Chapter 3: Index Xenos: The New Eldar Empire
Index Xenos - The New Eldar Empire - Slaves to Chaos and Order
In the warp resides a twisted thing, unborn yet always having been. A lord of order, a threat on par with the Chaos Gods, it is the lord of the dead, Ynnead. Once a source of hope, now it is known to be a repeat of the monster known as Slannesh. In the misguided desperation to save there species and return to supremecy, the Ynnari have led many to the corruption of chaos. All of the fragmented race fell for the lies of the Reborn, from the Craftwords to the Dark Eldar to the Outcasts and even the Harlequins. Now these twisted monsters hunker in the Black Arks that were once Craftworlds, hidden in the Malestrum. Each of the Chaos Gods has at least one of these Black Arks, just as they have one Traitor Legion. Cut off from the Infinity Circuits and World Spirits of the loyalists by the heroism of Eldrad, Ynnead awaits one of two things. It waits for either the Seventh Path to be walked, and the folly of the past to be repeated, or for the invitable to happen. For the Eldar are a dying race, and once they breathe there last Ynnead will arise. And once Ynnead arises, the galaxy will suffer.
Origins
It is a sad truth amongst civilization that those in the present look to the past, seeing only the good and ignoring the bad. The Adeptus Custodes who arise from America praise the fact there nation was built on equality, ignoring the fact that it took 200 years for those promises of equality to be fulfilled. The Adeptus Sororitas praise there founders, ignoring the fact that for many years they served Goge Vandire unquestioningly for many years. And amongst the Eldar it is particularly bad, for there empire once ruled the galaxy. They speak of the glories but gloss over the true depths of the depravity that birthed Slannesh. To gain a point of reference, one must only look to Commorragh, the twisted home of the Dark Eldar. This horrible place is inhabited by those Eldar who in the time of the Empire recognized the comming disaster but refused to give up there decadant ways. When a remembrancer asked Lorgar about his knowldge of the old eldar empire, for he grew up in the Black Library and would surely know about it, he told the remembrancer this phrase, "Imagine Commorragh, but the size of the eye of terror and having full psyker powers and absolutely no limitations." Indeed, in eldar schools this phrase is what introduces the Fall of the Eldar, for they know that there indolence is what birthed Slannesh.
This connects to Ynnead in a fundamental way, as when Slannesh finished destroying the mortal Eldar, it moved on to consumed there gods. Weakened by the years of decedance, when there cults were replaced by cults of pleasure, only three gods escaped being devoured by She Who Thirsts. Even then, only Cegorach escaped unscathed, as Isha was captured and inprisoned by Nurgle while Kaela Mensha Khaine was shattered into many fragments that became the Avatars of Khaine. While the Eldar and the Word Bearers pray to the pantheon still, they know that there gods are dead. It was soon after Lorgar made peace between the eldar (save the Dark Eldar) and allowed them to become a seperate empire in the Imperium, much like the Adeptus Mechanicus, that Ynnead was first concived. The mystic Kysaduras the Anchorite spoke to Eldrad Ulthran, and they began a theory that a new god was gestating in the Infinity Circuits of the Craftworlds. They named this entity Ynnead, the god of the dead, and spread a tale that once every eldar had breathed there last Ynnead would rise and kill Slannesh. This of course, was merely a fiction to comfort the Eldar populace. The Eldar are a dying race (except the Dark Eldar, but they don't really count) and while they have endured for 10 millennia they are doomed to die out. In addition, none of the Farseers, not even Eldrad, belived that Ynnead would be benevolent if it was a reality. After all, the last god to be made from Eldar souls was Slannesh, and look how that turned out.
But one Eldar, inadvertently, awakened Ynnead and brought about the second sundering of the Eldar. Yvraine, born on the Craftworld of Biel-Tan, and she walked many paths, from that of the dancer to that of the Warlock. She was a Corsair and even a Succubus of one of the Wych cults. As such, her mind was the closest to that of one of the Pre-fall Eldar. During one of her battles, she was wounded by a priestess of Morai-Heg and after Yvraine won the bout she retreated to a forgotten world to heal. Upon this world she grasped the Cronesword Kha-vir, and on the threshold of life and death she contacted Ynnead and became its first worshiper.
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The Croneswords
While the objects called the Croneswords are little known of by the general populace of the Imperium, there origins are. In fact, there origins are the same as the Howling Banshees Aspect Path, which is told to children across the Imperium. While the reader of this article might know the story, it shall be summarized below.
In ancient times, the Crone Goddess Morai-Heg sought to partake of the knowledge that resided in her blood. She knew only Khaine had the ability to harm a god, so she bade her mortal daughters to haunt the bloody handed gods every step with there piercing screams. Promising an end to his torment, she ordered him to cut off her hand. He did so, and she gained the knowledge of blood while he gained the aspect of the banshee.
