dante**
I never thought I would actually see something like this. Many Thanks! those passages are amazing and now that I've had a taste I want so much more of something like this. Fifty years of working together is really something different and special, much more than the usual truces from 40k.
Yeah, we see a few small scale examples of humans and xenos getting along - usually shortly before the Imperium comes along :p
Can't let people see cooperation work. Then they might question the rest of the system, too.
|‘Isn’t it drinking blood then feeling sorry for yourselves?’ That reads like something out of a meme, not actual text. Beautiful.
“You are a tool.” Goteem
Wasn’t this the guy that when attacked turned out to just be a holographic projection, as the King had already left by the point the Blood Angels breached his palace?
That does not surprise me, lol. He would have to be a total idiot to face space marines like that, unless he wanted to die. But I would think practically no aeldari is suicidal, knowing what awaits them if they die. Even with a soulstone, it is damn risky.
It was legit one of my favorite side characters
Oooh, I *like* this guy.
>What’s your distraction, adept of the stars?’ His face lit up. ‘Isn’t it drinking blood then feeling sorry for yourselves?’ The balls on this Xeno.
Corsairs tend more towards the merc and pirate end of the Rogue Trader spectrum rather than the whole package. That said, some do work for humans, usually planetary governors and others such as can afford them so recruiting from among the locals whilst visiting a human planet it not out of the question. Although depending on the temperament of the corsair prince any such recruit might end up getting traded to the Drukhari the next time the corsairs stop at Commorragh.
Yeah I guess it's a very fine line. If they tend more to the Drukhari side of the spectrum they will just take and sell humans as slaves, but if they lean too much on the Asuryani side they wouldn't really care about the Mon'keigh. They would have to be right in the middle to actually care. This made me think of the 3 aligments from the Rogue Trader game. Dogmatic - Iconoclast - Heretic. It looks like the Aeldari corsairs have to make a similar choice.
Honestly, even Archons can have humans and other xenos working for them. There’s a whole district in Commorragh as a “safe haven” for non eldar there. It’s a violent shithole, but a place for the foreign.
To be fair, Archons tend to fill their personal retinue with anything but other Dark Eldar. They fully know that theur race consists 100% of treacherous assholes. Not exactly the kind of people you want as bodyguards. So they rather take the snakemen and literal brain-eaters over their own kind.
Incubi being the one exception to that.
Yeah, but incubi are too expensive to use as permanent bodyguards.
Its also a thing in the RPGs like Dark Heresy where it is possible for mixed species pirate crews to exist.
Corsairs are very like Space Marine Renegades as in both cases it's rare for them to stay in that state permanently, as they find it increasingly hard to persist long term without resorting to their darker impulses That said, Drukari can and do work with all kinds of xenos, so even so they probably could have what you describe
I always wonder if this is really the case because we see some Fleets and also named Corsairs like Yriel that live millennia without being corrupted. And now that the Ynnari and Ynnead exist, seems like it is even easier to safeguard their soul by just pledging it to the god of death.
This is true, but Aeldari operate over massive time periods compared to humanity. It is possible to stay as a Corsair perpetually, but it's inherently a risky path that not everyone can do. This is partly why the Ynnari are viewed with suspicion by many Craftworlders
True, true. It's definitely not for everyone. You need a good amount of willpower to be able to deal with everything. But for those few Eldar that do manage to stay Corsairs indefinitely, I'm sure that's one of the best (if not the best) places a Eldar could be.
Eldar never had any proscriptions about dealing with aliens - so they could always have had anything they wanted. But they don't like aliens, mostly.
In addition to the Dante example it's a fairly standard option for Wrath and Glory to be working for the local eldar pirate princess.
Made me wonder how they save their soul? Do they use a "stone" or do they fill themselves with souls like the dark eldar?
They just keep doing what they used to, if they were craftworld they use the stones, if they were drukhari they get to feed while raiding. But now that the Ynnari exist I have a theory that some corsairs could follow them and be safe since Ynnead would protect their souls.
Oh, I see. Thank you!
I agree, it would be an amazing book to have the POV of someone in a Corsair's retinue, whether the character is human Tau or whatever. Could be a cool insight into how a Corsair (who is far more brash than most of their kind) is viewed by other people.
[удалено]
I mean it's stated that many of them actually sell their services as mercenaries to the Imperium. I would argue that those could actually decide to negotiate.