Stardancer Corsairs

The Song of Lileath is the flagship of the Stardancer Corsair fleet and the name taken by their raiding parties under the leadership of Corsair Princess Lyanna Narésiel. The fleet embraces Aeldari of all walks of life, from their Craftworld kin unsatisfied with the stringent rule of the Path, to Drukhari of Commorragh who develop a distaste for the politicking within the dark city.

## History

### A Dysfunctional Family

Part of the reason Lyanna Narésiel left the relative safety of the Craftworld and the Path system was her family. While she would deny it, in truth it was the largest reason for her splitting off to walk her own path away from both the cities of Craftworld Ithyl-Loc and the darkened halls of Commorragh. As the daughter of Thalinia Narésiel, the Autarch who almost single-handedly saved their Craftworld and brought about a time of prosperity, there were a lot of pressures for her to live up to and it was expected that she would follow in her mother's footsteps. Her mother called her irresponsible, rebellious and moody when she left, so their relationship has remained somewhat strained over the years. She will fight alongside the forces of the Craftworld, but mostly just when she can show that she's better than her mother.

Strained doesn't even begin to describe the relationship with her grandparents though. Archon Myrthanil Narésiel of the Kabal of the Envenomed Chalice and Arinella Eranwyn, Master Succubus of the Cult of the Crimson Dance were not the types who Lyanna would seek out after turning away from the Path. It didn't help when morbid curiosity got the better of them and they captured her during one of her visits to the dark city of Commorragh, forcing her to fight in the arenas for their amusement. Equal parts luck, skill, tenacity and the loyalty of her crew are what got her out of that awful fate and she has been looking over her shoulder ever since, wary of her vengeful family.

Instead, Lyanna and her followers chose a life of neither extreme, seeking the middle ground between the conservative, overbearing Craftworld lifestyle and the depraved, degenerate Commorragh existence. She travels the stars with her followers, seeking fame, glory and riches with many she considers family, despite not being related by blood with any of her fellow corsairs.

### The Song of Lileath

The capital ship was named after the Aeldari goddess of fortune, dreams, psychic energy and innocence, naming it the Song of Lileath. Lyanna saw it as an apt name since she originally started the corsair fleet on the premise of amassing fortunes and living their lives free of the confines of Craftworld and Drukhari society. While far from a peaceful force, Lyanna often conducted raids with as little combat as possible, prefering stealth tactics and disappearing with their plunder before anyone noticed. Perhaps she was naturally emulating her mother's tactics without knowing it, minimising casualties by simply avoiding battle where possible. This, combined with the namesake of her capital ship also being the Aeldari goddess of innocence, has given them a bit of a reputation as a charming band of rogues and well-mannered thieves as opposed to bloodthirsty pirates.

The Stardancer Corsairs often name their strikeforce after the fleet's largest capital ship, The Song of Lileath; this is seen as a sign of good luck with its namesake being the goddess of fortune. A fairly large coalition of Aeldari form its population, Craftworld Aeldari, Drukhari and even a handful of Exodites all rub shoulders in the fleet. Emnity between the different backgrounds is not tolerated, though there are definite rivalries that sometimes spark up between particularly the former Craftworld Aeldari and former Drukhari. However, they all fight shoulder to shoulder for the ideals shared by everyone drawn to Lyanna's banner. Whether it's Craftworld Aeldari looking to escape the strict confines of the Path, Drukhari who grow tired of the whims, constant politicking and infighting of Archons deciding their fates or Exodites who merely want to explore beyond their own world's borders, everyone values personal freedom above all else.

### The Great Rift

The fleet happened to be positioned close to the Great Rift when it first formed and the fleet was attacked by huge incursions of daemons. Seemingly countless daemonettes materialised within the hulls of the ships that formed the fleet and the corsairs scrambled to defend themselves. Huge casualties were sustained as the battle seemed unwinnable. However, it was some quick thinking by Void Dreamer Anatheia Telastren saved the fleet from certain doom. While Lyanna ordered the swift retreat away from the Great Rift, cutting the immediate daemonic reinforcements off, she had quickly become engulfed in combat defending the bridge of the Song of Lileath from a horde of daemons and engaging in a duel with a Herald of Slaanesh amidst the growing melee between daemon and corsair.

