Altansar
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Altansar is an Eldar Craftworld that was caught in the Eye of Terror, the only escapee being Phoenix Lord Maugan Ra. Its symbol was a Broken Chain, referencing the escape of Kurnous and Isha from the dungeons of Khaine but also the shattering of the links that bound Vaul to his anvil.[2a] It has since returned but is now held in great suspicion by other Eldar, for how could any Eldar remain untouched by the predations of Chaos for so many millennia?
Contents
History
The Fall of Altansar
Altansar was one of the many Craftworlds surviving the Fall of the Eldar race. It rode out the psychic shock waves that destroyed the Eldar empire but was subsequently caught in the gravity well of the Eye of Terror. Although the Eldar of Altansar struggled valiantly against the encroachment of Chaos by erecting increasingly twisted runes to seal their Webway portals from Daemons,[5] their doom was inevitable. Within five hundred years of the Fall, their Craftworld was swallowed into the warp. Daemonic outbreaks immediately erupted as the runes collapsed, and it fell to the famed Phoenix Lord Maugan Ra and his Dark Reapers to lead the defense against them. But not even raising the dead of the Craftworld into Wraith Constructs or awakening an Avatar of Khaine could hold back the endless Daemonic tides. The struggle took the form of decades of near-constant Daemonic invasions from Altansar's Webway Portals, grinding down the Craftworld's numbers and seeing the dead outnumber the living.[5]
As the years passed, the time between Daemonic incursions got shorter and shorter and Eldar casualties mounted as the Craftworld was turned into a grim warzone. With the Eldar slowly ceding more and more ground, it had become clear to Maugan Ra that Altansar was doomed. The Phoenix Lord proposed splitting the link between the Craftworld's Webway gates and the Warp, and the desperate ploy was approved by the Craftworld's Seer Council. Maugan Ra took a mixed force of Aspect Warriors to the Webway Gates, battling Daemons and taking grueling losses. They eventually reached the gates, and Maugan Ra had Fire Dragons plant fusion charges on the structures. When the charges detonated, the Daemonic invaders were cut off from their Warp source and quickly dissipated. However, the Craftworld was now cut off from the rest of the Eldar race, potentially for millennia.[5]
Maugan Ra and a handful of other survivors were welcomed back as heroes as the Daemonic armies remaining within the Craftworld were slowly ground down to nothing. However Maugan Ra would not be there to see the final victory, as Altansar's Seer Council had constructed a Wraithbone vessel for the Phoenix Lord to escape the Eye of Terror. The leaders of the Craftworld knew they could not allow a disciple of Asurmen himself to be lost with them. Though the Phoenix Lord protested, the Autarch and former Dark Reaper Elithinel Ullathani persuaded him by stating he could one day return to rescue them. After 500 years since its first Daemonic outbreak, Maugan Ra left Altansar and escaped the Eye of Terror.[5]
Rediscovery
Ten thousand years passed. Maugan Ra could not discover the location of Altansar despite searching over many millennia. That all changed during the 13th Black Crusade of Abaddon the Despoiler. As the Chaos armies spilled from the Eye of Terra, an area near the Eye where realspace and the Warp quickly formed. The Phoenix Lord led an expedition into this zone to discover the fate of Altansar as Chaos and Imperial armies waged their war around him. Maugan Ra was the only survivor of the subsequent search, which encountered many foul threats within the Eye. However, at long last, the Phoenix Lord discovered the remains of Altansar.[5]
To Maugan Ra's surprise, the Craftworld endured, its people navigating the Eye of Terror and avoiding Chaos raiders. The survivors were very different from the Eldar he had left, however, broken down by ten millennia of fighting for their survival. Their rediscovery was not celebrated, nor was the fact that the Phoenix Lord was able to guide them out of the Eye and helped construct a new Webway Gate for the Craftworld. Other Eldar reacted to the rediscovered Craftworld with mistrust, with some being disgusted with Altansar's preference for pragmatism over tradition and others even whispering that their allegiances may be with Slaanesh. Most Altansari Eldar refused to remove their helmets, and those that did were deathly pale. This led some to speculate that Altansar may have made some sort of deal with the god of the dead Ynnead. This rumor has gained some traction, fueled by clues from Ulthwe that a Warlock of Altansar had made a bargain to have the Craftworld shrouded in Ynnead's embrace to survive. The legend goes on to say that this Warlock dedicated her soul to Yvraine before taking her blade to her own throat. Whatever the truth, it is known that Altansar has thrown its weight behind the Ynnari cause.[5]
Altansar is now a shadow of its former self, with 2/3rds of its space remaining quarantined from Chaos taint by rune-shielding. Warriors remain vigilant at all times for any signs of Daemonic encroachment. Despite escaping from the Eye, sporadic Daemonic invasions still erupt due to lingering Warp-Taint. Thus the Craftworld is completely militarized to confront the Chaos threat, and all other roles are seen as secondary to war. This war is waged in secret, for Altansar knows how the rest of their kind would react to such a revelation. Only a select few of the Ynnari have been allowed to return to Altansar and witness this dark truth. This includes their Bonesingers, which are vital for Altansar's reconstruction. In war, Altansar has come to utilize Dark Reapers in honor of Maugan Ra as well as Swooping Hawks to honor Baharroth, the closest Phoenix Lord to their champion. Due to their diminished population, they are also heavily reliant on Wraith Constructs.
Fracture of Biel-Tan
Altansar later allied with Yvraine and her Ynnari, helping to recover the Crone Swords in the attempt to resurrect Ynnead.[3]
War Zone Laevenir
Altansar sent forces to aid their kin against the Tyranids in War Zone Laevenir. However, their presence caused divisions amongst many other Eldar, who don't trust the Craftworld due to their exposure to the Warp.[4]
Notable citizens
Sources
- 1: Codex: Eldar (4th Edition)
- 2: Codex: Eldar (6th Edition))
- 3: Gathering Storm: Fracture of Biel-Tan
- 4: Warhammer 40,000 9th Edition Rulebook pgs. 161-162
- 5: White Dwarf 473, pgs. 98-105
Uncited
