Dark Eldar day jobs

Had a thought. Do dark eldar have day jobs? We know from the Deisgner's Round Table vids that Kabalite Warriors are the creme de la creme of the Dark Eldar. Wyches are gladiators, etc, but what about the hordes of commoners?

Surly, they have jobs or some method to get the souls needed to survive. Anyone got any ideas?

Keep money discussion in the economy thread, btw.

Well the two big ways to charge up with souls in commorragh is to go on a raid or to go to the colloseum and watch how the slaves get tortured - kinda pay tv XD

a not so effectiv way would be to lurk in the shadows of the dark cities(well more at the bottom) and wait for some suffering or pain of others who get backstabbed.

As for jobs, i guess lots work as weaponsmiths or slave traders. i bet there be some taverns.

anyone read Coping with commorragh?

Crazy_Irish wrote:

a not so effectiv way would be to lurk in the shadows of the dark cities(well more at the bottom) and wait for some suffering or pain of others who get backstabbed.

While I imagine the poor fall upon each other more frequently, I don't think the ones that can afford to go to the arenas kill each other that frequently. Most archons (going off of feel and Midnight on the Street of Knives) prefer some semblance of order.

Crazy_Irish wrote:

As for jobs, i guess lots work as weaponsmiths or slave traders. i bet there be some taverns.

Correct. Sourcing Midnight on the Street of Knives as my reference.

Crazy_Irish wrote:

anyone read Coping with commorragh?

Meh. Maybe later?

Accountants for all the loot, and pawn brokers would also be in constant demand.

Weaponsmiths, yes, and vehicle mechanics. Not sure that they'd trust their maintenance to possible sabotage by slaves. Knife sharpener.

Someone has to design and build their accommodations and other structures, docks, portals, etc. Would that be entrusted to slaves.

Orgy planner is one job from ancient Rome that might fit with The Kin's hedonistic lifestyle?

And I imagine that if you are not wealthy enough to have your own slaves, there could be some pretty grisly and disgusting jobs in Commorragh that you might be forced to take, like in ancient times - gladiator ring cleaner, war elephant/clawed fiend trainer, poison taste tester.

Completely off topic: Gobs, when are you finally going to get an avatar?

I imagine thta traders (of toxins, weapons, slaves, all sorts of things) would be common, as would be designers and architects, not to mention owners of pleasure houses, drug dens etc. Menial labour would be done by slaves or by the Dark Eldar poor enough to have to do so to survive (like the coprse fishers of river Khaides mentioned in the codex).

Drug dealers, drug makers, slave traders, slave overseers, weapons manufacturers, slave catchers, tavern owners, informants, and lawyers.

Scourges are the main informants, though.
And lawyers, I frankly doubt a Dark Eldar would speak of the innocense of another dark eldar. That goes very much against their nature, IMO.

Whats the difference between a lawyer and a Dark Eldar? One's a soulless hive of evil and the other has pointy ears.

Stay on topic please.

Sorry, that was a roundabout way of saying that the last occupation listed in my first post was included as a joke.

And yes Scourges are the main informants as listed in their Codex bio but they aren't the only ones. With a culture as deeply rooted in intrigue and politics as the Dark Eldar are I would imagine there are a fair few enterprising commoners with rumors and secrets to sell.

In a recent WD issue, there was a story about a lady Archon who began life as a slave working in a Splinter Rifle factory, until she poisoned her way up the food chain. I would imagine the less fortunate Commorragh denziens have similar skilled labor jobs.

Just a thing, but no law in Commoragh- so there for no lawyers. Apart from that Barmen, traders, excess-cult leaders (prostitutes) drug dealers, makers, weaposmiths, slaves, general servants, scientists. couple more, think later.

Your loving Haemonculus.

Hasoroth wrote:

Sorry, that was a roundabout way of saying that the last occupation listed in my first post was included as a joke.

To be honest, I think you are on to something. There isn't any set law in Commoragh, but hiring an Eldar with experience in dealing with Harlequine Troupes, Wych Cults, Scourge Aeries or familiar with the traditions of a Kabal sounds wise to me.

A good lawyer/diplomat would be in high demand.

Urien_Rakarth wrote:

Just a thing, but no law in Commoragh- so there for no lawyers. Apart from that Barmen, traders, excess-cult leaders (prostitutes) drug dealers, makers, weaposmiths, slaves, general servants, scientists. couple more, think later.

Your loving Haemonculus.

Actually, I can see an incredible demand for Dark Eldar who are well informed about politics/etiquette/laws, simply to help navigate the mess that is inter-Kabal politics. Each Archon would have an advisor/herald, who helps twist the actions of others into favourable interpretations, and helps other Archons realise the "correct" interpretation of their Kabal's actions.

"Yes, I am well aware that the Kabal X did perform a raid against the facilities of Kabal Y, but may I make it known to the Court (old medieval definition, not current... well, still partly the current definition) that Kabal Y had snubbed the Archon of Kabal X at a Wych performance three cycles ago. As stated in tradition, this allows Archon X to seek recompense against his offender, to be taken in a manner in which he sees fit, proportional to the insult.
As such, this retaliatory raid against Kabal X is an unforgivable breach of tradition, and cannot be allowed to stand! Kabal Y must present itself once more for a proportional punishment!"

