101 Those who become lost on the Path of the Warrior are known as Exarchs, and other Asuryani regard them as inspiring, frightening, and necessary in equal measures. These warriors devote themselves to war and bloodshed so completely they can never walk another path again. Most Asuryani follow the call to war voluntarily at some point in their lives. Some do so out of a sense of duty or honour, while others seek vengeful redress for the many tragedies visited upon their kind. Most are careful to keep the rush of exultation and bloodlust at bay so that they can take off their war masks when the time comes. To see Exarchs allow such powerful emotions to reshape their lives is awe inspiring and can be, though most Aeldari would never admit to it, somewhat enviable. At the same time Exarchs stand as a powerful example of the obsession and single-mindedness that awaits Aeldari who stumble from the Asuryani Path. And yet, even so, they’re crucial parts of Craftworld society, serving as priests of the war god Kaela Mensha Khaine, keepers of Aspect Shrines, and trainers and leaders to Aspect Warriors. This latter attitude illuminates a truth common to every Craftworld: every Aeldari life can be directed to a purpose, even those who falter or fail. To witness the Asuryani on the battlefield might lead one to believe their are but two paths: those of the Warrior and the Witch. In fact there are many more. Those on the Path of the Bonesinger study and nurture the psychoplastics that are the material basis for many Aeldari objects, from weapons to homes; the Path of the Artisan innovates, designs, and builds whatever their fellow Asuryani need to survive; the Path of the Savant studies history and science and disseminates their knowledge, while the Path of the Player keeps myths and legends alive through song, dance, and art. Many paths involve specialisms, and most Asuryani learn only one aspect of a path lest they be lost upon it. An Artisan might know how to design and create gorgeous clothing, how to cook the most exquisite meal, or how to tend a specific phylum of plants, but not all of these things. The Path of the Warrior is divided into Warrior Aspects such as the Striking Scorpions and Howling Banshees, each dedicated to a different narrow specialism in the arts of war. Not every Aspect Shrine on a Craftworld is equally powerful; cultural factors lead some to prominence and others to obscurity in different times and places. On some Craftworlds, such as Ulthwe, Aspect Warriors of any stripe are comparatively rare, with the Craftworld’s small population more focused on other pursuits. Each path has a role to play in the workings of a Craftworld. Each Asuryani knows their role and abides by it; those who can’t, or won’t, leave to follow other paths. Farseers, the most potent psychics amongst the Aeldari, offer guidance and direction for the entire continent-sized ship. They see the patterns in the interwoven strands of fate and figuratively steer the Craftworld’s course, deciding everything from when its warhost will do battle to how the Craftworld should prepare itself for dangers it’s yet to face. Autarchs lead each world’s warhost, deploying them as the Farseers direct. Artisans, smiths of the forge god Vaul, and Bonesingers ensure the Craftworld continues to operate. So it is on most Craftworlds. yet Ul-Khari’s predicament makes life in the Gilead System both different and harder.
102 CRAFTWORLD UL-KHARI ‘We will not be forgotten.’ — World-rune of Craftworld Ul-Khari The people of Ul-Khari were always tenacious. They took pride in hardship, in traversing dangerous star systems and continuing military campaigns even when the odds of victory were as long as their history. When the Great Rift opened and Ul-Khari crashed into Trollius, to lodge there for the foreseeable future (and the Aeldari foresee many distant futures), they knew persistence and tenacity would help them weather the crisis. It took only a small, subtle change to the elegant strokes of their world-rune to express the reality of their new situation and the hope for change: we will not be forgotten. On Ul-Khari, those words have many meanings and they guide everything the surviving Aeldari do. u Remembering the dead — of whom there are many. u Maintaining communication with the other Aeldari in the Gilead System — except the Drukhari, who are best avoided. u Attempting to free the Craftworld from Trollius and return to the wider galaxy. u Finally and most importantly making sure the Craftworld survives. A LIVING WORLD A craftworld is far more than a voidship — it is at once a home, a bastion for the souls of the dead, and a key part of its denizen’s identities. Craftworlds are not built so much as grown — sung into being from wraithbone and and other psychically active materials. To the Aeldari mind, there is no difference between technology and nature – they are a single process by which the artificers of the worldships imbue living things with function and functional things with life. This generates in Asuryani a deep, unwavering loyalty to their home: the concept of a Craftworld doesn’t just encompass familiar sights or the bond with the people around them. It’s their place as part of a far greater whole. Badly damaged wraithbone isn’t neutral, like plasteel or ferrocrete. It’s a corpse. And the Aeldari have enough psychic gifts, even when untrained, to be acutely sensitive to the difference between an object and something that was once alive. There are parts of Ul-Khari that powerful Warlocks can’t bear to experience, and venture into only on the most pressing business. To stand in these sectors is akin to hosting a council session in a charnel house.
103 As painful as the experience is for most of the Aeldari aboard Ul-Khari, it’s worse for the Bonesingers. Ever since the crash, growing and repairing the wraithbone of the Craftworld’s structure has been their most important task. The Bonesingers have woven their craft to bring strength back where they can, yet there are places too damaged to save. They do their utmost to forget the pain of the wraithbone as it froze and suffered upon contact with Trollius, and the slow death of parts of their homeworld as it shut down around them. Damaged and dead wraithbone doesn’t necessarily look different from its healthy, living counterpart. Scars from weapons fire, breakage, and age are all indications of damage, of course, but wraithbone is a psychoplastic, not organic matter: it doesn’t rot and die. It just leaves a psychic void where the comforting presence of Ul-Khari should be. It isn’t just the living bone that makes a Craftworld more than simply a dwelling or a vessel. It’s the Infinity Circuit. This crystalline matrix is the core of every Craftworld, including Ul-Khari. In its psychoactive structure, the souls of dead Aeldari — those whose essences were caught in Spirit Souls before Slaanesh could take them — persist in a shared consciousness. They’re far from the world of the living: in the case of Ul-Khari’s circuit, only a psychic prodigy can reliably reach and communicate with a single soul, but they’re present. The collective as a whole offers advice and guidance, as well as serving as a wellspring of psychic power that helps maintain the Craftworld. As long as the Infinity Circuit is unharmed, the soul of every Aeldari who has lived and died persists. If it’s broken, She Who Thirsts will feast on every last trace of spiritual essence. It’s a miracle that Ul-Khari’s Infinity Circuit survived the collision with Trollius. It’s too much to ask for it to be unharmed. It’s whole, and it works, but it’s not quite right — quite apart from the matter of the Broken God. Sometimes the psychic energy isn’t enough to maintain the entire station; sometimes processes shut down in places where they’re needed while empty stretches of Ul-Khari are suddenly vibrant with power. It doesn’t help the sensation that the Craftworld is a haunted place. THE BROKEN GOD At the heart of every Aeldari Craftworld is the Avatar, a god incarnate, a vessel for the essence of the dead god Khaela Mensha Khaine. When not roused for war, a craftworld’s Avatar sits upon a smouldering throne inside a sealed wraithbone chamber. A towering statue of iron, the Avatar’s heavily muscled form is pitted with age and encrusted with corrosion. His armour is ornately adorned with runes, gemstones and more, while emblems representing the various Aspect Shrines hang from belts around his waist and chest. When war approaches, the Avatar will shift upon his throne, restless with a craving for bloodshed. To rouse the Avatar, there must be undertaken the sacrificial Ritual of Awakening; an Aspect Warrior chosen by Farseers for a potentially dread destiny, will take up the role of the Young King, Eldanesh, the first and greatest of the Aeldari, and one who refused to serve Khaine. The dead god still harbours such burning hatred, such lust for war and slaughter spurs to life the spark of Khaine that remains in the soul shard. When full roused, thick red gore drips from the fiery Avatar’s left hand, a grim reminder of slain Eldanesh, and the sacred weapon called Suin Daellae, the Wailing Doom is borne in his right. Against this relic of a dead god, few can stand firm. Except on Craftworld Ul-Khari, that’s no longer possible. Ul-Khari’s collision with Trollius damaged its shard of Khaine. The body of the Avatar remains, but there’s no spirit of a dead god in the Infinity Circuit to inhabit it. The craftworlders discovered this during the Tide of Red Frosts, when they performed the Ritual of the Young King to no result. PLOT HOOK SIGNS OF LIFE A dome far away, cut off from the inhabited areas of the Craftworld by miles of dense ice, suddenly comes alive. Lights blaze out over the snowfields and the Seers of the Craftworld pick up soft psychic signals from this abandoned, presumed empty dome. Either something dreadful has happened to the Spirit Stones thought lost within, or new life has arrived there. Worst of all, it might be connected to Winter’s Last Cry (see page 109). Whatever’s happening, it can’t bode well. Someone must investigate. AN ANCIENT SYSTEM AELDARI CHARACTERS PSYCHIC POWERS ARMOURY WORLDS OF BONE OUTCASTS OF THE VOID THE DARK CITY SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD PANTHEON OF RUIN GAMEMASTERS GUIDE
104 The Farseers and Exarchs think there might be another way to awaken the Avatar. There might be a way to adapt the Ritual of the Young King, turning one Exarch into Eldanesh and the others, collectively, joining in a psychic circuit to simulate the raw power and might of a god. They’re already lost on the Path of the Warrior, beyond the normal restraints Asuryani impose on themselves. Opening up to the darker impulses the Aeldari are capable of could provide sufficent psychic power to summon whatever shadow of Khaine remains. It’s only theoretical, as there is no way to test such a wild idea without awakening the Avatar, which is itself never without risk. If it did work, it is unclear if the resulting entity would bear the true strength of the Avatar, and there is no way to tell what would happen to the craftworld’s Exarchs. To sacrifice one is a great loss — to lose all would be a price Ul-Khari can ill afford to pay. Still, desperation is almost certain to force the matter sooner or later. If this is to be avoided, the Asuryani need to repair or replace the shard of Khaine before another crisis strikes. Replacing it is unlikely: the only known shards are in other Craftworlds’ Infinity Circuits. There may be others throughout the galaxy — after all who can say how many pieces a god’s soul might fracture into? But there’s no telling where they are. Repairing it is almost as difficult. It requires knowledge the Craftworld doesn’t have. If they’re tremendously lucky, some clue might exist in Aeldari ruins, and there are many of those in the Gilead System. Some of the Craftworld’s Seers theorise the object of the Call is a solution to the problem of the Broken God. It’s certainly possible, and it would provide a certain tragic, poetic completeness to Ul-Khari’s story: it would mean they came to Gilead following the Call, only to create the exact circumstances in which they needed the treasure it led them towards. Some have suggested this is the kind of dramatic irony that a enigmatic and vindictive deity like Cegorach, the Laughing God, might engineer, and he’s the only god currently looking out for the Aeldari. ON HARDSHIP Other Craftworlds are sealed systems, complete within themselves. Everything the Asuryani aboard need is created on the Craftworld, whether food from living, growing organisms or materials sculpted from sophisticated psychoplastics, the best known of these being the wraithbone that forms the Craftworld itself as well as smaller structures like the Aeldari war walkers, recognised and feared wherever aliens have fought Asuryani troops. That’s not the case on Craftworld Ul-Khari. When Trollius appeared in the Craftworld’s path, almost half of Ul-Khari was ruined beyond recognition in the collision. The Craftworld is now fused with the dense ice of the planet; the only way to separate wraithbone from rock would be to blow Trollius to splinters. Though they possess the means of doing so, this would almost certainly cause more harm that good. As well as the swathes of the Craftworld rendered inaccessible by the collision, a wide perimeter is frostbitten and inhospitable. It’s structurally sound but sealed off in order to maintain a more hospitable environment elsewhere on the Craftworld. Teams are dispatched occasionally into the forbidden region to retrieve records, technology, or any of the other resources lost in the ice. PLOT HOOK DESPERATE TIMES An army of Orks bent on Waaagh! races across the Gilead System, sweeping all before them. Ul-Khari is in their path, and nothing in the galaxy will dissuade them from testing their mettle against some Aeldari for a change of pace. The Asuryani need the Avatar, or a huge number of allies. A team of Agents are dispatched both to chase down every possible interpretation of the Call’s objective, and to find what support they can against the Anhrathe and the Harlequins — who of course have their own problems to solve before they can return to Ul-Khari. There’s too much to do, and too little time before the Orks descend.
105 The lost areas include two Aspect Shrines: those of the Howling Banshees and the Fire Dragons. Most of the warriors of those Aspects were lost, doomed in the encounter with Trollius. The survivors have carved out niches elsewhere in the Craftworld’s structure. They make do as best they can, but there’s no comparison with the beauty and tradition of a long-established shrine. The compromised sectors of the Craftworld are more than a blow to the Aspect Warriors’ pride. The derelict areas included food cultivation facilities, workshops, and archives. Without them Ul-Khari is significantly short of critical resources. They have the ability to produce everything they need, but it’s slow and there are often choices to be made: is the need for replacement weapons and additional ammunition currently more critical than the production of tools? As well as the losses of physical resources, Ul-Khari lost a great deal of knowledge in the collision. To the Aeldari, this was a greater loss. Master artisans, priests of Vaul, historians and other specialists died in the catastrophic clash of Ul-Khari and Trollius. Retrieving their Spirit Stones is the most frequent reason to send teams into the compromised sectors, but even collecting their remains and adding them to the Craftworld’s Infinity Circuit can’t replace a living Aeldari with centuries of knowledge. This vacuum of experience has forced some Asuryani back onto paths they left decades or centuries ago in order to support the Craftworld. It’s miserable, and feels like a failure to many Aeldari, but it’s necessary to preserve Ul-Khari. It also means there have never been more opportunities for youthful Aeldari. On any other Craftworld, Autarch Ishtá Indomi’s youth would count against her. She would have spent long years proving herself to doubting elders. On Ul-Khari, her vigour and determination counts for much more than her relative inexperience. Vissalos’ champions other young Aeldari too — making her a useful Patron for ambitious groups of Agents. UL-KHARI ORNAMENTATION Each Craftworld develops in isolation and takes on its own character that manifests in every detail, from the structures of its wraithbone to the colours of its Guardians’ uniforms. They hint at the empire that existed before the Fall, and in this way every Craftworld is like a shadow of what once was. Those hints are usually so well-buried, however, that there’s no practical way to deduce much about the specific worlds the craftworlders left behind. Like a broken bone that has badly healed Ul-Khari has two distinct aesthetics. Everything grown before the collision is formed of sweeping curves and slender spires. Wide passages open into vaulted halls with acoustics that make every word spoken into a lingering musical note. The repairs and new forms cultivated after the collision are designed to make the Craftworld feel smaller, less echoing and empty. Wraithbone pillars — still slender and beautiful, but undecorated, the products of need rather than art — make corridors narrower and support new floors to make chambers smaller and more comfortable. All the work done, is done to make the Craftworld feel less like a graveyard. The Ul-Khari colours of orange and green, and banners bearing its World Rune, are omnipresent throughout the Craftworld; hanging on pennants, colouring Guardian uniforms, and bedecking every vehicle in the Craftworld’s fleet. Against the creamy ivory of wraithbone the colours give the impression of an autumnal forest, clinging onto the last notes of vibrant warmth before the coming chill of winter. PLOT HOOK PRISONERS OR MARTYRS All the tales the craftworlders tell of their collision with Trollius paint them as victims of circumstance; casualties of cruel Fate. That may not be the case. There are hints — in the choices the Asuryani made, and some of the orders given in the years immediately before the crash — that suggest at least some of the Craftworld’s Warlocks were aware of the risk, and considered whatever the Call (see page 154) was leading them to worth the risk. If that were the case, they’d be wise to keep their secret: their actions jeopardised the entire Craftworld and cost countless Aeldari lives. It borders on the kind of dangerous obsession the Asuryani designed an entire culture to eliminate. AN ANCIENT SYSTEM AELDARI CHARACTERS PSYCHIC POWERS ARMOURY WORLDS OF BONE OUTCASTS OF THE VOID THE DARK CITY SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD PANTHEON OF RUIN GAMEMASTERS GUIDE
106 THE TIDE OF RED FROSTS As if the collision with Trollius wasn’t enough disaster for any Craftworld’s entire existence, once Ul-Khari was stranded in the Gilead System the blows kept coming, wave after wave of catastrophes as though Fate had turned against the Aeldari. This is recent history, and the aftermath is the cause of many present dangers. Chaos Lord Maloquence was only part of the Craftworld’s problems. The moment the crust of Trollius’s ice was broken, Maloquence’s horde descended from some nightmare place within the Warp. But Craftworld Ul-Khari wasn’t Maloquence’s objective. He and his armies wanted something that waited beneath the ice; the Aeldari Seers theorised there would be new bacteria, new and virulent plagues, trapped within. They had little time to deduce anything, however: all their prophecies became useless the moment the impossible collision with Trollius occurred; everything they’d foreseen for their home belonged to another future. They had no forewarning of Maloquence’s arrival, no well-prepared strategies to overcome his forces. For the first time, Craftworld Ul-Khari was left reeling. In its hour of need, numerous war leaders and figureheads perished in the sudden incursion. Yet it was honour and heroism that carved a path to redemption. In light of the fresh wound dealt to the surviving Aeldari, youthful leaders - Ishtá Indomi among them - stood strong and led with steely determination where there forebears had boasted experience. Following the rise of these champions, the Greensteel Warriors swooped in They brought with them Princess Ferianwyr’s ally, the Rogue Trader Jakel Varonius. The Human seems to believe saving the Craftworld provides him with leverage. He’s wrong. But the debt Ul-Khari incurred to the Greensteel Princess is substantial and it weighs on the Craftworld’s leaders. It’s yet another bond tethering them to the Gilead System, trivial in the face of other factors tying them down, yet still one more strand that calls for severance by duty/and duty fulfilled. Beyond the damage wrought by the forces of Chaos in their dastardly act to wipe out the Craftworld, the conflict poisoned the relationship between Farseer Lanriel Taranlys and the other Seers of Craftworld Ul-Khari, and the upstart Vissalos and her fellow Autarchs.
