I was struggling to find information about Craftworld Altansar until in a discussion with Sam (of Sam's Corner fame) the subject of creating a compilation of all the information we have found online into one post came up. This post is that post and will regurgitate a lot of information you may have seen or NOT seen online about this mysterious Craftworld. I have attempted to include links to credit their owners where possible. No infringement is intended.
I have also taken them from sources which are a little more well researched.
1. Warhammer40K Wiki
Altansar was a small Eldar Craftworld that survived the Fall of the Eldar but was caught in the Eye of Terror, the only escapee being Phoenix Lord Maugan Ra. Altansar is also known as the sister Craftworld of Ulthwe, due to its close proximity to the Eye of Terror. Altansar's traditional colours are a deep red with black details
Altansar was one of the Eldar Craftworlds that survived the Fall of the Eldar race. It rode out the psychic shock waves that destroyed the ancient Eldar empire following the birth of the Chaos God Slaanesh but was subsequently caught in the gravity well of the newborn Warp rift now called the Eye of Terror. Although the Eldar of Altansar struggled valiantly against the encroachment of Chaos, their doom was inevitable, and within five hundred years of the Fall, their Craftworld was swallowed by the Warp. Among the entirety of Altansar's population, only the Phoenix Lord Maugan Ra escaped the Craftworld's consumption by Chaos.
Ten thousand years later in the 41st Millennium, Abaddon the Despoiler emerged from the insane reality of the Eye of Terror, at the head the 13th Black Crusade of the Forces of Chaos. The Chaos Traitor Legions' intrusion into reality left a rift which bridged the material universe and the universe of the Immaterium. Through this opening,Maugan Ra counter-invaded the Eye of Terror to undertake a quest in search of the remains of his people. Leaving a silvered trail of soulfire behind him, Maugan Ra eventually found the remains of his Craftworld. He found that the Eldar of Altansar had indeed survived ten thousand years within the Eye of Terror.
Maugan Ra guided the remnants of his Craftworld out of the Eye and against Abaddon's forces to deny him ultimate victory. However, there was no celebration or welcome from the other Craftworlds. Altansar is regarded with open suspicion and hostility, for the question is asked: how could any Eldar remain untouched by the predations of Chaos for so many millennia?
The 13th Black Crusade
During the 13th Black Crusade, the Phoenix Lord Maugan Ra lead an elite force of Eldar Dark Reapers and Black Guardians from the Craftworld of Ulthwé into the Eye of Terror in search of Altansar. It was during this pilgrimage that he found the Belial Hex System and the Crone World of Belial IV, located deep within the Eye of Terror. Despite several early victories and the aid of the Harlequins, a daemonic counterattack forced the Eldar back. As they reeled from their losses, the Craftworld Altansar drifted into Belial's orbit, proving that it still existed and had survived ten millennia within the Eye of Terror. The Eldar of Altansar then joined their brethren fromUlthwe, defeating the daemonic forces and helping the Eldar to reclaim one of their lost Craftworlds. Maugan Ra then led the Craftworld back through the bridge between the Warp and the material universe, and used his remaining troops to help battle the Forces of Chaos and bring an end to the 13th Black Crusade. Currently Craftworld Altansar is somewhere close to Terra, although how it has managed to get that close to the heart of the Imperium without Imperial retaliation is unknown.
2. WH40k Lexicannum
Altansar was one of the many Craftworlds surviving the Fall of the Eldar race. It rode out the psychic shock waves that destroyed the Eldar empire but was subsequently caught in the gravity well of the Eye of Terror. Although the Eldar of Altansar struggled valiantly against the encroachment of Chaos, their doom was inevitable, and within five hundred years of the Fall, their Craftworld was swallowed into the warp. Among the entirety of Altansar's population, only the Phoenix Lord Maugan Ra escaped the Craftworld's consumption by Chaos.
