vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Primus Medicae - Primus Medicae: Primus medicae was an officer rank of the Space Marine Legions used during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy for a senior Apothecary of a Legion's Apothecarion. Primus medicae was one of several specialty ranks that fell under the generalised banner of the mid-tier Legion officer rank of consul, formally known as a Legiones Consularis in High Gothic, which was awarded to an individual Astartes who was recognised for their unique talents and hard-won skills.High officers of the Legion Apothecarion, the primus medicae of a Legion held the onerous duties of both ensuring the battle-readiness and physical well-being of their battle-brothers. This was an authority which none but a primarch or his chosen deputy could overrule, and such warriors were dedicated to preserving the gene-seed of the Legion from loss or contamination at any cost, even that of their lives.The primus medicae were skilled in all the fields of medicae relevant to the biomedical care of Astartes on and off the battlefield and the creation of new Space Marines for the Legion using the accelerated maturation techniques in use at the time of the Great Crusade.
Primus Medicae - Unit Composition: 1 Primus Medicae
Primus Medicae - Wargear: Cataphractii Pattern Terminator ArmourMedicae HarnessRelic Narthecium with built-in Stub GunRelic Phosphex RifleFrag GrenadesKrak Grenades
Primus Medicae - Optional Wargear: Artificer Armour (Any Firstborn pattern)AuspexCombi-weapon (Any type)Volkite Charger
Primus Nullificator - Primus Nullificator: Primus Nullificator was an officer rank of the Space Marine Legions created during the Horus Heresy who were tasked with the esoteric duties of combating Daemons and other Warp entities. Primus Nullificator was one of several specialty ranks that fell under the generalised banner of the mid-tier Legion officer rank of consul, formally known as a Legiones Consularis in High Gothic, which was awarded to an individual Astartes who was recognised for their unique talents and hard-won skills.With the increase of uncontrollable occurrences of Daemonic incursion across the galaxy during the Horus Heresy, many officers within the Legiones Astartes on both sides of the conflict resorted to arcane and superstitious means to counter the little-understood threat presented by the Warp entities.These pioneers sanctioned research into esoteric artefacts and weapons and openly sought prohibited lore in the hope that it would provide wisdom capable of combatting the galaxy's intangible horrors. These Space Marine officers, who were first among the Nullificators, forged an example and encouraged those serving under them to also seek out the answers to the arcane threat they now faced by any means necessary.
Primus Nullificator - Role: Only as the Traitor forces of Warmaster Horus revealed the true corruption of their hearts by the Ruinous Powers did the Primus Nullificators begin to appear in the order of battle of the Legiones Astartes. The first such units were ad-hoc assemblies of veteran warriors wielding hastily manufactured weaponry and poorly understood superstition in a brave attempt to stem the tide of Chaos madness Horus had unleashed upon the Imperium.Few of these valiant warriors would survive, but the wisdom bought with their lives earned their successors all the better. By the final years of the Horus Heresy, the Nullificators had become a highly disciplined arm of the Space Marine Legions, forged in the crucible of desperation to counter the threat of the foulest xenos breeds and the Daemonic incursions that had become all too frequent.
Primus Nullificator - Unit Composition: 1 Primus Nullificator
Primus Nullificator - Wargear: Cataphractii Pattern Terminator ArmourHexagrammic Wards - Varying widely in form and efficacy based on both the origin and experience of the unit, wards either etched into or worn upon the armour of Nullificators quickly became a standard feature of their panoply of war as the terrors of the Horus Heresy veered further into the realms of madness. By the end of the Scouring, such measures were codified as a sub-surface pattern of etched warding runes, formed of rare alloys and mineral compounds, but during the earliest years of the Horus Heresy often amounted to little more than half-understood scrawlings and pagan charms.Aether-Shock Maul - Based on a similar technology to the Volkite Weapons developed on Mars, these vicious Shock Mauls discharged pulses of stored actinic energy when they struck a foe, which could prove particularly damaging to the physical corpus of Daemons materialised in realspace.Combi-bolter
Primus Nullificator - Optional Wargear: The following weapons may be exchanged for an Aether-Shock Maul:Power FistPower Weapon (Any type)Thunder HammerToxiferran Flamer (As replacement for Combi-bolter) - A Toxiferran Flamer is a deadlier form of a standard Flamer that utilises a highly volatile mixture of chemicals laced with horrific toxins and psi-reactive particulate matter which earned a reputation to rival even the dread phosphex and molecular acids in its destructive capacity. This mixture was later developed into bespoke weapons which were shared among the nascent Space Marine Legions.Grenade Harness
Prince of Blood (Anthology Short Story) - Prince of Blood (Anthology Short Story): Prince of Blood is a short story published in The Primarchs series that was originally part of an anthology. Prince of Blood was first published as part of the Sons of the Emperor anthology in February 2018. The cover image used is that of Sons of the Emperor, as Prince of Blood has yet to be published separately.