After the incident, Morai-heg gave her hand to Vaul, who then forged the five Croneswords from her finger bones. Each is an artifact of great power, and it is said that should the Croneswords be put into the right hands they will give there weilders command over life and death. This forms the central tennent of Ynnari beliefs and the foundation of the Seventh Path. The known Croneswords include the following
Kha-vir, the Sword of Sorrows: In the possesion of Yvraine, this horrible blade turns its victims to ash.
Asu-var, the Sword of Silent Screams: found on Biel-Tan, it is now in possesion of the Visarch. It can absorb the life force of its victims.
Vilith-zhar, the Sword of Souls: the largest and most impressive of the Croneswords. It is a shapeshifting blade formed of burning and screaming souls, it was recovered on Belial IV and is now weilded by the Yncarne, avatar of Ynnead.
However, it was the fourth Cronesword that threw everyone for a loop, for the fourth blade is in fact not a sword but the Spear of Twilight. While the Ynnari now have four of the five Croneswords they seek the fifth. With the realization that not every Cronesword had to be in the form of a sword, the Ynnari send out search parties seeking every famous weapon in the galaxy.
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Yvraine now began to preach the creed of Ynnead and of the Seventh Path, which declared not all Eldar had to die to awaken Ynnead. She was joined by the Visarch, who was her teacher when she was a Aspect Warrior. This Exarch became the Sword of Ynnead, and they arrived on Biel-Tan where they both originated from. With them came the hordes of the reborn, comprised of Eldar from every subgroup. Members included many wych cults, incubi shrines, corsairs, and some Craftworlds, each of which was slowly falling to either a Chaos god or to Ynnead itself. Not even the Harlequins were safe from this corruption. On Biel-Tan the Seer Council was convinced that the Seventh Path could be opened, but it required an avatar of Ynnead to be awakened. Yvraine thus began a ritual on the Infinity Circuit of the Craftworld, and concurrent with the Drop Site Massacre, the Solitares attacked.
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Solitaries
Amongst the Harlequins there is a group that is particularly feared. These are the Solitaries, who play the role of Slannesh, and are the only ones who can play She Who Thirsts without going insane. They unlike the other Harlequins are not protected from Slannesh's claim on there souls by Cegorach. Instead, Cegorach must challenge Slannesh to a game, and he does not always win. The Solitares wander the galaxy, unlike the other Harlequins who gather in masques. They speak only in ritual format, and those Eldar who speak or interact with a Solitarie by accident take there own lives rather than risk the horrible fate they believe will befall them. Only one group is known to treat the Solitaries with kindness, the Word Bearers. This started with Lorgar, who had grown up in the Black Library. The Solitaries are practically the only group that is allowed to go to and from the Black Library at there leisure. Lorgar treated them with kindness always, recognizing there nessisity and the hardship of there lives. This pratice is kept alive by his sons, and should the Word Bearers call for help the Solitares will come to there aid as soon as possible. In the aftermath of the heresy the Solitaires have gained another role, that of Ynnead.
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The Solitaries learned of the Ynnari and decided to end the threat before it began. To the Eldar that either worshiped Ynnead or was becoming corrupted by chaos it was the Solitaries revealing there "true alliegence" and fought harder to prevent what they belevied to be Slannesh's servants from disrupting the ritual. Even here those claimed by the chaos gods showed the influence of there patron. The warhosts of Il-Kaithe showed the berzerk bloodlust of Khorne, Iybraesil showed the sourcery and trickery of Tzeench, Mymeara showed the endurance of Nurgle, and most horrorfying to the Solitaries was Lugganath, which explified the servants of Slannesh.
The Solitaries could not stop the ritual, and the Yncarne was born. Those few Farseers of Biel-Tan who survived the ritual took one look at the towering monstrosity of twisted bones and damned souls that was surrounded by screaming ghosts and trailed hoarfrost in its wake and realized what they had done. Desperately they tried to banish the thing, but were killed by it. There deaths sent a psychic signal to the Solitaries that the battle was lost. They retreated as suddenly as they came, but any rage by the chaos eldar was quelled by the Yncarne's announcement. It spoke in a hissing and whispering tone that was the voice of the deceased. It proclaimed that they would form the new eldar empire, and destroy those who foolishly allied with the Mon-Keigh. It then said they would destroy the Damned Craftworld of Ulthwe and plunge into the Eye of Terror to reclaim the third cronesword.
Heresy: into the eye
The twisted world of Biel-Tan, the first true Black Ark, did not engage in the fighting of the Heresy. Even as the new eldar empire began to rampage, with the claimed Craftworlds following the whims of the Ruinous Powers and Yme-Loc recreating the technology of the old empire as well as twisting it to chaos, Biel-Tan remained close to the Malestrum. Each Craftworld is a living thing, and it is likely that it realized Chaos was doomed to lose. Instead, the fleets of the Ynnari bore the ruling triad (Yvraine, the Visarch and the Ynncarne) to the cusp of the Eye of Terror. They fought the warhosts of those Craftworlds who remained loyal, led by the Phoenix Lords, but eventually broke through with the sudden appearance of Alsansar reinforcments, in the service of Ynnead.
