Eldar History
From Lexicanum
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While studying Eldar history one is advised to read and interpret it with great caution. The most ancient portions are of semi-mythological nature and validity. With the Fall of the Eldar most of their ancient libraries and written records were lost forever. The Eldar themselves are unsure of their history and remember it mostly through acting plays which are performed by the ever-wandering troupes of Harlequins.
Contents |
The God-war
For further information see the article:Eldar Mythology.
The Eldar have some tales about their own beginnings. However the credibility and factual accuracy of such tales is highly doubtful. It is speculated that the Eldar were 'adopted' by the mysterious Old Ones. The Old Ones were embroiled in a long war against the C'tan and their slaves the Necrons, and being desperate raised many warrior-races. The Achilles' heel of the C'tan were the powers of the Warp and the Old Ones fostered the psychic potential and abilities of the Eldar to high standards.
With the passing of the millennia the Eldar's knowledge about their campaigns as warriors of the Old Ones faded into legend and mythology. It is likely that some Old Ones are remembered as Eldar Gods: Asuryan the Phoenix King, bloody-handed Khaine, the crippled smith god Vaul, Isha goddess of the harvest and mother of the Eldar, the god of the hunt Kurnous, Moraig-He the old crone, Lilleath the Maiden, and Cegorach the Laughing God. Who truly knows which god was modeled upon a particular Old One? It is even possible that ancient stories of the Old Ones were mixed with tales of the C'tan...
Other figures of the Eldar mythology seem rather to be military leaders and champions of the Eldar forces. Eldanar and his many descendants, the Eldanar, of whom Iriam the Young was the last. Eldanesh's brother Ultanash. Could these mythological figures be ancient warriors and heroes, cowards and villains, perhaps even traitors?
The gamble of the Old Ones largely worked, but had disastrous side-effects. The C'tan were defeated, but with the numerous manipulations of the Warp the whole Warp-dimension was thrown into great turmoil. Several warp-entities, first among them the Enslavers, taking advantage of the situation, possessed many inexperience psychers and created Warpgates through which even more warp-entities could enter the galaxy to wreak havoc. The 4 surviving C'tan seeing the danger, tried to create a ward between the material universe and universe of the Warp. In the end they were forced to retreat into 4 planets which they stripped of all live. The Old Ones trying to save themselves created the Krork and the Jokaero, but it was simply too little, too late. In the end they perished in an apocalypse of death and destruction.
The Eldar Empire
Somehow the Eldar managed to survive. They probably were able to maintain some of the technology given to them by the Old Ones, and most importantly they kept the necessary knowledge to travel through the Webway.
In due time the Eldar created a large empire.
Precious little is known about the power and glory of the Eldar Empire. There is little doubt that it was the dominant power in the galaxy with tens of thousands of worlds. We only know the names of a handful of these worlds: Croesus, Mymeara, Iydris, Eldorado the Golden. Craftworlds, then great spaceships carrying hundreds of Eldar traders and their families, traveled beyond the borders of the empire to trade with other races. Imitating the Old Ones, consciously or not, the Eldar seeded life-generating bacteria upon lifeless planets, thereby starting a very slow process to change these planets into paradise worlds. The Eldar civilization was highly refined and no longer needed manual labor.
Fall of the Eldar
While the Fall of the Eldar was a relatively quick apocalyptic disaster the reasons behind it began with small steps and probably took centuries to reach the breaking point.
The main reason behind the fall is the fact that while the Eldar mind and brain feels the same emotions and sensations as a human does, it does so at a much higher intensity. The feeling of joy, the excitement of danger, the pleasure of love and sex, the feelings of despair, anger, and hatred, etc are felt much more strongly. An undisciplined or uncontrolled Eldar mind will eventually seek these sensations again and again regardless of anything else. One could compare this with the cravings of a drug-addict who for the feeling of a drug-induced 'high' will do anything at all (steal from his family and friends, rob strangers with violence, prostitute one's body, etc).
Beginning of the end
The Eldar became increasingly arrogant, believing themselves to be infallible. With a certain degree of reason it was believed that no other race could rival their achievements, threaten the stability of their empire, or take away their wealth. Other races were disregarded as mere barbarians or mere animals and the entities of the Warp were hugely underestimated, not studied, and not recognized as a serious threat. Eldar society as a whole increasingly preoccupied itself only with its own desires. Neglecting the need for self-control and moderation too many indulged themselves in debauchery and excess, indulging themselves with dark and hedonistic pleasures.
Not all of the Eldar were so reckless and self-destructive. Some grew increasingly appalled of the decadence of their peers and saw the need of a more restrained way of live.
Some individuals began to preach of a hardier way of live, closer to nature, avoiding the need of too much technology. Some of them were extreme ascetics who were dedicated to self-denial in in-human measures, while others were far-sighted survivalists. These individuals gathered their followers and traveled as far away as they could, founding new colonies in the eastern borders of the empire. These Eldar became know as Exodites.
Others saw the need for self-control and criticized the decadence, trying to reform their society from within. However their words fell on deaf ears and some even surrendered themselves to the general debauchery.
Eldar society and the whole empire was in turmoil and on the brink of destruction. However in the end the Eldar did not jump from the cliff, but were pushed over the edge from behind.
A prophet appears
The overwhelming majority continued with their hedonistic lifestyles, taking them to newer and deadly extremes.
On Belial IV, a new cult appeared and its priests preached the coming of a new god. In reality Shana Gaathon, Harbringer of Slaanesh, a daemon of chaos was possessing the most important priest and his cult was preparing the coming of a new Chaos God. Hidden even from the psychic senses of the Eldar he talked, preached, and promised, lying and manipulating an all-too willing audience.