Ten thousand years later (in M41), Abaddon the Despoiler emerged from the insane reality of the Eye of Terror, at the head of the Thirteenth Black Crusade. The Chaos Legions' intrusion into reality left a rift which bridged the material universe and the universe of the warp. Through this opening Maugan Ra counter-invaded the Eye to undertake a quest in search of the remains of his people. Leaving a silvered trail of soulfire behind him, Maugan Ra eventually found the remains of his Craftworld. He found that the Eldar of Altansar had survived ten thousand years within the Eye. Maugan Ra guided the remnants of his Craftworld out of the Eye and against Abaddon's forces to deny him ultimate victory. However, there was no welcome nor celebration from the other Craftworlds; Altansar is regarded with open suspicion and hostility. Its inhabitants are known to speak in whispers and to never remove their helmets, this which gives credence to the suspicions of other Eldar.
Altansar's traditional colours are a deep red with black details and the Craftworld has reemerged into realspace in the Segmentum Solar.
Demeanor: Trust Nothing
For millennia, Altansar survived inside the roaring tumult of psychic energy and Chaos that makes up the Eye of Terror. They were continually beset by enemies, both from without and within. They survived only by taking the most extensive precautions, for at any moment a friend could turn out to be a daemon in disguise or a cry for help turn into a call to damnation. As such, the Eldar of Altansar are naturally distrustful, and when betrayed they respond with an unrestrained fury.
Additional Resources:
I have also taken them from sources which are a little more well researched.
1. Warhammer40K Wiki
Altansar was a small Eldar Craftworld that survived the Fall of the Eldar but was caught in the Eye of Terror, the only escapee being Phoenix Lord Maugan Ra. Altansar is also known as the sister Craftworld of Ulthwe, due to its close proximity to the Eye of Terror. Altansar's traditional colours are a deep red with black details
Altansar was one of the Eldar Craftworlds that survived the Fall of the Eldar race. It rode out the psychic shock waves that destroyed the ancient Eldar empire following the birth of the Chaos God Slaanesh but was subsequently caught in the gravity well of the newborn Warp rift now called the Eye of Terror. Although the Eldar of Altansar struggled valiantly against the encroachment of Chaos, their doom was inevitable, and within five hundred years of the Fall, their Craftworld was swallowed by the Warp. Among the entirety of Altansar's population, only the Phoenix Lord Maugan Ra escaped the Craftworld's consumption by Chaos.
Ten thousand years later in the 41st Millennium, Abaddon the Despoiler emerged from the insane reality of the Eye of Terror, at the head the 13th Black Crusade of the Forces of Chaos. The Chaos Traitor Legions' intrusion into reality left a rift which bridged the material universe and the universe of the Immaterium. Through this opening,Maugan Ra counter-invaded the Eye of Terror to undertake a quest in search of the remains of his people. Leaving a silvered trail of soulfire behind him, Maugan Ra eventually found the remains of his Craftworld. He found that the Eldar of Altansar had indeed survived ten thousand years within the Eye of Terror.
Maugan Ra guided the remnants of his Craftworld out of the Eye and against Abaddon's forces to deny him ultimate victory. However, there was no celebration or welcome from the other Craftworlds. Altansar is regarded with open suspicion and hostility, for the question is asked: how could any Eldar remain untouched by the predations of Chaos for so many millennia?
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| Suggested colour scheme for Altansar |
The 13th Black Crusade
During the 13th Black Crusade, the Phoenix Lord Maugan Ra lead an elite force of Eldar Dark Reapers and Black Guardians from the Craftworld of Ulthwé into the Eye of Terror in search of Altansar. It was during this pilgrimage that he found the Belial Hex System and the Crone World of Belial IV, located deep within the Eye of Terror. Despite several early victories and the aid of the Harlequins, a daemonic counterattack forced the Eldar back. As they reeled from their losses, the Craftworld Altansar drifted into Belial's orbit, proving that it still existed and had survived ten millennia within the Eye of Terror. The Eldar of Altansar then joined their brethren fromUlthwe, defeating the daemonic forces and helping the Eldar to reclaim one of their lost Craftworlds. Maugan Ra then led the Craftworld back through the bridge between the Warp and the material universe, and used his remaining troops to help battle the Forces of Chaos and bring an end to the 13th Black Crusade. Currently Craftworld Altansar is somewhere close to Terra, although how it has managed to get that close to the heart of the Imperium without Imperial retaliation is unknown.
