Gav Thorpe on Eldar

[DrLove42]

Its not heresy so it gets it own thread

He wants to do a series about each Phoenox Lord and their experiences of the fall, similar to Primarches and the Heresy

[eldargal]

Love the idea, nice antidote to all the tedious Marine nonsense we've been getting.

[Mr.Pickelz]

I can't wait to see what Maugan Ra's story has in store, what with him losing his craftworld and all....

[Homeworld]

Nice, but I would prefer Andy Chambers. I liked his Dark Eldar novels much more than Thorpe's trilogy about Eldar (and I'm an Eldar enthusiast). Plot and characters were far more interesting. And I disagree with some Thorpe ideas about the fluff, especially about the average Craftworld Eldar population.

[Defenestratus]

Oh my god no. Whoever wrote masque of vyle should never be allowed top write a book ever again.

[bfmusashi]

I thought the Phoenix Lords were a post-cataclysm, post-path reformation phenomenon. So, would we be learning about their lives before discovering specialization? Will they explain just why a society with faster than light sidewalks built giant sub-luminal space craft for "trade?" Maybe why these craft existed in isolation yet had access to said ftl sidewalks? 'cause I would buy it just for that explanation and I would buy it hard if Jain Zar had a valley girl accent before the Fall.

[eldargal]

Learn your background:

a) The webway doesn't necessarily take you right to your destination, so you need other propulsion
b) The larger webway passages are large enough for smaller craftworlds to enter
c) The craftworlds are tens or hundreds of times larger 'now' than they were at the fall
d) Post-Fall the webway was shattered, cutting many direct paths and making some areas inaccessible or incredibly hard to get to
e) Some Craftworlds chose to be isolated because they believed they were the only survivors or all other survivors were corrupted by Chaos.

There is nothing to explain.

The Phoenix Lords WERE post-Fall, but the people themselves were not. One assumes each book would show who they were shortly before the Fall. how they survived, and why they would embrace Asurmans teachings.

[bfmusashi]

Learn your background:

a) The webway doesn't necessarily take you right to your destination, so you need other propulsion
b) The larger webway passages are large enough for smaller craftworlds to enter
c) The craftworlds are tens or hundreds of times larger 'now' than they were at the fall
d) Post-Fall the webway was shattered, cutting many direct paths and making some areas inaccessible or incredibly hard to get to
e) Some Craftworlds chose to be isolated because they believed they were the only survivors or all other survivors were corrupted by Chaos.

There is nothing to explain.

The Phoenix Lords WERE post-Fall, but the people themselves were not. One assumes each book would show who they were shortly before the Fall. how they survived, and why they would embrace Asurmans teachings.

First, if Asurman is presented as anything other than a crazy doomsday prepper I will be disappointed.
Second, Pre-fall Craftworlds are:
Described as isolated before the fall
Posess a sizable population
Designated as trade craft
Slower than light speed

These traits are in spite of webway access. It should be explained as it is the most "Because Reasons" part of their background. Even if it's something weird like Craftwords didn't have smaller webway gates or the ability to anchor them until after the destruction of their empire it should be stated. Other fun things to find out, who are they trading with? Did farseers exist? Whose room did Kaine move into?

[eldargal]

First, that makes sense I agree. I wonder what the eldar equivalent of a shelter full of space beans in a can is? A craftworld? Heh.
Second, you need the read something other than the 2nd edition codex.
Some isolated themselves pre-fall from the decadence of eldar society.
Yep, entire planetary populations potentially.
Not anymore, not all of them anyway. Many were built to allow populations to escape the corruption of the eldar empire. Some may have been repurposed trade vessels, others may have been scratch built. But they certainly weren't just merchant ships and the crew surviving by accident.

So I still don't think it requires much explanation. Certainly giving an indication of how the early Craftworlds were constructed and what their role was in a bit more detail would be welcome, though.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

I'm just glad that some writers in the 21st century believe aliens can be legitimate and enjoyable protagonists. Before GW started doing Eldar books I was beginning to think the concept was lost in the early 20th century.