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[MetalSlimeHunt]

The Dark Eldar are enticing because they're the only people who don't care about all the bullshit of the 40k universe. Everybody else is an ideological fanatic or driving by their inborn biology. The Dark Eldar don't have to do what they do. They could easily transition to the lifestyle of the Craftworlders or Exodites and avoid Slaanesh. Hir grasp is over all Eldar, they just bring on hir wrath through their activities. They want to be torture pirates.

In a place as joy-starved as 40k, there's something to be said for a group who dispense with the pretenses and take what they desire. Are they really all that worse than the Craftworlds or the Imperium? The Craftworlds don't have anything left of their culture but a mass suicide plan and the Imperium frankly tortures even more people for no reason, instead of their enjoyment of torture.

The universe is fucked. Might as well get your kicks in while you still can, and look good while you're doing it.

[Avis-Mergulus]

I'm pretty sure Dark Eldar literally die if they do not inflict pain on other beings. Doesn't sound like much of a choice from this perspective.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

It's a bit of a plot hole. We know, definitely, that Dark Eldar are capable of kicking the habit and going to live with the Craftworlders. We don't know exactly why Slaanesh drains them, but the rather Slaaneshi activities is probably a good bet. Given the themes of the Dark Eldar, the answer is probably along the lines of severe drug addiction except withdrawal also damages your soul.

My headcanon is that spirit stones are the answer. They block Slaanesh's influence, but they also block filling your own soul with torture joy. It's not just a desperate attempt at survival, the Dark Eldar clearly also gain great pleasure from drinking souls. They don't want to stop not to avoid death, but because the alternative condemns them to the stifling lifestyle of the other Eldar.

[Rolan7]

@Grim Portent spoiler
Khaine is respected by the incubi...  That's interesting.  But Khaine has always been something of an asshole, even by Eldar standards.  Even for the craftworld Eldar, I think he represents a certain masochism.  Self-hatred, requiring (IIRC) an eldar [precious] host.  But then targeted [obsessed with] the enemies of the Eldar.

I'm pretty sure Dark Eldar literally die if they do not inflict pain on other beings. Doesn't sound like much of a choice from this perspective.

Yes, except...  I think they could choose to be craftworld Eldar.  Or those weird nomads- POINT IS, they could choose asceticism.
Except they can't.  They won't.
Once you fall...  It's almost impossible to rise, especially surrounded by enablers (in the sense of justifying your lifestyle.  Not as in actually, well, HELPING).

The Dark Eldar are enticing because they're the only people who don't care about all the bullshit of the 40k universe. Everybody else is an ideological fanatic or driving by their inborn biology. The Dark Eldar don't have to do what they do. They could easily transition to the lifestyle of the Craftworlders or Exodites and avoid Slaanesh. Hir grasp is over all Eldar, they just bring on hir wrath through their activities. They want to be torture pirates.

Yes, this
And... fuck the DE.  Figuratively.
The Tau also fill that role, with diplomacy instead of PREDATORY SADISM

[MetalSlimeHunt]

If WHF is any indication, Khaine worshipers are in a bit of a practical bind. It would be like if we had a whole pantheon of actual, verifiable gods, but then almost all of them got killed and one of the few survivors was Satan. Satan's growth profile just opened up massively, even if it's mostly because there aren't a lot of options anymore.

Khaine is shattered, Isha imprisoned, Ynnead doesn't exist, and asking Ceograch for help is a terrible idea. The other option is Chaos, and not just Slaanesh either, but that's obviously immensely dangerous.

[Loud Whispers]

I'm pretty sure Dark Eldar literally die if they do not inflict pain on other beings. Doesn't sound like much of a choice from this perspective.

The Eldar are in the same boat, they avoid this death through temperance whilst placing their souls in soulstones upon final death due to Imperium/Nids/Orks/Chaos. The Dark Eldar avoid temperance, and stick to their life of excess, the same one they enjoyed before the fall. Only now they do their excess in excess of excess so that Slaanesh has to eat the excess excess instead of the DE soul

Dorian Grays all in space

Artists, artisans and the like are often independent or semi-independent from the larger groups in the city, with the lesser ones basically living as street vendors or running small shops while the more valued or famous ones live in luxury doing commission work for wealthy patrons. The creator of the Glass Plague bioweapon was such an individual, who sold incredibly lifelike statues of green-black glass from his studio until the rest of the city found out how he was making them and attacked him, accidentally releasing the plague into the city.

I'm trying to think of the name of the movie this was based on, really old one, one where the protagonists is a sculptor. The sculptor accidentally kills a cat and to cover it up (because he'd panicked and would much rather not have to explain how he killed the cat) he covers it in clay and calls it art. Everyone loves it and it's a critical success. With a few more bits of temptation, he eventually makes more art... Only he is not talented enough to replicate the realism his murdered cat provided. Things go downhill as he grows more ambitious, eventually deciding to make human statues.

Aha! Remembered the name of this
Worth a watch imo

[Grim Portent]

Forgot to mention this.