In the Eye the ruling triad fought through many crone worlds seeking Belial IV, fighting both the Daemons of chaos (ever divisive are the spawn of the warp) and the remenants of the old empires technology, mighty Matrons that remained uncorrupted and rightfully considered the Ynnari a threat. Eventually they found what they were looking for, the third cronesword. After anhiliating the noosphere of the old empire and thus deactivating the Matrons, they were contacted by the Arch-Traitor Vulkan. It is unknown what was said between the two parties, but every sourcerer of the new eldar empire, for there were no Farseers, recived a message from the Yncarne. In a great speech, it essentally said that all pretences were done, and that the new empire served Chaos.
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the Mon-Keigh problem
Many might question why the new eldar empire willing works with tainted humans or other corrupted xenos. After all, for every true believer in Ynnead there were four who could not accept that there empire was gone and the Mon-Keigh were the only hope for the galaxy. Even taking into account the fact that those Xenophobic eldar were chaos corrupted surely those who worship Ynnead would not serve chaos, as the god they worship is a lord of order, who are supposedly the enemy of the Chaos Gods. In addition, it is a known fact that the only thing that pre-corruption Vulkan hated was the Dark Eldar, and that hatred carried over into his days as the Arch-Traitor. So why would he ally himself with a faction that had many Dark Eldar within it. Well, there are two simple facts that explain everything. First is that the lords of order are in fact merely chaos gods reflavored. There ultimate goal is the anhiliation of free will, but there way of achiving that is the same as the chaos gods. They operate under the same faulty logic of the First Cabal, which shall be described the Alpha Legion file. As for why Vulkan allied himself with a group of eldar worse than the Dark Eldar, one must remember a qoute by Lorgar that the Inquisition holds very dear.
"Chaotic corruption is insidious, no one effected by it believes they have become corrupted, until one day they realize they have become everything they hate. And they realize they don't care anymore."
Lorgar, on chaotic corruption.
This quote is vital in understanding Chaos itself. Every single froathing cultist started out as a normal citizen, and all radical inquisitors inevitably were once puritans. When you start down the path of damnation it is inevitable that you will become corrupted. Chaos corrupts through regular human weaknesses, and thats what makes it so dangerous. Indeed, it was the kindness of Vulkan that caused him to fall, but by the end of the heresy there was no kindness in him.
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The main contribution of the empire to the siege of terra was providing the way to construct Ghastbone, but they had a different job. On Ulthwe Eldrad had begun a ritual to sever Ynnead from the Infinity circuits and World Spirits that kept eldar souls safe. If his ritual succeeded then Ynnead would be dumped into the Warp where Slannesh would undoubtedly consume it. Thus the empire mobilized, and the siege of Ulthwe began.
The Siege of Ulthwe
The Siege of Ulthwe was a horrible and grueling battle, just as significant as the Siege of Terra. On both sides there were complications, as on the loyalists dared not use the Ghost Warriors, having used them against the Ynnari only for them to turn against there living allies. Meanwhile the Ynnari fought for the safety of there god, and the wraith of fanatics must never be underestimated. However, what gave the Ynnari a disadvantage was the fact that the majority of the new empire was corrupted by chaos, and without a figure like Vulkan to keep the hordes of chaos somewhat orginized they quickly fell into infighting. In addition, the loyalists were led by the Phoenix Lords and the avatars of Khaine. Even then, this would make no difference should the ruling triad take the field, but the loyalists had imperial aid.
The ritual Eldrad and the seer councils were enacting had been designed by the Emperor, and more concrete aid had come in the form of the Alpha Legion. They used inflitratiors on the corrupted Craftworlds to awaken the avatars of Khaine, who then wrought havoc upon there traitorous eldar. In addition, the Solitaries had arrived again to aid there race agaisnt the evil there souls had birthed. This, and the fact that the ruling triad was currently in the depths of the eye of terror, made the battle drag out. Indeed, the Siege of Ulthwe happened at the same time as and lasted as long as the Siege of Terra. Eventually, the ruling triad came and the Yncarne made a beeline for the Infinity Circuit of Ulthwe, determined to save its originatior. And at the same time as Vulkan was anhiliated, Ynnead was cut off from the Infinity Circuits and World Spirits in which it resided.
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Eldrad finished the ritual just in time, as the Yncarne was about to burst in. As the last word was spoken, it was banished alongside the twisted warp spawn that was its main body, for Daemons were ultimately cells to the greater body of the warp god that spawned them. Ripples across the Sea of Souls rocked the galaxy, as did happen when concerning the gods that were born of it. The wider effects were not known to Eldrad, and if he knew of them he would probobly reach the same conclusion as the Emperor had when making the ritual, that they were acceptable sacrifices for what needed to happen.
The first notable effect was that across the battlefield the Ghost Warriors of the Ynnari were suddenly deactivated, the spirits animating them freed from there slavery and now inhabiting one of the Infinity Circuits of the loyal Craftworlds. In addition, should another Craftworld turn traitor, then its Infinity Circuit would save the Eldar souls within from the taint. It would also happen with the Exodite World Spirits. Soon the so called "New Eldar Empire" would turn tail and run, knowing the battle had turned against them.
