Even among the serene Craftworlds some Eldar can find no peace. These indivduals feel compelled to leave their craftworlds and search the galaxy, looking for a aim to life. Sculpted by Alex Hedström this boxed set contains one Eldar Ranger model. which requires Assembly. The Scenic Base is not included
Eldar Renegades
The Sons of Khaine
Much is known amongst the scholars of the Ordo Xenos about the alien race of the Eldar. The Ordo has extensive files on each of the major Craftworlds of the Eldar, and although recorded instances of war with the Eldar far outweigh those of collaboration, the Eldar are unusual in that they have been known to fight alongside Humanity in pursuit of a common goal. Unlike aliens such as the ferocious Tyranids or implacable Necrons, Eldar can play far more of a role in a game such as Inquisitor; they are far from mindless brutes to be hunted down and killed. The Eldar likely to be encountered in Inquisitor will be warriors and outcasts, following their own agendas and no doubt deeply embroiled in the events portrayed by the tabletop game itself. This article aims to facilitate the usage of Eldar characters in Inquisitor, and covers everything from reasons to include Eldar in the storyline in the first place, to the esoteric weaponry and skills that mark them apart as the powerful and enigmatic aliens they truly are.
Why would an Eldar be involved in a game of Inquisitor?
Part of the appeal of playing Inquisitor is the interaction between radically different characters, and with the length and breadth of the Warhammer 40,000 universe to explore, there are plenty of diverse characters to involve. Perhaps the only real problem we encounter when incorporating one of the more unusual characters is just why they are involved in an Inquisitor's investigations, and this is never more true than with alien characters. After all, the Imperium revolves around xenophobic beliefs. Tolerance is death, even the briefest of contact with an alien can corrupt a person entirely, and any xenos lifeform should be exterminated at the earliest opportunity. As a result, we have plenty of reasons why an Inquisitor band would seek to hunt down and destroy a rogue Eldar.
A trickier question would be the issue of working alongside such an individual. Why would an Inquisitor employ an alien? A character as enigmatic and aloof as an Eldar only exacerbates this problem. After all, Eldar very rarely form anything close to friendship with the comparatively short-lived mon-keigh, who they see as uncouth and unsophisticated, and naturally their condescending attitude wins them few friends in human society. They have little need for the money or technology Humanity could offer in return for their services, and are often sworn to a particular path that leaves little room for working alongside the goals of anybody other than themselves.
So, the natural inclination is for Gamesmasters to use the Eldar as bad guys, as antagonists for the main group of players. But if you fancy using an Eldar character in your warrior band (and with such a beautiful model released this month why wouldn't you? here's a few reasons why an Eldar character might be involved in an Inquisitor's warrior band to get you started.
The Quest
The Eldar is on a personal quest, and needs something, be it a piece of information, access to an ancient library or other resource, or even a priceless artefact, and the Inquisitor has the wherewithal to provide this. The canny Inquisitor is quick to strike a deal; the servitude of the powerful and capable Eldar in exchange for what he seeks.
A common goal
The Eldar has sworn to accomplish the same goal as the Inquisitor and his warrior band, be it bringing down a rival Inquisitor, furthering a particular political faction, quashing a rebellion that could spill over to other planets in the system, etc. For the time being at least, it makes sense for the Eldar and the Inquisitor to tolerate each other and work together rather than against each other.
Trust not the alien
The Eldar character wishes to assassinate a high-standing member of the Inquisition, and has taken the employ of a radical Inquisitor in the hope of learning protocol and ultimately gaining a chance to assassinate his true target through the oblivious actions of his 'master'. This can be a great one to play if you are the Gamesmaster, provided you and the player with the Eldar character do not give too much away with sly winks over the tabletop...
Alanthrasil Swiftblade
The Great Enemy
The Eldar work ceaselessly to combat Chaos, especially the works of Slaanesh, in whose creation they played a major part. This is a real gift for Gamesmasters: any time the players come up against the vile machinations of Chaos, you have a ready made excuse to introduce an Eldar into the game. Think about a scenario such as having an Eldar sniper take his shot in the nick of time to pull a captured Inquisitor's fat out of the fire moments before he is sacrificed to some unholy god. As to his motivations, well, that's up to the players to discover.
