In the world of Warhammer 40,000, no mortal race is as brutal as the Drukhari. These evil cousins of the Eldar live to torment others. Or more precisely: they must torment others to survive. MeinMMO explains what these Dark Eldar are all about.
Although the Dark Eldar, or “Drukhari,” as they often call themselves, represent an extremely small faction, they are a feared power in the galaxy of Warhammer 40,000. These masters of torture seem to appear out of nowhere, causing suffering and anguish while abducting victims before they even know what is happening.
Drukhari possess a ghastly beauty. Just like their Eldar cousins, they have an elven, graceful form, but they often adorn it with cruel armor. As their skin rarely sees sunlight, it is nearly completely translucent and pale.
In battle, the Drukhari are so fast that recordings of their raids need to be slowed down for the eye to even follow their movements. Neo would surely be envious of their ability to dodge even laser shots.
Few races are as feared as the Dark Eldar because they not only kill but also want to make death as agonizing as possible. Not even the brutal Orks, who literally live for war, can match their cruelty.
You can play Dark Eldar as a faction in Dawn of War, one of the best strategy games despite its age:
A race that lives for hedonism
The Aeldari have ruled the galaxy for millions of years and in that time created a paradise within their realm, allowing the Eldar to indulge more and more in pleasurable things and thus in decadence.
At the height of excess, the Eldar sought new ways to stimulate themselves, until sadism, murder, and torture became almost commonplace. However, as their race possesses strong psychic powers, this hedonism had repercussions on the Warp, the realm of Chaos.
The massive accumulation of obsessive emotions caused these to manifest. The Chaos God Slaanesh was born and consumed the vast majority of the Eldar upon its emergence.
Through this experience, most Eldar came to their senses and have lived in moderation ever since. Only the Drukhari have not been truly affected by any of this. Strictly speaking, the Dark Eldar are the last “true” Eldar.
The cowardly hideout between worlds
The Drukhari reside in the city of Comorragh, which the Eldar built in the web of a thousand gates. This webway is a dimension between the material realm and the Warp and can only be entered through special gates.
This keeps the Drukhari out of reach of Slaanesh, who calls them “You, the thirsty.” In the webway and also in the material realm, the Dark Eldar are beyond Slaanesh’s reach, and the webway allows them to suddenly appear on foreign worlds and attack them.
This game of hide and seek is necessary, however, because “You, the thirsty” wants to consume all Eldar. Since the souls and emotions of these space elves are so strong, they represent a true feast for demons.
Eldar have a means of protecting their souls from Slaanesh with soul stones. However, Drukhari can be sure that their soul will be devoured by “You, the thirsty” after death and will be tormented forever.
Killing and torturing to survive
Nevertheless, Slaanesh manages to nibble away at the souls of the Dark Eldar repeatedly. Over time, they too will be consumed. However, the Drukhari have found a way to prevent this: pain and torture.
By absorbing the pain and suffering of their victims, they can rejuvenate themselves. They become effectively immortal. Over the millennia, this has led to the fact that this race has become dependent on suffering. They must torture to survive.
Accordingly, Dark Eldar today are primarily pirates, slave traders, and torturers. They appear suddenly, strike, and disappear again into the webway, unreachable by almost any enemy.
However, it can still happen that Drukhari die – especially in arena battles in Comorragh. After all, normal “citizens” must also be provided with pain. Haemonculi, creatures with cruel expertise in anatomy and alchemy, can ensure that even badly mutilated Dark Eldar can find their way back to life.
These horrific surgeons are said to even be capable of cloning Drukhari, which is quite necessary given the wear and low birth rate.
Drukhari are organized in their city into Kabals, which are like criminal cartels. Each Kabal specializes in a particular form of torture, combat, or other things, and they are in constant struggle for control over Comorragh.
A psychic race that is not allowed to cast spells
The downside of their existence is that the Dark Eldar are completely cut off from their magic. Eldar are a very psychically active race, and every Eldar can become a powerful sorcerer with enough practice.
Drukhari, however, must forgo such powers. In Warhammer, casting spells requires the caster to open themselves to the Warp. If a Dark Eldar were to do that, he would be devoured by Slaanesh in that very moment.
Accordingly, while Drukhari do not use psychic powers, they are also hard to detect by seers. Additionally, their craftsmanship regarding weapons is disturbingly well perfected. The weapons of the Dark Eldar rarely kill directly, as they feed off the cries of pain from their victims.
That Eldar – and thus Dark Eldar – have come to such great power is due to a war from many millions of years ago. Back then, two powerful races and even gods fought against each other, with a tragic ending: One race in Warhammer 40,000 could simply wipe out the greatest threat in the galaxy, but it has been sleeping for 60 million years
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