107 The Aeldari of Ul-Khari couldn’t rely on their Seers when they needed them most. Their prophecies are once more the guiding force of the Craftworld’s decisions, but the Autarchs have never fully regained trust in them. They push against the Warlocks’ decisions and bridle at their commands. Neither faction is fool enough to curse Ul-Khari further by outright dissent, or graceless enough to countermand one another’s orders, but that tension makes Ul-Khari slow to act and less coordinated when they do. BENEATH THE ICE There were many disasters and unexpected hurdles not accounted for by prophecies suddenly thrown askew. The worst of them may be what waits beneath the ice of Trollius. A cavern has been discovered some distance from Ul-Khari during a scouting expedition to investigate a region psychic disquiet. Initially it was thought to be the result of the craftworlds near destruction, this proved not to be the case. Out of the ensuing fray, only a lone Ranger returned from the expedition, and he bore grim tidings. Emissaries of the Great Devourer sleep fitfully on Trollius under a glittering seal of ice. Ul-Khari has encountered Tyranids before and is well aware of their destructive potential. While the bioforms appear frozen fast, for now, they awake if disturbed. The Farseers have named this threat the Catastrophe Seed, for it is sure to grow into an even greater disaster in time. Much research is going into ways to ensure the beasts do not awake. One promising lead is the apparent sensitivity of the Tyranids to the presence of Humans nearby. Even the least subtle approach of an Aeldari Aspect Warrior may provoke no response from these sleeping monstrosities, while a Human anywhere nearby seems to stir them to lethal action almost instantly. This relationship is dangerous, but the Farseers hope to understand and exploit it in time. This research is hampered by a need for secrecy. The leaders of Ul-Khari are cautious and keep this state of affairs hidden from most. Any who witness the beasts are sworn to secrecy. This is done to preserve the Craftworld’s precarious morale and lessen the chances of the Imperium learning of the Tyranid presence. If they do, they will likely bomb Trollius and Ul-Khari until only ice, ash, and splintered wraithbone remain. GMs should remember the Tide of Red Frosts isn’t just history. It’s a scar that still itches, and has the potential to tear open at any time. The Farseers of Ul-Khari know what life forms they share the planet Trollius with. They tell no-one. While Lord Maloquence was driven off once, the forces of Chaos are plentiful and the temptation of visiting further ruin upon the beleagured craftworld is certain to lure them back. Most importantly, the schism between Autarchs and Farseers bleeds into many aspects of life on Ul-Khari. Negotiating a course of action both factions support can waste precious time when action is most needed. A group of Ul-Khari Agents might find themselves working in utmost secrecy so as not to offend a Patron’s opposition, and Aeldari Agents from outside Ul-Khari, especially Outcasts, might be hired to quietly and deniably do things Asuryani cannot. ONGOING ACTIONS To those who are not themselves Aeldari, the Guardians and Aspect Warriors of the Asuryani are fearsome and incomprehensible. They appear without warning, strike a target, and are gone. Their choice of targets is sometimes obvious — a garrison or munitions factory — but just as often baffling and impossible to anticipate. They make precise strikes against the tallest spires of a hive city and launch raids into the deepest levels. At times they attack nutrient processing facilities, and then eradicate seemingly lifeless asteroids in the Voidmire. To the Aeldari, every mission is part of a plan that extends hundreds, even thousands of years into the future. The Asuryani are few in number, compared to the limitless cannon fodder of some other species; they have to strike early and tactically. The visions and prophecies of their Warlocks guide them to targets that will one day be critical in the battle against the Ruinous Powers. If all goes well, the Aeldari hit them before their importance is at all apparent. A harmless mining asteroid might one day provide materials a legion of Traitor Marines needs to take a strategically important planet. A minor manufactorm might be a future breeding ground for a cult of Chaos worshippers, or a regional Imperial administrator may need to be assassinated before they sire a lineage that will one day pledge itself to She Who Thirsts. AN ANCIENT SYSTEM AELDARI CHARACTERS PSYCHIC POWERS ARMOURY WORLDS OF BONE OUTCASTS OF THE VOID THE DARK CITY SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD PANTHEON OF RUIN GAMEMASTERS GUIDE
108 The interventions aren’t always in direct opposition to Chaos. Especially in these benighted days, the dwindling Aeldari might just as easily find a craftworld anhilated by the whim of an unforseen Ork Waaagh! as by any machination of the Ruinous Powers. That mining asteroid might be a future foundation for an Ork Rok, or the manufactorum a breeding-ground for a Genestealer Cult. A poorly defended agri world may be prophisied to one day fall to a Tyranid hive fleet, and so the Aeldari ruthlessly attack it a century prior to demonstrate to the Imperium the folly of leaving such a world unguarded. An otherwise unremarkable forge world might hide a host of ancient, slumbering Necrons, primed to awaken should the din of crude human industry continue. To the victim such attacks seem cruel and pointless, but to the Aeldari, who take a far longer view and care little for the lives of Humans, they are often obvious and necessary. These precision strikes are swift and deadly and always driven by purpose. A galaxy fallen to Chaos is a galaxy lost, and a fate far worse than any soul-chilling slaughter or heroic act the Aeldari commit to prevent it. This philosophy explains both why the appearance of Aeldari forces strikes fear into the hearts of other species galaxy-wide, and why they occasionally appear as unexpected allies. Occasionally, the stronghold of another species must be protected, as its fall would bring about terrible consequences. All of this is true for Ul-Khari. Were they not in dire straits themselves their forces would be spread across the Gilead System, intervening wherever necessary to ensure the system holds against the threat of Chaos that creeps, unstoppable as entropy, ever closer. They try to do so, as best they can, but the Aeldari’s numbers are limited and their priorities lay elsewhere. They can only intervene at the most critical points, averting what would become the most dire catastrophes. Every action has to be weighed against available resources. Destroying a hard target that’s only peripheral to a prophecy isn’t worth the toll it would take in Aeldari lives. Obliterating a softer target that will become pivotal is an easy decision. ‘Better a million Humans should perish than a single Aeldari be harmed.’ — Paean of Ul-Khari That gives the Asuryani of Ul-Khari an unjust reputation for cruelty. The tactical missions with the lowest risk and greatest impact pit the Aeldari against unprepared targets. Most Humans and other species don’t know enough about the Aeldari to discern the differences between groups — they wouldn’t know a Howling Banshee from a Wych Cult — but their understanding of the Aeldari is definitely closer to the truth of the Drukhari than their more disciplined cousins After all, such aspects pale in comparison to terror and brutality in the eyes of victims. PLOT HOOK THE PRICE AND PROMISE OF PEACE Feuding Imperial nobles have arranged to meet in the fortress-palace of a neutral third noble, on Brassyl, the low-orbit plate above Gilead Primus. Their hatred predates the Dathedian and the flame of their rivalry burns brighter than ever. But in the face of hardship they’ve agreed to put their differences aside and attempt to make peace. The Farseers of Ul-Khari predict their doing so would put Imperial reclamation teams on Trollius within a decade. They do not intend to share the ice world, nor wait to see what harm Winter’s Last Cry could cause the Mon-Keigh. A small tactical squad must slip inside the palace and ruin any chance of peace, by whatever means necessary. And they must be unseen, because ‘xenos scum’ will be shot on sight. PLOT HOOK THE BEST OF US ALL The Ul-Khari’s fearsome reputation serves to explain why other species in the galaxy are hostile to Aeldari on sight, not to force players to fight pitiful civilians. A highly trained strike team of Agents, who’ve already overcome unbeatable odds a dozen times in their careers, are the perfect assets to send in pursuit of a forlorn hope; an action that’s important, but overwhelmingly dangerous. Pit them against Space Marines and daemons, not hive scum.
109 The work that most regularly keeps the Asuryani from ingeniously steering the destiny of the Gilead System is the rebuilding of Ul-Khari. The Craftworld is still severely damaged, and repairs are slow. Strengthening and shaping wraithbone isn’t as simple as welding on a patch or soldering a joist. It requires patience and perseverance. While the Bonesingers’ work is the most obvious, they’re not the only Aeldari utterly devoted to restoring the Craftworld’s equilibrium. Many aboard labour at repairing food supplies, training warriors and artisans, and even retracing the strands of prophecy to see how the rending of the Dathedian has changed the course of fate. There’s more than enough work to keep a team of Agents busy on Ul-Khari itself. Exploring the damaged areas, acquiring vital supplies to restore broken circuits and structures, and recovering lost knowledge all make for dramatic storylines. Just keeping the cold from destroying the few habitable parts of the Craftworld is time-consuming. The more patient work of rebuilding can fill downtime between sessions, or provide a counterpoint to highadrenaline action scenes. Beyond the wraithbone walls of the Craftworld, Trollius is an immediate and concerning problem. The Aeldari have surmised several things about the dead Hive World. The ice is not natural. It’s malign and alive: it interferes with the Aeldari’s Wraithsight and sends out ripples of dread. The Asuryani name for it is rendered in Low Gothic as Winter’s Last Cry, though a more literal translation would be ‘the final howl of a doomed season, killing as it dies’. Tyranids under the ice are a relatively lesser concern compared to whatever force froze them in place. Dangers haunt the ice-locked spires and sweep in on the fast-moving frosts. If they’re to stay imprisoned on this strange, unnatural planet the Aeldari need to understand it better. They send scout teams out into the dead spires, when scouts can be spared. They plumb the depths of the Human hives, searching for clues to how Winter’s Last Cry came to Trollius. It is vital to discover what it is, and what hints might exist to keep it at bay if it ever comes for Ul-Khari as it came for the Humans. The scouts who range across the planet don’t know what they’re looking for; they’re cataloguing finds, rather than seeking something specific. Just as they all dream of the Call, every Asuryani on Ul-Khari has nightmares about the ice rolling over the domes of the Craftworld, smothering it under a beautiful, crystalline shroud. If Winter’s Last Cry came for them it would be the death knell of Craftworld Ul-Khari. Beyond those immediate concerns, the Gilead System is full of dangers the Asuryani are forced to face. The ever-growing threat of Chaos incursions into the Webway would be a priority if so many of the craftworlders weren’t occupied in keeping their home safe and habitable. As matters stand, they leave the maintenance and security of the Webway to their cousins the Harlequins, but the Asuryani are ever conscious of their inability to help. Far down the list of unattainable goals is the matter of Ironwatch. The Humans’ prison for Psykers is an open psychic wound. The collective nightmares of the thousands trapped there taint reality far beyond the bounds of the foreboding tower. The Aeldari aren’t concerned with the suffering of Humans, least of all dangerous and untrained Psykers who are an open invitation to daemonic incursions. They are, however, concerned that Ironwatch’s presence makes it hard for Aeldari, especially Seers and others with psychic talents, to visit parts of Charybdion for any length of time. They can’t pursue the Call there, and while it’s unlikely their visions are leading them to the bleak ocean world, it irks the Farseers to leave any stone unturned. If there were some way to eradicate Ironwatch, or at least stop it bleeding pain and suffering, the Asuryani would be willing to expend considerable resources pursuing it. AN ANCIENT SYSTEM AELDARI CHARACTERS PSYCHIC POWERS ARMOURY WORLDS OF BONE OUTCASTS OF THE VOID THE DARK CITY SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD PANTHEON OF RUIN GAMEMASTERS GUIDE
110 The Call The craftworlders’ other preoccupation is the Call: the psychic vision that most Ul-Khari Aeldari experience at least once in their lives, with varying degrees of clarity and force. The details of the vision change, and they’re clouded in metaphor and symbolism, but the Seers have arrived at a consensus. The Aeldari lost many things during the Fall. One of those things is real and tangible, and it’s somewhere in the Gilead System. Its nature is mysterious and its purpose obscure but any remnant of the time before the Fall is worth going to any lengths to reclaim. A prevailing theory, espoused by the Ul-Khari Seer Seleithe Taranlys, amongst others, is that whatever the Call is guiding the Aeldari towards could help restore the Craftworld’s Avatar. As valuable as such an artefact would be, the Asuryani lack the time or the people to pursue the Call. It’s the preserve of those who walk the Path of the Outcast. Solitary, mobile Rangers explore the secrets of the Gilead System from the Heartworlds to the Reach, the Straits of Andraste to the Voidmire. Other craftworlders seek out the Greensteel Warriors, trading the company of other Aeldari for unlimited freedom to pursue their own agenda. Yet others follow where masked dancers lead and join the Masque of the Calamity Trail. If one of these Outcasts were to find a strong lead, Ul-Khari might dispatch a few precious Agents to help investigate. Every other group of Aeldari in the Gilead System knows of the Call. For some it’s a matter of fascination, for others a lever to pull if they need the Asuryani’s assistance.
111 PEOPLE OF UL-KHARI Only the wisdom and forceful personalities of Craftworld Ul-Khari keep the Craftworld together, setting priorities and determining what causes are worth fighting, and maybe dying, for. The Farseer: Lanriel Taranlys Farseer Lanriel Taranlys is the Craftworld’s guiding light. Weighed down by duty and grief for the deaths of countless of his people, he’s painstaking and determined in his approach to steering Ul-Khari through this time of troubles. Taranlys is patient and pragmatic. He’s bowed to the — to his mind — inevitable need to ally with the Rogue Trader Jakel Varonius, if only to maintain the Craftworld’s relationship with the Emerald Princess. His foremost concern is resolving immediate crises: the future is his problem, not the rest of the Craftworld’s. He keeps their attention on rebuilding, reconnaissance, and dispatches small teams as and when he can to deal with the most crucial interventions (see Ongoing Actions, page 107). For more information on Farseer Taranlys, see Forsaken System Player’s Guide, pages 82–83. The Autarch: Ishtá Indomi The Craftworld is trapped, easy prey for a multitude of enemies, and the Farseer’s approach is to move so slowly and cautiously that this will never change. To say Autarch Ishtá Indomi disagrees with his methods is a gross understatement. Young, brave, and promoted to the rank of Autarch during the Tide of Red Frosts, Vissalos firmly believes Ul-Khari is on a war footing and therefore the Autarchs’ authority should take precedence over the Farseers’. Some other young Asuryani who rose to prominence under the same circumstances share Vissalos’s sentiments and so she gains in confidence as the years pass. Imdomi’s conflict with Farseer Taranlys is a cold war, masked in respect and painstaking civility; she’s Asuryani, and as dedicated to patience and restraint as any other person on Ul-Khari. The schism is based on different, but equally logical, arguments: a difference of opinion on whether tradition will guide the Asuryani through this sea of troubles, or whether new approaches are called for. All the same, everything Taranlys orders, Vissalos argues against — and vice versa. However polite and rational the two parties are, the cold war will eventually burn hot. The Exarch: Asurmen-Alaya Every Exarch is trapped on the Path of the Warrior. Their armour is fused to them, their mind and spirit joined to everyone who wore it before them. No one on Ul-Khari remembers who Alaya was before he was the Exarch of the Craftworld’s Dire Avengers shrine — before he joined the Phoenix Lord Asurmen’s name to his own. Asurmen-Alaya embodies the Dire Avengers philosophy as he has for many years: staunch loyalty to his Craftworld and its people, and a willingness to give whatever he must to protect them. Yet even he has had to adapt to the new circumstances in which Ul-Khari finds itself. As well as being Ul-Khari’s most fierce defenders, Asurmen-Alaya makes sure his troops take responsibility for training others: under his guidance the Ul-Khari Guardians have become steely, tenacious fighters. He’s assumed responsibility for all matters of Craftworld defence, scarcely needing to wait for orders to deploy his many troops to hold off a threat. AN ANCIENT SYSTEM AELDARI CHARACTERS PSYCHIC POWERS ARMOURY WORLDS OF BONE OUTCASTS OF THE VOID THE DARK CITY SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD PANTHEON OF RUIN GAMEMASTERS GUIDE
112 Where Farseer Taranlys feels guilt and shame that calamity came to Ul-Khari on his watch, and Autarch Vissalos is focused on trying every tactic she can conjure to improve matters, Asurmen-Alaya is staunch and patient. Disaster has come before, and will come again. He almost seems to enjoy the constant pressure and struggle of life on the stranded Craftworld. He’s in his element. The Artisan: Kurannin the Muse Kurannin is one of Ul-Khari’s Bonesingers. She’s never moved past the tragedy of the collision and the way it brought down all of the work she, and generations before her, did to cultivate their home. The wraithbone is in constant pain and she feels this at every moment. She doesn’t rest, and every moment she spends away from the damaged sections of the Craftworld she’s wracked with guilt for abandoning her duty. She tears herself away to teach others on the Path of the Bonesinger how to coax new growth from damaged wraithbone, but even that precious education is delivered in fractured and all too-brief moments. Kurannin is a long way down the dangerous path of obsession. There were already too few hours in the day and she’s found a new, morbid duty. The one thing Ul-Khari has in abundance is the dead. Kurannin is quietly, secretly, constructing Wraithguard to house the many Spirit Stones of the recently deceased: a gift from a Craftworld in dire need. Only a few other Bonesingers have seen the partially-grown Wraithguard, and they’ve all noted an uncomfortable aura around them, a hint of Kurannin’s own grief and sadness entwined in the wraithbone. The Sage: Seleithe Taranlys Alathys isn’t the only prominent Asuryani forced to walk a new path after the Craftworld’s collision with Trollius. Seleithe was on the Path of the Warrior when the catastrophe struck, famous amongst her fellow Howling Banshees for her calculating, lightning fast mind and absolute absence of fear. Gravely injured in the collapse of the Banshees’ Aspect Shrine, Seleithe dragged themself out of the wreckage. She would have died if her pain and desperation — though never fear — hadn’t reached her brother. If her brother had been anyone but the Farseer, the rescue mission might not have been so expeditious. Seleithe suffered terribly in the collision. Even her resilient Aeldari physiology could not recover from the physical trauma, and she now relies on several beautifully crafted wraithbone implants reminiscent of the Banshee armour she had once worn so proudly. Without them, she is paralysed from the neck down. PLOT HOOK LIFE ON VULKARIS Vulkaris emerged from the warp during the opening of the Cicatrix Maledictum, and is firmly in the grip of the forces of Nurgle. Daemons cavort openly among the plague lord’s faithful, and much of the planet is little more than a fetid, disease ridden hellscape of rot and ruin. Despite this, life endures on Vulkaris. Most think this a ‘blessing’ of Nurgle, a cruel whim to prolong his beloved infestations and infections, but the Asuryani suspect a relic of their ancestors — or perhaps of Isha herself — is the reason the world retains a fragment of its shattered biosphere.