Future perfect
Many Eldar can see the complex paths that the future may take, and often despatch their forces in order to guide the future along a particular path. In this way, a small application of force in the right place at the right time can stop a war that would kill hundreds of Eldar, or allow the forces of Chaos to gain a foothold on an innocent world. The Eldar character is an agent of a Farseer, and has been instructed either to promote or halt a certain chain of events. Naturally, the Inquisitor is at the centre of these events, and perhaps he himself has a certain part to play if the future is to take the correct path.
The debt
It is not unheard of for the Eldar to come to the aid of Humanity in times of need, and vice versa. The Eldar can be very honourable at times, and despite holding Humanity in contempt, they will generally fulfil an oath sworn to an individual or organisation even if the debt was incurred by one of their forefathers. Likewise, if an Eldar line has in the past provided a major service for a human organisation, an ancestor of the Eldar may well call in the debt, and will take a very dim view of any who intend to renege upon their obligations. If you use this rationale, it is important to ascertain just what the debt is, and also what criteria the debtor must fulfil to cancel it forever.
The Eldar Path
The Eldar are extremely long lived by human standards, commonly surviving for over a thousand years before old age overtakes them. They also live at a pace and pitch of intensity many times greater than even the most talented and determined humans. An Eldar's heart beats almost twice as fast as a man's, his mind processes his thoughts and emotions with baffling speed, and his physical reactions are almost too fast for the human eye to follow. It is this speed and mental capability which make Eldar more different from humans than appearances might otherwise suggest.
It is hard for a human to understand the incredible potential of the Eldar mind. To an Eldar all of life's experiences are available to a heightened degree: the intellectual rewards of study, the exhilaration of battle, the creative impulses of art and music, and every imaginable pleasure of sensation. No creature, not even an Eldar, can taste of such fruits in an uncontrolled or undisciplined way. For an Eldar to yield absolutely to his desires would destroy him, for they have the ability to sate almost any intellectual whim, or to satisfy any physical appetite. Such was the fate of the ancient Eldar, who succumbed to the temptations of intellectual conceit and physical pleasure, and whose depravities brought about the fall of the Eldar worlds themselves.
The survivors, the Eldar of the Craftworlds, have developed a way to control their own inner natures. Every Eldar chooses for himself a discipline which he then makes it his task to master. It may take years to successfully accomplish this, perhaps more than a single human lifetime. Each discipline is rightly called a path, and each path may necessitate further choices and specialisations. For example, the Path of the Warrior has many Aspects, and whilst all enable the Eldar to master the skills of combat, each Warrior Aspect brings with it its own special techniques and abilities. There are innumerable paths, some chosen but rarely, each offering its followers a complete way of life.
The Path of the Outcast
Many Eldar leave their Craftworlds over the space of their long lifespan, and travel the stars in their spacecraft. These solitary beings have taken the Path of the Outcast, one of the many and diverse Paths that the Eldar follow to keep them from the predations of Slaanesh. The Path of the Outcast is possibly the least inflexible of the Eldar lifestyles; many Eldar assume it purely because they are tired of the strictly enforced traditions of their Craftworld. Alaitoc, a Craftworld noted for the stringency with which it pursues its paths, has an unusually high proportion of these Outcasts. But they have not forsaken the place of their birth; in times of war they will return to their Craftworld and defend it in the role of the Ranger.
Outcasts are invariably strong of mind; those who are not quickly perish. Unshielded by the rigid constraints of a conventional Eldar path, they are dangerously vulnerable to the malign influence of Chaos. Their heightened consciousness is a beacon to the predatory daemons that stalk the Eldar, among their number the Great Enemy, Slaanesh. Outcasts must be exceptionally strong of character to survive, and even they will eventually return to the sanctuary of their Craftworld existence. But if they do not resume a conventional path they are not welcome for long; their unshielded minds could potentially allow a daemonic entity access to the Craftworld, and they distract the young and experienced with their tales of freedom and adventure.
The Outcasts that travel the width of the galaxy often do so in search of Maiden Worlds to settle, the legacy of their terraforming ancestors. Others seek out the worlds of the Exodites, home to the distant cousins of the Craftworld Eldar whose philosophy revolves around the spirit of the world on which they have settled. A few have recourse to contact with Imperial worlds, whether to refuel, fulfil some aspect of a personal quest or to gather information on the movements of their foes. It is these Eldar that have the most contact with the Imperium, and not all of it is on the battlefield.