Prince of Blood (Anthology Short Story) - Synopsis: Aboard the flagship Conqueror, the Legionaries and mortal crew face a slow and terrible death, driven insane by thirst or to increasing acts of violence. Their only hope lies with Khârn, who will risk anything to save the fleet and a Primarch slowly succumbing to madness. For Khârn knows the blood must flow...
Prince of Crows (Novella) - Prince of Crows (Novella): Prince of Crows is a novella published in The Horus Heresy series that was originally part of an anthology. Prince of Crows was first published as part of the Shadows of Treachery main series anthology in September 2012. The cover image used is that of the e-book version of Prince of Crows which was re-published in May 2014.
Prince of Crows (Novella) - Synopsis: The Thramas Crusade draws to its inevitable conclusion, with the forces of the Dark Angels and the Night Lords locked in a struggle that neither side can bring themselves to abandon. The Night Haunter lies comatose after being mauled by his Primarch brother Lion El'Jonson, and in his absence it falls to First Captain Sevatar and the remaining members of the Kyroptera to command the Legion. But the self-styled "Prince of Crows" has his own plans to save the VIII Legion from annihilation -- plans he intends to follow, with or without his comrades in tow...
Prince Yriel - Prince Yriel: Prince Yriel, High Admiral and an Aeldari Autarch of Craftworld Iyanden, is a brilliant if reckless commander in Iyanden's grand fleet. He is not of pure Iyanden blood but is honoured as one of the greatest defenders and servants of Iyanden.High Admiral of Iyanden's armada and bastard scion of the House of Ulthanash, Prince Yriel is a consummate Aeldari fleet commander. The incidents that shaped much of Yriel's life came when he led a bold attack against an encroaching Chaos Warfleet. His victory over the scions of the Dark Gods was overwhelming, but it temporarily left Craftworld Iyanden all but unprotected and killed thousands of Aeldari.Instead of accolades, Yriel earned bitter censure from the Craftworld's leaders. Driven by pride, he became an Outcast, vowing never to set foot on Iyanden again. When he left, his followers -- the Eldritch Raiders -- left with him. Under Yriel's leadership, they were to become the galaxy's most feared Aeldari Corsair ﬂeet.It is likely that Yriel would never have returned to the world-ship that spurned him had it not been assailed by the Tyranid Hive Fleet Kraken in 992.M41. The ﬂame of Iyanden was all but snuffed out when the Corsair prince led his Raiders in a glorious return. As the Craftworld was about to fall, Yriel and his Eldritch Raiders blew a sizeable hole in the Tyranid's fleet and reinforced Iyanden's forces within the Craftworld's corridors and on its surface.In a daring series of strikes, the hammer of Yriel's attack crushed the Tyranid ﬂeet against the anvil of the Craftworld's guns. On Iyanden's surface he drew forth the ill-fated Spear of Twilight from the Shrine of Ulthanash, a weapon so potent it curses the soul of any who near it. With this mighty artefact he slew the Tyranid leader-beast, a Hive Tyrant, in a single blow, and in doing so, unmade its swarms and their connection to the Hive Mind.Yriel was then restored to his position as an Autarch of Iyanden and the Craftworld's High Admiral. However, in saving his people Yriel had doomed himself. The Spear is no mortal weapon, and cannot be abandoned. Though he technically holds the office of Autarch of Iyanden, Yriel still plies the stars, seeking a way to restore his Craftworld to its former majesty before it finally fades into myth.Yriel was recently slain defending Iyanden from an assault by the Plague Fleets of Nurgle at the time of the 13th Black Crusade. He was resurrected by Yvraine, the leader of the Ynnari and prophet of Ynnead, the Aeldari God of the Dead. She revealed that the "Spear of Twilight" was actually one of the Crone Swords, the legendary blades that could be used to bring Ynnead to full consciousness. She transformed the "Spear" back into its true form as a sword and plunged it into Yriel's chest, using Ynnead's power to restore him to life so that he could continue to lead Iyanden into a new age of hope for the Aeldari.