2. WH40k Lexicannum
Altansar was one of the many Craftworlds surviving the Fall of the Eldar race. It rode out the psychic shock waves that destroyed the Eldar empire but was subsequently caught in the gravity well of the Eye of Terror. Although the Eldar of Altansar struggled valiantly against the encroachment of Chaos, their doom was inevitable, and within five hundred years of the Fall, their Craftworld was swallowed into the warp. Among the entirety of Altansar's population, only the Phoenix Lord Maugan Ra escaped the Craftworld's consumption by Chaos.
Ten thousand years later (in M41), Abaddon the Despoiler emerged from the insane reality of the Eye of Terror, at the head of the Thirteenth Black Crusade. The Chaos Legions' intrusion into reality left a rift which bridged the material universe and the universe of the warp. Through this opening Maugan Ra counter-invaded the Eye to undertake a quest in search of the remains of his people. Leaving a silvered trail of soulfire behind him, Maugan Ra eventually found the remains of his Craftworld. He found that the Eldar of Altansar had survived ten thousand years within the Eye. Maugan Ra guided the remnants of his Craftworld out of the Eye and against Abaddon's forces to deny him ultimate victory. However, there was no welcome nor celebration from the other Craftworlds; Altansar is regarded with open suspicion and hostility. Its inhabitants are known to speak in whispers and to never remove their helmets, this which gives credence to the suspicions of other Eldar.
Altansar's traditional colours are a deep red with black details and the Craftworld has reemerged into realspace in the Segmentum Solar.
Demeanor: Trust Nothing
For millennia, Altansar survived inside the roaring tumult of psychic energy and Chaos that makes up the Eye of Terror. They were continually beset by enemies, both from without and within. They survived only by taking the most extensive precautions, for at any moment a friend could turn out to be a daemon in disguise or a cry for help turn into a call to damnation. As such, the Eldar of Altansar are naturally distrustful, and when betrayed they respond with an unrestrained fury.
Ghosts of Altansar
During the 13th Black Crusade, Maugan Ra returned to the area to find a great rend in the fabric of space, caused by the emergence of the Chaos fleet. It was through this that he managed to finally free his home Craftworld from the Eye and proceeded to use his warriors to help fight in the Black Crusade itself. Currently Altansar is somewhere close to Terra, although how it has managed to get there without Imperial retaliation is unknown.
3. Eye of Terror Campaign - Death by a Thousand Cuts
During the 13th Black Crusade, Maugan Ra returned to the area to find a great rend in the fabric of space, caused by the emergence of the Chaos fleet. It was through this that he managed to finally free his home Craftworld from the Eye and proceeded to use his warriors to help fight in the Black Crusade itself. Currently Altansar is somewhere close to Terra, although how it has managed to get there without Imperial retaliation is unknown.
3. Eye of Terror Campaign - Death by a Thousand Cuts
Maugan Ra
The immortal Phoenix Lord Maugan Ra took a vital role in deciding ttie late of the Eldar over the course ot the Thirteenth Crusade. Responsible for the creation of the Ulthwe Strike Forces, Maughan Ra and the elite Black Guardians fought across every sector by cunning use of the webway. He ultimately led the Eldar to victory even in the heart of the Eye ot Terror and, after repelling Dark Eldar raids on Xersia. fought alongside Creed against Abaddon's the Basilica Dufaux. It is believed by many Farseers that the reappearance of the shadowy Craftworld of Altansar and its ghost-like inhabitants was purely due to the iron determination of the Phoenix Lord to locate and redeem his once-lost brethren.
