Maiden World

Galaxy Portal Planets

Eldar Portal

Maiden Worlds are the lush paradise worlds originally created by the Eldar before the Fall of their race. The creation involved seeding barren planets with life, gradually leading to their transformation into lush, life-supporting worlds. The seeding of worlds was part of a program of colonization which would take many thousands of years to reach fruition, and the result would only be seen by later generations of Eldar.^{[Needs Citation]}

The development of a lifeless planet into a Maiden world was a slow one. The process was overseen by ancient Eldar Empire vessels known as Dominion ­Genesis. Simple bacteria were introduced to create a stable atmosphere first and gradually more complex organisms were added to stabilise the bio-system of the planet. Eventually, in the distant future the world would be ready to colonise by the Eldar. Once the process began it was fairly self-sustaining but took thousands of years to complete. These worlds are referred to by the Eldar as Lilaethan (Maiden worlds) after the Eldar goddess Lileath. They are often highly rich in resources and safe from illnesses as they were developed to resist harmful lifeforms. The Eldar consider these worlds their own, created by their forefathers for them to settle. As Eldar civilization neared its Fall, many groups among the Eldar denounced their decadent societies, abandoning their homeworlds in a series of migrations called the Exodus. These Exodites traveled far away from their collapsing civilization and settled the still barren Maiden worlds.^[1]

The seeded worlds survived the Fall of the Eldar, and continued to develop on their own. In the Age of the Imperium these worlds are now verdant paradise worlds. Inevitably, many have been settled by non-Eldar races. Although these races may have lived on Maiden Worlds for thousands of years, the descendants of the colonists are considered invaders by Eldar. After the Fall, the Eldar began to settle the verdant worlds they created, sometimes finding their worlds already inhabited by other races. The "invaders" are given the choice of leaving or being exterminated. Even in cases where the colonists are feral savages with no means of leaving the planet, the Eldar have mercilessly followed through with the threat of extermination.^[2]

Known Maiden Worlds

Planet name	Segmentum	Affiliation	Population	Notes
Alayran	Unknown	Eldar	Unknown
Davinuus[9]	Unknown	Eldar/Imperium	Unknown	Eldar from the Craftworld Iyanden fought the forces of the Imperium to reclaim this Maiden World. A truce was reached and both sides joined forces when Tyranids were found on the planet. The truce ended with the Tyranids' defeat.[9]
Emele	Pacificus	Imperium	Unknown	Also — Forbidden World
Eth-aelas	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	The site of the destruction of the second tendril of Hive Fleet Naga.[5]
Ethero	Unknown	Eldar	Unknown	Was attacked by the tendril of Hive Fleet Kraken but saved by allied forces of Harlequins of the Masque of the Frozen Stars and Biel-Tan[11]
Equinox (former)	Tempestus	Imperium	Unknown	Now — Industrial World. Maiden World colonized by the Imperium. Formally known as a thriving civilized planet, now it has degenerated into a sodden crumbling nightmare, because of constant rainfall caused by the Imperium's abuse of the planet's ecosystem.[10]
Hannibal[2]	Unknown	Eldar	Unknown
Iathglas	Ultima	Eldar	Unknown	Site of a recent major council of the Eldar.[14]
Ikaneos-Alpha (former)	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Last Aeldari world seeded using the Turellea Dandramensha (Dominion ­Genesis). In M36, Imperial colonizers conquered the world and transformed it into a poisoned, barren wasteland. The world was subsequently scoured of human life and any further human expeditions to the now Aeldari necropolis world would also be annihilated.[17]
Kal Eyath	Unknown	Eldar	Unknown
Kiliak	Unknown	Eldar	Unknown	The site of a battle between Imperial xenologists and Craftworlds Biel-Tan and Ulthwé.[8]
Lethidia	Unknown	Dark Eldar	Unknown	Captured by the Dark Eldar and transported to Commorragh
Lilae'Fionnadh	Unknown	Imperium	Unknown	An ancient Maiden World lost to a warp storm during the Fall and later colonised by Human settlers with the world becoming known as Dread Pearl.[6]
Lilarsus (former)	Ultima	N/A	Unknown	Destroyed by the Tau Empire
Meridian (former)	Unknown	Imperium	Unknown	Now — Hive World
Morshanna (former)	Unknown	N/A	Unknown	Now — Dead World
Rasilena[12]	Unknown	Eldar	Unknown	The site of the Battle of Rasilena in 777.M34[12]
Shau-Yor	Unknown	None (Eldar former)	Unknown	Biomass was eaten by Tyranids
Talithia	Unknown	Eldar	Unknown	Former Imperium world
Tarsus (former)	Unknown	Eldar	Unknown	A Maiden World guarded by craftworld Ulthwé. After a meeting between Eldrad and Fulgrim went sour, Fulgrim ordered the world and others in the Perdus Region bombed with the life-eater virus.[3]
Torvendis (former)	Unknown	Chaos	Unknown	A sentient Maiden World at the very heart of the Maelstrom. After being tortured and driven insane by Chaos minions inhabiting it, it eventually destroyed itself as revenge against the Chaos gods who had imprisoned it and treasured it for so long.[4]
Twenty-Eight Four	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	catalogued by the 28th Expedition Fleet. Left unmolested until after the meeting between Eldrad Ulthran and Fulgrim.[3]
Unnamed worlds in the Perdus Region	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	They met the same fate as Tarsus, virus bombed with the life-eater virus by Fulgrim.[3]
Valedor (Duriel) (former)	Unknown	None	None	Also - former Cardinal World, now - destroyed
Veloria (former)	Ultima	None	None	Contested between Orks and Tyranids[15]
Youlemesesh	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Once infested by Xenos, liberated by Saim-Hann forces[16]
Yrthal[13]	Unknown	former Imperium	None human

Sources

This article needs work on its citations. For help on citation see the citation guidelines. You can help Lexicanum by fixing it.

• 1: White Dwarf 126 (UK), pg. 28
• 2: Harlequin (Novel), ^{[Needs Citation]}
• 3: Fulgrim (Novel), ^{[Needs Citation]}, pgs. 354–366
• 4: Daemon World (Novel), ^{[Needs Citation]}
• 5: Codex: Tyranids (5th Edition), pgs. 16–17
• 6: Rogue Trader: Lure of the Expanse, pg. 97
• 8: Planetstrike, pg. 55
• 9: Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War
• 10: Inquisitor Conspiracies 3 - Heavenfall, pg. 4
• 11: Harlequins Painting Guide – Warriors of the Laughing God, pg. 41
• 12: Iyanden: A Codex: Eldar Supplement (E-Book): Iyanden's Rise and Fall
• 13: Codex: Eldar (4th Edition), pg. 53
• 14: Psychic Awakening: Phoenix Rising, pgs. 22-23
• 15: War Zone Octarius - Book 1: Rising Tide, pg. 22
• 16: Rise of the Ynnari: Wild Rider (Novel), Chapter 22
• 17: Dominion Genesis (Novel): The Fane, Chapter Two

Uncited

• Codex: Eldar (2nd Edition)
• Warhammer 40,000 5th Edition Rulebook, pg. 116