Prince Yriel - History: High Admiral of the Eldritch Raiders and bastard scion of the House of Ulthanash, Prince Yriel is a consummate Aeldari military commander. Yriel is a scion of the House of Ulthanash, one of the oldest and noblest lineages in the Aeldari race. In Aeldari mythology Ulthanash was friend to Eldanesh, the greatest hero of the mortal Aeldari, and fought at his side in many perilous battles. Alas, Ulthanash came to quarrel with Eldanesh, and thus walked a path that brought much woe down upon the nascent Aeldari race.Though the two heroes fought as brothers once more before the end, there has ever after been mistrust between those Aeldari on the Asuryani Craftworlds who can trace their lineage back to the House of Ulthanash, and those that claim descent from the House of Eldanesh.In his youth, despite his lack of years, Yriel was chosen to walk the Path of Command; a level of trust that many speculated was unwarranted, especially in light of future events. Before his success against Hive Fleet Naga, Yriel had always been something of an outcast, isolated for his status as a half-blood. The prince's mother might have hailed from the noblest of lineages, but his father was a different matter.Though few speak on the matter in Yriel's presence, rumours abound that the prince's sire was an Outcast from another Craftworld, a title-less walker whose feet and soul followed the Path of Exile. Such would likely mean that he carried the blood of both Eldanesh and Ulthanash, which would well account for his monstrous pride. However, there are a few who whisper that Yriel's father was not an Outcast from a Craftworld at all but rather that he hailed from a darker realm by far -- Commorragh, the Dark City of the Drukhari. Those same whispers suggest that it is Yriel's loathing for this half of his nature that drives him to continually strive for fresh challenges.
Prince Yriel - Kallorax's Wrath: In the wake of the Battle of Agrion, Kallorax faced a sizable rebellion. Though this was swiftly and bloodily put down, and the ringleader's mutilated (and not yet dead) body riveted to the prow of Kallorax's personal shuttlecraft, the pirate admiral knew that the challenges would only increase unless he managed to put an end to the Aeldari's predations. Kallorax now directed his cabal of Sorcerers to divine the location of the Aeldari base. Unfortunately for him, the Seers of Iyanden had anticipated such a move and had woven a psychic shield that obscured their forces from the Sorcerer's sight. In a rage, Kallorax had his Sorcerers put to death, and instead forged pacts with Daemons, offering up ever-increasing numbers of lives in the hope of attracting the attention of a being powerful enough to give him the answers that he sought.In the end, after an unthinkable tally of lives had ended upon Kallorax's sacrificial pyres, just such an entity granted the admiral the information he desired. This was N'Kari, a Slaaneshi Daemon whose own monstrous pride allowed him to sense that of the Iyanden Aeldari, even through their psychic shield. N'kari granted Kallorax the Craftworld's location in exchange for a number of spirit stones that the pirates had seized during their battles and the promise of more to come once Kallorax had taken his revenge. Ignorant of the spirit stones' function, and therefore puzzled by the Daemon's seemingly inconsequential price, Kallorax nonetheless struck the bargain and quickly mobilised every warship at his command.So it was Iyanden scouts soon brought word that a mighty armada of ships was converging on the Craftworld. Many were appalled, seeing in the very attack they had sought to avoid. Yriel wasted no time deflecting the recriminations that came his way. Instead, he gathered his own ships and struck at the Chaos fleet whilst it was yet distant from Iyanden. Yriel was so confident in victory that he mustered every ship the Craftworld possessed, from the largest Void Stalker to the smallest Darkstar.