In the depths of a crowded hive world an ancient thing awoke, its origins in a Xenos race that had wiped itself out long before the Eldar had even been born. It's psychic might made the world go mad as Khorne claimed the Tarasque as his own, and the weapon made its way to the surface following its ancient orders.
Upon an Exodite world, the ground trembled slightly before becoming quiet. Shamans proclaimed that the World Sprits of all Exodite worlds were safe, to much applause. None noticed the fact that there Craftworld defender of Zandros, having been turned to the worship of Ynnead, suddenly collapsed. Indeed, without its Infinity Circuit Zandros itself died, taking all the Chaos Eldar within to a well deserved death.
In Commorragh a massive disjunction wracked the city, larger than any that had come before. Indeed, the twisted sun cults used this as a power grab, resulting in the imfamous Wars of the Sun and Moon, and while the light wared the shadows of the Dark cheered. In Aelindrach, the shadow palace, the Mandrakes celebrated. Soon all would know that the suns were tame, and the shadows were the thing to fear. The Mandrakes feasted on the pain and agony of there fellow Dark Eldar, for Aelindrach and its inhabitants were the monsters even the other Dark Eldar feared.
In the Screaming Vortex, the souls of a world rose agaisnts its vicous master. A Slanneshi Daemon Prince who had made a deal with the newborn god to survive the fall, it resembled a monarch of the old Eldar, if it wore finery made of vines and plants. Upon what was what a world of beauty, comparable to a diamond, was now a horrible overgrown garden with thosands of Eldar souls, forever implaed on twisting thorny vines. But they broke free, and had banished the Daemon ruler before themselves merging with a World Spirit thosands of light years away.
A race of living song that made its home upon a world made of crystal, going about there lives unaware of the galactic conflict that raged around them. Indeed, they were loyal to the Imperium, having taught the first Sonic Marines of the Emperors Children there craft, and they offered up a tithe of there crystal to make more sonic weapons. But they were untouched by the heresy, as there minds were too alien to corrupt, there bodies were useless as warriors or slaves or even as Slanneshi pleasure things, and there world was too out of the way to be tactically useful. However, there world was shattered and there souls added to the maelstrom of souls that Ynnead was desperately generating, trying to cling to its home and failing.
And in the darkness between the stars, far removed from the ritual in both space and time, something awoke that never should have been awoken. This ancient evil was born when the stars themselves were young. They had fought a war against a different race, one so old it made the Old Ones look like children. This race, which had done so many impossible things, could not anhiliate this evil. The best they could do was seal it away and remake the stars themselves so that it would never be free. It had slumbered through the rise of the Old Ones, the War in Heaven, the Age of Strife, and the Fall. But with each event that shook the cosmos to its roots its prison became weaker, and now with the banishing of Ynnead it was free. It was M36, and the Harrowing had been unleashed.
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With the banishing of the Yncarne and the deactivation of the Ghost Warriors, the new eldar empire retreated to the location of there true ruler. For Ynnead was alive in the Warp and the Yncarne had ordered them to come to the Malestrum.
Post-Heresy: The search for the swords
When the scouring began, the loyal Craftworlds sent there forces to aid the Imperium, and the Imperium aided the Craftworlds agaisnt the New Eldar Empre. The warhosts of Saim-Hann harried traitor warbands across the galaxy, and the Emperors Children inflicted massive damage agaisnt the Black Ark known as Lugganath before being driven off. But eventually the New Eldar Empire all came to the Malestrum. In said Warpstorm the Yncarne made an announcement, much like the Forgefathers own decleration of the finding, it called for the finding of the other two croneswords. Unlike the Forgefathers decleration, no war ensued between the forces of those not loyal to Yneead. This was because of the Yncarne promising much to the chaos hordes, and them being appeased.
An Iron Cage was built around the Malestrum, which was derided as wasteful. In addition to the fact that Eldar had more vulnerability to the Warp than humans, the traitors had surely torn themselves apart as Ynnead died at the claws of She Who Thirsts. Without the stabilizing influence of the Ynnari the Chaos Eldar would fall to infighting. This was proved wrong as the Visarch led a Black Crusade made up of Chaos Eldar of all kinds and hordes of Ghost Warriors, now animated not by Eldar souls but by bound Daemons. Like the Black Crusades of the Forgefather, Black Crusades from the New Eldar Empire had massive chaos disguising a objective. It is not known what the specifics of the First Black Crusades objective was, but it is believed that a famous sword on Morda Prime, home of Imperial Knight House Lucaris, was the target.
And so the Empires part in the long war continued. The occasional Black Crusade made it nessisary for the Word Bearer Chapter known as the Astral Claws to be stationed on the Iron Cage. But there were many lesser search parties and attacks, and some names and deeds echo through history. One such being was the Corsair Galadhar the Grey, who corrupted the Exodite world of Duro to the worship of Khorne before the Night Lords destroyed him and the irredemable Exodites and Duro. Many amongst the Mechanicus curse the day the forces of Black Ark Yme-Loc attacked the Forge World of Ryza, resulting in the destruction of many STC's. And the deeds of Alastor will echo through the universe until the end of time.