Other, less scrupulous Eldar on the Path of the Outcast have been known to assume the role of pirates, raiding merchant vessels and attacking poorly defended settlements. Those successful in this role make quite a name for themselves, and are generally given to a capriciousness that hints toward a dangerous vanity. The self-styled pirate lords of the Eldar are invariably powerful and wealthy individuals, and generally do as they please. Their ostentation and propensity to indulge in illegal activity means they inevitably come to the attention of the Inquisition, and it is not unheard of for an Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos to lead a full-scale investigation against such a powerful xenos entity.
On the field of battle, the Eldar Rangers are formidable foes. Each possessing a degree of self-reliance and independance that allows them to work weeks ahead of the main Eldar forces, Rangers infiltrate the enemy camp, sow discord and confusion, and even assassinate enemy officers with their long rifles. Consummate marksmen, the Rangers and Pathfinders often resolve an engagement without a single Eldar casualty. It is said a Ranger leaves no trace of his passing, and makes no sound when he moves. In conjunction with their cameleoline cloaks, these formidable stealth skills can render a Ranger practically invisible once he has taken up his position.
Eldar Ranger Characters
Equipment: Rangers are typically very well equipped, carrying all manner of gear that could sustain them in the field for weeks on end. They invariably carry a Ranger Long Rifle and many carry a shuriken pistol for close-quarter fighting. It is highly likely a Ranger would have plenty of Rare and Exotic equipment, and possible that one would have access to an item of Legendary equipment.
Likely pieces of equipment for Eldar Rangers and Pathfinders include: throwing knives, swords, tanglefoot, haywire or plasma grenades, flak or mesh armour equivalents, bio-scanners, rebreathers, synskin, de-tox, motion trackers, and medi-packs.
Special Abilities: Rangers, as with all Eldar, have the Special Abilities: Catfall, Lightning Reflexes, and Nightsight. Rangers also have the skill Camouflage. They cannot be detected by hearing when Sneaking or Crawling.
Depending on the length of time the Eldar has been on the Path of the Outcast, other likely abilities include Nerves of Steel, Deadeye Shot, Scale Terrain, Set Traps, Quickload, Rock Steady Aim, and Crack Shot.
Designer's Note: As you can see, aliens such as the Eldar can have statistics that exceed 100. This is because the 1-100 scale is used to represent unaltered humans; therefore aliens, daemons and, of course, Space Marines can have statistics that far exceed 100 in your games. Just don't let them become commonplace!
Eldar Pirate Characters
Equipment: Eldar pirates will have access to Rare, Exotic and Legendary equipment; some even make it their business to deal in such things.They will always carry several unusual pieces of equipment, and will be armed at all times. It is unusual for an Eldar Pirate not to carry a bladed weapon of some sort, this is often a 'ceremonial' power sword. They often wear sophisticated garments that afford the same protection as standard flak armour (Armour Value 3).
Likely pieces of equipment for Eldar Pirates and Pirate Lords include: throwing knives, swords, power rapiers, photon flash, haywire or plasma grenades, refractor force fields, digital weapons, needle pistols, duelling pistols, antique weaponry, shuriken catapults and pistols, flak or mesh armour equivalents, and de-tox.
Special Abilities: Eldar Pirates, as with all Eldar, have the Special Abilities: Catfall, Lightning Reflexes, and Nightsight. Pirates also have the skill Leader.
Depending on the length of time the Eldar has pursued the lifestyle of the Pirate, other likely abilities include Nerves of Steel, Heroic, Fast Draw, Hipshooting, Quickload, Feint and First Strike.
In exceptional circumstances, an Eldar Pirate Prince may exhibit the use of psychic powers, but only as a last resort.
Alanthrasil Swiftblade
Equipment: Advanced bionic right eye, Eldar Long Rifle (see eldar armoury) with built-in rangefinder and motion predictor, 1 Haywire Grenade, antique duelling pistol, Runic Talisman (counts as pentagrammatic wards), the Diresword Eminielle.
Special Abilities: Acrobatic, Ambidextrous, Catfall, Dodge, Feint, First Strike, Force of Will, Furious Assault, Lightning Reflexes, Nerves of Steel.
The Diresword Eminielle: Eminielle is a power sword. It counts as having the Daemonic properties Bound and Deflection. When a character takes more unsaved damage from Eminielle than their System Shock value from any one wound, they must pass a Wp test or add a further D10 damage to their Injury total.
Jinx: Even as Alanthrasil flaunts death in battle, it strikes down those around him, ending the lives of those he is close to in violent or painful ways. If Alanthrasil is allied to any other models on the battlefield, ie, those of his warrior group, they must add +10 to every roll made on their Hit Location chart.