113 Seleithe found herself shunted onto a new path. She has become an archivist and sage with the time so many others lack to study and theorise. While Bonesingers rebuild the Craftworld’s shattered skeleton and her brother untangles the knotted strands of Fate, Seleithe studies the Call. She records every vision experienced by every Asuryani, and interprets the collected evidence. Hers is the loudest voice directing the Ul-Khari to Vulkaris, insistent that there’s something there to find, which she believes to be a relic of Isha herself. Sceptics might think a person in need of healing might see signs of Isha — a god of healing, among other things — where none exist, but they wouldn’t dare express that in front of the Farseer’s sibling. A SUNDERED KIN The Asuryani of Ul-Khari would find their struggles even more overwhelming if not for the other Aeldari of the Gilead System. Pride prevents them from admitting it, but every Aeldari on the Craftworld knows it’s true. The Masque of the Calamity Trail: Ul-Khari’s relationship with the Harlequins is a close one. The masque visits regularly, bearing news of the system beyond the Asuryani’s trapped Craftworld. They offer relief from boredom, misery, and fear, and they serve as fierce allies when needed. Some of Ul-Khari’s citizens even join the masque. But the Asuryani know the Rillietann pity them, and compare the freedom of the Webway to the prison of Trollius. It enforces a certain coolness between the two groups, and an unwillingness to show need or ask for help. The Greensteel Warriors: Princess Ferianwyr has devoted herself, and her fleet, to Ul-Khari’s protection. Farseer Taranlys, Autarch Vissaron, and every other Aeldari with authority on the Craftworld is deeply beholden to her. They’re all shrewd enough to be sure she’s not exclusively driven by generosity. At some point she’ll want, or need, something in return. Ul-Khari will do everything in their power to deliver. The Greensteel Warriors have earned it. The Asuryani’s greatest fear is that whatever Princess Ferianwyr asks will tie the Craftworld to the Human trader Jakel Varonius, with whom the Greensteel Warriors are already too closely associated for the Asuryani’s taste. Varonius has already saved Craftworld Ul-Khari once, in the Tide of Red Frosts. Ul-Khari does not consider that a debt they need to pay. Aeldari prophecy and early intervention saves the Gilead System from Chaos more often than the Mon-keigh can ever know: they’ve saved Varonius’s entire fleet and he’ll never even be aware of it. However, if Princess Ferianwyr were to ask, the craftworlders would feel obliged to assist him — and some have forseen that she intends to request a mighty favour indeed, one that involves the rightly feared Space Marines of the Absolvers Chapter. The Drukhari: The craftworlders of Ul-Khari despise the Drukhari as a whole, but hold special loathing for the servants of Archon Kyrik Rhaul. They view the recent increase in her raids on the Gilead system as a sign that she wishes to take advantage of Ul-Khari’s weakness. In fact, a recent Dysjunction in Commorragh has meant that the Archon has few systems she can easily access, and only intends to increase the frequency of raids on Gilead. AN ANCIENT SYSTEM AELDARI CHARACTERS PSYCHIC POWERS ARMOURY WORLDS OF BONE OUTCASTS OF THE VOID THE DARK CITY SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD PANTHEON OF RUIN GAMEMASTERS GUIDE
114 For some Aeldari, life on the Craftworlds is too restrictive, and the strictures required by the Asuryani Paths become all but unbearable. Others clash with the consensus of the Craftworld, resenting the military strategies taken or refusing to be prohibited from pursuing their own course of revenge. Some leave to follow family or superiors whom they respect and agree with. In all these cases, the prescriptive requirements of life amongst the Asuryani, the dedication to the Path, and the repression of their emotions push these Aeldari to leave their homes. Seeking to forge or discover their own destinies, they take to the Path of the Outcast. The urge to leave the Craftworlds can be kindled at any point in their life as their emotions and personal views clash with the culture of their upbringing. Far from the Craftworlds, those lone souls are exposed to sinister powers beyond. Indulging in their desires and emotions makes such individuals prey for the daemons that stalk the dying race. Travelling the Webway, these wanderers witness strange vistas, encounter all manner of alien races, and visit Maiden Worlds and the ruins of their ancestors. For many, life amongst the stars, alone or in small coteries, is a brief respite enabling a time of introspection and renewal before they decide to return to the Craftworlds and the Path once again. Others return to their Craftworld, but forever changed by their emancipation; they remain as outsiders amongst their own kin and join the ranks of the Rangers. OUTCASTS OF THE VOID
115 However, there are those Aeldari who come to revel in their life away from the Craftworlds, becoming pirates of the spaceways amongst the Corsair fleets that stalk the galaxy. Outcasts join a coterie, either by chance after encountering these gallant figures during their travels in the Webway or by jumping aboard their ships, initially looking for transport from an Aeldari Maiden World, Craftworld, or the Dark City. Indeed, there are also those Drukhari, desperate for some release from a life of paranoia and pain, who seek out a future amongst the stars with the Corsairs. By Drukhari standards, life among the Corsair fleets provides a degree freedom rare in Commorragh, in addition to a far smaller chance of being killed by ones kin out of callous spite or jealous ambition. LORDS OF THE WINE DARK HEAVENS Aeldari Corsairs, known in their own tongue as the Anhrathe, comprise a plethora of fleets spread out across the galaxy. Each is led by a Prince or Princess, one of the many Corsair titles coined by the Monkeigh, both inaccurate and ignorant to the depths of Aeldari culture and heirarchy. In reality, these lords of the stars each boast a unique title that encapsulates their litany of honours within the lyrical Aeldari tongue. Through intrigue, respect, and deadly martial prowess, these nobles maintain a court of Barons and captains, along with their flotilla of void ships and coteries of raiders. Despite the dwindling numbers of the Aeldari race, Corsair Princes would rather burn brightly and enjoy what little time is left than wallow in misery. Consequently, upon their flagships, they maintain opulent throne rooms and banquet halls, including galleries filled with an eclectic selection of treasures or menageries of beasts captured from dozens of worlds. Through honeyed words and whispered hearsay, they maintain their throne as their courtiers vie for their attention and favour. Vendettas are made and ended with a blade or a well-aimed shuriken disc. As demonstrations of their influence, Princes hold grand balls, where all manner of delicacies are served, taken from a hundred worlds before being captured from mercantile fleets that the flotilla preyed upon. The Corsair Princes’ courts are attended by guests from outside the fleet, as Drukhari, Asuryani, and Exodite envoys wishing to acquire their services seek an audience with these pirate lords. Compared to their Asuryani kin, Anhrathe Princes are more liberal and are willing to give an audience to guests from outside the Aeldari race. Thanks to their charters, Rogue Traders are free to travel and parlay with all manner of peoples, and it is not uncommon for these baroque figures to be seen in the company of Corsair Princes as they attempt to seal trade deals and rights of passage through the regions of space that a Corsair fleet stalks. Radical Inquisitors are also guests amongst the Corsair nobles. Treated as both amusing curiosities and potential assets, these Humans are allies of convenience that can be leveraged within the Prince’s own complex schemes. In times of war, Corsair Princes convene grand conclaves, drawing together all wings of the fleet to plan their strategies before committing to lighting strikes upon their enemies. With the guidance of the fleet’s Wayseekers, their targets are caught on the backfoot, ambushes and counterstrikes thwarted, much to the enemy’s dismay. An Anhrathe Prince must remain vigilant for coups and challenges to their primacy from their Barons. Likewise, Barons must keep an eye open for attempts upon their life by rivals for the throne, and those aspiring Felarchs who seek promotion and renown. Barons command portions of the Corsair fleet and oversee numerous coteries of Voidreavers and Voidscarred. The constant bickering and vendettas between the coteries must be managed if the Barons are to retain face before their peers. When not deployed in battle, coteries of Voidreavers and Voidscarred spend their time within the fleet training and engaging in byzantine intrigue, all while enjoying the spoils of war. In the bowels of their sleek void-faring craft, these pirates test against each other their prowess with the blade and the pistol, settling rivalries in ritual combat and probing each other mentally and tactically through games of deception and foreplanning. Their gambling dens are raucous affairs, and their arena fights display deathdefying skills versus murderous alien creatures. All Voidreavers are capable pilots, leading to many duels and challenges being decided in space as they pilot Nightwings in daring dog-fights or engage in highspeed races upon jetbikes. AN ANCIENT SYSTEM AELDARI CHARACTERS PSYCHIC POWERS ARMOURY WORLDS OF BONE OUTCASTS OF THE VOID THE DARK CITY SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD PANTHEON OF RUIN GAMEMASTERS GUIDE
116 While not involved in active raiding, many Corsairs spend their time either in the halls of their voidships, or gathered together in hidden dens and meeting spots. Here they trade tall tales of daring raids and cunning ambushes, and engage in frequent contents of skill and martial ability. These gatherings are also the forums within which Corsair politics is played out, as the coteries of Barons sow the seeds of distrust, curry favour, or publicly humiliate others. These political games build upon years of planning and deceit as Barons manoeuvre their pawns into place so that they may remove their rivals or instigate a coup. Life for Voidreavers is not all fighting, trading, and politics, as those within the lower ranks must attend to their duties maintaining the starships and eclectic armouries of their retinues, including even the menageries of beasts kept by their lords. There are tasks considered so mundane that they are beneath the Corsairs. Amongst the crew, other Outcasts take on these duties in exchange for protection and the freedom to travel. As Outcasts, Aeldari risk their psychic potential overwhelming their minds, and Anhrathe, who originated from the Dark City, find the experience equally terrifying and liberating. Guiding and protecting the souls of the disparate Corsair crews are Wayseekers and Soulweavers, who recover Spirit Stones from ancient battle sites and guide their kin through the Webway and Immaterium. PRIVATEERS OF THE VOID The Anhrathe fleets, either out of duty, contractual obligation, or for sport, stalk the space lanes and isolated worlds, launching lightning raids with surgical precision. Wings of Vampire Raiders disgorge coteries of Voidreavers and elite kill teams of Voidscarred as they race to decapitate the command organisation of enemy forces or present a distraction so others within the fleet can succeed in their mission. Falcon gravtanks swoop fourth to provide mobile support, while Nightwing aircraft provide air superiority. By the time their victims can mobilise reinforcements, the Corsair raiding force is gone — their targets dead and destroyed, and their cargo holds filled with the spoils of battle and captives. This strike-and-dissolve method of fighting combines aspects of Asuryani, Drukhari, and Harlequin tactics, and is adopted at all levels of the Corsair fleet; even compared to their Asuryani cousins, the Corsair ranks are small and unable to sustain prolonged attacks. Against the amassed flotillas of Imperial voidships, I will not spend the twilight years of our race cowering in fear of She Who Thirsts. I will burn bright, and my name will be remembered on a thousand worlds. I will sooner see a billion lives end before mine wanes, and in that time remaining, I will relish every moment. — Raseth Kurnos, of the Greensteel Warriors and Bladefire warband
117 the Corsairs must rely on cunning and speed to dissect their heavily armoured opponents. Aeldari ships boast precision laser weapons that slice through the hulls of enemy ships as if they were paper, while cruisers dart in and out of opponent battlelines to launch waves of attack craft and bombers, fleeing before defences can be deployed. This speed and power comes at a cost, and Aeldari ships lack the heavy void shields and metre-thick skins found within the Imperial and Heretic fleets. However, Aeldari fleets boast superior sensor systems and confounding holofields. These defence systems generate ghostly targets, making targeting their ships near impossible. The armouries of the Anhrathe are filled with an eclectic selection of weapons, drawn from all Aeldari cultures and some from other alien races. While fleets and coteries share common heraldry, individual Corsairs still appear unique, bearing personal weapons and trophies they have acquired over centuries of raiding. Shuriken Rifles are the standard firearm amongst the Anhrathe, with those preferring to fight in close combat bearing Shuriken Pistols and ornate Power Swords. While support weapons include Shuriken Cannons and Wraith Cannons, Corsairs also bring into battle firearms drawn from the Drukhari, such as the Blasters and Shredders, which sow chaos and terror within enemy ranks. The elite warbands of Voidscarred bear into battle even stranger weapons and wargear, suiting their individual skills and expertise. Fate Dealers, like Rangers, kill their targets from a distance using precision long rifles and moving into advance positions aided by their active optical camouflage cloaks. Star Storm Duellists wield a selection of small arms, combining the fusillade of a Shuriken Pistol with the armourmelting power of a Fusion Pistol. Kurnathi favour close combat, having trained in the Corsair arenas and fighting pits of Commorragh, and wield custom power weapons that rend apart bone and armour. Kurnite Hunters often originate from Exodite enclaves before becoming one of the Anhrathe. Their skill in rearing dangerous creatures allows these warriors to utilise the fleet menagerie as trained beasts in combat. Shade Runners represent a fusion of Asuyrani and Drukhari fighting styles. They arm themselves with poisoned serrated blades commonly found amongst the Wych cults of Commorragh, along with warp jump packs not unlike those used by the Warp Spider Aspect Warriors. The extravagant wargear of Corsairs does not just include their weapons and adornments. Asuryani aesthetics of clean lines and delicate forms are thrown out by the Anhrathe, and this extends to the designs of bionics and augmetics that Corsairs wear. Such devices are fashioned to be a statement by the individual Corsair, demonstrating their disregard for Craftworld society and displaying the danger that these warriors present. ANY PORT IN A STORM The fleets of the Corsairs are spread out across the galaxy. Some maintain prime hunting grounds, harrying ships with no choice but to travel stable Warp corridors and space lanes between worlds. Other fleets move from sub-sector to sub-sector, like a migrating swarm of predatory birds. No matter where the Corsair fleets hunt, the tactics are the same. Their ships, cloaked by holofields, lie in wait within celestial hazards such as nebulae, asteroids, and planetary debris rings. Drifting spacehulks, hollowedout planetoids, and abandoned space stations become makeshift bases for the fleets, and for those Corsairs who remain in a region of space for long, these outposts are in time refortified as itinerant Bonesingers craft huge wraithbone edifices. Such enclaves become waystations for the outcasts of Asuryani society and those seeking refuge from the murderous maze of Commorragh. In time these outposts grow to be their own small city-states and havens for pirates, traders, and mercenaries from all corners of the cosmos. Within, grand bazaars play host to merchants who hawk their wares, and weaponsmiths craft ornate arms that any Corsair would be proud to bear. It is at these ports that an Anhrathe fleet can dock, refuel, and resupply. However, not every outpost is an open port. The larger outposts eventually grow so influential that one of the Anhrathe takes charge, declaring themself lord, with whom Corsair Princes must negotiate to gain permission to dock. Just like the Princes of the fleets, these Aeldari Counts hold court and must carefully navigate the rivalries of Princes, Barons, and coteries if they are to maintain command. More than once has a Prince’s anger boiled over and led to an Anhrathe fleet annihilating a Corsair enclave. Despite being Outcasts, the Anhrathe fleets do dock with the Craftworlds, if welcome. The arrival of Corsairs is a period of unrest within the Craftworld, as the pirates are a living embodiment of embracing desire, emotion, and leaving the Path. AN ANCIENT SYSTEM AELDARI CHARACTERS PSYCHIC POWERS ARMOURY WORLDS OF BONE OUTCASTS OF THE VOID THE DARK CITY SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD PANTHEON OF RUIN GAMEMASTERS GUIDE
118 Even those Corsairs with living blood relatives in the Craftworld are sometimes treated with mistrust and as strangers. However, the Anhrathe visitors are tolerated, as they bring with them information, recovered Spirit Stones, and ancient artefacts. In times of need and for the right price, the Anhrathe make capable reinforcements, as Prince Yriel did for the Iyanden Craftworld during their invasion by Hive Fleet Kraken. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the Anhrathe also dock at the Dark City of the Drukhari. Commorragh is a place that defies logic and physics, home to dens of avarice and debauchery. Here Corsairs can trade, just as they would with their Asuryani cousins, but the goods on sale are all manner of addictive compounds and dangerous devices. Captives from raids are also offloaded here to the Drukhari, who are more than willing to take victims for their arenas and depraved experiments. However, despite the open port, Corsairs must take care while walking the corridors of Commorragh, lest they are drawn into the byzantine politics of the Drukhari and become pawns within the machinations of Archons and Haemonculi. Visiting the Dark City for some Corsairs can be an alarming experience, representing the very depths they could descend into if they are not too careful. For others, who had escaped the violence of Commorragh, returning brings back memories of the abuse they suffered and delivered in kind, and running into old acquaintances risks the stability they have established as a Corsair. Corsairs are some of the few visitors to Maiden Worlds that are welcomed by the Exodites. Here, where Aeldari follow a life that is more in tune with nature, Corsairs are temporary reminders of the greater Aeldari society. To Corsairs, Exodites represent Aeldari who have a come to understand and live with their emotions, and are the most representative of ancient Aeldari culture. Goods are traded, along with information and support. PIRATES OF GILEAD Led by Princess Ferinwyr, Emerald Princess, BladeMistress and Captain of the Verdant Blade, the Greensteel Warriors prowl the Voidmire, enjoying the prey who cannot flee the Warp storm-encircled system. For decades the Gilead System has been a hunting ground of the Greensteel Warriors as they would regularly return to plunder the system before moving on to their next target. The thrill of raiding the Gilead had been waning, and Princess Ferianwyr was ready to leave and move on to another of the systems and sub-sectors that they patrolled. However, the coming of the Dathedian brought both calamity and new arrivals to the Gilead System. Not only were forces of the Great Enemy present, but soon enough new prey arrived, having either been spat out by roiling Warp storms from another part of the galaxy, or who accompanied an Imperial fleet that had braved a narrow corridor of stability. More importantly, the Great Rift had resulted in the Craftworld Ul-Khari crashing into a planet, and out of a sense of duty, Ferianwyr swore to protect her Asuryani cousins in their time of greatest need. Ferianwyr not only has an alliance with Jakel Varonius, but also maintains a clandestine arrangement with the Ordo Malleus Inquisitor, Tytrona Dikaisune. Despite the puritanical ideals of the Inquisitor and Tytrona’s disgust at xenos, Tytrona cannot ignore the advantage of maintaining an alliance with Ferianwyr when it comes to the tracking and elimination of daemons and their worshippers. More than once have Fate Dealers and Inquisitional Assassins partnered on missions, even within the bowels of a hive city, to hunt the agents of Slaanesh. Together, Princess Ferianwyr and Inquisitor Dikaisune have begun tracking a cult that they believe has wormed its way into the high society of the Imperial worlds of the Gilead System, and through dead drops and third parties they trade information, arrange ambushes, and stage kidnappings, so that they can slowly unpeel the layers of the cult. Their operations have included raids on Gilead Prime, the space docks about Charybdion, and the settlements of Ostia. Unknown to even her closest Felarchs, Ferianwyr has learnt that sunk in the deep trenches of the world of Charybdion is the legendary Aeldari ship, The Song of Rhana Dandra. From clues gathered from across the galaxy and Webway, and from the scraps of tomes and shards of relics recovered from Imperial holdings, Ferianwyr has determined that the ship carries the ancient artefact known as the Dream of Vileth. It is Ferianwyr’s belief that this relic may have the power to open and repair the Webway, and, more importantly, to control a Talisman of Vaul. Even if the legends are false, the presence of this ship, dating back to before the Fall of the Aeldari, is a treasure in its own right and one that can turn the tide against the Necrons and the Ruinous Powers.