Prince Yriel - Duel to the Death: Aeldari prince and Traitor admiral duelled as their vassals fought and died around them. The Shadow Guard strove furiously, but the hardy wraithbone shells of the ghosts warriors were nigh-impervious to their blows, and every sweep of a Wraithblade's axe claimed an enemy's life. Meanwhile, Yriel and Kallorax fought on. The pirate lord was a lumbering brute, swinging his cumbersome Warp axe with enough force to shatter a blast door. Yriel evaded every blow with effortless grace and darted forwards to land his own immaculate strikes whenever the opportunity presented itself. Kallorax laughed, for Yriel's blows were but the stings of a bothersome insect. A cooler-headed foe would have shrugged off these jibes, but Yriel's pride chafed at the mockery and spurred him to take ever greater risks.Twice the ragged blade of Kallorax's weapon passed within a hair's breadth of the Aeldari prince's brow -- so close, in fact, that Yriel fancied he could hear the whispering voice of the Daemon-bound within. Again, the pirate lord lashed out, and again Yriel dodged the blow, but this time, Kallorax slammed an armoured gauntlet forwards as well. The mesh armour plates along Yriel's midriff stiffened to absorb the impact, but still the force of the blow hurled the prince into a bulkhead. Stunned, Yriel fell to his knees. Sensing his triumph at last, Kallorax advanced, axe readied for a final strike. Gathering what wits he could, Yriel threw himself forwards, ducked low under the axe and buried his sword to the hilt in Kallorax's chest. All at once, the pirate lord felt his strength flee. With one last curse, he toppled over, stone dead.
Prince Yriel - The Price of Arrogance: Yriel was sorrowful for the dead, but he did not weep. He knew that their fate would have been Iyanden's also, had he not made a pre-emptive strike on Kallorax's fleet. He assured himself that some sacrifices were necessary if Iyanden's destiny was to be fulfilled, and he was certain that the deaths aboard the Craftworld would be of little account when held alongside his great victory.In this, Yriel greatly misjudged the mood of his people. More than tens of thousands of lives had been lost when the torpedo struck. The Fire of Creation in the heart of Asuryan's shrine -- a flame that had blazed since the Craftworld's maiden voyage -- burned no longer. It was a portent of despair that even the dullest wit could comprehend; Iyanden was no longer worthy of its great destiny. Kelmon's cautions about Yriel were remembered, and at last heeded. So it was that Yriel was not feted and honoured as he had anticipated, but bidden to justify his chosen course. Yriel was outraged at being questioned so. Along with his closest followers, he departed voluntarily into exile, declaring darkly that he would never set foot on Iyanden again.Kelmon watched the disgraced prince depart with a tumult of emotions. He was glad that the Craftworld's madness had at last burnt itself out, but he despaired at the price. Iyanden had suffered grievous harms, and had lost not only its ablest admiral, but also a sizable portion of the fleet, for many vessels had chosen to enter exile alongside Yriel. Kelmon knew that, in encouraging Yriel's rashness, he was just as responsible as the prince for what had happened, but he drew strength from the fact that his actions had diverted a greater disaster; Or so he thought. Kelmon's mood soured when he cast the runes again, for their pattern was unchanged. The runes of pride, doom and salvation were in orbit about Asuryan; whatever fate they alluded to had not yet been averted.
Prince Yriel - The Doom of Iyanden: Never, in all the preceding millennia, had Iyanden been humbled so. The physical damage wrought upon the Craftworld was without precedent, but the loss of Asuryan's Flame gouged a far more grievous wound in Iyanden's collective psyche. But a greater peril was soon to come. It is likely that Yriel would have never returned to the home that spurned him had Iyanden not faced annihilation in the face of the assault of Hive Fleet Kraken in 992.M41. When the Tyranids came again, they did so in numbers greater than ever before.With its fleet now completely destroyed, Iyanden was fully engulfed, as clouds of spores settled, infecting the Craftworld itself. Twisted forms struggled to emerge from the beautiful harmony of Iyanden's architecture. A horrific psychic scream resounded around the Craftworld's infrastructure as seething hordes of clawed, scuttling aliens were disgorged into its heart. Huge battles erupted all over Iyanden; the fighting was bitter and close-ranged, with enemy forces often only separated by the width of a wraithbone wall.Kelmon Farsight, senior Farseer of Iyanden's Council, knew that, barring a miracle, Iyanden was doomed. Again and again, he consulted the runes, desperate for hope. Each time, he saw only the same; the runes for pride, doom and salvation circling that of Asuryan. As the Tyranids swarmed across Iyanden, Kelmon sealed himself away in the Chambers of Starlight, his meditation halls, and sought enlightenment. The Tyranids advanced as never before, but still Kelmon remained hidden in the Chambers of Starlight. Desperate obsession drove the Farseer now, and he did not heed how his absence caused his people to lose heart.Emerging at last from the Chambers of Starlight, Kelmon gathered together what Farseers remained and led them to the Dome of the Crystal Seers. A message needed to be sent, he told them, one which had to breach the Shadow in the Warp if there was to be any chance of survival. Working in concert, Iyanden's surviving Farseers sent a focussed beam of psychic energy through the Hive Mind's choking presence, driving aside the writhing tendrils with telepathic light. Kelmon's mind soared across empty light years of space, touching at last upon that of Yriel, Iyanden's greatest exile.Kelmon had planned to offer an apology, to promise that Yriel's name would be restored if only he would return to defend his home in its desperate need. In the end, he had opportunity to say none of these things. Scarcely had Kelmon made contact when the floor heaved, and the Tyranids burst into the dome. A half-dozen Farseers were slain in the moment of the breach, either by the bio-electric bursts of Trygons or the waves of Termagants that followed in their wake. Kelmon felt the contact sever, cursed his ill luck, and called down eldritch fire upon his attackers.
