For Holy Terra Because space is scary

Craftworld Yn’dè’asgal

It's fluff time! Here's the background for my Eldar craftworld. I promise pics (courtesy of my non-40k'ing friend Evan) at the end!

The craftworld that became known as Yn’dè’asgal was a peaceful exploration craft that returned from an outpost in a far-flung corner of the galaxy shortly before The Fall. Still orbiting close to the massive webway gate that it had returned through, it managed to slip back through as the warp storm now known as the Eye of Terror formed. Because of this quick action, it was the closest Eldar craftworld to the Homeworlds to actually survive the Fall.

Returning to the distant system they had been exploring, the severely damaged craftworld had sustained massive casualties and was on the brink of destruction. The remnants would spend the next two centuries repairing and rebuilding. The webway gate would lay dormant for this time, as the survivors feared that they were perhaps the only survivors, and perhaps the webway was infested with whatever doom had befallen their kin.

However, 236 years after The Fall, the webway gate opened and a small band of Harlequins made their way to the craftworld, bringing news of the extent of the fall and the tenuous survival of the Eldar race. Among the tales they told was the lore concerning Ynnead, the as-yet-to-be-born God of the Dead. This legend, in particular, soon took root within the minds of the distant survivors. A cult grew steadily over the coming years that would eventually claim the vast majority of all the craftworld inhabitants, tough it would not be for another five centuries that this cult would understand it true purpose.

739 years after The Fall, the Phoenix Lords Asurmen and Jain Zar arrived on the craftworld and created the first Aspect Shrines. Maugan Ra, Karandras and Fuegan would follow over the next century. Preaching the path of the warrior, the Phoenix Lords found the inhabitants ready pupils. Within three centuries of the arrival of Asurmen and Jain Zar, the craftworld itself was an entirely military establishment. Any who refused the Path of the Warrior remained on the outpost. All who embraced it also embraced the Cult of Ynnead. The two ideologies mixed, and the result was an entirely new breed of Eldar thought.

The Seer Council, leaders of the Cult, declared that since Ynnead was an unborn butterfly, still sleeping in his chrysalis, and that only the end of the Eldar race would wake him, that their holy duty was to aid his awakening. Far from being suicidal, however, they understood their place to be constantly waging war against any who stood before them. As they fell, they would bring Ynnead closer to waking, while making his victory over all of the enemies of the Gods that much easier with every foe they took with them.

The craftworld was renamed Yn’dè’asgal (In-day-ashkal) - a contraction of “Ynnead Dealain-dè Fuasgail” (In-ee-ad Dal-ayn-day Fwash-kayl), a phrase roughly translated to “Liberating the Butterfly Ynnead.” The leaders of the Aspect shrines all turned their attention to this ideology, making it their primary thought. The colors of each aspect were replaced with the new colors of the craftworld – Black highlighted with bone and the cerulean of the butterflies native to the outpost. Only a token of the former Aspect colors were retained in reverence to the Phoenix Lords.

Entering the Webway, the craftworld struck out on their new purpose, destined to purge the galaxy of as many foes as they could before they fell in the name of awakening the God of the Dead.

Alliances

Craftworld Yn’dè’asgal maintains relations with a few other craftworld, but have a fell reputation amongst others. They feel a kinship with the warlike nature of Biel-Tan but disagree with their ends, thinking that reforming the Empire is a lost cause. Among the Ulthwe seer council, there are those who understand the Yn’dè’asgal crusade, and their dedication to short-term losses for long-term goals. However, Yn’dè’asgal is reviled by Craftworld Iyanden. Yn’dè’asgal was close enough to aid the relatively stationary Iyanden in their darkest hour against the swarm of Hive Fleet Kraken, but refused, feeling it better to allow Iyanden to fall in battle to speed Ynnead's awakening than to score a decisive victory. Yn’dè’asgal's seer council foretold the slim victory and the potential extinction of Iyanden, and consider it a worthy trade. The two craftworlds have moved far apart from each other, and meetings between them are often hostile.

Yn’dè’asgal maintains a good relationship with the Harlequins, and they are often joined in battle by a troupe.

Picture time!

Here's my counts-as-Yriel autarch:

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And here he is with two squads of Dire Avengers and a "Wave Serpent." When I purchased this army, it came with four Falcon chassis. Having no desire to run four more Falcons, I just converted the turrets. One of these days I might get the Forge World turrets, but it's not likely. The turrets haven't been painted yet, which is why it's missing in this picture.

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Here's a better shot of the front of the Serpent. The butterfly wings are the craftworld symbol. I gave up on the glass cockpit because it was already glued in place, which made painting the pilot impossible. I like the painted glass effect better anyway. This picture doesn't really convey it, but it's got a nice glosscote shine on it (as do the gemstones).

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This is my version of Eldrad. All that fluff above and I haven't named him yet (which is astonishing, considering I've actually named every single one of my Crimson Fists - their names are all painted on their bases).

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And here he is with his seer council. I'm pretty pleased with the way they turned out. I need to get individual shots of these guys.

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So that my Harlequins can ride in style, they've got their own pimped-out Falcon. This one took a while, and is actually (like almost everything else in this army) a work in progress.

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And finally, here's my old Yme-Loc Wave Serpent. I was originally painting this army with Yme-Loc colors, but once I got to the Aspects (I don't like guardians), it started to look like complete crap. I wanted a unified color scheme, so I created my own fluffy reason why all my Aspects wear black and blue. I just can't bring myself to repaint this one, though, which is OK because I've still got 2000 points without it.

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These things certainly are a pain in the neck to assemble.

Coming as soon as I edit the video is another battle report, which features this army getting TABLED by Orks! At the rate I'm going with Eldar, Ynnead should be strutting about next week.