Now before I bought the Dark Elf Armybook, my association of Dark Elves was simply Ulthuan obsessed emo elves. Reading the book, though, showed me that the Dawi’Zharr and the Druchii are very very similar.
1. They both like slaves.
2. Their capitals sound the same (Naggaroth and Zhar Naggrund)
3. Both hate their good counterparts and are the opposites.(Dark Elves kill because the like to, High Elves kill because they have to/ Dwarfs hate greenskins, don’t have slaves and don’t like magic, Chaos Dwarfs use greenies of all sizes as slaves and their religion is semi-based on magic)
4. Both are fanatically dedicated to their gods (Khaine and Hashut)
5. Both are magically gifted.
Feel free to disagree, as i’m just a crazy nut but i just noticed these eerie similarites
There are a lot of similarities, even more than the ones you’ve described, but there are differences too.
The Curse of Stone
Elves are sorcerous bstrds, it comes natural. Dwarfs, even Chaos Dwarfs, aren’t, and the Dawi Zharr have the Curse to prove it: a unique affliction to their race.
Mutation
The High Elves have, at best, the suggestion of stable mutations in their race - the harpies are the best example. With Chaos Dwarfs, mutations are both more common and actually embraced - particularly the Bull Centaurs, Lammasu, and Bull Taurus.
Slaves
Both societies are based on slavery, but no one (even the Skaven) make use of slaves on the battlefield like the Chaos Dwarfs, nor do they have such a unique and complex relationship as the Dawi Zharr have with the Hobgoblins.
Politics and Religion
While it’s much more apparent in the novels, the Druchii appear to have a much stronger separation of cult and country. While Malekith is the undisputed leader of the Dark Elves, he’s not also the leader of the Cult of Khaine - though they do consider him to occupy a sort of quasi-divine messenger role if you believe the Darkblade novels. The Dawi Zharr, on the other hand, appear to be an essentially fundamentalist state where the High Priest/Prophet of Hashut is also the head of state.
Tying into this is the fact that Hashut, unlike Khaine, is a much smaller deity. Even the High Elves and Wood Elves worship Khaine to an extant; hell there are even human cults to Khaine - but Hashut’s sole worshipers are the Chaos Dwarfs.
Engineering
One of the defining characteristics of the Chaos Dwarfs is their massive investment in industry and their accomplishments in engineering - this is more-or-less impressive if you add the daemon-binding hinted at in Grudgebearer, but it is decidedly different from the effete Dark Elves, who prefer feats of sorcery to science.
Chaos Dwarfs are an industrial society for whom the use of slaves is purely aneconomic solution to their small numbers and to free them from hard labour to pursue other pursuits. Slaves can actually reach - relatively - quite elevated positions in Dawi’zhaar society. Just look at Hobgoblin Bosses as a character option, or the fact that Dawi’zhaar trade with greenskins, ogres and the forces of Chaos.
Dark Elves by contrast simply see all other races as animals. Very often slaves are taken more for sacrifice and cruelty rather than to work, which chaos dwarfs would see as uneconomic. A dark elf (Megil Manhide excepted) would never stoop so low as to trade with humans or any other race. Morathi and the Cult of Slaanesh simply took them as servants.
The political structure is also different. Chaos Dwarf society mirrors that of the Dawi. It is based on clan loyalty and respect for elders. The key difference is that the Piests (sorcerers) hold the position of head of the clan, making the Dark Lands a religious state as mentioned by Ancient History. The Dark Elves by contrast live in a far more political state. Apart from Maliketh no one’s position is safe and an ambitious Druchii can quickly rise up the ranks through a mix of cunning, achievement and assasination.
Likewise, unlike the elves or western Dwarfs, the Dawi’zhaar are obsessed with progress and moving forwards with science. They are the only industrial power in the Warhammer World which sets them apart from everyone else. Their closest rival in such a situation is the Empire.
There are similarities with the Druchii and Dawi Zharr, but as mentioned above, there are differences. A lot of the Druchii’s power is in their navy and, whilst the they have one, the Dawi Zharr do not NEED it as such. There are othetrs, but they’re mostly mentioned above. They can also be compared to Skaven, who use slaves in their industry or Chaos for the daemon-binding or Dwarfs because of their structuring and skills.
The only significant similarities between DE and CDs are that they are evil versions of another race, and that they have such disdain for everyone else that they keep many as slaves.
If you are going to list all of the other similarities then you might aswell say they both have two legs and use weapons to kill people, but then almost everyone else in Warhammer does that too…
I don’t really see them as exactly the same, I just happened to notice that the Druchii have some things in common, perhaps the thread should say Similar, rather than the same…
@ Filipicusius: I have no connections to the weak Elgi, But I serve Khorne entirely. ha ha ha ha!
damn you why does this keep happening i was going to write the same thread tommrow arrrrrrrrhhhhhh:mad:mad:mad i’m going to back you up filipicusius burn that copying traitor
They overlap. All mortal rage feeds Khorne, but Khaine is a Dark Elf god specifically associated with treachery and murder. So if a Dark Elf stabs someone in the back, Khaine grows in power. If he does it when he’s angry, or if he dedicates honourable combat on the battlefield to Khaine then Khorne gets some of that worship too.
All gods are warp entities created by mortal belief, but the Four Gods of Chaos embody such primal emotions that almost all worship of other gods feed back into them to some extent. So when someone worships Ulric, some of their respect for martial prowess and contempt for the weak empowers Khorne.
Perhaps you did. But I wasn't privvy to it nor was I involved, therefore "this" conversation is as new to me as a baby from the womb.. (so, put your rolling eyes back in your head whelp..):mad
(edit) after rereading my own post, take everything I said with humor.. there is no heat behind it, rather just trying to have some fun..
the thing about fluff, especially GW fluff, is that it is so open-ended, that there can be no right or wrong answer..