Warhammer 40K: Craftworld Eldar – Missing in Action
With the Psychic Awakening, GW is bringing back two models that haven’t been updated in 25 years, leaving us to wonder… who’s next?
Now that the Howling Banshee Exarch and Incubi Klaivex have emerged from the shadows of time to show once again that the soul still burns with psychic power and potential, we’re wondering what other Aeldari, previously thought adrift in the hazy chaos of time, might see a new model come out of the Psychic Awakening. Peer back through the time with us and see what lurks, dreamlike, in those awakening mists.
Nuadhu Fireheart
Nuadhu “Fireheart” is a Wild Rider of Saim Hann. Nuadhu is a legendary Vyper rider that rides standing up to aid in his attacks. He is also considered reckless, paying no heed to danger and gladly flying straight into the heaviest enemy fire. His Wild Riders also follow him into the fiercest fighting. In mid-M39, he led his Craftworlds forces in slaying the Daemon Prince of Slaanesh Lilesh Snarelust, plunging his own Celestial Lance into the Daemon’s Heart.
Iyanna Arienal
Hailing from the House of Arienal on Iyanden, Iyanna was destined for greatness when she first set upon the Path of the Witch. During the Battle of the Burning Moon, all of Arienal’s family save herself were killed in the Chaos Cyclonic Torpedo attack. After that, Arienal embraced the ways of the Spiritseer and her mind was ever connected to the Infinity Circuit to commune with those that she had lost. When Eldrad Ulthran brought warning to Iyanden of the Great Devourer, he also told the Iyanden Seer Council that the Eldar race’s only ultimate hope against Slaanesh lay with Ynnead, the god of the dead. While most of Iyanden dismissed Ulthran, Arienal embraced this prophecy and in a brief moment received a glorious apotheosis where the spirits of living Eldar would become one with the dead. The resulting psychic backlash would stir Ynnead from his slumber and at last defeat Slaanesh.
As one of the chief proponents of the prophecy of the Phoenix Arisen, it seems likely Arienal will make an appearance before too long, in the lore for certain–but hopefully she’ll be making an appearance on the tabletop as well.
Wild Rider Chief (Saim-Hann)/Kinsmen
Wild Riders are the most famed and bold warriors of the Eldar Craftworld of Saim-Hann. These warriors speed into battle riding Jetbikes and Vypers and excel at swift raiding. Nearly all of Saim-Hann warriors, including its Farseers, belong to one of the Wild Rider clans, each of which is in turn led by a Chieftain. The Chieftain’s closest family form the kinsmen, who paint their faces with blood on the eve of conflict and ride into war. Thus each unit of Jetbike or Vyper pilots can commonly be comprised of blood relatives, and tend to sport a banner showing their clan’s runes. It is only during a Wild Rider’s time as an Aspect Warrior that his family ties are put aside.
Court of the Young King
The Court of the Young King is a bodyguard for the Avatar of Khaine, the gathering of different Exarchs which begins the ritual to awaken a Craftworld’s Avatar; it goes about like you’d expect:
When a Craftworld prepares for a major war, its Exarchs begin to feel the Avatar’s call. The Exarchs go to the door leading into the Avatar’s chamber. There they begin the ancient ritual to rouse the Avatar, where they anoint the Young King and sing battle hymns. Then the chamber’s door opens, and the Young King enters. The Exarchs continue the ritual at the entrance. It may take hours or days, but finally, a terrible scream echoes from the chamber and the Avatar rises.
They say the Young King might be “united with Khaine,” but we all know what happens. Even so, this unit/formation
Lhykosidae
Warp Spiders have long been in the game, but have never had a Phoenix Lord–as near as we can tell, no Aeldari knows who they are. The Kaelorians have legends of a rogue Exarch, Lhykosidae, the Wraith Spider…
There were various theories that surrounded Lhykosidae with some holding the view that he was a Phoenix Lord though Kaelorian lore is ignorant of the originator of the Warp Spider Aspect. However, some hold the view that the Wraith Spider has taken the essential soul of the Warp Spiders with him, being a kind of spiritual awakening rather than finding or donning the armor of a fallen Phoenix Lord as is the case with the main Aspect Temples. Among the beliefs of the Warp Spiders of Kaelor, it is believed that the Wraith Spider is a monumental force of purification that stems from the view that the Warp Spiders draw their name as well as power from the tiny crystalline creatures that roam the Webway and Craftworld’s Infinity Circuit where they purge them of non-Eldar psychic energy. Thus, Lhykosidae is said to return to Kaelor at the moment of greatest pollution and atrophy
Drastanta
If there’s a Phoenix Rising, perhaps we’ll see the return of one of the Phoenix Lords of the Shining Spears return.
Drastanta, known as the Tempest of Starlight, was Phoenix Lord of the Shining Spears. Known for his hubris and tendency to engage in a needlessly long battle, Drastanta came late to Asurmen‘s final stand and found his mentor already fallen before the might of the Keeper of Secrets N’kari. In a fit of rage, Drastanta slew the Daemon, the energies of his Celestial Lance shattering the creature’s spirit. Drastanta soon disappeared from the galaxy after that, leaving behind his Celestial Lance which has been passed down over the generations to various Craftworlds and Shining Spears shrines.
What old Aeldari characters would YOU love to see make a return as modern plastic minis?