119 Evalyla Agynille The choice of remaining within the Gilead System has not been met with unanimous support within Ferianwyr’s own ranks. Thanks to the Webway, the fleet is more than capable of abandoning the system, and there are those who believe that Ul-Khari and its people are already a lost cause. Evalyla Agynille, a former Drukhari Wych, now Felarch and commander of the First Boarding Company known as the Emerald Hawks, holds this view. Evalyla is a fearsome warrior, often at the head of bands of Voidscarred Corsairs as they board vessels and butcher the crew. Frequently she leads raids that are unsanctioned by Ferianwyr and threaten to break truces, putting at risk the delicate arrangement between Ferianwyr and the Imperial Rogue Trader, Jakel Varonius. In exchange for weapons, warriors, and leverage on Ferianwyr, it was Evalyla who informed her Drukhari contacts in the Kabal of the Bloodied Claw of the Webway portal on Ostia and the potential for captives from that world (for more about Ostia and the Aeldari activities there see Grim Harvest in Litanies of the Lost). Framework: Ruby and Emerald Those members of coteries aligned with Evalyla are known to be some of the most vicious and merciless fighters in the Greensteel Corsair fleet and Gilead. Many of these Corsairs hail from Commorragh originally, though others come from the Craftworlds and Maiden Worlds. Their time amongst the Anhrathe has revealed to them that they wish nothing more than to enjoy the glory of battle, signing dread prayers to Kaela Mensha Khaine before descending from their Vampire Raiders upon their unsuspecting victims. Evalyla has inducted you into her style of war, wielding Hekatarii Blades, pain-inducing whips, and flesh-flaying Shredders. While nominally obeying the orders of Princess Ferianwyr and her Barons, when not engaged in raids, you are conducting business for Evalyla, such as assassinations, espionage, sabotage and conveying messages and items to and from contacts from Commorragh. Your missions rely on secrecy and precise murder. Limitations: Must have the DRUKHARI Keyword. Wargear: A Hekatarii blade tipped with a painful poison concocted in Commorragh. Bonus: +1 Bonus Dice to all attacks made during the first round of combat where you are the ambusher. u The world of Ostia, and the working Webway Gates still standing are a means for Evalyla to contact her allies within the Dark City. Such missions to meet with Drukhari kin on Ostia are no simple feat, requiring the careful penetration of Imperial defenses, and also care not to rouse the suspicions of other rival coteries and Barons within the Greensteel Warriors. However, Evalyla has promised great rewards if you achieve your mission, not matter what you do to complete it. u Evalyla has pinpointed an important vessel within the Varonius fleet that is carrying one of his most trusted advisors. You have been tasked with masquerading as a coterie under the command of one of Ferianwyr’s rivals, and sowing distrust between the Imperial and Corsair forces. AN ANCIENT SYSTEM AELDARI CHARACTERS PSYCHIC POWERS ARMOURY WORLDS OF BONE OUTCASTS OF THE VOID THE DARK CITY SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD PANTHEON OF RUIN GAMEMASTERS GUIDE
120 Relithe the Skykiller Comparatively, the renowned pilot Relithe the Skykiller is a rising star within the Greensteel Corsairs and one whom others have whispered is destined to take the throne from Ferianwyr. Relithe has led daring raids in his Nightwing, striking merchant cruisers, Heretic flotillas, and Imperial contingents that were in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was once on the path to become an Aspect Warrior on the Ulthwé Craftworld and would likely have joined the ranks of the Crimson Hunters. Relithe has faced the forces of Chaos head-on in the skies above Cadia and in the Belis Corona. But the calm and control asked of him, and his wing of pilots, led to Relithe and his squadron leaving their home and finding the Greensteel Corsairs. It is a choice that Relithe regrets, partially blaming himself for the death of many of his kin during the last battles of the 13th Black Crusade and the Fall of Cadia. Despite being a figure who hopeful and daring Corsairs flock to, Relithe lacks the political awareness to make a move upon the Greensteel throne and often is manipulated by the Barons who make up Ferianwyr’s court. Framework: On Cold Winds Those members of Relithe’s coterie fighter squadrons are dedicated to the defence of Ul-Khari and hunting down the agents of the Great Enemy. Whether as pilots of a squadron of Nightwing fighters, or as hunters prowling spacehulks and the corridors of wretch hive cities of the Mon-keigh. Members of Relithe’s warbands are denoted by the emblem of a black catlike head on the pauldrons of their armour. Out in the Voidmire, Relithe’s squadrons, also similarly marked with the same emblem, stalk Heretic cruisers that venture out of the Warp storms, harassing their ships and mounting daring boarding attacks to cripple the foul vessels so that they present easy prey for the capital ships of the Greensteel fleet. Limitations: Must have the AELDARI or DRUKHARI Keyword, and at least a Pilot skill rating of 3. Wargear: The coterie has access to a Vampire Raider as a transport vessel. Bonus: +2 Bonus Dice to all Pilot Tests when in combat with Chaos forces. u An Infidel Raider class escort ship of the Word Bearers Legion has been detected in your region of the Voidmire. Despite the best attempts to contact the Verdant Blade and the rest of the fleet, communications cannot raise a response. The danger posed by this ship to the people of Ul-Khari requires a surgical strike to prevent death and destruction. Relithe orders your coterie to board the enemy vessel and knock out the engines in order to provide enough time for the main fleet to send support. u A prominent captain of Varonius’ personal Voidsmen, the Cadian Galius Froterian, fought side by side with Relithe against the forces of the Black Legion. Relithe has gotten word of his Human “friend” being missing and was last spotted in the vicinity of the mining station Dorenthus Omega-6. Relithe is ready to reward those willing to aid him in rescuing this comrade in arms.
121 Felarch Yellil Felarch Yellil was once a member of Craftworld Saim Hann and served as a member of the Striking Scorpions Temple. Decades of fighting Humans, Orks, and Heretics gnawed at the heart of Yellil, who could not leave his anger behind when he removed his Aspect Warrior helm. His desire for violence was spilling over into his civilian life and destroying the love between him and his betrothed. But where others may have gone to the temple and bonded with a suit of ancient armour to become an Exarch, Yellil wanted to feel something other than the desire for bloodshed. Leaving the Craftworld and his family members dead in their beds, Yellil escaped to Commorragh and there for a time became an addict, wishing something might give him a greater sense of purpose. Daily Yellil fought in the arenas, becoming a famous spectacle amongst the Drukhari and hated by the Incubi. The combination of battle and narcotics dulled the hollow feeling in his soul, but only for a time. His desperation for direction and purpose, and something grander than accepting the death of his race, filled his dreams. Ferianwyr found Yellil in Commorragh and gambled to win his life, bringing this world-weary soul into the ranks of her Corsairs to become one of her honour guard. Yellil has served Ferianwyr for many decades, and is on the cusp of ascending to become a Baron amongst Ferianwyr’s court. There are many who oppose this, as they jealously guard the influence they wield within the fleet. But none can deny the prowess Yellil displays in battle, having on one occasion faced a half dozen Incubi and defeated them single-handedly. Framework: The Blades of the Jade Scorpion As a loyal member of Ferianwyr’s honour guard and on the cusp of greatness, those warriors who train under the guidance of Yellil are promoted to be his chosen knights. However, the path to fortune and respect is paved with glorious battles and death defying victories. Yellil’s school of Voidscarred warriors train about his Aurora class cruiser, The Jade Claw. Many of Yellil’s students go on to be master swordsmen - Kurnathi - and vow to protect their Princess. Limitations: Must have the AELDARI or DRUKHARI Keyword and tier 2. Wargear: Each coterie member has a Corsair Sabre. Bonus: +2 Bonus Dice to all Melee Tests when in combat wielding a sword. u A meeting of Princess Ferianwyr and Jakel Varonius is taking place at a neutral location out at the edge of the Voidmire. Yellil has tasked the warband with security, which involves heading to the meeting venue and scouting it out first, before acting as bodyguards and security at the meeting itself. During the meeting a high ranking Imperial commander within the Varonius fleet is murdered, leading to a race against time to clear the name of the Corsairs in order to restore peace before a battle begins between the two fleets of voidships. u Yellil has sent the warband into the Webway and to the satellite realm of Commorragh, known as Mag Melloch, to rescue a former member of the Striking Scorpion temple who Yellil fought with. Finding passage to Mag Melloch, and navigating the deadly politics and conflict between Commorite Kabals, is no easy feat. Worse still, Yellil’s former compatriot has been claimed by an Archon and used as a gladiator in the fighting pits of Mag Melloch. AN ANCIENT SYSTEM AELDARI CHARACTERS PSYCHIC POWERS ARMOURY WORLDS OF BONE OUTCASTS OF THE VOID THE DARK CITY SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD PANTHEON OF RUIN GAMEMASTERS GUIDE
122 Yvrualiel Moonsong Yvrualiel Moonsong is another influential Felarch in the Greensteel fleet. Aboard her ship, The Hunter’s Wind, Moonsong keeps a menagerie of warbeasts, collected from across the galaxy and from her home planet, an Exodite Maiden World. Moonsong originally joined the Void Dragon fleet, and brought along her companion Wyvach, seeking to explore the worlds beyond after having grown bored of the limitations on technology imposed by Exodite tribal culture. Through centuries of travelling the galaxy, raiding, protecting Maiden Worlds, and discovering all manner of strange creatures, Moonsong was at home living amongst the Anhrathe. But during an ambush by Necron tomb ships, the former Exodite was left barely alive, adrift within the wreckage of her ship. She was rescued by the Greensteel Corsairs, and given sanctuary by Princess Ferianwyr. She returned the favour by becoming one of Ferianwyr’s favoured warriors, and in time a Felarch. Moonsong acts as the conscience of Ferianwyr, advising her master to look at the bigger picture, connecting disprate events to observe the plan beneath. Her advice often runs counter to that given by the more blood-thirsty members of Ferianwyr’s court or the sage advice of the Way Seekers. It was Moonsong who pushed the goal of reclaiming the world of Ostia, and using the isolation of the Monkeigh as a means to reach this goal. Moonsong regularly leads reavebands to Ostia to map the Webway gates on the planet, preparing the way for the reclamation of the Maiden World and its eventual colonisation by Exodite tribes. Moonsong’s interest in Ostia has led her into confrontations with the former Drukhari Wych, Evalyla Agynille, as they compete for Ferianwyr’s ear in matters regarding the world. Moonsong has her suspicions regarding the loyalties of Evalyla, and has sent some of her own agents into the Dark City to act as spies to determine who the former Wych is bargaining with. Framework: The Menagerie Moonsong’s warband is well trained in the skills the former Exodite perfected on her home world — those of silently stalking one’s prey and studying it carefully before launching a careful ambush. Though she has grown to appreciate the technological marvels of the Aeldari, Moonsong still favours melee combat, and insists that all her warriors are skilled in blade and spear. Limitations: Must have the AELDARI or DRUKHARI Keyword and Tier 2. Wargear: Each coterie member has a Corsair Sabre. Bonus: +2 Bonus Dice to all Stealth Tests in natural enviornments. u Moonsong has worked for decades to protect the Maiden Worlds that she once called home. When she first joined the Greensteel Corsairs and came to the Gilead System, she wept for the world of Ostia and how it had been tainted by the presence of the Humans. She had given up hope for the world, and then the Great Rift opened. Now, cut off from the Imperium, the world of Ostia is ripe for reclamation by the Corsairs and the Exodite tribes. Moonsong has gathered together those Anhrathe who share the same cause, who are devoted to orchestrating the fall of Ostia and its recolonisation by the Exodites, as well as the recovery and protection of rare flora and fauna that have thus far escaped extinction. u Though her dedication to the reclamation of Ostia borders on obsession, she spares particular attention to confronting the forces of Nurgle. Should their corupting touch taint infest Ostia it is doubtful if the world could ever be rid of it.
123 Of all of the Aeldari cultures to survive the Fall, Drukhari society most resembles the depraved clade within the Aeldari Empire that led to the birth of Slaanesh. The same impluses that led to that terrible moment of ruinous destruction are commonplace among them, for they have sunk to even greater depths of depravity. Sadistic, obsessive, and cruel beyond measure, the Drukhari are descended from those who hid from the Fall within the ancient Aeldari city of Commorragh, seeking protection behind its intricate defences. Centuries passed before these survivors came to understand that they had not escaped the fate of their kin, but merely prolonged the inevitable. ‘Up until now, your suffering has been without point. You labour and die, your life meaningless and unfufilled. But rejoice, for I have given that life meaning. I will drink in your suffering like a fine wine. Your final moments — and there will be many of them — will sustain me. Your paltry offering will contribute in some small way to the realisation of my great ambition. You may take comfort in that. For now.’ — Archon Kyrik Rhaul, Overlord of the Hakhlenna Deep THE DARK CITY Their souls were being consumed in fragments, drained piecemeal by the unending hunger of She Who Thirsts. Many were lost before those who would become the Drukhari found a solution to their predicament. Already accustomed to preying on others both for sustenance and for sport, they found that inflicting torment on others restored their own dwindling spiritual reserves. Like a malign growth, their entire existence came to revolve around the taking of captives, and subjecting them to the worst conceivable pain, degradation, and misery to preserve their own selves.
124 PROGENITORS OF A DARK GOD The Drukhari of the present day are vicious sadists, the elegance and grace of their athletic forms a stark contrast to the darkness of their souls. Already possessed of lives better measured in centuries than years, they extend their existence by feeding on the suffering of others, allowing the Drukhari time without end to devote to pursuing any one of a thousand depraved obsessions. Those who devote their lives to the mastery of combat are without peer, arming themselves with sickle, blade, or barb-tipped whip, dressed in close-fitting armour adorned with razors and quills. Two distinct strata exist in Drukhari society — the Trueborn, and the halfborn. Long-lived as they are, Drukhari breed excruciatingly slowly, and the number of children born each year is insufficient to maintain their numbers. Most, therefore, are gestated in artificial wombs beneath the city. On an individual level there is considerable stigma associated with being half-born, but as a society the Drukhari simply have no alternative. Druhkari technology is built on the remains of the empire that came before it, refined for the purpose of inflicting as much pain and causing as much fear as possible. The science of their Haemonculi — flesh sculptors, torturers, and bioengineers par excellence — provides them with poisons, hemotoxins and abhorrent thralls, namely the Engines of Pain. Their arcane technologists oversee the construction of unique weapons, fast-moving strike-craft and razor-tipped anti-grav vehicles, their factories just as reliant on suffering as their kind is as a whole.
