A Mandrake's Creation

First of all you cant become mandrake....they are born that way, and I dont think the are mixed with Slanesh, more like one of those things lurking in webway.

TBH the BL should make book about mandrakes.

Everything so far seems to suggest 'Drakes are indeed a different species altogether, rather than modified DE. So 'becoming' one would be impossible.

Indeed. Personally, I've always liked the opinion that the Mandrakes aren't half-daemon, or possessed, or what-have-you, but rather they're part something... else. They aren't Chaos, they aren't mundane, they're touched by the Shadow Outside Reality, the Truest Void.
When the Fall occurred, the True Kin fled into the Webway. However, in their panic, some fled too far... In their quest for safety, they passed beyond the deepest reaches of the Webway, past both Reality and Aethyr, and they found something there, and brought it back within themselves. Now, Kheradruakh seeks to bring the Shadow here.

Really, it's so much better than the usual "Chaos/C'Tan/Old Ones did it"...

Aroshamash, I think you got it just perfect. Truly. Only, how are knew ones made then, 'cause they'd have died out by know if all that was left was same 'Drakes from the Fall.

You know, when Mamandrake and Papandrake realy love each other they meet each other, deep in the shadows of Commoragh, then there are the birds and the bees...

I think Aoshamash hit the nail on the head!

I join the chorus in saluting Aroshamash's description and mixing my metaphors.

I think finding the shadow wasn't an act of fleeing, though, but more of the Eldar at the core of the ancient Empire seeing something beyond the veil of reality when the Eye of Terror first opened. The idea of Eldar surviving in some way even at the opening of the Eye appeals to me.

Tiri Rana wrote:

You know, when Mamandrake and Papandrake realy love each other they meet each other, deep in the shadows of Commoragh, then there are the birds and the bees...

Or as propper DE they take slave, mix it with Haemonculi potions and trow a wild party.
(Mom, why Im mandrake??-> Shut up and be glad that you dont bark!)

GrenAcid wrote:

Or as propper DE they take slave, mix it with Haemonculi potions and trow a wild party.
(Mom, why Im mandrake??-> Shut up and be glad that you dont bark!)

Or rather be glad you don't fade away when mommy stops dreaming

Well, I assume that new Mandrakes can be bred like normal, as they're effectively a new species by now, just one that doesn't abide by the rules of physics like normal. Once again, mostly just because I don't want them to be exactly like daemons/possessed. Rather, imagine them more like a group of Dark Eldar, that when they found what they did, were intrinsically changed, on the most basic, fundamental level, into what they are now. They're still biological, in a sense, and require food/liquid/shelter etc, and breed like normal.

Well they are daemonic in some way of course, not chaos, but daemonic. The webway, as we know, is a network through the warp and in between the warp and realspace, so all-sorts happens in places where it's been messed up. Presumably the Mandrakes are one of those things. At some point, warp-energy and Dark Eldar joined to become a being of darkest nightmare. How? Well we'll probably never know, I think it's probably a little more complicated than a Dark Eldar getting it on with a warp-entity

I like that fluff. Probably the best Mandrake explanation I've heard and actually ties in quite nicely with some of the stuff I've been gibbering about in my own corner of the Webway.... hmmm a good way to tie them in with other sections too. Biological but not quite normal physics....

Also Aroshamash awesome sig. So very very true.

Im personally on the side of Mandrakes being a warp touched Dark Eldar. Not to say Chaos persay, just warped touch. As to how more are made. Im sure they breed. Its not like they are savages or anything. On the contrary. It seems Mandrakes have a complex society. But its also very animalistic in nature. That being said there is also the Decaptitator, who is a lone wolf of sorts. Actually Wolves are probably the best way to destribe mandrakes, as they hunt in packs.

There is also the possibility of any DE wandering too long in a warp filled area (like that city in the webway that got destroyed and is now filled with Mandrakes) Would probably also degredate into a mandrake (if he wasnt eaten by one first.)

Personally it seems mandrakes made a deal with a warp entity. With what warp enitity remains to be seen, but I would doubt it was one of the big 4, as Im sure no Archon would consort with something that is chaos tainted.

Aroshamash, that's the best description I've seen and if I may I will be using it if I ever have to explain to my players where Mandrakes come from ...

As to where new Mandrakes come from in the other sense, I'd think that they reproduce in some biological fashion. I have the impression that they spend more time in their shadow-realm than they do anywhere else, only occasionally emerging. Perhaps somewhere in that place there are nurseries, so to speak, by which I don't mean precisely rows of little black cots but more secret places where infants are raised on/basking in whatever dark energies sustain them. Or perhaps being raised within this dimension or realm is what has saturated them so thoroughly for millennia that they are now irrevocably changed. Maybe there are more esoteric methods used; perhaps there are spawning-galleries or workshops or brooding chambers ... I don't believe I would like to come across a nest of those little horrors in any case.

