The Aeldari are an ancient and inscrutable race. Their traditions are a mystery to the younger civilisations, whom they hold in open contempt. Their survival in the wake of the Fall is tenuous. They have split off into disparate factions, each settling into their own way of life.
With the new Phoenix Lords and Aspect Warriors available to pre-order alongside Codex: Aeldari, now is the time to walk the Path of the Reader and attune yourself to their unique mindset.
The many Paths that the Aeldari walk at varying parts of their lives, from Warrior to Seer or even Outcast, are a defining part of their existence. Not mere phases of their life, they are dedications which must be committed to. Ever the expert on all things Aeldari, Gav Thorpe, covers them extensively in the anthology, Path of the Eldar, which contains three novels, and three short stories that intimately cover their multifaceted lives.
The Phoenix Lords are the legendary warriors who founded the Aspect shrines, where Aeldari are trained in body, mind and spirit to emulate one of the styles of combat embodied by their long-dead god of war, Kaela Mensha Khaine. Asurmen was the first of the Phoenix Lords, and he remains one of the most powerful. In Gav Thrope’s Asurmen: Hand of Asuryan, you can read about this past, and his current battle to prevent the destruction of a Craftworld at the hands of Chaos.
Gav also tackles the progenitor of the Howling Banshees in Jain Zar: the Storm of Silence, who has journeyed to the Craftworld Ulthwé in order to warn of the threat posed by a burgeoning Ork empire. She finds herself opposed by one of the most gifted Aeldari psykers – Eldrad Ulthran – who is yet to decide on which of the many paths he has foreseen will will best serve his home.
Ravaged by the Hive Fleet Kraken, the Craftworld Iyanden remains ever wary of the all-devouring aliens under the charge of Prince Yriel. As part of their plan to save themselves, they flung a portion of the hive fleet into the Warp, but somehow it’s back, and Yriel fears that it may combine with a tendril of Hive Fleet Leviathan, creating something more terrible than either. Guy Haley’s Valedor has Craftworld Iyanden team up with Craftwold Biel-Tan and even the raiders of Commorragh, all to save a maiden world from the hungering Tyranids. A little Faolchú tells us that a new audiobook release of this classic novel is also in the works.
Not content with mapping out all existing avenues of Aeldari culture at the time, Gav also spearheaded the introduction of the Ynnari, a new grouping who worship Ynnead, the Aeldari god of the dead. They believe that resurrecting the Whispering Dead can avert their civilisation's inevitable calamity and help them defeat Slaanesh once and for all. In the Rise of the Ynnari duology, Ghost Warrior and Wild Rider, you can follow Yvraine as she executes her mysterious mission, which leads her to chase down a missing cronesword and to meet the Wild Lord, Nuadhu Fireheart of Saim Hann.
The deadly players known as the Harlequins are a real headscratcher even to the Aeldari themselves, but can’t be left out of our roundup. Dedicated to playing out the Fall of their civilisation in an endless performance on battlefields across the galaxy, they are also custodians of the Black Library* which resides in the Webway. Faces by Matthew Farrer, The Victim’s Dance by Ben Counter, and The Masque of Vyle by Andy Chambers explore the capricious members of this capering company in further detail.
You’ll be well on your way to becoming an expert of all things Aeldari after reading all these, and all the better equipped to understand the nuances of their approach to battle. Handy, given they’ve got eight new Detachments to master, including ways to use Ynnari and Harlequins.
* Not our Black Library, whose custodians only sometimes wear grinning masks and slice petitioners to bits with monofilament wires.