125 A CITY OF EXCRUCIATION Once the greatest of the Webway’s port-cities, Commorragh spread like a malignancy to invade others of its kind and satellite realms, until it became a sprawling collection of habitation nodes linked by interdimensional portals. To live in Commorragh is to exist in a nightmarish landscape of towers, alleys, and labyrinths divorced from — but always with a predatory eye on — realspace. From the dark corners of the city within the Webway, Drukhari raiding parties emerge on their deadly missions, returning with captives each day to satisfy Commorragh’s insatiable hunger for excruciation. Drukhari who have recently fed their tattered souls gleam with an eldritch glamour, while those less fortunate fade by degrees until they are little more than empty vessels, their last moments spent in torment to sustain their stronger fellows. REALSPACE RAIDS It is rare for members of other sentient species to set foot in Commorragh — at least, not of their own volition. Far more likely is that the Drukhari will be encountered on one of their raids into realspace. These attacks come without warning, ripping through the very substance of reality through shimmering portals wielding advanced weaponry considered unfathomable to the mortals they prey upon. Crystalised venom erupts from splinter weapons, blade-prowed barges soar through the skies in defiance of gravity, while psycho-empathic terror fields shatter the sanity and morale of those unfortunate enough to be caught in their way. Their tactics are as straightforward as they are deadly. The Drukhari attack like a striking serpent, moving forward at impossible speed to cause damage and disarray, often taking advantage of naturally occurring darkness, or artificially generating a night of their own. The purpose of these rapid hit-and-run raids is almost always the swift seizure of captives and withdrawal back through the gates of Commorragh, to fuel its people’s insatiable desire for pain. PATHS TO POWER Drukhari are vicious and solitary by their nature, but only a fool would attempt to survive the horrors of Commorragh alone. For that reason, any Drukhari vicious and ambitious enough to risk making enemies has little choice other than to band together with likeminded individuals for — relative — safety. KABALITE WARRIORS Commorragh’s Kabals are the backbone of its military strength, fulfilling the roles of military units, enforcers, and local gangs. Though internal rivalries and even murders are not unheard of, the allure of joining a Kabal lies in the fact that all members will protect their fellows from external threats. For this reason, competition for entry is fierce, and wellregarded Kabals can be highly selective in those they choose to admit. To be a Kabalite is to immerse oneself in a life of perpetual conflict. On the streets of Commorragh, rival Kabals are locked in continual skirmishes, roving citywide and lasting for months if not years at a time. In realspace, Kabalites seek out opportunities for raids, delighting in the feasts of agony and the opportunity to gain captives that the sorties present. Reputations have been made and lost on the basis of a Kabal’s performance on the battlefield. WYCH CULTS The Heketarii of the Wych Cults have chosen a different path from the Kabalites, but one no less bloodsoaked. The vast arenas of Commorragh play host to thousands of these warriors, whose lethal performances go a long way toward slaking the city’s endless desire for extreme suffering and novel experiences. Lightly armoured and bearing hooked, barbed, and viciously edged weapons, the gladiators of the Wych Cults fight at devastating speed, through arenas of mind-bending detail and complexity — imitations of alien cities, exocity jungles, or infinite oceans. Almost all Wych Cults enjoy the patronage of a powerful Archon, and when they enter realspace to take part in raids at their patron’s side there is considerable competition amongst other factions to fight in their bloody wake. AN ANCIENT SYSTEM AELDARI CHARACTERS PSYCHIC POWERS ARMOURY WORLDS OF BONE OUTCASTS OF THE VOID THE DARK CITY SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD PANTHEON OF RUIN GAMEMASTERS GUIDE
126 HAEMONCULUS COVENS No pleasure is too depraved for the denizens of the Dark City, no life too long, and no alteration of the flesh too extreme. To slake this unnatural lust, the Haemonculi of the Covens devote their endless days to learning the art and science of the flesh, to dissect, to rebuild and reshape into new and blasphemous forms. Most Covens occupy interconnected labyrinths of chambers serving as laboratories, chem-chambers, and torture vaults, their dripping walls resonating with the screams of their captives while wracks — surgically augmented servants and apprentices — carry out their every bidding. Most Drukhari enter a pact with a Haemonculus. In exchange for a piece of their patron’s soul, the Haemonculi promise to resurrect their patron in the event of their death, so long as a single piece of flesh remains. Most powerful Archons have fallen and risen numerous times, on each occasion brought back by a Haemonculus’s foul magic and the excruciation of others. GODS AND MONSTERS For the most part, the Drukhari have abandoned the gods of their ancestors, considering anything so weak as to be consumed by She Who Thirsts as unworthy of reverence. Worship of Khaine is the only exception, revered as the embodiment of bloody slaughter. Worship of the Dark Muses has filled the place of the old gods in Drukhari society. society, embodiments of cruelty and vice rooted at the core of their people. This is not a new practice, and it is believed that the concept and worship of the Dark Muses predated — and perhaps contributed to — the fall of the Aeldari Empire. A Dark Muse can be found who exemplifies almost any vice. Assassins and murderers often dedicate their bloody art to Shaimesh, Lord of Poisons, while the powerful may emulate Vileth’s arrogance. For the Wych Cultist, Qa’leh, Mistress of Blades, and Hekatii, the Red Crone, are held in special reverence.
127 Only one living Drukhari has claimed the title of Dark Muse for himself: the supreme overlord Asdrubael Vect. What effect his growing worship has on him remains to be seen, but he has certainly demonstrated every bit the arrogance, cruelty, and skill of his forebears. For more on the Dark Muses of the Drukhari, see page 147. INCUBI Perhaps the last truly faithful Drukhari, the warriorcult known as the Incubi dedicate their lives to the pursuit of war in the name of Kaela Mensha Khaine. Training and fighting with discipline unsurpassed amongst their kind, they sell their services in the field of slaughter to the highest bidder, seeking out opportunities to test their art all over realspace. Their signature weapons, the klaive and the demiklaive, are broad-bladed swords of unnaturally light construction, wreathed in a dark energy field that severs matter at a molecular level. To become an Incubus, an aspirant must pass numerous savage and deadly trials, culminating in the slaughter of an Aspect Warrior and the shattering of their Spirit Stone. The ruined remains are formed into a psychic torture device known as a tormentor, and mounted on the chestplate of the Incubus’s armour. For obvious reasons, they are reviled by the Asuryani across the galaxy. MANDRAKES Resembling Drukhari, but with green-black skin and colourless hair, Mandrakes exist in Aelindrach, a shadow-realm adjacent to both Commorragh and realspace. Their skin writhes with arcane symbols, and they are neither truly insubstantial nor of the flesh. Their motivations are incompletely understood even by those who fight alongside them. Such alliances are always temporary, sealed with unsettling bargains that require payment in captives, or nebulous terms such as a true name, a firstborn child, or a last breath. Drukhari are the stuff of nightmares to all other races, but even they fear Mandrakes. BEASTMASTERS AND FLESHCRAFTERS Whether on the battlefield or in the arena, Drukhari employ the services of highly skilled beastmasters and their monstrous charges. Death at a beastmaster’s hand can take many forms, from the hulking muscled bulk of the clawed fiends, to the predatory feline grace of the Khymerae, or from above on the talons of a razorwing flock. The arts of the Haemonculi are also displayed to best advantage while raiding. Their pain engines — massive fusions of flesh and machine — are designed to inflict pain and terror upon any who face them, armed as they are with poisons, haywire blasters, liquifiers, and all manner of torturous weapons. Even the lesser grotesques, slavishly obedient meat-hulks, are more than capable of cutting a bloody swathe through the enemy with their liquefiers, flesh-gauntlets, and monstrous cleavers. MERCENARIES Rightly suspicious of their own, most Archons will employ mercenaries to better protect their person from the ambitions of their underlings. Amongst these are the many-armed Sslyth, members of a fallen serpentine species who are now hired by the powerful as bodyguards. Ur-Ghuls are monstrous, eyeless creatures from a destroyed realm, used as hunting beasts and for the entertainment of their owners. Most unsettlingly, some Archons are accompanied by Medusae, which appear to be chained slave-beings behind full-face masks. The Medusae itself, however, is not the physical body. It is a parasite from the Webway which feeds on the dreams and nightmares of its luckless host, producing consumable memories in the form of its bulbous brain-fruit. AN ANCIENT SYSTEM AELDARI CHARACTERS PSYCHIC POWERS ARMOURY WORLDS OF BONE OUTCASTS OF THE VOID THE DARK CITY SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD PANTHEON OF RUIN GAMEMASTERS GUIDE
128 Squatting like a canker in the roots of a rotting tree, the district of Hakhlenna Deep has grown up around a knot of Webway paths, one of which leads to the Gilead System. It occupies an uneasy borderland between High and Low Commorragh, overshadowed by decaying spires and plummeting to the open maw of a vast sinkhole which leads to a snaking labyrinth of horrors below. Hakhlenna Deep is the domain of Archon Kyrik Rhaul, a former member of Asdrubael Vect’s inner circle and appointed to rule over the district as the Supreme Overlord’s vassal. The gift is something of a doubleedged sword, meaning that Rhaul must tread an uneasy path between the rival Kabals, the insatiably curious Haemonculi, and the vicious Wych Cults of her shadowy domain, to say nothing of the treacherous seditionists who would see her unseated for their own nefarious ends. However, the compensations are great — the spiked towers and winding alleyways of the Deep are steeped in blood and suffering, offering a spiritual feast for the Drukhari who move through its streets like sharks through bloody water. ARCHON KYRIK RHAUL A relatively young Archon by Drukhari standards, Rhaul attracted the attention of Asdrubael Vect following a series of spectacularly successful realspace raids under her command, resulting in an unprecedented influx of captives through the Port of Lost Souls. Though loyalty is an incompletely understood concept amongst the Drukhari, there is no doubt that Rhaul’s service to the Supreme Overlord has been profitable for both parties. In recent times, however, the once-close working relationship between the two has weakened for reasons unknown. Rumours abound as to why: the commonest suspicion is that Kyrik Rhaul has risen to greatness so quickly that Asdrubael Vect has begun to see her as a genuine rival instead of an asset. If she has designs on his throne, she has kept them to herself — to do otherwise would have been to court a swift and bloody death. It is widely known that Rhaul keeps a vial containing noxious adrenal pheromones excruciatingly rendered from her former consorts, imbibing it a single drop at a time while replaying the bottled memories of their agonising deaths. THE COURT OF THE BROKEN MIRROR Archon Rhaul holds court at the decaying summit of a once-great spire, in a vast circular chamber through which the expanse of the Dark City extends on all sides. Black glassine buttresses are all that stand between the inhabitants of the chamber and a fall from its height. A perpetual chorus of moans and screams rises from the forest of spikes at the tower’s base, and it is widely known that Rhaul never allows her tower to fall silent, supping perpetually of her victims’ torment as of a fine wine. Kabalite warriors stand guard at the foot of the tower in magnificent suits of spiked green-black armour, under the command of their leader Azz’rak the Bloody-handed, though none but Rhaul’s most trusted advisors — and her most luckless captives — are allowed through the winding, ghul-infested passageways that lead to its uppermost levels. When she holds court she is invariably flanked by a pair of Medusae — visored humanoid slaves puppeted by dream-eating Warp entities — and attended by her favoured consort, the deadly Lhamean poisoner known only as Khalix. While the Archon’s Kabal are slavishly obedient to her every command, there is no doubt that should she show a moment’s weakness they would tear her limb from limb and feast on her suffering. She is all too aware of this, and a great deal of her time is devoted to keeping them vying for power and status amongst themselves, lest they turn their murderous attentions on her. HAKHLENNA DEEP
129 THE KABAL OF SHARDS Bound in service to your ruthless Archon, as a member of the Kabal of Shards you enjoy a uniquely savage reputation even amongst Drukhari. Rhaul’s enforcers, guards, and raiding party, the Shards are selected purely from amongst the half-born, and most consider your occupation a mark of tremendous rank that atones for your unnatural birth. Your commander, Azz’rak the Bloody-handed, is known to keep a watchful eye on the Hellions — bands of adolescent Drukhari who swarm the streets of the district seeking out violent thrills — and to occasionally select the most savage, bloodshirty, and imaginative from amongst their number for further training. Only a minority of these favoured few survive, but for those who gain admission to the Kabal the rewards are great. Such a recruit can expect to divide their time between bloody realspace raids, feasting on the rich harvest of pain that they bring in, and savagely enforcing the will of the Archon on the denizens of the district. When not actively carrying out Azz’rak’s orders, all of the entertainments of Hakhlenna Deep are open to you — hours in the arena as combatant or spectator, or hunting the streets for bloody entertainments of a more individual nature. Wargear: Kabalite Armour, Shard Rifle, exquisitely crafted Archite Glaive Bonus: When wielding your own Archite Glaive, you may ignore the effects of its Unwieldy (2) Trait AS ABOVE, SO BELOW Like much of Commorragh, Haklenna Deep is built on the ruins of previous Aeldari settlements. Beneath its spires and upper streets lie an interconnected network of alleys and cellars in which dwell the lower strata of society. Great vaulted caverns still glimmer with the scrollwork and decoration of long dead artisans, connected by gantries, walkways, and stone passageways to form a maddening labyrinth which promises death to the unwary. Here everyone is predator or prey, sometimes both at once. u The Archon’s palette becomes jaded. The Agents are charged with undertaking a realspace raid to bring her something truly exquisite to dismember and destroy. The rewards for success are great — but the Agents are not the only Drukhari undertaking this mission. Their rivals are just as keen to gain the Archon’s favour as they are, and will stop at nothing to obtain it. u A Corsair voidship belonging to the Sunblitz brotherhood has attacked the Archon’s flagship on one of her occasional raids into realspace. Though little of significance was lost, this has earned the Archon’s ire. The Agents are dispatched to demonstrate the extent of her displeasure, and retaliate in such a fashion that no other Corsair Prince will make the same mistake again. AN ANCIENT SYSTEM AELDARI CHARACTERS PSYCHIC POWERS ARMOURY WORLDS OF BONE OUTCASTS OF THE VOID THE DARK CITY SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD PANTHEON OF RUIN GAMEMASTERS GUIDE
130 The Drukhari are not the only threat that stalks the undercity. Mandrakes are an eldritch threat to all. Their attacks are heralded by a sudden drop in temperature before the shadows erupt with violence, eldritch runes glowing on the Mandrakes’ green-black skin as they feast on the terror of their victims. From time to time the Archon’s Medusae — or identical members of their unnerving species — are encountered in the deeps, and it is said to look upon their exposed faces is to court a painful and protracted death. A relatively recent geographical feature of the Hakhlenna Deep is a vast sinkhole known as the Maw, situated on the district’s outer border with the lower city. It appeared without warning or fanfare, consuming around a tenth of the district’s population at once, and releasing a discharge of panic and agony said to have been felt by every soul within Commorragh. Few from the city above have entered its deepest reaches and returned. Hidden in its nightmarish catacombs, the Haemoculi practise their dreadful art. Descending into the Maw, the first thing a curious explorer notices is the change in the quality of light. The thin glow from above is rapidly swallowed by the darkness beneath, but faint greenish glimmers shine in the darkness to either side. The broken remains of tunnels and dwelling-chambers can be clearly seen in the walls of the sinkhole’s upper levels, but the deeper observers descend, the less familiar and more unsettling their surroundings become. A few hundred feet below the entrance point, an intricate spiral staircase becomes apparent, winding its way into the greater depths. The walls are lined with archways of clearly ancient construction, the alcoves set into their walls varying between shallow gestation chambers filled with pallid foetuses floating in synthetic amniotic sacs, to vast porticos three yards high or more, heading into glimmering caverns of metal and stone. The spiral stair and its adjoining maze of caverns and passageways clearly predate the opening of the sinkhole. Those bold — or foolish — enough to reach the lowest levels encounter a nightmarish environment even by Commorragh’s standards. Staircases meet at right angles, bridges crossing in defiance of sense and gravity in an Escheresque hellscape. Gravity pulls in all directions, fading and intensifying in an obscure pattern. Clocks strike unusual hours. And behind vast adamantine doors, all the secrets of the flesh are laid bare, interrogated and remade into new and abominable forms. Whether the Haemonculi who make it their home were responsible for the opening of the Maw or not, there is little doubt that they have profited greatly from it — both from the discharge of psychic energy released at its creation, and the sanctuary it provides for their depraved experiments. Wargear: Ichor Injector, one Phantasm Grenade Bonus: +2 resilience u One of the Coven’s monstrous creations has escaped, cutting a bloody swathe through the lower reaches of the labyrinth before vanishing into the Swarms, rending and tearing its way through flesh as it goes. Normally such destruction would be of little concern to the Haemonculi and their Agents, but on this occasion they are keen to have the monster returned — intact if possible. u A rival Haemonculi Coven has taken up residence in the lower reaches of the labyrinth. The Agents are sent by the ArchExcruciatrix to find out what threats they represent, and to decide whether or not they should be recruited or destroyed.