I have nothing to base it on but I like the idea of never seeing a child Mandrake, only percieving that there seem to be more Mandrakes now than there were before.

Hehe, feel free to use it as you wish! Just remember that I'm most likely wrong according to GW, and that my interpretation may or may not have been inspired by reading the Lasombra Clanbook beforehand.


Also, if someone wants to see a good (well, good-ish, at least. The ending is a bit 'meh', but whatever, it's entertaining enough) movie featuring what may as well be Mandrakes, check out the Deaths of Ian Stone.

Thank you. Even if it's not canon, it's still a good explanation that fits with the feel of Mandrakes.

Lasombra fan eh. I'm a bit of a Tzimisce fan myself I suppose they and Haemonculi would get along well. Far too well, probably!

Oh, trust me, I'm a fan of the Tzimisce as well. Hell, my Haemonculi goes by the name of Azh Dahak (well, one of his... her... it's names, at least), with the Coven being the Coven of the Dragon Ascendant. I've also converted it up to have a Chronos tentacle instead of legs, and scourge wings. Yes, I will be counting it as having a liquifier gun.

Chiropteran Marauder Wrack? Vozhd Grotesques? Anything is possible ... with enough spare parts ... Good to see some love for the Fiends I do feel they'd be at home in the Dark City. That might be quite a good way to explain the 'feel' of some of the denizens to new vic-er, converts, too.

I'll back away from the Tzimisce now before I drag things off topic :O

Well the Mandrakes are part demon or at least counts as them as far as the GK codex goes.

Gdead909 wrote:

Well the Mandrakes are part demon or at least counts as them as far as the GK codex goes.

i would have to disagree. if they were part daemon, they would not be allowed in commorragh, since anything that has to do with warp energy is banned.

All I am saying as per the GK codex they count as demons

Yadahr of the Stolen Star wrote:

Gdead909 wrote:

Well the Mandrakes are part demon or at least counts as them as far as the GK codex goes.

i would have to disagree. if they were part daemon, they would not be allowed in commorragh, since anything that has to do with warp energy is banned.

actually daemons are quite common in Commorragh. Sections of the webway that makes up Commorragh have fallen into either disrepair or destoryed, allowing daemons to sneak in. The prime example would be Mandrakes of course, but others are kymera. Its not Chaos that DE have a problem with (well, fully) its just Slaanesh. Plus in all their arrogance Im pretty sure they could care less that the warp is seeping into the webway slowly, much less what the Decap plan actually is.

Shadows Revenge wrote:

Yadahr of the Stolen Star wrote:

Gdead909 wrote:

Well the Mandrakes are part demon or at least counts as them as far as the GK codex goes.

i would have to disagree. if they were part daemon, they would not be allowed in commorragh, since anything that has to do with warp energy is banned.

actually daemons are quite common in Commorragh. Sections of the webway that makes up Commorragh have fallen into either disrepair or destoryed, allowing daemons to sneak in. The prime example would be Mandrakes of course, but others are kymera. Its not Chaos that DE have a problem with (well, fully) its just Slaanesh. Plus in all their arrogance Im pretty sure they could care less that the warp is seeping into the webway slowly, much less what the Decap plan actually is.

remember the archon who created a daemonic invasion force to try to overthrow vect? after his domain was sealed off, the daemons basically destroyed the entire subrealm. people would tend to remember something that destroyed a whole subrealm, and also would naturally be pretty scared of it. arrogant or not, stuff like that tends to stick in people's minds.

Shadows Revenge wrote:

Yadahr of the Stolen Star wrote:

Gdead909 wrote:

Well the Mandrakes are part demon or at least counts as them as far as the GK codex goes.

i would have to disagree. if they were part daemon, they would not be allowed in commorragh, since anything that has to do with warp energy is banned.

actually daemons are quite common in Commorragh. Sections of the webway that makes up Commorragh have fallen into either disrepair or destoryed, allowing daemons to sneak in. The prime example would be Mandrakes of course, but others are kymera. Its not Chaos that DE have a problem with (well, fully) its just Slaanesh. Plus in all their arrogance Im pretty sure they could care less that the warp is seeping into the webway slowly, much less what the Decap plan actually is.

Well, as Yadahr has said, they seal off those broken sections. They certainly do care about the Warp seeping in, as that gives Slaanesh access to the Webway, and potentially to Commoragh.