Cults appeared everywhere dedicated to esoteric knowledge, sensual pleasure, and sexual gratification. Some of these cults even sacrificed Eldar children upon fell altars. Many Eldar turned against their equals hunting, raping, and murdering their victims for the thrill of excitement.
Birth of a god and fall of an empire
On Belial IV Shana Gaathon prepared a mighty ritual supposedly to usher a new age of even greater pleasure. However the watching crowd had their souls ripped out of them and consumed by a new god: Slaanesh, who had finally awoken and was utterly famished for Eldar souls. Millions of souls were consumed and many surviving Eldar descended into utter madness, killing each other and destroying everything they could.
Scattering of the survivors
Just a mere portion of the Eldar species managed to survive the destruction of their empire.
Most of the colonies of the Exodites were spared as they were simply too far away. A few of them have since been destroyed by mortal enemies, but the majority have survived and prospered till this date.
Altansar is lost to the Eye of Terror
The craftworld Altansar managed to escape immediate destruction of the Fall but was caught by the gravity well of the Eye of Terror. After 500 years of fighting bravely against the forces of Chaos the craftworld was nevertheless swallowed into the warp. Only Maugan Ra, the Harvester of souls, was able to escape. It must be noted that the craftworld Ulthwe, located near the Eye of Terror, has a singularly powerful and populous Shrine of the Dark Reapers. For Maugan Ra had a secret hope...
Kraken vs Iyanden
Prologue
The largest and most populous of the craftworlds was Iyanden and during the millenia it traveled through the outer borders of Ultima Segmentum. The Farseers of this craftworld foresaw the appearance of a great danger but its Rangers where the first to see the horrors and dangers of the Tyranid threat. Hivefleet Behemoth was the first to invade known Space in 745M41, only to be utterly annihilated by the Imperial Navy and the Ultramarines, after great losses and costly sacrifices.
Prince Yriel goes into exile
The pride of Iyanden was prince Yriel, High Admiral of the craftworlds fleet. A military genius Yriel had two major flaws. First, he was not of pure Iyanden blood, being a bastard scion of the House of Ultanash. Second, he was proud to the point of arrogance. As a Chaos fleet began threaten by Iyanden, Yriel stripped the craftworld of all military vessels, leaving it defenseless. Leading the entire fleet into a pre-emptive strike and gaining a decisive victory he fully expected to be received in triumph. However, for endangering the craftworld he was stripped of his rank. Vowing never to return, a furious Yriel left Iyanden; he and his followers became the Eldritch Raiders, the most feared Corsairs in the galaxy.
Kraken rises and Iyanden braces itself for battle
In 992M41, 200 years after Behemoth and 50 years after Yriel's exile, a new menace appeared: Hivefleet Kraken, which consisted of several smaller fleets. The spiritual leader of Iyanden, Farseer Kelmon, called for a gathering of all the citizens of Iyanden, and every alternative was debated. The issue was decided by the speech and arguments of a Ranger named Irilith. Iyanden would stay and fight or all would be consumed by the Tyranid juggernaut.
All available forces were summoned and marshaled. The Avatar of Khaine was summoned and the hosts of the Aspect Warriors were ready. Every citizen of Iyanden was mustered as a Guardian, and reinforcements from other craftworlds arrived. Even the rest of the dead was disturbed and their spirit-stones where plucked and placed within the Wraithguards and Wraithlords. The fleet of the craftworld was also assembled, but it lacked its greatest asset; Yriel its former commander.
Wave upon wave of Tyranid vessels descended upon Iyanden. One by one the fragile Eldar crafts were destroyed and the surviving vessels were scattered. The Tyranid hordes were able to disembark into the craftworld. Opposing them the Eldar army caused numerous casualties but by sheer attrition and superiority of numbers the Tyranid invaders pressed on. All seemed lost.
Yriel returns
Yriel returned, and gathering all scattered Eldar vessels, fell with his Corsair fleet upon the vulnerable Tyranid vessels. After destroying the Tyranid fleet he entered the nearly-overrun craftworld. To the horror of many farseers he retrieved the cursed Spear of Twilight from its stasis field inside the Shrine of Ultanash and with it he was able to slay the enormous Tyranid leader-beast. The tyranid horde was eventually vanquished, but Iyanden paid a very high price: four fifths of its population had perished. Yriel was reinstated as high admiral and became Autarch of Iyanden
Alliance during the 12th Black Crusade
The 13th Black Crusade
In 999.M41 (Imperial), Abaddon led the forces of Chaos from the Eye of Terror in the 13th Black Crusade against the Imperium.
The Return of Altansar
The emergence of so many chaos fleets and entities created a rift between real space and the Warp. The Phoenix Lord Maugan Ra searched the Eye of Terror for the lost Craftworld of Altansar. He eventually found the remains of the craftworld and its living Eldar remnant. He led Altansar back into the material universe.
Recent affairs
- Manipulation of the 2nd Armageddon War
- Death of Eldrad Ulthran
- Altansar is rescued from the Eye of Terror
- Involvement in Medusa V wars
Rhana Dandra
For further information see the article:Rhana Dandra.
This is a name for the final battle between the Eldar and Chaos.
Ynnead, the last hope
Sources
See individual sections for application of source.
- Codex: Eldar (4th Edition)
- The Defense of Iyanden - The Battle for the Soul of a Craftworld (GW Web Site) (accessed 2007.12.05)
For further information read the novel:Farseer.(note: Belial IV is most likely the Imperial name of this planet and not the original Eldar name)