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Alastor, the vox daemon
in m38, the world of new orpheous was wracked by a series of horrible murders. so horrible were these deaths that the inquisitorial acolytes believed a traitorous night lord was responsible. but the truth was that a eldar by the name of Alastor was responsible. A beloved vox host, responsible for the popular vox show Alastor's hour, he was a eldar raised by humans and beneath suspition. He killed over 30 people before he was discovered by accident, and was torn apart by cyber-mastiff servitors. However, such was the depravity of the murders, and the fact that mere boredom motivated his murders caused the dark gods to raise him to the status of Daemon Prince.
Alastor quickly toppled chaos lords and rulers who had been dominant for millennia, then broadcast the canarage all throughout the warp storms so all could witness his power. He quickly gained the title of the vox daemon, and is known as an unpredictable force of evil whose only motive is entertainment. Many cults have sprung up around Alastor, created by people who have listened to Alastor's hour, some copy's of which has gained a chaotic corruptive property after his ascention. Despite inquisitorial efforts, tapes and recordings of Alastor's hour have survived. This is not because of chaos power (though there is some minor daemonic influence) but because of its popularity. It's unique format, a mixture of music and very popular shows such as Niffty and friends (a sitcom about a maid working in a sisterhood of battle monestary), the adventures of captain husker (an adventure/comedy about the titiular captain husker, a rogue trader with a gambling problem, a love of cheap booze and always having a new get rich quick scheme), the officio (a work comedy about a misfit band of imperial assasians) and of course the happy hotel (a drama comedy about a living saint trying to redeem mutants in the titular establishment) made it the most popular vox show in the imperium. Copy's of Alastor's hour have been found everywhere from the Jericho reach to Holy Terra itself. Making it worse is the unpredictable nature of the corruption, many tapes being harmless and there destruction resulting in the revenge killing of many inquisition acolytes. as such, Alastor is considered a mighty and unpredictable threat.
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But the biggest victory of the New Eldar Empire came very recently, for in the 992nd year of the 41st millennium the empire gained the fourth cronesword and a new Black Ark. Craftworld Iyanden had been a loyalist Craftworld, and boasted the highest population of the Craftworlds. This however, bred arrogance and pride comes before the fall. They belived themselves equal to any threat the universe could breed, and in fact they were equal to the threats of the galaxy. But the Tyranids are not of this galaxy, and a tendril of Hive Fleet Kraken found Iyanden.
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The Tyranids
One of the biggest threats to life in the galaxy, the Tyranids come from the Andromedia Galaxy (according to the reverse trajectory of the Hive Fleets). Little is known about the Tyranids, not even what they call themselves. Indeed, the name Tyranid comes from the world of Tyran, the first world that fell victim to there hunger. It was the now treasonous Inquisitor Kryptman who first encountered the Tyranids. To date, three hive fleets have attacked the Imperium, with debate raging as to the identity of supposed Tyranid fleets arriving as early as M35.
The first Hive Fleet was Behemoth, and it inevitably met its end when it plunged into the Ruinstorm. It is unknown why it entered the domain of the Ultramarines, given the Tyranids are immune to chaos, generating a shadow in the Warp, but it did. The second was Hive Fleet Kraken, a tendril of which engaged with an Ultramarine Black Crusade. The third was Hive Fleet Leviathan, where the horrible event known as Kryptman's Gamble occured. Kryptman belived that the Hive Fleet could be stopped without the loss of Imperium life, but his proposed solution of luring the Tyranids into conflict with the Orks was rejected, as all future seers saw the birth of the New Devourer, a horrible race with the strengths of both Tyranid and Ork. It was here the Kryptman went from radical to traitor, allying himself with the Chaos Lord Uriel Ventris and causing the Hive Fleet to engage the Ork empire of Octavius.
In addition to the power of the Hive Fleets which can adapt to anything, there are the Genestealer Cults. These cults are composed of hybrids of human and Tyranid, and not even Holy Terra itself is free of Genestealers. As if it couldnt get any worse, there is a truely horrible fact, one that has caused many servants of the Imperium to take there own lives. It has been deduced recently that the Hive Fleets are in fact the vanguard for the main Tyranid horde.
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It was the power of the Tyranids that nearly anhiliated Iyanden, but then came there salvation, or rather Damnation. It came in the form of Prince Yriel and the Eldrich Raiders. The Corsair lord had been banished for stealing the Spear of Twilight from the vaults, and with its damning touch he had become devoted to Slannesh. He spoke to the Farseer council of his world, promising them salvation as long as they swore loyalty to the New Eldar Empire. In desperation they did, and there Infinity Circuit became empty of souls, replaced by the Ynneadlings that animate the Ghost Warriors of the empire. After the tendril was destroyed the new Black Ark made its way to the Malestrum. Where it to reach the Malestrum at full strength it would wreck the Iron Cage. Luckily they were stopped by Lufgt Huron and the Astral Claws.