The immortal Phoenix Lord Maugan Ra took a vital role in deciding ttie late of the Eldar over the course ot the Thirteenth Crusade. Responsible for the creation of the Ulthwe Strike Forces, Maughan Ra and the elite Black Guardians fought across every sector by cunning use of the webway. He ultimately led the Eldar to victory even in the heart of the Eye ot Terror and, after repelling Dark Eldar raids on Xersia. fought alongside Creed against Abaddon's the Basilica Dufaux. It is believed by many Farseers that the reappearance of the shadowy Craftworld of Altansar and its ghost-like inhabitants was purely due to the iron determination of the Phoenix Lord to locate and redeem his once-lost brethren.
Belial
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| Belial the Crone World |
Aeons ago, the crone world of Belial IV was a capital world of the Eldar empire. Deep in the heart of the Eldar homelands, the verdant paradise was all but obliterated when the cataclysmic Fall of the Eldar stripped away thousands of years of culture and beauty and replaced it with madness, desolation and evil. Belial IV became a dust-strewn wreck of daemon-infested ruins and crackling, baleful skies.
Maugan Ra, a Phoenix Lord and therefore a veteran of webway travel, braved the depths of the Eye ot Terror on a pilgrimage to the shattered crone worlds, intending to find a faction of Eldar he believed trapped in the Eye of Terror. Taking with him a few of his favoured disciples, Maugan Ra eventually reached the hex-system of Belial. What he found there he would not speak of and he was not seen again until he appeared upon Ulthwe' to form the infamous Strike Forces, filled with renewed energy and determination.
Towards the end ol the Thirteenth Crusade, many of the Eldar in the system departed from warzones in the Imperial space and gathered upon Belial IV under Maugan Ra's command. They took the fight to the indigenous Chaos forces with such unremitting fury that vast areas were reclaimed by the Eldar.
The battle also raged around Belial IV in the labyrinth dimension of the webway, but it seemed that without the guidance of their leaders the Strike Forces were suffering heavy lasses to the Dark Eldar and Thousand Sons. The otherworldly guardians of the Black Library, fearing for their shadowy realm's safety, revealed hitherto unknown capillaries of the webway to the Ulthwe Eldar, enabling them not only to escape from the net drawing around them but to stage a series of ambushes that broke the deadlock and turned the tide once and for all.
The final, and most decisive, twist to this peculiar theatre of war came when a Daemon horde led a counter-attack against the Eldar consolidating their hold on the crone worlds, as sudden as it was devastating. To the great shock of the Eldar below, the withered and broken Craftworld of Altansar, thought lost to the Warp for 10.000 years, drifted into orbit above the crone worlds. Hundreds of pallid, ghost-like Eldar joined their brethren on the field of battle, throwing back the Daemon tide with wave after wave of silent, grim warriors. Since that great victory Belial IV has been reclaimed by the Eldar. What this, and the reappearance of the Lost, bodes for the Eldar race remains to be seen.
Taken from Militarum Tempestus (added 14th May 2014):
When the legendary Ordo Tempestus relics, the Barbed Gauntlets of Avitus, had been stolen by the Eldar from Craftworld Altansar, the Scions of the 55th Kappic Eagles were summoned to retrieve them. With vengeful purpose, the Eagles smashed through wave upon wave of Guardians in order to reclaim them.
Etiamnun III (added 26th May 2014)
Maugan Ra, a Phoenix Lord and therefore a veteran of webway travel, braved the depths of the Eye ot Terror on a pilgrimage to the shattered crone worlds, intending to find a faction of Eldar he believed trapped in the Eye of Terror. Taking with him a few of his favoured disciples, Maugan Ra eventually reached the hex-system of Belial. What he found there he would not speak of and he was not seen again until he appeared upon Ulthwe' to form the infamous Strike Forces, filled with renewed energy and determination.
Towards the end ol the Thirteenth Crusade, many of the Eldar in the system departed from warzones in the Imperial space and gathered upon Belial IV under Maugan Ra's command. They took the fight to the indigenous Chaos forces with such unremitting fury that vast areas were reclaimed by the Eldar.
