Webway
From Lexicanum
The Webway is a labyrinthine dimension utilized by the Eldar for faster-than-light travel.
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History
The creation of the Webway is believed to had occured countless years ago and the technologies used to create it were taught to the young Eldar by the ancient race known as the Old Ones.2
Much of the Webway was destroyed or found itself uncharted after the Fall of the Eldar and the associated loss of knowledge. As well, the technological knowledge used to build the Webway was lost during the Fall, and intact Webway gates are some of the Eldar's most treasured artefacts. The Webway's arterial passages are large enough for spacecraft, though most tunnels only allow Eldar strike forces on foot or small vehicles to pass. It is the Webway that allows Eldar to be highly mobile.
The White Scars Space Marines Chapter believes that their Primarch, Jaghatai Khan, is lost somewhere in the Webway, forever cursing the Dark Eldar that lured him into it, although after 9,000 years of wandering, it seems unlikely.
Overview
It exists between the material universe and the warp, part of both but not fully within either. Within the Webway are countless gates or portals leading to many areas across the galaxy. Each Eldar craftworld is connected through the Webway system. Reaching a certain destination through the Webway makes a guide or map necessary.
The Webway is a fairly safe method of travel compared to warp travel, as it doesn't involve traveling through the completely unpredictable and hostile warp dimension. There is still danger, however: the Webway consists of countless paths and tunnels in which it is profoundly easy to become lost in, and also vast impassable areas taken over by Chaos. Many portals of the Webway lead to hostile areas of the galaxy, such as former Eldar worlds in the Eye of Terror now turned into Daemon worlds. There are also many portals defended by the Eldar and guarded with runes of protection against Chaos and the invasion of Daemons.1
A map made many thousands of years ago is rumoured to exist within the protection of the Black Library of Chaos. Although such a map could no longer be completely accurate, it shows many secret ways that have now been lost or forgotten. It is kept within the Black Library to prevent it falling into the wrong hands.
There are Webway gates on many Imperial worlds, hinting at the Eldar's former power and dominance of the galaxy. There is a gate on Terra, suggesting the Eldar visited the human homeworld sometime in the distant past.
The Dark Eldar city of Commorragh is located somewhere deep within the Webway. The Webway is exploited by the Dark Eldar to make the race incredibly mobile, allowing them to make devastating and unsuspecting slave-raids, before retreating before any significant defence can be brought to bear against them.
As well as Commorragh, the Black Library of Chaos is hidden and virtually inaccessible within the Webway.
Usage in Dawn of War
In the real-time strategy computer game Dawn of War by Relic/THQ games, one of the 9 playable races, the Eldar, make use of webway gates as constructible buildings. Their primary in-game ability is as a means of instant transportation. They can also allow the player to cloak other Eldar buildings in a set radius around them, an ability which is very effective for the Eldar given their preference for stealth and trickery, as well as very annoying for the attacking player. Additionally one well used tactic is to build up a substantial base at the start point on a battle map and also build a webway gate in a very secluded part of the map, away from enemy listening posts and commonly travelled paths. If the enemy manages to overrun your primary base, you can simply teleport all essential buildings to the distant webway gate and mount up a counter-attack to annihilate the enemy base from behind.
In the game's sequel Dawn of War 2, the Eldar also have access to building webway gates, but now require 'Psychic Might' to build. This resource is gained through combat. These webway gates, however, no longer cloak anything, and can only be used for rapid troop movement.