Alanthrasil Swiftblade, Eldar Pirate Prince
Aliachemoranthrashe'ill, broadly translating as 'the swift and final twist of the crescent blade', was born on Craftworld Biel-tan eight hundred standard years ago. The youngest of two siblings, his father Morecthias was an incredibly accomplished Dire Avenger Exarch, as was his father before him. Millennia ago, Alanthrasil's ancestors had pioneered the martial discipline of Imaluan, hinted at in the teachings of Asuryan. These learned warriors taught their many disciples the virtue of total grace and economy of movement. When the masters of the art performed the complex dance of war, not a single iota of energy was wasted. Every action and reaction was perfectly executed, every cut and parry timed to precision, achieving an almost supernatural state of grace.
It was thought by some that the true masters of Imaluan could achieve a transcendental state, their quicksilver dance so fast that their opponents seemed to move as if underwater. Alanthrasil and his sister Eminielle had progressed far toward this level of mastery when their father Morecthias was granted the single highest honour the Farseers of Biel-Tan could bestow; to be crowned as the Young King.
Given the war-like nature of Craftworld Biel-Tan, it was not long until the Swordwind marched to war once more. Alanthrasil, watched as his father and mentor was led to the ritual sacrifice that would awaken the Craftworld's war god. The Eldar consider it a great honour to be a Young King, consumed by the Avatar, becoming one with the raging furnace that was its soul. But no matter how many times Alanthrasil told himself this, it did not comfort him. Alanthrasil could take no joy in anything other than the savage thrill of killing, mercilessly and without pause, in the fiery shadow of what had once been his father.
Years later, when the scars of bereavement had begun to heal, he and his sister finally achieved perfection in their discipline. Their relationship was a complex interaction of dark passion and purest commitment, with Alanthrasil the darkness tinged with light and his sister the light tainted by darkness. They would duel from dawn till dusk in the Forest of Silence, their movements blurring as the consummate swordsmanship taught to them by their father weaved a dance in which neither could truly triumph. Only the harmony of their kinship prevented them from descending the solitary path of the Exarch, locked forever into the Path of the Warrior, held in awe and fear in equal measure by their fellow Eldar.
When the tendrils of Hive Fleet Leviathan curled toward Craftworld Biel-Tan, Alanthrasil and his sister were at the forefront of the fight against the Tyranids. Although each attack was planned with surgical precision, the Eldar lost thousands of warriors, Eminielle among them. The chittering swarm that pulled Eminielle down and gorged on her flesh were too numerous for Alanthrasil to defeat. Only by leaping onto the vane of a swooping Vyper jetbike did he escape at all, scores of razor-sharp bites shredding his armour and disfiguring his face.
But the Tyranid infestation was ultimately surpressed by the Eldar counter-strikes. Whilst the rest of the Biel-Tan army returned to their Craftworld, Alanthrasil spent long days trawling through the detritus of battle, flitting like a ghost from corpse to corpse. When he eventually found the site of Eminielle's death, everything other than the impenetrable psycho-crystal of her spirit stone had been consumed by the ravenous swarm that had pulled her down. Alanthrasil took it back to his ship, and forged it into the hilt of his sword, that he could fight alongside his sister until the time of his own death.
It did not take long for Alanthrasil's lonely flight away from the battlezone to run into hostile space. A fleet of Eldar Pirates held dominion over the territories into which Alanthrasil flew, and welcomed the possibility of adding a new craft to their armada. The Pirate Lord Hiriaq ordered the fighter to be taken intact, and it was not long before Alanthrasil was surrounded with no hope of escape. Alanthrasil knew to fight was a pointless exercise as the pirates would not hesitate to destroy him if he made any real show of resistance. A looming frigate bore down on his fighter, the docking bay opening to swallow the fighter craft like some vast aquatic predator. Once within its massive hull, he was led from his craft, by a group of heavily armed Eldar pirates.
