The Eldar
Arguably the most technologically advanced race in the galaxy, the Eldar are incredibly ancient but long ago they fell from grace and into debauchery, the following centuries saw the once great race descend into anarchy and eventually the verge of extinction. Realising their doom was upon them, the Eldar split into three factions, the Craftworlders fled in massive arcs beyond the edge of known space, the Exodites abandoned the trappings of technology and retreated to primal, savage worlds to live a more simple existence and the most debauched and evil, removed themselves into the twisted nether-realm of the Webway.
The tale of the Eldar could have ended here, if it was not for the enigmatic Laughing God and his followers, the troupes of Harlequins. This strange being eventually re-united his erstwhile people and in the ensuing millennia, the Eldar race has slowly regained its footing and has quietly been re-arming out in the depths of unknown space beyond the borders of the Imperium. Now the time has come and the Eldar march to war.
Long envious of the power of the Imperium whose grubby humans have settled so many of the abandoned of their abandoned worlds, the Eldar have launched a series of blistering raids and assaults from both beyond the borders and well within Imperial space. Utilising the power of the Webway, the Eldar have struck suddenly and ruthlessly against dozens of Imperial worlds and begun wresting back their empire from those who they believe stole it.
The Imperial response has thus far been uncoordinated as their armies often find themselves arriving at the sight of raids to discover their foes mysteriously vanished or suddenly set upon by a savage alien foe. The Eldar are well aware that they cannot match the Imperial army or navy in sheer numbers but have thus far chosen their battles wisely and rely on the pre-cog abilities of their Farseers and superior technology to swing the tide of battle in their favour. This advantage may not last however, as the Imperium unleashes a new era of Battle Espers and warships.
Eldar Pirates
The Great Harlequin has reunited the disparate elements of the Eldar race, the Craftworld, Dark and Exodites and forged a new, powerful and unified society that seeks to reclaim its ancient holdings, much of which are now in the hands of the Imperium.
While the reformed Eldar are still too few in number to take on the Imperium in a straight fight, they have excelled in lightning raids, strategic invasions and commerce raiding. At the forefront of this effort are the Eldar Pirates. Formed from the adventurous, out of favour or somewhat deranged of Eldar society, they range in size from single ships to powerful fleets of graceful, yet deadly vessels.
eldar fleet.
Eldar Warhsip
While seemingly operating independently, these freebooters are actually under the command of the great seer council of the Eldar who seek to interrupt the movement of trade and vital supplies throughout the Imperium, weakening it to the point of collapse. Thus far, the Imperial navy seems unaware of the spate of seemingly random attacks on shipping actually form a complex web aimed at dealing a crippling blow to the Imperium as pirate raids seem to hit everything from merchant convoys to agriworlds and even the odd strike at the navy itself. No matter how rapidly the Imperium reacts, the agile Eldar ships seem to dance out of range and vanish before full retribution can be taken on the haughty pirates.
Every ships crew looks different, some wear elaborate or exotic gear, others grim and forbidding uniform while some, usually the Dark Eldar, indulge in scarification and body modification to terrify their foes. It is this sense of freedom and lack of strict Eldar codes of conduct that draw many dreamers and malcontents to join up and the pirates aren't too fussy about only recruiting from within their own race as many unusual xenos species with a grudge against the Imperium or a sense of adventure also make up a sizeable proportion of the ranks.
The Pharon
Recent Imperial activity on a classified frontier world has unleashed an ancient evil that predates even the Eldar. The exploration team found a world of black sands and a vast cyclopean city. Seemingly uninhabited, the Imperial archaeologists set about excavating their way into the largest of the pyramids which dotted the surface of the world and were struck by the similarities of the hieroglyphics and architecture on this dark, dead world with that of ancient Egypt.
Deep under the surface, they discovered a vast vault, filled with untold wealth surrounding a black basalt Sarcophagus. Inquisitive Imperials opened the tomb and discovered the first of the Pharon. Obviously long dead but perfectly preserved they beheld a finely formed humanoid, roughly 8 feet tall and to their horror, the creature opened its eyes and spoke. The words it spoke are unknown but it later became clear it was a spell of great power and all over the planet, long buried tombs shed hordes of the dead shuffled forth and tore the humans apart.
Within the next decade, two dozen worlds along the border fell silent, one after another, their last communications babbling about armies of the dead overwhelming all defences wielding weapons of dreadful power. Inquisition investigations have been dispatched and a large fleet, including a Diman Dreadnaught, the Shiva and a full legion of Space Marines are mobilising to take the fight to the Pharon.
The Kryomek
From the dark places beyond the galaxy, a new and deadly threat has arrived on the borders of the Imperium. The Kryomek first stuck at the Imperial world of Tyran. Descending like a plague of locusts, they stripped the planet bare of all life, leaving a once diverse ecosystem a cold and dead rock.
The Kryomek are a hive mind, ruled absolutely by some as yet unseen but malignant intelligence and in battle they are single minded and overwhelm their foes with a tide of flashing teeth and claws. More insidiously, they have developed a symbiotic biotechnology that has even extended to using the Kryomek's highly acidic blood as part of their weaponry and recent vid captures of the swarm shows the terrifying fate of those creatures who fall into the hands of what has become known as the Devourer. The Kryomek have incorporated the genetic material of prisoners and even dead into new and terrible forms and unleashed them upon the galaxy.
All the races recognise the threat these abominations, who seem to retain some memories of their life before the terrible transformation wrought upon them pose to all life and the Kryomek juggernaut was finally stopped by a combined fleet of Eldar, Ork and Imperial ships during a cataclysmic battle in the Ragnarok system. The alliance, formed in a moment of crisis soon fractured but it shows that these vile beings can be stopped if the assorted beings of this galaxy can work together.
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