Anatheia rallied the psykers aboard every ship in the fleet, battling through the warp distortions of the daemonic incursion to reach her peers. She ordered them to construct wards at specific points in each ship in order to halt any potential summoning and disrupt the daemons already present onboard. She gave the orders to protect this mission at all costs, as without it the fleet would certainly be doomed. Though Lyanna did not give the order or confirm its legitimacy, Anatheia's word carried enough weight that the inhabitants of each ship followed suit, guarding their psykers and getting them into the positions they needed to be in, albeit at great cost. Though not every ship was able to construct these wards and many ships were lost to the daemons, enough were able to complete this objective to save the fleet.

Though they successfully defended the fleet from the incursion, many corsairs were either dead or injured. Lyanna herself was gravely wounded in the battle on the bridge and morale was at an all-time low. The corsairs collected any soulstones they could from the fallen, mostly Craftworld Aeldari aboard the fleet and contemplated their next move. Some abandoned the fleet, but most remained at least for now.

### A Cause Worth Fighting For

With a large number of soulstones from the dead Craftworld Aeldari and no Infinity Circuit to place them in, Lyanna made the decision to visit Craftworld Ithyl-Loc to deposit the souls of the dead into the Craftworld's Infinity Circuit. Her pride was what caused hesitancy in this decision, as she had left to make a larger name for herself than her mother had, but she was returning for the first time in years after a tragedy with her tail between her legs. However, she held an incredible level of compassion for her followers, which was part of the reason she attracted and maintained leadership over such a collection of Aeldari, and wouldn't allow her pride to doom the souls of the fallen; she already felt the weight of guilt on her shoulders for what had happened, despite having no control over it.

She had expected to return to scornful gazes and the largest dressing down she had ever endured from her mother. What she received was the opposite. Autarch Thalinia had heard of what had befallen the Stardancer Corsairs and was just relieved to see her daughter alive. Lyanna gave the soulstones over to her mother so that they could be integrated into the Craftworld's Infinity Circuit and the pair conversed at length about what had happened.

Through their conversations, Thalinia informed Lyanna of the birth of Ynnead, the newborn Aeldari god of death, the faction of followers known as Ynnari, and the potential salvation of their race. It was the first serious chance of fighting back against Slaanesh, rather than merely maintaining the status quo of trying to escape the clutches of the Great Enemy, and Thalinia told Lyanna she had already thrown her lot in with the Ynnari, though not everyone on Craftworld Ithyl-Loc was on board with the idea. When asked if she would also join the Ynnari cause as well, Lyanna accepted, but would remain as her independent corsair fleet rather than returning to the Craftworld. Perhaps she had matured over the past few years, as it was the first non-selfish cause that Lyanna was willing to fight for; or perhaps the recent encounter with daemons of Slaanesh had been a wake up call that the Great Enemy still existed and was still hungrily pursuing all Aeldari across the stars, especially now with the humans' Cadian Gate falling and the Great Rift being torn across realspace.

While the corsair fleet still travelled the stars selfishly chasing glory, fame and fortunes, they now tended towards targets that would either help the cause of the Ynnari or at least wouldn't detract from it. What this would translate to was the Stardancer Corsairs striking a lot more Chaos-aligned targets and protecting others from raids by these Chaos-aligned warbands, especially since their wider abundance thanks to the Great Rift. It was more fulfilling, but also had the side effect of giving them more fame than they had gained before when they lacked any direction. They now would fight alongside others, mostly other Aeldari, but occasionally human forces, therefore increasing their reputation through word of mouth. Now, the Stardancer Corsairs gained fame as heroes from those they saved from Chaos warbands, though they maintained their previous reputation as they did not abandon their thieving ways or adjust their modus operandi in conducting such thievery.

## Notable Characters

### Corsair Princess Lyanna Narésiel

An extroverted, flamboyant and sometimes immature figure, Lyanna Narésiel rejected the Path system, became a corsair and leads her forces from the front lines. Whether she's zooming around on a cloud dancer jetbike, blinking in and out of existence with a teleportation pack or soaring high above the battlefield on a wing-shaped jetpack, she is always seen on the front line. She is eternally living in her mother's shadow, always striving to one up the famed Autarch of Craftworld Ithyl-Loc and always coming up short. She has a slight chip on her shoulder regarding this and has learned a few painful lessons along the way, having made foolhardy decisions in her pursuit of glory.