Alanthrasil remained silent as he was led before Lord Hiriaq, and did not respond to their questions or their cruel taunts. Even when they goaded him forward with sharp blades the warrior remained impassive, his scarred features betraying no sign of emotion. It was only when the pirates reached to take the sword Eminielle from her scabbard that Alanthrasil acted. Making a cutting gesture with his hand toward his foe, his sword appeared in his hand a split second before the motion's conclusion. Two pirates fell, bisected cleanly across the torso. The streams of shuriken fire from the other pirates did not find their mark, for Alanthrasil was already above them, stepping lightly up the falling bodies of his victims and vaulting backward in a graceful arc. His body seemed to occupy only the space in which the streams did not pass, the diresword Eminielle flickering down to take one, two, three heads from the necks of his assailants. Time seemed to slow for Alanthrasil as more pirates rushed to bar his advance toward Hiriaq. He slid and darted through the oncoming fire, anticipating every movement of his enemy and positioning himself for a perfect counterstrike, flinging the diresword forward in an underarm throw that passed through the chest of one pirate and into the neck of another before smoothly reversing direction and returning hilt-first to his outstretched hand. His sinuous, complex dance was unstoppable, a roll under enemy fire culminating in an outstretched sword to the heart, a rising pirouette that seemed an evasive manoeuvre leaving the two nearest assailants cloven from hip to shoulder. Hiriaq backed away, assuming the classic guarding position with his curved power weapon, but the ornate sword fell from his outstretched hand, as did the fingers holding it. Alanthrasil was face to face with the pirate lord, calm expression unchanged, the diresword Eminielle resting on his throat with a touch as light as silk. His breath was cool on the pirate lord's sweating brow. Hiriaq, understandably impressed, ordered his men to stand down.
Alanthrasil served as the bodyguard of Lord Hiriaq for many decades, absorbing everything the infamous rogue could teach him about starcraft and piracy in return for tutelage in the ways of Imaluan. Hiriaq had his crippled hand replaced by the finest of gilt bionics, just as Alanthrasil's damaged face was covered by the most advanced of augmetic replacements. The two became close, and over time the warrior began to regard the pirate lord as a mentor and friend. But the dark curse that seemed to be following Alanthrasil eventually struck once more. During a period of dissent within the ranks of the pirate fleet, Alanthrasil returned to the flagship to find the cooling corpse of Hiriaq slumped across his antique dining table, a thin trickle of blood-flecked drool testament to the manner of his death. Alanthrasil hunted down the culprit and his coterie of mutinous traitors, one by one.
Assuming command of the pirate fleet, Alanthrasil began a set of raids on Imperial space of such punishing and unparalled aggression that the overstretched Imperial forces in the region soon changed their views on the pirate fleet from a regrettably tolerable parasite to a priority target. Alanthrasil earnt his infamy in a remarkably short time due to his insistence that he lead every boarding action, and soon came to the attention of the Inquisition. It did not take long for one of their number to learn about the behaviour of the pirate prince Alanthrasil, and arrange the detour of Battlegroup Gravis, bound for Biel-Tan, toward the territory of the pirate fleet.
Although Alanthrasil was well-skilled in the arts of piracy, the Inquisitor had studied the patterns of his raids well and set up a trap, using a seemingly crippled frigate as bait. The pirate prince descended upon the ship, only to find that a far larger fleet of Ork pirates was following the same frigate. The Orks, upon the arrival of the Eldar Pirates, changed their priorities immediately and engaged Alanthrasil's pirates in a series of aggressive attacks. Even with the his evasive skills there was no escape, for he was badly outnumbered and not the equal of his former mentor. After a comparatively short engagement, his fleet was all but destroyed, and the stellar sails of his flagship irrevocably damaged.
The pirate prince was fully expecting to be obliterated, and watched open-mouthed as the Imperial Fleet smashed into the Ork pirates. The resultant display of raw military power was no doubt intended for him, the Imperial attack decimating the Orks and scattering the remainder in a few short hours.
In the resultant parley, Alanthrasil's unlikely saviour revealed himself to be one Inquisitor Lichtenstein, a noted figure within the ranks of Imperial society.
Alanthrasil suspected he had a hand in setting the trap that has cost him his fleet and a great many trusted friends and advisors. Nevertheless, he stayed his blade, for Imaluan taught that should a warrior save another warrior's life, be he rival, enemy or friend, a debt was owed to him up to the point at which the deed could be repaid in kind. As the human droned on and on in his condescending monotone, Alanthrasil felt his father's eyes upon him, and felt his sister's spirit-stone grow hot within the hilt of his sword. The human had saved his life, therefore he was beholden to him. The matter was simple, to dishonour it was to dishonour the code of his forefathers. Before him, the human was insisting the debt was equal to a year's servitude.
For the time being at least, he had no choice but to comply.