Lufgt Huron, the hero of Badab, was a Son of Horus who had gained a unique honor amongst Astartes, a Warrant of Trade. It was his genius in banishing the Daemon known as the Hamadrya that granted him this honor. When his ships Astropath heard of Iyanden's warpath he rushed to save his home-system of Badab. With the aid of the Astral Claws he managed to inflict heavy causaltys on the already ragged Chaos Eldar forces, destroying hordes of Ghost Warriors. Indeed he nearly killed Yriel, but was caught off guard by a meltabomb used by the Corsair. Half of his body had to be rebuilt, and by the eighth day of the process he could speak and on the twelth day he could walk again. He was given command over an astartes faction much like the Deathwatch, which he named the Red Corsairs, after a Corsair band that had helped him early during his time in the Koronus Reach. It was to remind him and everyone that not all Corsairs were bad.
The addition of Iyanden to the New Eldar Empire was small potatos compared to the Spear of Twilight, which was confirmed to be the fourth cronesword. The realization that the croneswords could take other forms had caused many new expeditions to be launched. In addition, word from the Ruinstorm is that Yvraine now works with Arch-Heretek Cawl to resuruct Robute Guilliman.
Homeworlds
To the Eldar of the Empire, they believe they control all the worlds of the universe. In reality, they control many worlds in the Malestrum where the traitorous wych cults and Haemonculi Covens practice there arts. But it is the Black Arks that are the true homeworlds of the New Eldar Empire, the twisted center of the horrible empire. These corrupted Craftworlds are no longer made of Wraithbone, all of it having long ago rotted away. Indeed, you would be hard pressed to find a single example of Wraithbone in the New Eldar Empire. Instead it is Ghastbone that replaces Wraithbone, the skeletons of the Black Arks have been replaced piece by piece with this twisted substance. Wraithbone was designed to repel warp entitys, where Ghastbone attracts them. Indeed, Ghastbone rots very quickly and repair teams of Eldar Ghastsingers, xenos and even Hereteks eternally scurry across the Black Ark to ensure it stays stable. While the Craftworlds glow the beautiful blue of Wraithbone, the Black Arks emit the sickly green glow of Ghastbone. In addition, each Black Ark has signs of its history, for the rule of symbolism is the only law that the Warp has that is not considtantly broken by its own nature.
Biel-Tan is the first Black Ark, and even though the skeleton of Wraithbone is long gone it still bears the scars of the Yncarnes birth. Fittingly, it is in three pieces, each ruled by one of the ruling triad, connected by lines of Ghastbone that rot extremely fast even by the standards of the accursed substance. Indeed, some whisper that the only thing holding Biel-Tan together is the will of Ynnead. This splitting occured sometime inbetween the announcment and the first black crusade, when the Wraithbone first started to rot. The three sections are very different, Yvraines section being devoted to worship of Ynnead and training preists, the Visarchs section being devoted to training Aspect warriors not corrupted to Khorne, and the Yncarne's section is inhabited by him alone, where he sits upon Khaines throne eternally conversising with Ynnead.
Iyanden is the newest Black Ark, and indeed the skeleton of Wraithbone can still be seen in some areas. It is a shrinking thing thought, and in a few months of real time it will rot away, the animating power of a Craftworld lost the moment it accepted Yriels aid and the constant Daemon attacks of the warp storm it inhabits. But even when Ghastbone is the only substance of Iyanden it will still resemble a still under construction space station, with many places exoposed to the ever changing void. Iyanden is now truely a world of wraiths, having only Ghost Warriors as inhabitants. The surviving Eldar are part of the Eldrich Raiders, who only visit there home to resupply and rest.
Alsansar is the only Black Ark that moves, doing an orbit of the Malestrum its surface covered in agury arrays and twisted viewing towers. It eternally spies upon the Iron Cage, sending corrupted machine spirits to attack the various gateway devices. It sends forth horrible nightmares to afflict the defenders, for all sentient life must sleep. They show them either the monsters the eldar were before the fall or the horrors of the fall. Frequintly, the humans give into the paranoia caused by the nightmares and attack the eldar aiding them. No ammount of wards can prevent these twisted dreams from afflicting the defenders, and the cogitators and other devices frequintly malfunction because of the tech-dijjn sent by this unholy ark. Alsansar's inhabitants are strange in that none of the eldar ever remove there helmets or speak, and many claim that they made a deal with Ynnead before it even had a name. Alsansar is hated both in the new empire and without, the craftworlds knowing it as the fallen home of one of the phoenix lords and the empire distrusting its undead state that keeps it in orbit.