THE COVEN OF THE CREEPING FLUX In the deepest reaches of the Maw is the domain of the Coven of the Creeping Flux, a group of Haemonculi and the soulless husks that serve them. Led by their Arch-Excruciatrix, Shegmeth the Bleak, the Coven divide their time between augmenting and altering the flesh of the Archon and their other patrons, and a secret collective work of the utmost importance. The premise of the Coven’s endeavour is simple: that a sentient being could be held in a state of perpetual suffering, neither ageing nor dying, but providing an endless supply of soul-sustenance. Your early attempts have yielded some modest success, but have lacked both durability and the necessary harvest to make it worthwhile. Auqil’s theory is that a superior power-source may hold the key to success, and is urging the Archon to increase her raids on realspace in the Gilead System in order to acquire one. If the Coven of the Creeping Flux were ever successful in their aim, the nature of Drukhari society would be irrevocably altered. An Archon who could free themself from the endless cycle of raiding for captives to sustain their life would gain an immediate advantage over their rivals, and could command considerable obedience by offering the same to their followers. More than that, such an Archon — with or without the approval of Asdrubael Vect — might succeed where the Supreme Overlord has thus far failed, recreating a unified Drukhari empire to once more command the stars. THE KNIFE THAT SLAYS THE BLADE Between the Tower of the Broken Mirror and the Maw lies the Swarms, a network of alleyways and slumdwellings where the majority of the city’s denizens make their home. Sustained by acts of petty sadism, or put to work in the city’s factoria to produce nutrient-rich slop to nourish the physical bodies of its residents, they eke out a meagre existence. Use of intoxicants and other mind-altering substances is near universal, but the Swarm-dwellers must take care to avoid attracting undue attention — a Drukhari incapable of sensing danger in time will inevitably fall prey to those stronger, faster, and crueller than themself. In the heart of the Swarms, a great edifice built from the bones of the dead rises stepwise into the air. Inside is the arena known as the Bloody Ossuary, where the supremely skilled athleticism — and sadism — of the Wych Cultists is displayed for the entertainment of the masses. All of Haklenna come here, from the Archon herself, floating above the combat on her personal anti-gravitic pleasure barge, to the gutter-dwellers pressed against the bars that separate the ground floor from the killing ground. Payment is taken in suffering: the rich and fortunate generally have others pay on their behalf, while the impoverished have no such choice. THE AELDARI IN GILEAD PLAYING AS AELDARI PSYCHIC POWERS ARMOURY WORLDS OF BONE OUTCASTS OF THE VOID THE DARK CITY SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD PANTHEON OF RUIN GM ADVICE
132 u The Carmine Sisterhood have recently obtained a beast of spectacular power and aggression. The Agents must battle rival teams for the honour of the final fight — and their rivals have no intention of fighting fair. u An infestation of Mandrakes plagues the arena, appearing at the culmination of every battle. Some have been driven off; others have slaughtered Wyches at the height of their powers. Where are they coming from, and why are they targeting this place in particular? Someone must find out before they strike again. The ruling triumvirate of the Cult of the Bloody Ossuary is known as the Carmine Sisterhood, both for the blood-red colour of their spiked armour, and for the perpetual gore with which they adorn themselves. First among the three is the Succubus Ynnitach Alekta, who maintains an unsurpassed collection of Asuryani skulls, each taken by her own hand, then cleaned and polished to a gleam by thralls. The more junior pair of the triumvirate are known simply as the Unrepentant. The presence of any of the three in the area guarantees entertainment of the most refined and delectable sort, but on the rare occasions when the three fight together the arena is suffused with a symphony of exalted suffering. THE CULT OF THE BLOODY OSSUARY As one of the Wych Cult of the Bloody Ossuary, you are all too aware that the power you hold in Hakhlenna Deep rests on your ability to provide a continual stream of entertainment and suffering. Quotidian entertainment can be provided by display fights between skilled combatants, or the protracted suffering inflicted on the dregs of Drukhari society by their more skilled social superiors, but to keep the aristocracy entertained more refined delights are required. Beneath the Ossuary, the Sisterhood maintains a bestiary to rival the finest collections in Commorragh — massive fighting beasts, dangerous alien predators, and the finest examples of the Haemonculi’s art. Wargear: Wychsuit, Electrocorrosive Whip, selection of trophies Bonus: +2 bonus dice to all Melee Tests when in combat wielding a Whip PARAGONS OF A SHATTERED GOD The Shrine of the Severing Blade lies in the rotting heart of Hakhlenna Deep, in a citadel of polished greenblack obsidian. Its Klaivex is a shadowy figure known only as the Dancer, renowned for his astonishing and murderous grace. Many seek to join the Shrine, but so arduous are the tests required that few survive long enough even to enter the outer circles of its training ground. Those who do succeed may count themselves amongst the most feared warriors in all of Comorragh, and command a suitably high price for their labours. ASPIRANT OF THE SEVERING BLADE Drukhari wishing to walk the path of the Incubus have a near-impossible task ahead of them. They must exemplify every attribute required in a warrior, as well as a bone-deep and insatiable cruelty. In order to achieve their aim, they must pass through the three circles of the Shrine, each step beset with perilous challenges. Such is the attrition of the process that only one of each hundred proceeds to the next stage, the burned remains of the unsuccessful placed as an offering to Khaine. Becoming an Incubus is a challenge ideal for tackling in play — such a quest could direct the course of a whole campaign. It provides an ideal opportunity for the GM to throw challenges of ever increasing difficulty at the Agents in pursuit of their goal. Through the process, they will make enemies, gain rivals, and doubtless attract the displeasure of their current Patron. No one likes a disloyal servant, after all…
133 THE DRUKHARI IN GILEAD There is no doubt that the Drukhari, and more specifically the denizens of the Hakhlenna Deep, have been taking a particular interest in the Gilead System of late. Their sleek and deadly voidships have been seen on several occasions, apparently scanning the outer reaches of the system. Rumours abound as to what they seek, though whether their objective is to claim or to destroy remains to be seen. THE LOST MAIDEN WORLD Archon Kyrik Rhaul learned of Aral’dha from spies within the Greensteal Corsairs, and has coveted it ever since. Not as her Aeldari cousins do, as a shrine to lost beauty and as a potential home in realspace, but as a trophy she might steal wholesale. Rhaul believes that if she can activate the ancient Aeldari technology on Ostia, she can plunge the entire world into the webway and bring it to Commorragh. Some think her mad, but few would openly question the Archon where she might hear — and Rhaul has spies everywhere. Should she succeed, the world would no doubt be a price that might earn her territory beyond her beleagured holdings. KAROTH HARROWER Karoth Harrower is Archon Rhaul’s lifelong rival and alleged sole surviving former lover. Trueborn within minutes of each other — some say to the same parents — they were raised in each other’s constant presence and encouraged to fight almost from the moment of their birth. By the time they could walk, each wore the other’s scars, but despite their violence towards one another they remained inseparable, each a skillful warrior made more deadly by the presence of the other. A formal union between them was considered inevitable, but as Rhaul grew closer to Vect’s inner circle of power their bond weakened, culminating in Rhaul’s appointment as Archon of the Hakhlenna Deeps. Harrower publicly denounced his former ally, and vanished into the lower city. An assassination attempt on the Archon’s life a month later was laid at his door, at which point he and his few remaining subordinates fled Commorragh into realspace, later emerging as a Corsair Captain pledged to the Emerald Princess Ferianwyr. On the few occasions he has allowed himself to be drawn into conversation he has spoken of Commorragh with indifference, but they are far too skilled a dissembler to be telling the whole truth… PLOT HOOK OLD FRIENDS AND OLDER ENEMIES The Agents’ mission is simple — to track down Karoth Harrower and return him to Commorragh to face what the Archon euphemistically refers to as ‘justice’. How they do it is up to them — do they attempt to infiltrate the Corsairs, have themselves taken as captives, or seek out another way to intercept and capture him? His long years in Commorragh have led him to an attitude of almost causal paranoia, so any attempt to trick him will be difficult. Supported as he is by powerful allies, a direct assault would likely be doomed to failure, but canny Agents might get him to talk — if correctly approached, he might even recruit them to his own service. AN ANCIENT SYSTEM AELDARI CHARACTERS PSYCHIC POWERS ARMOURY WORLDS OF BONE OUTCASTS OF THE VOID THE DARK CITY SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD PANTHEON OF RUIN GAMEMASTERS GUIDE
134 SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD ven by the standards of other Aeldari, the Harlequins are mysterious. Sheltered from the predations of She Who Thirsts by their elusive god Cegorach — the enigmatic patron of vengeful trickery — they give their lives to art and war. To a Harlequin, these are one the same: an allegory of deep, painful truths about the Aeldari’s nature and history. THE HARLEQUINS While it’s difficult to get to grips with how Harlequins think or what purpose they serve, in some respects they’re very simple. Watching a Harlequin on the battlefield gives an observer as much insight into who they are as any course of study. Clad in masks and dathedi holo-suits — the word meaning ‘between colours’ — Harlequins are a blur of shifting light. They move faster than the eye can track, their polychromatic costumes refracting light into splinters. The steps of their well-rehearsed battle dances, or saedaths, are at once planned to perfection and apparently chaotic and impossible to anticipate. And in every sense, their apparel and movement are a perfect illustration of the Harlequins themselves: brilliant and fascinating, but impossible to fully perceive or understand. In truth, battle is just one of the Harlequins’ art forms. Their repertoire envelops music, dance, theatre, speeches and poetry, complemented by psychic illusions and hallucinogenic compounds to fully immerse their audience in the experience. Every chapter of Aeldari history, from the birth of the race to the Fall of the empire — and beyond, to the moribund diaspora that survives to the present — has a limitless well of tales, told and retold in every medium and genre. The content changes only very slowly: with millennia of narratives to choose from, new ones are assessed against high standards for inclusion in the canon.
135 Of course, every Harlequin Masque have their own standards, preferences — and different audiences, for whom they perform the most appropriate set of theatrics. Some are deeply interested in the Ynnari, some hold a cavalier disregard for them. The same is true of any Aeldari myth: every Masque has their favourite tales, which resonate with them and inform their purpose and battlefield tactics. A single tale can have a dozen different meanings, and every performance can be adapted to highlight specific themes or make a certain point. A tragic last stand can be a cautionary tale or an inspiring ballad; The torment of divine at the hands of Khaine, a lesson in humility or one of fortitude. Harlequins choose not only their content but their presentation carefully. Every performance is a message, though sometimes the meaning is so subtle only the sophisticated Aeldari mind can parse it. Harlequins immerse themselves completely in their parts. When they don their masks and become cast members in a Masque, they surrender their former identities and give themselves over to embodying the legendary Aeldari they portray. The new Harlequin takes on the name of a character such as the Sun Prince, the Wounded Maiden, or the Witch of the Ghoul Stars. They become that character, for all intents and purposes, in a process called the theyldh. Their old self remains — in most cases, though the Aeldari capacity for obsession sometimes leads them to sink much too far into their part — but it’s blended with and informed by the role they play. The cast of each Masque varies widely. Their repertoire informs the parts they need to cast, but their cast also informs what tales they perform. There’s always an esdainn, called a Shadowseer in Low Gothic, to watch and weave the strands of fate and guide the Masque’s steps. There’s usually a margorach, a Death Jester, to play the part of Death — for what truly gripping story isn’t stalked by the spectre of impending death? The rest of the players are split into Light, Twilight, and Dark Troupes — heroes, wanderers, and villains, in the simplest of terms — and each of them is led by a Troupe Master who dances the part of Cegorach, for the Laughing God is everywhere and he has many aspects. Beyond that, a few roles are replicated across many Masques; some are unique. The Harlequins’ saedath are as layered and as carefully composed as any other performance. The cast embody Aeldari heroes of distant aeons, dancing through the steps of old stories their opponents don’t know the beats and cadence of. And if that sounds like an elaborate joke at a foe’s expense, that’s because it is. Cegorach is a spiteful, vicious god who loves to pierce his foes with mockery as well as blades. That’s one of the few certainties where the Laughing God is concerned. His directives are rarely clear or obvious. The Harlequins get their air of mystery from him, and to all appearances they revel in it. They appear wherever whim — or the plot of the current saga — dictates, fighting a neverending guerilla war against the Ruinous Powers. They’re superlative skirmishers, hard to pin down. They play their parts, take their bows, and disappear again, slipping into the twists of the Webway until it’s time for their next performance. For Harlequins in Wrath & Glory games this means two things. A Masque can appear as a wild card in any scenario; an unexpected and deadly twist. It’s unusual to find a Harlequin separated from their Masque, but easy to justify a single player character in a band of other Aeldari: they’re simply performing an extended soliloquy, or dancing the steps of a movement those around them have yet to recognise. Harlequins have one advantage that makes them wellsuited to be player characters. Harlequin Masques are welcome everywhere, amongst all other Aeldari. They perform on Craftworlds, for Corsair fleets, and in the domains of the Drukhari, equally blasé wherever they are. They serve as emissaries between different groups of Aeldari dispersed throughout the galaxy, carrying news of the present as well as tales of the past. A Masque can go from the depths of Commorragh to the furthest outpost where a single Ranger walks their lonely path. AN ANCIENT SYSTEM AELDARI CHARACTERS PSYCHIC POWERS ARMOURY WORLDS OF BONE OUTCASTS OF THE VOID THE DARK CITY SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD PANTHEON OF RUIN GAMEMASTERS GUIDE
136 . A TRAIL OF CALAMITY The creeping reversal of fortunes’s steps, The vicious encore begins to rapturous applause — Bold Feirellach, Troupe Master of Calamity’s Trail The Harlequins of the Gilead System call themselves the Masque of the Calamity Trail. Led by Troupe Master Bold Feirellach, they slip from world to world, appearing according to their own whim anywhere from the depths of Imperial space to the drifting hulks of the Voidmire. They’re a versatile Masque, not wedded to any one cycle or set of tales. Some Masques become obsessed with a certain foe, or a specific group of heroes, but the Calamity Trail dance every song of failure known to the Aeldari. Their performances are warnings and lessons, and if there’s any inspiration on offer it’s the push to the audience to learn from their forebears’ mistakes and do better with their own opportunities. The Masque relies on its Dark Troupe performers to show the overpowering odds stacked against the Aeldari and how small victories won by over those of Light or Twilight Troupes leave the overwhelming darkness undefeated. By styling their performances so, the Calamity Trail makes the point that history is rarely as simple as great people living up to their vaunted destinies. Performing failure doesn’t make the Calamity Trail defeatist. They find — or arguably, create — beauty in pyrrhic victories and calamitous defeats, and very often when they perform the saedath they twist their tales to show how a different outcome is possible; many of their battle dances give foes the impression the Harlequins are done for, only for them to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Chaos is, and always will be, their greatest foe, but the Ruinous Powers aren’t the only threat to the Aeldari. Nor were they ever. The Masque of the Calamity Trail have fought Necrons all over the galaxy for longer than any individual member can recall. They won famous victories on tomb worlds in the Awakening of Fear and the Myriad Splinters, and suffered crushing defeats in the Blood Serpentine. The servants of the Laughing God adhere to none of the Asuryani’s doctrines of patience, discipline, and moderation. I have wondered many times, over many years, what I’d see behind their snarling smiles; behind their masks. Would I recognise anything about them? Is there anything behind the masks at all, or are they so immersed in the roles they dance that nothing remains of the Aeldari they were? Do they lose themselves to the roles on purpose, feeling staged, scripted emotions instead of their own? Is that how he protects them, their sly, clever god? Hiding them behind the faces of long-dead heroes. Hiding is how he saved himself, after all. — Seer Menlas Fueran, Ul-Khari PLOT HOOK PERIPETEIA Performing in a Drukhari stronghold, the Players discover a group of prisoners who should not be there. These prisoners — other Aeldari, Mon-keigh, or another alien species — have a role to play in a greater conflict, and they can’t die here. A team of Harlequin Agents is ordered to spirit the prisoners away under cover of that night’s performance. A play within a play, perhaps?
137 If there are Necrons in the Gilead System they are well hidden, though those with contacts among Imperial forces have reason to suspect their presence. Should they prove true, the Masque of the Calamity Trail are here. Waiting. Whatever the Calamity Trail have found so far doesn’t interest them, and yet they remain. Those who pay enough heed to form theories — almost exclusively other Aeldari, though a few Imperial bureaucrats and data drudges have begun to notice patterns — have made a few credible deductions. It could be that the histories are wrong and there’s a tomb world that has somehow gone undiscovered in the Gilead System. Or perhaps it’s a feint by the Harlequins, a show to keep someone’s attention away from alternative machinations. None of these possibilities point to positive future developments. The fear among those that speculate is that something worse, something unique and dreadful, is lurking in the cold vastness of space between inhabited planets. None of the planets in the system match the cryptic, poetic descriptions of the tomb world once said to exist in this region of space. By process of elimination the Calamity Trail are drawn more and more often towards the asteroids of the Voidmire, some of which appear to be parts of a broken whole. HARLEQUIN’S MOTLEY Each Harlequin Masque has a consistent set of colours and patterns in their motley. The Calamity Trail wear their focus on sad stories and cautionary tales literally on their sleeves. The majority of their costumes are black and grey, with highlights of white and rich, reddish purple. The diamond patterns and Troupe runes grow more ostentatious with a Harlequin’s prestige — Troupe Leaders wear elaborate versions of the Troupe’s rune, compared to the simplified versions worn by mere Players, for example — but there’s no way for anyone who’s not a Harlequin to determine exactly what the patterns mean. Their costumes aren’t uniforms, and while there are commonalities between, say, the outfits of two different Shadowseers, there are differences too. In general, the more diamonds and the more colour, the more prestige a member of the Calamity Trail has. The Calamity Trail has one common shorthand: markings on the left side of the body refer to defeat, and those on the right to victory. They’re displayed with equal prominence and pride. Calamity Trail masks, perhaps unsurprisingly, tend towards the tragic. Their carefully sculpted expressions are marked with tears and express both pain and sorrow — though aliens who look upon them, unfamiliar with the Aeldari aesthetic, might well interpret agonised grimaces as ferocious grins. PLOT HOOK STORMCROW The esdainn have anticipated a disaster to come; something long-buried and vile emerging from the icy crust of Trollius. The Masque is there to watch it happen and make observations as to its nature, so the principal performers of the Calamity Trail can consider what saedath they should dance in response. The emergence is a necessary evil: if the Asuryani were to learn of this too early, they’d either intervene too soon or be made miserable by fear. Better they don’t know. The Harlequins must evade Ul-Khari scouts while their mission lasts. AN ANCIENT SYSTEM AELDARI CHARACTERS PSYCHIC POWERS ARMOURY WORLDS OF BONE OUTCASTS OF THE VOID THE DARK CITY SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD PANTHEON OF RUIN GAMEMASTERS GUIDE
138 THE WEBWAY Only Cegorach himself knows all the paths of the Webway, but the Harlequins come close. The Masque of the Calamity Trail are as knowledgeable as any other, but they face an additional challenge. The Dathedian, the Great Rift, damaged Webway paths all over the galaxy, cutting off branches and letting Chaos’s forces creep inside the formerly safe network. It’s a dangerous dimension to travel across. In the Gilead System it’s often lethal. It’s not so much exposed to daemons from the Warp as infested with them. Harlequins crossing the system dodge — or destroy — daemonic warbands, and avoid or cleanse corrupted paths. Harlequins have huge advantages over their foes here: they know the paths and the various dangers, and it’s a perfect place for their strike-and-run tactics. On the other hand, they are always outnumbered, and every battle takes its toll. Other Aeldari know Harlequin Masques as travelling performers. The Masques themselves know better. Many of them have Webway boltholes they retreat to between conflicts and performances, where they refine their productions and prepare for future theatres of war. Some, it’s said, even return to the fabled Black Library. The Calamity Trail don’t have a place of their own. The poor state of the Webway in Gilead means there’s no such thing as a safe place or safe routes to and fro. That has resulted in a pressing concern for the Masque of the Calamity Trail. First, the dillapidated Webway has made interactions with their kin more frequent by necessity — a mixed blessing, at best. The Masque has its own agenda, and every interaction with their kind threatens to embroil them further in events in Gilead. They are aware that war could easily break out among their Corsair, Asuryani, and Drukhari kin, perhaps over Aral’dha or some other concern. Despite the illustrative performances they have shown to each, none seems to grasp the destruction such a conflcit would bring — especially if there does indeed prove to be a Necron presence in Gilead. The Masque seeks to avoid further escalation, and is willing to take unusual measures to do so. Their tales speak of dealings with the forces of Julyanna Gilead in the distant past. It is possible that the system that bears her name might see further bargains struck between the Masque and the Mon-keigh. THE FROZEN TEAR The Frozen Tear are a group of Twilight Players within the Masque of the Calamity Trail. Aeldari from Craftworld Ul-Khari who sojourn amongst the Harlequins often join this band. They’re small in number, and besides the eternal war against Chaos they have a secondary, ongoing purpose. While the agenda of the Masque as a whole is obscure and shifting, the Frozen Tear is plain about their goal, at least to their fellows of Ul-Khari: they seek the object of The Call (see page 109), lost somewhere in the Gilead System. It might be the key to restoring Ul-Khari’s wounded Avatar; so the Seers say. Even a slim hope is worth pursuing, and the Frozen Tear do so with passion and verve. The Frozen Tear appear wherever visions of their prize guide them. They’ve been to every world, dancing with Ork scrap scavengers on Avachrus, terrifying the refugees on Enoch and ruffling the feathers of Imperial nobles on Gilead Primus. Many signs point to Ostia, and the Humans of the planet live in fear of the shimmering xenos devils who appear under the stars, tearing through settlements at speed in search of their mysterious prize. PLOT HOOK THE WEBWAY PROBLEM Almost everyone in the Gilead System is trapped there by the roiling tides of the Warp that encompass it. Little gets in or out, and there’s a shortage of everything but enemies. That doesn’t apply to the Harlequins. GMs should remember that while the Harlequins have this immense privilege, it does no good to anyone else. They may bring news of far-flung Aeldari in other sectors of the galaxy, but that’s all. Aeldari outside the Gilead system have their own problems: no help is coming, even for the stranded Craftworld Ul-Khari. And the Harlequins most certainly aren’t interested in helping other species.