In general Dark Eldar don't fear dying because they can be restored from as little as a pile of ash for years after death by being exposed to sufficient suffering, generally as part of an arrangement with a Haemonculi that sees their remains placed in a box above their operating tables. The few weapons capable of bypassing this are generally referred to as bestowing 'true death'. Mere physical destruction doesn't do the trick, since any organic matter from the Eldar has a link to their soul and can be used to claw it back from the Warp.

The few things capable of truly killing them include Nurgle's Rot, which turns the soul into a daemon of Nurgle, the Glass Plague, which leaves no organic matter to reanimate, certain psychic powers that destroy the soul itself and other similar technology or magic.

[Rolan7]

Now that is a Grim Portent.
B)
Seriously though, fuck the DE.
again, not literally.

[misko27]

-snip-

Sure there's something to be said for that: they are responsible for everything wrong with the galaxy. They are the only thing that separated the 41st Millennium from Star Trek. Tyranids? "What ho, good sir! We'll unite to wipe out those baddies." Necrons? Same thing. Literally, every single bad thing in 40k is something that would unite the rest of the galaxy around containing and destroying (Tau included); it's only 40k because the Galaxy in the 41st millennium is solely composed of bad-things-that-unite-the-galaxy duking it out for the scraps left from when times weren't terrible.

And it's all because of those darn purple hedonists fucking a god of evil into existence, waking up the other three gods of evil, and fucking over civilization forever.

[Neonivek]

As a race the Dark Eldar are constantly having their soul slowly drained by Slaanesh, usually described with a hole in the spirit metaphor, with pain and suffering filling the hole temporarily, though it constantly grows as they age meaning they need more and more pain to stay alive. Failure to keep Slaanesh at bay in this manner causes them to age rapidly and eventually become a soulless husk that mindlessly attempts to prey on living things near them in the vain hope of recapturing life

Seriously 40k really got to stop with this crud. I swear in a decade it will be revealed that if a Ork choses not to fight they will drop dead.

It is seriously bad fanfic level writing to try and force a situation like this as much as they do.

[Andres]

In a place as joy-starved as 40k, there's something to be said for a group who dispense with the pretenses and take what they desire.

Doesn't this also apply to the Orks? They do what they want and they're pretty good comic relief.

[Loud Whispers]

Forgot to mention this.

In general Dark Eldar don't fear dying because they can be restored from as little as a pile of ash for years after death by being exposed to sufficient suffering, generally as part of an arrangement with a Haemonculi that sees their remains placed in a box above their operating tables. The few weapons capable of bypassing this are generally referred to as bestowing 'true death'. Mere physical destruction doesn't do the trick, since any organic matter from the Eldar has a link to their soul and can be used to claw it back from the Warp.

The few things capable of truly killing them include Nurgle's Rot, which turns the soul into a daemon of Nurgle, the Glass Plague, which leaves no organic matter to reanimate, certain psychic powers that destroy the soul itself and other similar technology or magic.

Don't forget the glory of plasma weapons, battle cannon shells, promethium flamers and melta weapons

Not to mention the DE in question has to be on the good side of the Haemonculi, otherwise the Haemonculi will not revive them (or revive them as a grotesque joke)

Seriously 40k really got to stop with this crud. I swear in a decade it will be revealed that if a Ork choses not to fight they will drop dead.

It is seriously bad fanfic level writing to try and force a situation like this as much as they do.

Are you really complaining about Slaanesh being a major plot point, or the fall of the Eldar...?!

[Andres]

Are there any instances of a populace of a planet controlled by Chaos overthrowing their masters and bringing back the Emperor?

[Grim Portent]

Don't forget the glory of plasma weapons, battle cannon shells, promethium flamers and melta weapons

Those don't actually do the trick. Like I said, a DE can be restored from a pile of ash, it doesn't matter if you melt the upper half of it's torso with plasma, burn it to dust with fire, scatter it across a 30 foot circle with a battle cannon or vaporise a chunk of it with melta, if any of it's remains can be recovered and stuck in a box the DE can bring it back eventually.

[misko27]

Are there any instances of a populace of a planet controlled by Chaos overthrowing their masters and bringing back the Emperor?

Define "controlled by Chaos". That ranges from "secret heretic governor listening to the strange whispers" to "literal daemon worlds", and it affects the answer significantly.

Don't forget the glory of plasma weapons, battle cannon shells, promethium flamers and melta weapons

Those don't actually do the trick. Like I said, a DE can be restored from a pile of ash, it doesn't matter if you melt the upper half of it's torso with plasma, burn it to dust with fire, scatter it across a 30 foot circle with a battle cannon or vaporise a chunk of it with melta, if any of it's remains can be recovered and stuck in a box the DE can bring it back eventually.

Last I heard they need a single cell, but an actual cell to bind to. Otherwise, their soul becomes unmoored and they end up in the Sea of the Warp, and suddenly Slaanesh looms from out of nowhere like a Great White.