Through these painful lessons, she has learned over the years to be more careful in her actions. She will never admit it, but her tactics have started to emulate those of her mother's: mechanised forces that strike hard and from long range. There is gossip on the corsair fleet regarding Narésiel and her familial insecurities, but these insecurities have also borne fruit for the corsair fleet as she continuously hones her tactical mind to try and finally step out of her mother's shadow. Her corsairs follow her through her own personal magnetism, charisma and heroic tendencies in battle inspiring them, even despite these rumours.

### Void Dreamer Anatheia Telastren

Far more demure and refined than the fleet's leader, Anatheia Telastren is Lyanna's chief adviser. Far older and with far more experience than the corsair princess, Anatheia is one of the few people who can reign the younger, sometimes brash princess in and get her to see sense. She is often the voice of reason when Lyanna puts forward a bombastic or otherwise ambitious plan and is widely respected for it. The perfect balance of Lyanna's daring and Anatheia's caution is what delivers successful raids and operations for the fleet. She has affectionately been given the nickname, The Ice Queen, due to her cold, calm and calculated attitudes.

She is often seen soaring with her troops using a corsair jet pack and leading other psykers, combining their powers to maximum effect. Her psychic guidance has saved many Stardancer lives and doomed countless others to a quick demise at the end of the corsair fleet's guns. However, she's not afraid of getting stuck in, willing to fight shoulder to shoulder with her comrades through the dangerous storm of melee combat to ensure the Stardancers are victorious.

Nobody is quite sure where she came from or why she left. Any inquiries are met with a stern gaze and a refusal to elaborate.

### Corsair Baron Aryn Nerelith

Aryn Nerelith left the Path of the Warrior to join up with the Stardancer Corsairs. He was a prominent member of the Shining Spear shrine who was won over during a joint battle against an Imperial Guard regiment who blocked Craftworld forces from extracting from a warzone. The corsairs swooped in, perhaps not saving the entire Craftworld strikeforce, but their flanking attack certainly saved some lives. Ever since that day, Aryn has worked his way up the corsair leadership, gaining his title through hard work and dedication to the fleet's goals.

There is speculation that he's Lyanna's consort, but such rumours are quickly denied and shot down. Some see his dedication to the fleet as dedication to her, though both he and Narésiel deny this, simply attributing his focus to the fleet as a byproduct of his long service on the Path of the Warrior while he was still with Craftworld Ithyl-Loc.

### Corsair Baron Lerian Andaryn

Opposite to Aryn, Lerian was plucked from the pits of Commorragh. While the corsairs try to avoid the dark city where possible, they sometimes find their way there to trade or gather resources through other means. Andaryn was a prominent member of the Cult of the Crimson Dance and a remarkably competent pit-fighter; when he was pitted against Lyanna during her time in captivity, he found her to be a tough opponent, though he clearly had the upper hand. When it seemed like she was about to lose, her opportunity to escape presented itself when a Tyranid monstrosity broke free of its bonds and started rampaging through the arena. Her tenacity and skill in both combat and her escape impressed him, though it was not respect at first that had him follow her; it was more down to his own amusement in seeing the family feud escalate after discovering the Master Succubus of his Wych Cult was Lyanna's grandmother.

He has said he wants a rematch with Lyanna at some point, though he has not officially issued his challenge yet. Nobody knows whether it'll be to the death or not. This has earned him some level of distrust, as there are those who suspect him to be an agent of te Cult of the Crimson Dance, just biding his time to assassinate Lyanna, though his respect of her has grown greatly over the years, seeing her as a worthy leader and a competent warrior. Perhaps his true motives are to aid Lyanna in such a way as to depose the Arinella Narésiel and take her throne, gaining control over the Wych Cult himself.

## Notable Battles

The Stardancer Corsairs are currently engaged in a large-scale campaign known as the Ardraxian Campaign.