[Redemption1]

Fluff-wise, they are supposed to keep an Eldar's soul from Slaneesh ... or so i hear. Anyways, i wonder how they work and why they are in vehicles.

[Yriel of Iyanden]

Hi Redemption,

Like you said- Eldar Spirit Stones are made of a special psychic- conductive material that "catch" the soul of an Eldar when he/she dies. From what I can tell- these are called Waystones until they contain a spirit- and henceforth are called Spirit Stones.

These Spirit Stones are collected from the dead Eldar and connected to the Craftworld's Infinity Circuit, where the spirit of the dead Eldar may take its rest, as well as work functionally within the craftworld, powering equipment, machinery, and even weaponry. The spirits inside the infinity circuit help wraithbone to grow, and often the infinity circuit will grow trees of wraithbone, or other structures useful to the living Eldar. This is why craftworlds are known as "living" craft- for they are in part operated and maintained by the spirits housed in the infinity circuit.

In times of war- potent Eldar spirits can be temporarily transferred from the Infinity Circuit via Spirit Stone into the wraithbone bodies of wraithguard, wraithlords, and even revenant titans. Spirit stones in vehicles like Falcons help the pilots retain control of the craft and even monitor the health and disposition of the Eldar onboard- like a cimputer system that is psychically attuned to its crew. Similarly, these spirits may be housed in ancient Eldar weaponry, such as Exarch wargear- which explains why it's common to see Spirit Stones on the hilt of powerful swords, staves, rifles, and pistols.

Spirit Stone and wraithbone technology go hand in hand because wraithbone is psycho-kinetic, and even hard, smooth surface of a spirit stone may make itself soft and organic in response to a strong psychic presence. Indeed- spirit stone and wraithbone technology is central to most if not all Eldar technology, which gives the Eldar their pyschic yet organic "feel".

- Yriel

[Dire Avenger]

Arn't spirit stones found on the Crone worlds (old Eldar empire worlds stuck in the eye of terror that are half in the warp and half in reality) and brought back by brave Eldar. but how do the eldar bring back enough to be able to supply the whole race?

[crazedmongoose2003]

Woah....really?


I thought they were just grown like wraithbone....


I mean there certainly is a whole lot of them, and barely any Eldar ventures to the crone worlds....

[Dire Avenger]

Originally Posted by crazedmongoose2003

Woah....really?


I thought they were just grown like wraithbone....


I mean there certainly is a whole lot of them, and barely any Eldar ventures to the crone worlds....

Well that's what I have heard.

[Farseer_Emlyn]

Let's remember that the Eldar empire was vast and that at the birth of She-Who-Thirsts, millions upon millions of Eldar were suddenly...not in need of their spirit stones anymore. Also, I believe that the Eldar may "recycle" their spirit stones by releasing spirits from spirit stones back into the Infinity Circuit then reusing the now empty waystone for another Eldar.

Page 54 of the current codex has an insert about Crone Worlds...it seems that some Eldar venture in to retrieve artefacts. However, it doesn't mention spirit stones.

Also, I believe the Iyanna story from the old codex talks about her drawing spirits from the infinity circuit into empty waystones. Thus supporting the reduce reuse recycle theory.

[ForbiddenKnowledge]

You are refering to DreamStones, a valuable material that is like waystones, but instead vastly vastly boosts the psychic power of the user, as well as protecting them from daemons.

I think its mentioned if Farseer, but thats the only time.

[crazedmongoose2003]

Actually, it appeared to me that what the humans called Dreamstone, was merely a Way Stone. It's just the humans were calling it differently.


They of course did not know it's true purpose, to house a spirit. They thought it was merely the boost psychic powers and act as a ward against daemons. Had Janus Darke known that they were meant to house spirits, i don't think he would have agreed to the grafting of one on his head. (Don't worry, not really a spoiler, happens like int he first two acts of the book).

[Yriel of Iyanden]

A couple of items:

I don't see any reference of Eldar Waystones needing to be harvested from Crone Worlds. It just wouldn't be feasible in the long term.

Originally Posted by Farseer_Emlyn

Let's remember that the Eldar empire was vast and that at the birth of She-Who-Thirsts, millions upon millions of Eldar were suddenly...not in need of their spirit stones anymore.

Not exactly. Most of the Eldar that had perished upon the birth of Slaanesh were not craftworlders, and therefore didn't need Waystones to collect their spirits.

Prior to the birth of Slaanesh, the majority of Eldar living on planets who passed away simply let their spirits leave their bodies and enter the Warp. This spirits were free to traverse the warp and some believe that spirits were able to reincarnate. This is the original, natural state of an Eldar upon death.

Craftworlds were more like Eldar trade ships at the time. They were designed for prolonged travel through space, and the craftworld Eldar had been living many years apart from the main of Eldar society, and they developed the foundation of Craftworld living. It is likely that craftworlders used waystones for safely transporting a spirit home, so that it may be freely released in a ceremony at its home planet when the Craftworld "docked" at its home planet. It is also likely that Waystones served a dual purpose- as the departed spirits of a craftworld deep in space could still benefit its craftworld- powering machinery and tools before it was finally released upon the return home.

As these splintered, isolated populations saw the rest of their race degenerating, it was the Craftworlders and others within the main of Eldar society that foretold the destruction of the Eldar, and decided to leave the main Eldar empire, taking refuge in the craftworld way of life, and the Eldar Path. Spirit Stones were probably already in use, as was some form of the Infinity Circuit- it's just that their original purpose of storing a soul temporarily now became paramount to the survivors of the Fall.

But the most of the Eldar that Slaanesh devoured...had no need for Spirit Stones, and porbably didn't use them.

- Yriel

[Farseer_Emlyn]

Originally Posted by Yriel of Iyanden

Not exactly. Most of the Eldar that had perished upon the birth of Slaanesh were not craftworlders, and therefore didn't need Waystones to collect their spirits.

Prior to the birth of Slaanesh, the majority of Eldar living on planets who passed away simply let their spirits leave their bodies and enter the Warp. This spirits were free to traverse the warp and some believe that spirits were able to reincarnate. This is the original, natural state of an Eldar upon death.

...

But the most of the Eldar that Slaanesh devoured...had no need for Spirit Stones, and porbably didn't use them.

True, except that Eldar did use Waystones to communicated with Isha (thus, the Tears of Isha) which was the origin of the Waystones. While they didn't used them to collect their spirits, they did use them to communicate to their goddess...for a time. What did they do with them after the entire debacle with Khaine? I have no idea - except perhaps that they were used to control Vaul's swords.