barpsy-abaub

A warm-up after several months without a stylus in hand. Not 100% happy with the result, but we need more fanart for DH and for its best characters!

Friendly reminder that on this page we love Saro despite being radical Xeno Hybris Eldar fans

"Dear Asur! You claim to be superior to Men, yet there is not a single instance of a dragon taking an Elvish spouse and producing dragon-blooded offspring. Meanwhile, in Grand Cathay, dozens of such hybrids have been born to humans.

Some top secret files from famous Interrogator of Holy Inquisition Philomenia Cunkus

"Voidscarred", Mike Brooks

...time for experiments! Note that this character is described as having a darker tone of skin; no "recoloring" took place. Dark-skinned Eldar are a challenge, especially when it comes to keeping an alien vibe, but I'm relatively content with the result.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Overall, it was a fun read. Some parts are purely entertaining, and one might argue that is the most important thing in a book.

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The bad part: it's another Farseer slander. I genuinely expected the epilogue to be about Craftworlders rubbing their hands together and saying, "He-he, everything went as planned," but no. #StopFarseerHateTheyAren'tThatIncompetent

There's still no answer for the question: "Why is it a bad idea to wear a soulstone but not follow a Path, stuck between the freedom of the Drukhari and the safety of the Asuryani?" The characters talk about that danger, but the book does not show it. I genuinely expected Princess Tishria to be an example of that, given how much emphasis was put on the excess of her palace and how unusual it is. But no luck.

Ra'Thar is based.

Orks are great, as always.

I've seen some discourse about the accuracy of the lore—for example, about how Myrin, while being a successful Corsair Baron, doesn't have a seer of his own. This one wasn't that staggering to me, given how opposed Myrin seems to the Farseer's craft. This problem could have been solved easily by writing a bit of resentment in Myrin towards divination. It's not a good thing to add your headcanon to explain holes in the book, but considering how in-character such a thing would be, I see this situation as less of a problem really.

I had issues with Xela, though. First, she's wearing a soulstone and there's not enough attention paid to it for my taste. I'm not a fan of the "Drukhari are evil only because they choose to be evil and they can easily be tied to a soulstone and live like normal eldar" theory; I much prefer the "Dark Son" approach. Also, I think she should've stayed dead. Getting dragged into the Warp without protection (sometimes even with it) is a 101% True Death possibility, with a 1% margin of error for the Eldar. Her survival makes the book less sharp, and that's next to the tastiest grimdark of Orks figuring out that taking away eldar slaves' soulstones makes them more willing to survive during work!

I'd give it a 7 out of 10, two steps higher than Path of the Eldar. No power balance bullshit, more likable characters, but both show Farseers as incompetent and contain the "The Craftworld is in RuIN!" trope. No cool lore, either; I wouldn't say that the book illustrated any great worldbuilding pieces, but nothing was lore-breaking as well.