139 More and more often, as visions of the future crystallise into a manageable number of possibilities, they find themselves on and around the plague world Vulkaris. It’s as close to Nurgle’s Garden as any place outside the Immaterium; a hell of toxins and corruption inhabited by monstrous mutants. Only a Harlequin Troupe could slip on- and off-world so easily and live to tell the tale. As more signs point towards Vulkaris, some members of the Troupe begin to wonder what The Call is really leading them towards. Maybe it’s not part of Kaela Mensha Khaine’s epic at all, but part of the cycle of Isha. Her fate is said to be bound up with Nurgle, and the Lord of Decay assuredly rules Vulkaris. Maybe the key to restoring Ul-Khari’s Avatar is also the key to saving the Aeldari as a people. Very few Harlequins believe something so grandiose could exist in a galactic backwater like the Gilead System but it would be an intriguing twist in the tale. On that level, at least, it appeals. It’s rather more likely that the visions of ripe abundance that point towards Ostia as a resting place of a powerful sliver of Khaine could just as easily apply to Vulkaris. The plague world is certainly a fecund breeding ground for disease. Every member of the Troupe has a vast bounty on their head on numerous worlds, with the Humans unaware that the faces behind each mask have changed numerous times since the decrees were issued for their capture, dead or alive. The cast of this group changes rapidly. Aeldari spend a few years here, dancing the steps of the old stories and wearing the masks of heroes. The freedom from restriction, the destruction of their old self with all its painful memories and the embrace of caprice and impulse, appeals — for a time. But Harlequins eschew Spirit Stones. Cegorach keeps their souls, protecting them from the clutches of She Who Thirsts. Dying amongst the Harlequins means being separated from Ul-Khari forever, and the leaders of the Craftworld are aware of that loss. Every Harlequin knows their act will come to an end in time; some of the saedath lead to high Aeldari casualties every time they’re danced. The Frozen Tear commits to never dancing the deadly Cegorach’s Revenge for that very reason (though a commitment from a Harlequin is as reliable as a Warp storm). Asuryani from Ul-Khari, or sometimes Rangers, find the Frozen Tear and recall its Players while they’re still alive. That way, their souls join the Craftworld’s Infinity Circuit. They’re part of the Craftworld, along with the souls of their ancestors, and part of Ul-Khari forever. Ul-Khari needs them more than Cegorach does, and while the Harlequins feel less kinship with their former home once they’re subsumed in their role, Ul-Khari can’t afford to forget them. It’s not always effective: after the theyldh the Asuryani they once were is but a small part of their identity. The whole exchange is a strain on the otherwise strong relationship between Craftworld and Masque. Aeldari from Ul-Khari bring new stories too: tales of the tragedy of the frozen Craftworld, of its people trapped and languishing and the cries of wounded wraithbone. These new works of art filter into the rest of the Masque’s repertoire, and then into other Masques, spreading far beyond the Gilead System. The Wounded Maiden, the Lead Player The Wounded Maiden was many things before she found her role in the Frozen Tear. He was Kaeliir Falnethras, Warlock of Craftworld Ul-Khari and far advanced in the intricate steps of the Path of the Seer. The collision with Trollius was a catastrophe, and its effects lingered. The Warlock never moved past it. So he followed a masked dancer onto a Webway path and left the Asuryani Path behind. The Wounded Maiden is the first and only leader of the Frozen Tear: the Troupe formed around her. Her role is new too. It’s never been danced before. It’s named for one of the heroes of Ul-Khari, an Exarch who fought for, and held, an objective from a horde of daemons; she held out for days until reinforcements came, and died of her injuries the moment help arrived. She’s a symbol of persistence and loyalty, and in many saedath her part comes into its own when the odds are impossibly long. And the odds in the Troupe’s quest for the fragment of Aeldari glory, lost somewhere in the Gilead System, are impossibly long indeed. AN ANCIENT SYSTEM AELDARI CHARACTERS PSYCHIC POWERS ARMOURY WORLDS OF BONE OUTCASTS OF THE VOID THE DARK CITY SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD PANTHEON OF RUIN GAMEMASTERS GUIDE
140 THE FALL OF STARS The Calamity Trail has one saedath they dance better and more often than any other Masque in the galaxy. The Fall of Stars presents the tale of Orinean and Khorath, two Aeldari Corsair Princes. Strict leaders, but wiser and more measured than most, a trusted Felarch nevertheless rose up to challenge their command. The siblings foresaw that allowing this would lead the fleet they led together into damnation, while opposing it directly would result in their own deaths. The pair found a third path, and pledged to serve the Felarch and recognise him as their Prince. It was years later when their chance arose. In that time much of the crew had fallen to the lure of the very practices that had damned the Aeldari Empire of old, and perhaps that is why their deception went unnoticed. They lured the fleet into an attack on a supposed stranded ship, but instead led them into the heart of a black hole. It is said that they are falling still, time stretched out almost to breaking by the crushing gravity of the singularity. Make no mistake: while some Masques elsewhere in the galaxy dance the Fall of Stars as a tale of cleverness and triumph, to the Calamity Trail it’s another great failure. Regardless of the sibling’s ultimate victory, many Aeldari souls were tainted by the sins of old, and consumed by She Who Thirsts. There are few greater tragedies to most Aeldari. In battlefield terms, the Fall of Stars is rife with unpleasant surprises for the enemy. The Masque’s Light Troupe makes itself conspicuously vulnerable — few in number or pinned down in a difficult position. In a feigned retreat they lead their opponents through ambushes by the Masque’s other Troupes, stripping down their numbers in a methodical but apparently completely spontaneous way. There’s virtually no way to prepare against the Fall of Stars: the ambushers aren’t on stage before the saedath starts; they know their cues and arrive precisely when they should. The few beings in the Gilead System who’ve survived the Fall of Stars (not that they know it by name) know that if they glimpse the masked performers in shimmering attire to avoid them at all costs, for all that awaits them is deception and death THE CAST The Calamity Trail, like every Harlequin Masque, has key roles that shape their performances on every level, from their strategy to the saedath they choose to dance. They’re a small Masque, and there are always roles not currently cast. They’re currently without an arebennian — a Solitaire — who alone performs the role of Slaanesh. The strangest of all Harlequins, Solitaires conceal themselves amongst Aeldari society, wandering alone. Solitaires don’t travel with Harlequin Troupes, but join them when they deem it necessary and when they reveal themselves, wearing their grotesque masks, they speak and are spoken to only in a ritual form, and are held in fear and awe by their kin. No Solitaire has ventured into the Gilead System since the Dathedian rent the galaxy in two. The Calamity Trail accept the fact, but some of them whisper quiet theories that the disturbances in the Immaterium bring Slaanesh closer than ever, and make the arebennian’s part even more dangerous in Gilead than elsewhere. If that theory is right, a Solitaire who did arrive in Gilead could cause more problems than they solved. PLOT HOOK ESCORT MISSION A Solitaire is coming to join the Troupe. The Esdainn has foretold it. But they’re delayed, presumed lost somewhere in the Webway. Wise Feirellach fears they’ve succumbed to their fate, for all arbennian are doomed to have their souls consumed by She Who Thirsts, but this must be confirmed. A small team of Agents — Harlequins or other Aeldari trained in the proper ritual approach — is dispatched to account for the Solitaire, bringing them to the Troupe if possible or confirming their death if not.
141 As a more pressing issue, the Masque also lacks some to play the part of the Bloody-Eyed Ambassador. A role specific to the Masque, and one they’d dearly love to fill, is that of an infiltrator and assassin whose appearance, usually to commit a single bloody murder, heralds the arrival of the Masque itself. At present the Calamity Trail can’t perform certain pieces that rely on this opening move — although they’ve considered treating other Aeldari, like Rangers, Corsairs, or even Drukhari raiders as temporary additions to the Masque. It’s unusual, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and it’s an opportunity to engage other Aeldari player characters with the Harlequins of Gilead on a short-term, limited basis. Bold Feirellach Bold Feirellach is the part currently performed by the leader of the Calamity Trail, the Troupe Master who stands above every other player in the cast. She’s held the role for decades; many of the younger Troupe members have never seen anyone else wear that mask. It’s impossible to separate Bold Feirellach from the Harlequin behind the facade. She brings a youthful enthusiasm to the role; an eternal flame of passion and verve. She treats every performance like it’s her first, as passionate about turning every Aeldari tragedy into a glorious performance as the first time she donned the mask. She loves nothing more than an unlikely victory, and it delights her to let the odds stack up against her Masque, making the climactic final movement of a saedath unforgettable. Bold Feirellach herself seems unusually keen to maintain the illusion that she’s never been anything but the role she plays. She never breaks character in the slightest, on or off the battlefield, and only a fool would try to tease out details of her life before the Masque: Bold Feirellach has a caustic tongue and a scathing sense of humour. The Esdainn The Esdainn, or Shadowseer, plays the role of Fate in the Masque’s performances. They narrate the saedath, providing inspiration and prompts to their fellow Harlequins with guidance drawn from their prodigious psychic talent. The Calamity Trail’s Esdainn is maudlin even by the Masque’s own standards. The lines of poetry that emerge through their opaque black mask foretell misery and pain, and advice on averting and mitigating it comes as an afterthought. They only seem interested in the worst that might happen — although it’s a truism that they who prepare for the worst are prepared for anything. Because an Esdainn’s role requires superlative psychic abilities as well as an intuitive feel for the current state of the saedath and how to alter it, the Calamity Trail ensure it’s never the first role someone plays. A gifted psychic works their way up through roles such as the Eye of the Dragon and the Watchful Judge. AN ANCIENT SYSTEM AELDARI CHARACTERS PSYCHIC POWERS ARMOURY WORLDS OF BONE OUTCASTS OF THE VOID THE DARK CITY SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD PANTHEON OF RUIN GAMEMASTERS GUIDE
142 The Margorach Death Jesters, known to the Aeldari as margorach,play the part of Death in a Masque’s performances. The margorach of the Calamity Trail is new to the role and performs it with unmatched zeal. Where the rest of the Masque are mired in tragedy, the margorach is morbidly joyful, with an especially dark sense of humour even by the standards of other Harlequins, who are no strangers to death and destruction. A Death Jester must be light of step, clear of voice, and possessed of unmatched elegance in even the smallest movements and gestures. They stride through the smoke and screams of the battlefield, grasping the Final Song, a customised Shrieker Cannon. Not only does the Final Song’s single-shot projectile cut targets into gory ribbons to decorate their allies, it combines acid with a strong hallucinogenic that clouds the senses, trapping survivors in repetitive visions of doom. The margorach’s is the only mask in the whole company that wears a smile. AUDIENCES OF THE GILEAD SYSTEM The Masque of the Calamity Trail have cause to interact with every Aeldari faction in the Gilead System, and they’ve formed certain opinions about all of them. Craftworld Ul-Khari Lost and trapped and hopeless. The stories one day told of their plight will be beautiful, but in person they’re pitiful. They’re drowning here, dragged down by their sorrows and duties, not unlike a mythic figure from more than one tragic tale familiar to the Masque. Harlequins are welcomed on Ul-Khari, but even by our standards it’s a dismal place. The Craftworld is haunted and half-full, and the wraithbone sighs and moans from the wings. They need us — a reminder of their history and hope — more than they know. Greensteel Warriors Princess Ferianwyr’s Corsairs are performers in their own right; dancing the future instead of the past and choreographing one another with slashes of their blades and the song of their shuriken rifles. If they weren’t Anhrathe they’d make a spectacular Light Troupe. We haved danced many saedath alongside the — doubtless they take great inspiration from our presence. The Drukhari The Drukhari are drawn to the pain and suffering to be found throughout the Gilead System. The Kabalites of Archon Rhaul find the anguished conflictions of Princess Ferianwyr’s Corsairs and the haunting sorrow of those broken against the ice of Trollius calling to their cruelty from across the void. Many aeons have passed since we last danced alongside Drukhari from the spires of the Dark City; perhaps now, when the way is most unclear, we should do so again in Gilead.A — Recollections of The Quartet’s Loyal Traitor, Player of the Masque of the Calamity Trail Sainax and Doreliin The Masque’s two oldest Voidweavers are named for the pair of hounds who accompanied Kurnous on his legendary Hunt of the Moon. Both ships are ancient and temperamental, and all the Troupes treat them as though they were alive, decorating them with trinkets and hanging the masks of currently unoccupied roles inside them. Tradition dictates the pilots must recite a speech from one of the many myths of Kurnous before the crafts fly into battle — otherwise defeat is guaranteed. PLOT HOOK STOLEN GOODS After a disastrous skirmish in which not even the margorach’s presence was enough to secure victory, the Final Song fell into the hands of a crew of Orks. While the Harlequins doubt the beasts can use such a sophisticated weapon, it’s unthinkable that a prop like this should be allowed to remain in the hands of those green brutes. The margorach is recovering from his injuries, so a squad of Agents has to recapture the Final Song on his behalf.