Yme-Loc is a dark forge world, eternally shrouded in the pollution generated by the unholy forges that cover the planet. Corrupted Eldar, daemon smiths, hereteks and other less definable beings all labor to craft so many things. It was Yme-Loc that created Ghastbone, and from that fundemental building block countless horrors have spawned. Some say that the Masters of the Forge travel to Yme-Loc to learn its secrets, while others say they consider the Black Ark to be an upstart rival fit only for destruction. The smiths of Yme-Loc do not work only in metal, mixing in flesh and energys of the warp in there creations. All of the Daemon engines used by the New Eldar Empire can trace there origins to one of the forges of Yme-Loc, as can the vast majority of ships and weapons. But it is not only the New Eldar Empire that benefits, for the strange xenos species of the Baator Empire known as the Bibilava purchase some items from Yme-Loc. More specifically the strange beings known as the Elemental Smiths have there forge on Yme-Loc, and they create the armor and weapons of the Lahimatoa. As with most corrupted forge worlds should someone be able to pay for there wares can purchase them. And like an imperial forge world they are defended by knights, as four twisted clans of chaos pilot horrible mismached knights made of unnatural fusions of metal and flesh. these are the corpulent sable-claw clan of Nurgle, the savage nightfury clan of Khorne, the devious swifthorn clan of Tzeench and the decadant sea-talon clan of Slannesh.
Il-Kaithe is an eternally damaged world, as the Daemon exarchs of Khorne's eldar fight at a rate not easily fixed by the repair teams. Il-Kaithe was once the most dedicated fighters agaisnt the dark gods, but with this endless war they were corrupted by the blood god. The aspect paths of the new empire frequintly making there home here, for they are dedicated to the ancient arts of war. Without the protection of a god, the aspect paths are at a large risk of falling to the blood god. The Visarch sees this world as a danger, for Ynnead will need the might of the aspect paths to aid it.
Lugganath is a horrible place, the Black Ark of Slannesh, and here the decadance that caused the fall is repeated forever. Lugganath was corrupted when it turned its back on the material and abandoned the paths. These were insanely bad discisions as the paths were made to resist Slannesh and the retreat from galatic affairs was part of what caused the old empire to become decedant in the extreme. Here flock the corrupted Harlequinns and Corsair fleets, still a haven for outcasts even in hell. The repair teams endlessly seek to fix the damage inflicted upon Lugganath during the Shattering, when the Emperor's Children attacked the Craftworld in there eternal war agaisnt Slannesh. 30 Sonic Marines sacrificed there lives to allow there brothers to escape, and even now 10,000 years later the damage can still be seen.
Iybraesil is a world of witches, unholy magic and plots agaisnt all other beings originating here. The Howling Banshees not corrupted by Khorne or Ynnead make there base here, corrupted instead by Tzeentch. There legends tell of a deal with Morai-Heg, and seven times seven of there warriors became the handmaidens of the crone so there sisters may be blessed. While the deal with Tzeench superseeds that, the remnants of this deal can be seen in the fact that there is a disproportinally high female population. During the heresy a new deal was made with what they belived to be the true archietct of fate, Tzeentch, and nine times nine of there warriors became the handmadiens of Tzeentch in excange for being the favored servants of Tzeentch. And they were blessed as every member of this world that didnt follow the path of the banshee became sourcerers and warlocks of much power. They work eternally to give Tzeentch victory in the Great Game, even braving the crone worlds to find artifacts that will tip the balance in the favor of Tzeentch.
Mymerara is very much like the mansion of there patron god Nurgle. By all rights it should have rotted away long ago yet it still stands. In fact, uniquely amongst the Black Arks no repair teams scurry trying to hold it together. They were touched by Nurgle when they were sent into the galactic wilderness, surviving impossible odds and focusing only on the past. It was the despair of believing them the last of there kind and there turning to there past that made Nurgle sympathize with them, and he claimed them as his when they joined the new empire. Much like the Space Wolves they show no outwards signs of Nurgles "Love" save for being incrediably tough. No, there sickness is mostly in the mind. Where the Space Wolves hypocrisy and refusal to see the truth has been enhanced by Nurgles touch, in Mymerara's eldar it is there focus on the past. They focus on the empire before the corruption that led to the fall and when the gods walked the earth.
Beliefs
The worship of Ynnead can seem like a paradox to those who know of it. After all it was housed in the Infinity Circuits of the Craftworlds, but Eldrads ritual has succeeded in banishing the warp entity into the warp. Shouldn't Ynnead have been consumed by Slannesh? Those of the new empire claim that Ynnead is trapped between life and death and once the croneswords are recovered they will call Ynnead forth and bring victory to the empire. Those of the inquisition and the seer councils have two theories, which are either Ynnead is still in the embryonic stage and thus cannot be devoured by Slannesh or She Who Thirsts is being prevented from consuming Ynnead by one of the other chaos gods, much like how Nurgle prevents Slannesh from consuming Isha even as he feeds her every disease he concocts. Those eldar corrupted by the other chaos gods or by chaos undivided can have there beliefs summed up as this; they belive that if they follow the whims of there gods then the glory of the empire will be reborn.