There might not be actual 'set in stone' laws, but there would certainly be traditions, matters of etiquette and 'honour', and other such 'disagreements' to be sorted out. After all, an Archon can't simply declare a vendetta over any little disagreement, sometimes a minor transgression should be repaid simply by handing over the offending Warrior/Sybarite, with the addendum in even smaller cases that the owning Kabal gets to lop off a hand before giving them over, so as to grow them back. The victim Kabal gets to deliver punishment, the transgressor is chastised, and no civil war breaks out.

People seem to too readily forget that for all the viciousness of Commorrite society, they still see themselves as sophisticated. High Commoragh would be a mass of intrigue, honour duels, minor vendettas, petty slights and punishments in kind. Some sort of organisation needs to exist to help keep this regulated, although as I've mentioned, the organisation would most likely be Kabal members specifically trained to know the correct response (and appropriate punishment) for when his Archon/Kabal is insulted/snubbed/attacked, etc.
Then again, I might just like the Mafia side to the Commorites too much.

So, ive been thinking a lot about the DE (and chaos too) socities. Are everyone crazed warriors, or do they have dayjobs? Do they have kindergardens and deskjobs? Who pays the salaries? Social insurance? Police? Who puts out fires if one breaks out? WHo handles lawsuits? I know most of these things can be handled by a blade, but there have to be some of these functions if a society is going to work. I know that slaves do the heavy and boring stuff, like working in factories and so on, but other things, like public transportation, regulations and enforcement... how does that work?

Also, do DE have... friends? Do they invite their neightbour to a bbq (BYOS, bring your own slave), and do they have actual families?

Its kinda hard imagining a functioning metropolitan society where everyone just goes around with an evil grin on their face and a dagger behind their back...

(Same goes for Chaos... do the chaos marines wind down with a beer and some slaneeshi hoes after a battle?)

My interpretation of it is based on the fact that the actual GW fluff is ridiculously OTT.

But they deliberately don't flesh out the details of the society so that you can.


I imagine the society to be quite like the ancient spartans. The DE have enough slaves to do everything for them, so they only have to worry about training, and getting their kicks.

kindergardens = early training?
no salaries, they make money from piracy, and then maybe they don't really need money.
no social insurance. if you are weak, you die.
police- some of the kabals? they probably don't need police.
fire- automated sprinkler systems?
lawsuits- litigation is sorted with MURDER.

Well, riddl eme this then...

What is the fashion trend for the commoner? I cant think past everyone looking like a wych or kabalite warrior, but there HAS to be normal clothes, right? And if so, there must be a "fashion" too, which leads me to think there are some DE designers sitting somewhere, cashing in loads of slaves saying stuff like "ohmagad, that looks just horrible on you, love, it's soooo 20th millennium"

I imagine that a lot of them are just gang members and a bunch of other street livers, some of them might be like shopkeepers and stuff but I don't think there are weaponsmiths given the huge amount of slaves to do it for them…

I think it's safe to assume, that the Dark Eldar have a functioning society. Else they would have wiped themselves out a long time ago. They'll certanly need more new blood than human societies of today, but their system must be stable, and as such needs probably all kind of jobs we need.

Of course all manual, hard and/or dull work is done by slaves, but everything, that is either to delicate, crucial and/or sophisticated, can't be left to be handled by slaves.

This would include most services and intelectual work, but also handiwork that has to be very precise and/or should be beautifull. Additionally there would be Dark Eldar, that would do jobs, that normally are or may be made by slaves, because they need the money and some can't afford to buy and hold a slave. For example craftsmen, like plumbers and electricians. The wealthy would have slaves, to do these jobs, but the poor would have to pay someone.
And on the contrary some jobs that will be done mainly by slaves, or are mostly automated, will be done by specialists, that are more artisans, than craftsmen, because the wealthy want to eat sauteed razowings, instead of protein paste, or want to own something handmade, because they can afford it.

I guess there would be a great market for designers, artists of all kinds, supervisors, R&D personnel, teachers, drivers or pilots, barbers, masseurs, make-up artists (I guess the whole beauty sector would be well requested), bounty hunters, bakers, brewers, cooks, and other foods related jobs, companions, dancers, diplomats, duellists, engineers, explorers, professional gamblers, hunters, inn keepers, librarians, locksmiths, lore masters, merchants, personal trainers, private investigators, reporters, seers, storytellers, torturers and much more.

^^^
This is pretty close to my take.

A good source that probably backs up the above two posts would be 'Midnight on the Street of Knives' and to a lesser extent 'Path of the Renegade'.
The former has a very close focus view on how Commorragh operates - and in part the little people - , whereas the latter is aiming at the higher ups, so bar a few passages that relate to the characters from '..Street of Knives' it's less useful on this subject.

Still an awesome read though.