143 The events of the Fall sundered the Aeldari pantheon. They remain revered in the surviving cultures, though the belief systems that still persist are as fractured and disparate as the Aeldari themselves. As those cultures emerged from the catastrophe of the Fall they became influenced by their broken gods, from the stories of myth and legend woven through the Asuryani’s lives to the loathsome Incubi of Commorragh, pledging reverence to Khaine. ASURYANI When the Asuryani fled the crone worlds, they rejected decadent hedonism, instead embracing the traditional beliefs of their ancient ancestors, those mortals who walked alongside and battled gods. Known as the Aeldari Myth Cycles, these collections of narratives blend mythology, symbolism, and history into a litany of legendary heroes, fantastical beasts, and nuanced gods whose legacies permeate all facets of modern Asuryani culture. Ul-Khari Asuryani in particular revere these stories, knowing that their entire Craftworld hangs precariously on the verge of joining that collection of cautionary tales. Dead but Not Forgotten Though Craftworld Aeldari recognise many gods, all but a few were consumed by Slaanesh. Gone but not forgotten, these dead gods loom large in Aeldari history, their influence still resonating throughout Asuryani culture today. Ul-Khari pays close heed to these stories, contextualising them through the lens of their unique history and star-spanning catastrophe. PANTHEON OF RUIN
Asuryan Chief among the Aeldari gods, Asuryan the Phoenix King reigned over the gods and their children as wizened judge of all, though even his power and skill could not save him from Slaanesh’s gluttony. Kurnous Kurnous is regarded as the father of the Aeldari, who suffered alongside his wife Isha in the events leading to the mythical War in Heaven. Lileath Daughter of Isha and Kurnous, Lileath was the maiden goddess of fortune and dreams. The terraformed paradises known as Lilaethan (maiden worlds) are named in her memory. Morai-Heg Morai-Heg the Crone, after whom the crone worlds were named, was the goddess of souls and fate. Those who subscribe to Seleithe Taranlys’s interpretations of the Myth Cycles believe Morai-Heg held knowledge of every creature’s doom within her blood. Remnants of the Gods Aeldari mythology tells that at the moment of its birth, Slaanesh slaughtered almost all of the Aeldari pantheon and stole the gods’ power, with only two of their number surviving the Fall. Kaela Mensha Khaine Kaela Mensha Khaine, the strongest and most warlike of the Aeldari deities, endured through might. Slaanesh and the Bloody-Handed God fought a titanic battle in the warp, and despite Khaine’s mastery of war, Slaanesh, glutted with stolen power, eventually proved the stronger. Exhausted from the struggle, Slaanesh could not destroy the Aeldari god completely. Instead, Khaine was rent into fragments. Each shard came to rest within the wraithbone core of a craftworld, where its wrathful power can be used to summon an Avatar of the Bloody-Handed God. The Asuryani, perpetually fighting for their survival, invoke Khaine’s martial mastery in their weapons and Aspect Shrines, shaping the Paths of the Warrior to reflect his many brutal aspects. THE MOTHER OF THE AELDARI Every Asuryani knows Isha as the mother of the Aeldari and the goddess of fertility, harvest, and healing. When Khaine set out to murder the Aeldari, Isha and her husband Kurnous stood against him. When Asuryan cast us out to separate us from the gods, Isha defied him. She gifted her tears so we could commune with her despite our exile. Punished severely for her defiance, she suffered gladly in defence of her beloved children. We remember her sacrifices with reverence, whispering her name as we cradle her tears, the allimportant Spirit Stones that shelter us from She Who Thirsts. Many say Isha was killed alongside the rest of the gods, but I am not convinced. I have delved into the dark corners of our history and dredged legends from oceans of time. I cannot deny what I know in my heart. The Myth Cycles are clear that she has never abandoned us. I believe Isha still lives, though I fear her fate may be worse than death. Isha has suffered on behalf of the Aeldari before. If she survives, perhaps there is still hope for us. Perhaps our staunchest defender may yet play a role in our salvation. I pray that she knows my heart if she still lives. Your children weep, Isha, but we know that you weep alongside us. — From the private records of Farseer Lanriel Taranlys of Ul-Khari
145 As the Asuryani desperately cling to what little they have left, they look to Khaine’s teachings with increasing frequency. While Khaine escaped the fate of his kin, he survives only in disparate pieces, far from his former glory, though he is not entirely pacified. In times of great need, Aeldari make dire sacrifices to awaken the shard of Khaine dwelling in their Craftworld’s core, summoning a formidable avatar of the Bloody-Handed God to battle on behalf of his erstwhile victims. Ul-Khari’s Avatar is tragically incomplete and unable to be summoned, though rumours circulate that the Craftworld may have come to Gilead in the first place to search for a means to restore their vestige of the shattered god. Ynnead Burdened with the stigma that the Aeldari orchestrated their own damnation through the creation of Slaanesh, the Asuryani have spent the last ten thousand years using that dire knowledge to build another god from the souls of their dead, this time a saviour rather than a tormentor. Known as the Whispering God, none can say whether Ynnead is alive or dead. Perhaps he grows, gradually coalescing with each Aeldari soul denied to Slaanesh. Very few within Gilead know for certain. The Asuryani have always believed the God of the Dead could only fully awaken after the complete annihilation of their people, but recent events have cast doubt on this belief. Word has spread through the Webway that a powerful Aeldari enacted a ritual to prematurely wake Ynnead, though whatever occurred, it only succeeded in rousing the sleeping god long enough for him to choose a prophet. Aeldari coming into Gilead through the Webway claim that the emissary now calls upon Aeldari across all walks of life to join the Ynnari, charging the Whispering God’s faithful to awaken him by any means necessary. Though the Asuryani have long worked to bring about Ynnead’s emergence, there is no consensus concerning the nascent god. Because legend foretells he will defeat Slaanesh, many Asuryani believe Ynnead to be their last, greatest hope, driving them to join the Ynnari to hasten his coming. But if the Ynnari fail to find another way to rouse Ynnead, the Asuryani are all expected to die before he can rise: an uneasy prospect for many Craftworlders, especially considering there is no assurance it will work. Spending centuries preserving what little they have left, going to great lengths to prevent even the smallest losses, sceptical Asuryani, especially those in Ul-Khari, believe they can do more to help their people if they remain among the living rather than dying to fulfil what may prove to be nothing more than wishful thinking. Moreover, no Asuryani can forget what happened the last time the Aeldari birthed a god. That worry lies heavily upon many even if they dare not speak it aloud. AN ANCIENT SYSTEM AELDARI CHARACTERS PSYCHIC POWERS ARMOURY WORLDS OF BONE OUTCASTS OF THE VOID THE DARK CITY SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD PANTHEON OF RUIN GAMEMASTERS GUIDE
146 HARLEQUINS As keepers of Aeldari history and lore, Harlequins preserve the Myth Cycles through their performances and artistry, but even their language and customs are steeped in those tragic legends. They speak in idioms and metaphors, invoking ancient heroes, mythological creatures, and gods as cultural touchstones. Harlequins on the hunt for enemies play the role of Kurnous’s hounds. Their seers speak of Lileath’s prophetic dreams when divining the future. Warrior poets ride swift Skyweavers into battle, referencing the Cosmic Serpent’s offspring who vexed Cegorach’s foes from all sides. Though the Rillietanni know and respect the gods of the Aeldari pantheon, they are specifically the Laughing God’s faithful, dedicated solely to Cegorach and no other. Those who know Cegorach as the Trickster recognise why Harlequins are considered enigmatic and capricious even by Aeldari standards, but Harlequins never behave truly randomly. Because they worship the only Aeldari god still whole and in contact with mortals, Harlequins have a unique religious perspective that no other Aeldari can truly share. Cegorach allegedly communicates with the Rillietanni, albeit cryptically, and they claim to enact his will at any cost. Their every move serves to further Cegorach’s goals, though those motivations are always suspect and concealed beneath layers of complexity, obfuscation, and spectacle; the Laughing God would have it no other way. Harlequins & Ynnead To be a Harlequin is to be devoted to Cegorach above all others, to recognise no other authority, and to entrust the Laughing God with one’s very soul. Any who would worship Ynnead ahead of Cegorach would cease to be a Harlequin in every meaningful way. However, this does not prevent Harlequins from seeing benefit in the potential return of another Aeldari diety. Should Ynnead arise, they would be a powerful adversary to She Who Thirsts. Moreover the God of the Dead may have a part to play in the final act of the great Rhana Dandra, the last battle between Aeldari and Chaos. Therefore a Harlequin may well fight alongside the Ynnari, recognise the divinity of Ynnead, and even bear the YNNARI keyword, while still remaining faithful to the Laughing God. THE GREAT HARLEQUIN Your people say Cegorach the Laughing God is a deity of deceit and trickery: one not to be trusted. And perhaps they’re right! But the Asuryani see only the face Cegorach shows them. He is so much more if you truly listen to his laughter. You walked the Path of the Banshee before you left Ul-Khari, yes? Then you know. Whether you dance upon the stage or across blood-soaked fields, you’ve seen how ridiculous it all is. Is grief not always with you, deep in your soul? No matter how far you run, no matter how many foes you slay, sorrow will always find you. Yet still we persevere despite how hopeless it seems. Laughing is the only sensible choice, don’t you see? That is Cegorach: to take comfort in the absurdity of existence, to laugh in the face of despair. I fear the Asuryani have forgotten how to laugh. They see Cegorach as a trickster and a fool, but they forget it was that sardonic regard for our ancestors’ decadence that gave him warning enough to flee before Slaanesh stirred. Is that so different from the Asuryani’s exodus? — From the private records of Farseer Lanriel Taranlys of Ul-Khari
147 DRUKHARI The Drukhari worship at the altar of their own obsessive drive for power, perfection, and survival. They are quick to claim they have conquered mortality: a feat the Aeldari gods could not achieve, as evidenced by the state of their ruined pantheon. Loathing to bow to anything weaker than themselves, Drukhari are left to wonder why they would ever deign to worship such inferior creatures as gods. The only exception are Incubi, who continue to revere Khaine in a way abhorrent to the Asuryani. Iconoclast’s Mound Commorrite legend describes a deep pit occupying a corner of the Dark City few can find because it was reputedly designed to be forgotten. It is said to be known only to those who would cast down gods, revealing itself when Drukhari carry plundered religious relics back from realspace raids. There they discard the false idols, mocking the sacred as they add to the massive heap mouldering within the pit. The mound of disused icons grows ever larger, never seeming to fill the pit. For Drukhari, there is no limit to excess, and there is always room for more gods to be discarded on the Iconoclast’s Mound. Before the Fall, hedonistic pleasure cults turned their backs on the Aeldari gods, throwing them away like detritus to make room for their growing pride and thirst for sensation. Beyond the memory of even the most ancient of the Drukhari, the floor of that pit may be littered with remnants of that first iconoclasm, idols of the Aeldari pantheon too weak to survive the Fall and the ascendancy of Slaanesh. Dark Muses Though most Drukhari recognise no beings worthy of worship beyond themselves. They jealously covet the respect and fear offered by the upper echelons of their twisted society and take any opportunity to plot, decieve and murder in order to depose those that stand in their way. Dark Muses are legendary exemplars of those dark ideals, embodiments of cruelty in its many forms whom modern Drukhari look to as inspiration for their own nefarious ends. Hekatii Called the Red Crone, Hekatii is regarded as a warrior without peer embodying the sadistic joy of graceful slaughter. Lhilitu Dubbed the Consort of the Void, followers of Lhilitu seek mastery at manipulating their peers and rivals through subtlety, wielding both seduction and poison as deftly as any weapon. Qa’leh Qa’leh, Mistress of Blades, portrayed as a skilled and deadly Wych. Modern Wyches seek to emulate to her mastery of knives and bloodletting. Shaimesh Shaimesh, the Lord of Poisons, is a remnant from the Aeldari Myth Cycles that the Drukhari uncharacteristically haven’t abandoned. He is believed to be the treacherous brother of Saim-Hann the Cosmic Serpent and serves to extol the virtues of betrayal and assassination. Vileth Patron to Archons and others in positions of power, Vileth embodies arrogance and overwhelming superiority. Some Drukhari that follow Vileth’s tenets focus on mastering aerial warfare, a literal statement of power and hierarchy over underlings and enemies on the battlefield. Asdrubael Vect The depraved aristocracy of Commorragh, whose noble houses had risen to power through the various pleasure cults, are not the sole lords of the Dark City. Their complex web of intrigue, assassinations, gruesome commerce and debauched entertainments is held together by the supreme will of the Living Muse – Asdrubael Vect. Assassinated during the pandemonium unleashed across Commorragh following the Great Rift’s appearance, Vect allegedly engineered his death as an opportunity to secure his position. Rising from the dead at his own he slaughtered allies and enemies alike to prove his supremacy. AN ANCIENT SYSTEM AELDARI CHARACTERS PSYCHIC POWERS ARMOURY WORLDS OF BONE OUTCASTS OF THE VOID THE DARK CITY SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD PANTHEON OF RUIN GAMEMASTERS GUIDE
148 Even moreso than the other Aeldari factions, the Anhrathe are divided over Ynnead’s awakening. The Corsairs were already relatively loosely organised and aligned before Ynnead’s emergence, and their widely varying beliefs mean each of their number must decide for themself. Some welcome Ynnead as a saviour, or at least a new mystery to explore, while others see him as nothing more than shackles that less free Aeldari would use to trammel the proud Anhrathe. THE FATE OF ALL AELDARI The Aeldari’s efforts to stave off death do not stem from a base fear of the unknown so common to the lesser races of the galaxy. All Aeldari are aware of the eternal damnation that awaits them with open arms and hungry jaws. Created from the collective Aeldari psyche at the height of their species-wide debauchery and hedonism, Slaanesh lays claim to every Aeldari soul, drawing their souls inexorably through the Warp to be devoured. The Aeldari are a dying race, so necessity has driven each Aeldari culture to develop its own method to keep their souls from Slaanesh’s dreadful maw. The unique way each culture deals with death and the dark fate awaiting them is one of the largest factors shaping their disparate lifestyles and beliefs. ASURYANI It is customary in Asuryani culture for Aeldari to wear exquisite gems called Spirit Stones at all times. While this custom is universal across every Craftworld, Asuryani contextualise this practice through the legend of Isha’s Tears, believing Spirit Stones to represent the gems Vaul created for Isha when she Incubi Incubi are notoriously mercenary, owing fealty only to their war-shrines, but deep within those mysterious enclaves, they defy conventional Drukhari values by worshipping at the altar of a god. Incubi regard Kaela Mensha Khaine as war and murder incarnate and hone their violent craft beneath the bellicose gaze of cold iron statues. They dedicate their lives and deaths to the pursuit of the perfect killing strike to honour their shattered god’s martial perfection. Though singularly devoted, rumours abound that some warshrines have left the sole service of Khaine to join the Ynnari, but few are willing to investigate that possibility too closely. The Drukhari & Ynnead Ynnead’s rise poses both threat and opportunity for the Drukhari. Many of Commorragh’s elite are well pleased with their positions of power and view the stirring god as a force that could change the status quo, so they actively oppose the quest to awaken Ynnead. Refugees from Commorragh spread dubious rumours that Vect himself launched an attack against Ynnead’s emissary, intending to kill the Ynnari movement in the cradle before it could detract from his powerbase. Not all Drukhari sneer at the Whispering God, however, especially among the lower classes who hold no true power in Commorragh. The lower echelons of Drukhari society suffer under the cruel necessities of life there, so many see Ynnead as a previously unavailable path to escape their brutal circumstances. These dispossessed wonder why they need torment and suffer just to survive if Ynnead can truly save them from She Who Thirsts. The bravest and most desperate dare to join the Ynnari to find out. CORSAIRS Similar to the Ynnari, the Anhrathe attract membership from all walks of Aeldari life, but unlike Ynnead’s faithful, Corsairs share no single spirituality, instead possessing their own individual beliefs. Some maintain the religion (or lack thereof) of the culture they were raised in. Other Corsairs, given that they are known for their fierce independence and rejection of the status quo, explore the void with an open heart, adopting what customs and beliefs suit them from moment to moment.
149 wept over the Aeldari, linking the exiled mortals to their mother. But Spirit Stones are more than metaphorical links to divinity and the ancient past. When an Asuryani dies, their soul enters the gem’s intricate crystal circuitry rather than the Warp, anchoring the soul in the material realm where it remains beyond Slaanesh’s reach. Living Aeldari can then recover the stone, interring it within their Craftworld’s Infinity Circuit where the soul lingers in a form of afterlife. Free to drift throughout the Craftworld’s wraithbone structures, these souls remain a part of the Craftworld’s daily life: ghostlike, but neither alone nor forgotten. In this way, Craftworlds are not only the Asuryani’s homes, but also their tombs, representing the continued survival of their entire population. To lose a Craftworld’s Infinity Circuit is to forfeit countless generations of Asuryani to damnation, hence why the Ul-Khari Asuryani work with such fervour to preserve their broken Craftworld. HARLEQUINS As a sign of their faith in Cegorach, Harlequins wear no Spirit Stones, trusting the Laughing God, whom they believe is still alive and unbowed, to abscond with them before Slaanesh can catch their unmoored souls in the Warp. As with everything associated with the Great Harlequin, none can verify or debunk what truly happens to his faithful after death, but there is no disputing that Harlequins face death with zeal and unwavering faith in this belief. All of life is a stage, and they perform without a net, literally and figuratively. If Cegorach does catch them before they fall to the Great Enemy, none can say where he takes them or for what purpose, but mysterious acts and cryptic motives are familiar territory for the servants of the Laughing God. DRUKHARI While the Drukhari have mastered both torment and pleasure as means to mitigate the drain on their souls, they are still subject to Slaanesh’s claim upon them when they die. To avoid that fate, the Drukhari have adopted an utterly practical solution: never dying. The Drukhari have effectively defeated mortality through technological mastery, dark alchemy and fleshcrafting, extending their lifespans indefinitely through arcane treatments. Wealthy Drukhari even make arrangements with Haemonculi to be resurrected in the event of their death, slinking back to the side of the living before Slaanesh consumes them. Not all Drukhari have the means to secure such failsafes, though. This furthers their urgency to gain power, wealth, and influence as quickly as possible because the sooner they can ascend to a lofty status, the sooner they can arrange for immortality and stave off the doom that awaits. CORSAIRS Known for their commitment to individualism and freedom, Corsairs have no singular or unique mechanism to avoid Slaanesh’s caress after death. Their individual practices vary as much as their individual beliefs, so it is typical for a Corsair to continue using the methods of the culture they hail from. Former Drukhari tend to continue inflicting pain and indulging in hedonism while spending plunder to pay for life-extending treatments in Commorragh whenever they pass through. Alternatively, Corsair bands may include spiritual mystics who carry waystones with which to capture the essences of fallen Aeldari, saving them from an eternity of torment in the warp. In Gilead, where options are limited, resources are scarce, and crises make for strange bedfellows, it is not unheard of for Corsairs to change from their traditional method of defying Slaanesh to another if they find a different one suits them better. Corsairs are proud of the freedom they enjoy and are notoriously self-determining, so change is never out of the question for them. YNNARI The Ynnari believe the Whispering God lays a greater claim to their souls than Slaanesh. They no longer need the Spirit Stones, excruciation, or faith in Cegorach from their previous lives to avoid being consumed, though some Ynnari continue those practices out of mere sentimentality or habit. To truly follow Ynnead is to embrace a new way, to make a leap of faith, to trust one’s very soul to a stranger. Such risk can be difficult for some Aeldari to accept, but the light of hope amidst the grim darkness burns brightly for many, giving them the courage to trust in their new saviour. AN ANCIENT SYSTEM AELDARI CHARACTERS PSYCHIC POWERS ARMOURY WORLDS OF BONE OUTCASTS OF THE VOID THE DARK CITY SERVANTS OF THE LAUGHING GOD PANTHEON OF RUIN GAMEMASTERS GUIDE
150 his chapter contains advice and special considerations for GMs running games featuring Aeldari. It explores how to emphasise Aeldari-specific themes, discusses how to integrate groups of Aeldari and non-Aeldari, and provides several Frameworks to build Aeldari campaigns in the Gilead System. AELDARI THEMES Though individual allegiances and circumstances vary, all Aeldari ultimately share a common origin. Each inherits the same tragic legacy, and while individuals handle that shared trauma in their own way, that communal history creates commonalities between them: themes that occur universally across the entire species. Emphasising these common themes in your game conjures evocative tones while lending vivid context to Aeldari characters and their activities within Gilead. Pride Pride and hubris are core aspects of Aeldari psychology that colour everything they say and do. The Aeldari are well aware they are one of the oldest living species in Gilead and beyond, and they have no doubt their accumulated wisdom sets them above the younger rabble still clambering to understand the galaxy around them. Assured of their superiority, Aeldari possess a sense of entitlement that echoes back through their entire history, even to the time of the Fall when Aeldari arrogance damned them all. GAMEMASTER’S GUIDE