| abstract
| - The Eldar of the Craftworlds developed strict controls over their own inner natures so that what remains of their ancient civilisation will never again fall victim to the thirst of Slaanesh. Every Eldar chooses for himself a discipline that he then makes his task to master to the exclusion of all else in life. Each discipline is called a Path, and each path may require further choices and specialisations as he walks further upon it. Once an Eldar has mastered one Path, he chooses another and in this way creates a toolbox of abilities and skills during the course of his long lifespan over which he has complete control. An Eldar may travel many different Paths in his life, and the skills he learns in each Path serve to greatly enrich all of his further accomplishments. In this way, the Eldar avoid temptation and tame their naturally wanton and excessively turbulent natures. To the Eldar all Paths are strewn with potential dangers, for the Eldar mind is capable of a depth of emotion and understanding that cannot be described by the simple human word "obsession." Such dangers are similar to psychic traps waiting to catch the unwary upon an Eldar Path and hold him fast there forever. When an Eldar's mind becomes so intently focused upon one thing that he is no longer capable of leaving one path for another, he is said to have been "lost upon the Path." This is a terrible and frightening fate for all Eldar, as it is an outcome that can befall any of them despite the intense discipline and training they have sought to maintain to keep their minds balanced. In the case of the Path of the Warrior, these individuals are known as Exarchs, and there are other examples of this fate such as the Crystal Seers and the doomed Bards of Twilight. There are a great number of Paths within Eldar culture, and while some are as rarely trod upon as the Path of the Seer, others are as common as the Path of the Artisan. Each offers its followers a complete and all-encompassing way of life for the time they tread upon it. The Path of the Seer is the most treacherous and complex of them all, but Eldar who have mastered the less consuming and esoteric Paths are no less respected than their more militant kin. The Artisans are the Eldar who create and maintain the Craftworlds and all the wonders that they contain, calling the masterpieces of aesthetically pleasing form and function into being with the care and skill that a musician might laving upon his instrument or a warrior upon his blade. It is from the ranks of those Eldar who walk these "civilian" Paths that the Eldar Guardians are mustered when needed.
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