The battle also raged around Belial IV in the labyrinth dimension of the webway, but it seemed that without the guidance of their leaders the Strike Forces were suffering heavy lasses to the Dark Eldar and Thousand Sons. The otherworldly guardians of the Black Library, fearing for their shadowy realm's safety, revealed hitherto unknown capillaries of the webway to the Ulthwe Eldar, enabling them not only to escape from the net drawing around them but to stage a series of ambushes that broke the deadlock and turned the tide once and for all.
The final, and most decisive, twist to this peculiar theatre of war came when a Daemon horde led a counter-attack against the Eldar consolidating their hold on the crone worlds, as sudden as it was devastating. To the great shock of the Eldar below, the withered and broken Craftworld of Altansar, thought lost to the Warp for 10.000 years, drifted into orbit above the crone worlds. Hundreds of pallid, ghost-like Eldar joined their brethren on the field of battle, throwing back the Daemon tide with wave after wave of silent, grim warriors. Since that great victory Belial IV has been reclaimed by the Eldar. What this, and the reappearance of the Lost, bodes for the Eldar race remains to be seen.
Taken from Militarum Tempestus (added 14th May 2014):
When the legendary Ordo Tempestus relics, the Barbed Gauntlets of Avitus, had been stolen by the Eldar from Craftworld Altansar, the Scions of the 55th Kappic Eagles were summoned to retrieve them. With vengeful purpose, the Eagles smashed through wave upon wave of Guardians in order to reclaim them.
Etiamnun III (added 26th May 2014)
Located in the Eastern Fringe, Etiamnun was
reputedly gifted to the Imperium by the Eldar of Altansar Craftworld. The Reclusiam built there
was only ever sparsely staffed by Imperial scholars, but was significant in
that not only did it contain an inert Webway Gate, it was also under the
covert protection of the Order Psykana of the Blood
Ravens Adeptus Astartes. Aside from this compact, the Reclusiam had no
particular defensive capabilities, instead relying on secrecy and
obscurity.[1] This strategy proved flawed when the existence of Etiamnun
III was discovered by Ahzek Ahriman of the Thousand Sons. As part of
his grand design to enter the Black Library of Chaos, Ahriman dispatched a
warband under the command of the Sorceror Mordant Hex to conquer
the Etiamnun Reclusiam.[2]
Hex was able to gain dominion over the Reclusiam easily,
as well as secure the Webway Gate, allowing the Thousand Sons to penetrate that
Eldar domain. By the time a relief force despatched by the Order Psykana
arrived at the Reclusiam, the traitor marines were long gone; the only trace of
their presence a discarded copy of the Tome of Karebennian, an Eldar text
that is reputed to be a guidebook of sorts to various Webway routes that lead
to the Black Library.
Additional Resources:
- Craftworld Altansar decal sheet: http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2008/10/altansar-craftworld-logo-sheet.html
- Background on Altansar by a podcast group called Deepstrike Radio: http://www.deepstrikeradio.com/?p=1081
- Myth Weavers on the different Craftworlds: http://www.myth-weavers.com/showthread.php?t=182371
As this is a living document I will return to add more bits to it as I find them online.
SO this is the lore of your craftworld? Interesting. I wouldnt have expected them to be related to Maugan Ra.
ReplyDeleteYup, I decided to bite the bullet and commit to Altansar since my colour scheme was copied by GW. LOL! My army is really old btw
DeleteNice compilation. There is also a small detail in the Necron Codex where it's said that Trazyn got from Altansar an artefact known as the "spectral chorus". Nothing more is said, so it's very mysterious :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Chrysalis. Do you have the excerpt? I would like to include it here as well.
DeleteUnfortunately, I don't have the exact excerpt since I don't own the Necron Codex. I just read the info while getting a look at my LGS.
DeleteHowever, here is a quote from Lexicanum concerning Trazyn: "He is known to hold technologies and relics that are so rare as to be priceless. His collection includes the fabled Wraithbone Choir of Altansar [...]"
DeleteThis is excellent. Thanks! I'll include it in the above on Monday
Delete