Organization
The new eldar empire is not organized in most senses. Much like all chaos orginizations it is a rivalry ridden cesspool of corruption, with only a stronger being keeping the others in line. The ruling triad are possesed of the might of Ynnead, a being on par with the chaos gods. In this sense alone can they be called an empire, with the Yncarne at its center. From them the orginization becomes divided into the Black Arks, the twisted Pipers that were once the Harlequinns, the wych cults, the fleshsmith covens, the exiled kabals, the bands of corsairs and the twisted aspect paths.
Combat doctrine
The combat style of the new eldar empire varies based on what forces are fought. The aspect paths retain there style of combat, as do the wych cults. Corsairs hit hard and fast, and the only notable deviation is when a member of the ruling triad leads a Black Crusade. These Black Crusades are aimed at finding one of the croneswords and as such the eldar fight to make sure imperial forces cannot interfer with the process. The releativly small number of Eldar compared to other species means that the empire normally goes to war aided by many Ghost Warriors, animated not by the souls of the dead but by the neverborn of Ynnead.
A notable ability the Ynnari posses is the ability to use the souls of the dead in a way similar to the Harbingers of Iustitia, those of the Thousand Sons who journey to the remnants of Prospero and become champions of the Rubric. The Harbingers use the ghosts of Prospero for many effects, and harness untainted warp essence to do so. The Ynnari merely create echos of souls hat either served the ruinous powers or fought agaisnt them, nothing more than common necromancy. This does nothing to dissuade the critics of the Thousand Sons.
Recruitment and escape
The New Eldar Empire suffers the same problem as the rest of the Eldar race, namely they are a dying race. They use many Ghost Warriors and force grown clones to counter this, but they also gain new recruits from various naïve or corrupt Eldar who seek the old empires glory. Much like the cultists of Kor Phareon they do not use rituals provided for them by Thrice-Damned Janus, instead creating temporary connections between worlds much like the Webway but made of Ghastbone. The natural Daemon attracting property's of Ghastbone these links are inherintly unstable and never last long.
Warcry
when the New Eldar Empire uses warcrys, they typically either use the sterotypical crys of there gods or such shouts as, "For the Empire!" or, "Ynnead will arise."
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Alright, third chapter is up. Here's how the universe is gonna change at large with these chaos eldar, plus some random observations. These are not in any form of order
Vect is still gonna be ruler of the Dark Eldar, despite the fact that the Cult of Strife is chaos corrupted. I see his rise happening much like in canon, but it's a Salamander warband and the wych cult he has close ties with is the Cult of the Denied Blade. I was looking through my 8ed dark eldar codex to find a replacement for the Cult of Strife, and they stuck out to me. They are an elder witch house, and their whole modus operatus is taking an enemy's weapon and felling them with it. That fits with Vects rebellion, as the wych cults are the weapons of the noble houses.
The Sonic Marines are loyalist Noise Marines, the Noise Marines are those who followed Bile.
As for why I made Ynnead a bad guy, well it never sat well with me. I mean the Lords of Order in fantasy were bad guys, and Ynnead sounds like a lord of order to me. That title and the term Black Arks comes from Warhammer fantasy. Also, the first review I got for this had me make a better explanation as to why the lords of order serve chaos. It's a combination of faulty logic like what turned the cabal, and the nature of chaotic corruption. I think I got Lorgar's quote from somewhere, but I don't remember where.
For the Red Corsairs, I found Huron cool and decided to adapt him and the Red Corsairs.
The Matrons come from LordLucans arrested fall story, it's the term for eldar robots. Ghastbone comes from nobledark imperium
Alastor is an outright reference to Alastor from hazbin hotel. I only really watch the second half of the pilot episode, when Alastor is introduced.
For that little scene concerning the wider events of Ynneads banishment I took inspiration from the Robutian Heresy, which is where a lot of inspiration for this project comes from. The Harrowing will never get detailed, because no one knows what it is. But once again, the Alpha Legion has saved the galaxy from a threat unknown to the wider Imperium. Also I know the harrowing was freed in M32, but I want my version to happen in M33. Ok, actually, my harrowing is going to be unleashed during M36. this change in the lore comes from the fact that all of the organizations that could have stopped the rise of Goge Vandire were distracted by the enemy's outside. Each of the legions distractions are gonna be detailed in there chapters, while the custodies are either the unmoving companions or fighting in the webway. And I realized I needed a reason for the Alpha Legion to be distracted, so I chose the Harrowing. Also M36 is farther away in time from M31 than M33 is, so it works.
For the Solitaries, I admire them. I mean they stay loyal despite being hated by the rest of the galaxy and being literally damned. That whole eldar committing suicide if they accidentally talk or just bump into a solitarie is canon. The fact that they stay loyal is admirable, but I wanted a reason for them to stay loyal in my 40k verse. So the Word Bearers are there friends, but the main reason they stay loyal is gonna be described in the Word Bearers chapter, cause the meetings between the two are scarce.
For the Astral Claws being a Word Bearer chapter, I just felt it might be a constellation of Clothis. Astral Claws brings stars to my mind.
For the Tyranids, I want them coming from the Andromeda Galaxy. I don't know if that's where they come from in canon, but that's where they come from here.
For the Harbingers, it is the influence of the Robutian heresy again.