Prince Yriel - The Outcast Returns: Many light years distant, Yrield experienced Kelmon's contact as a waking dream, filled with darkness and emotion. He glimpsed snatches of Tyranids rampaging through the ruined domes of his former home; he saw the shattered wraithbone spires, and he saw the ravaged bodies of the dead lying thick in the passageways. Yriel did not need to hear the words Kelmon had planned to speak, for he knew the truth. Iyanden was fighting for survival.He had to return home -- but he would not do so alone. Yriel had not been idle in the fifty Terran years since leaving Iyanden. In that time, he had forged his followers into a pirate fleet known as the Eldritch Raiders. Operating out of many of Kallorax's old strongholds, Yriel had continued the war against Chaos. Along the way, he had clashed with the Imperium of Man many times.Upon realising that they could not defeat Yriel in space-bound battle, the humans had instead attempted to foster rivalry between the Eldritch Raiders and two other pirate companies -- Xian's Black Raiders and the Scarlet Command. This quickly backfired when Yriel simply seized control of his rivals' fleets. Yriel convened a council of his fleet captains, and announced his intention to return to Iyanden. He warned them that he was almost certainly sailing into the jaws of death, and bade only the willing to follow him. Not one vessel elected to remain behind. Outcasts all, they were still Aeldari, and thus possessed a sense of duty that far eclipsed the petty honour codes of other races. They would fight.
Prince Yriel - The Price of Victory: The victory on Iyanden was a hollow one indeed, for though the Craftworld's defenders had repulsed the invaders, there were barely any left alive to witness the victory. Iyanden stood in ruins, a crumbling remnant of its former glory. Four-fifths of the population lay dead or dying in the battle-scarred halls -- a terrible blow to the declining Aeldari race.Amongst the dead lay Kelmon Farsight, surrounded by the bodies of a dozen Tyranids rent by psychic fire. Iyanden's graceful and majestic fleet had been reduced to a pitiful shadow of its once mighty statue, the blasted remains orbiting in deathly silence around the shattered worldship. The Craftworld's once-beautiful landscape was covered in the blackened corpses of Tyranids. The eldritch architecture was devastated; slender wraithbone towers and magnificent crystal domes lay broken and shattered. Worse still, the very souls contained in those spirit stones that had been destroyed by the Tyranids were lost forever.Yet even in the darkness, some hope remained. Silvereye assumed Kelmon's place at the head of the council and begged Yriel to stay. Iyanden needed all of its sons and daughters if it were to survive. Yriel did not answer at first. He could feel the baleful energies of the Spear of Twilight coursing through him and knew that he had changed his destiny forever by taking up the blade. Yet Yriel knew also that he could not abandon Iyanden a second time. Thus did the Scion of the Hosue of Ulthanash at last come home.
Prince Yriel - A Craftworld Divided: The Kraken's onslaught had not only disrupted the balance between life and death, it had also destroyed Iyanden's unity, and those Aeldari that remained, living and dead, polarised into two factions. One group, in which Yriel was the loudest voice, wished to continue the war against Chaos. They no longer believed that the Craftworld's might was sufficient to achieve lasting victory, but would not despair.The other group believed that Iyanden could rise from the ashes like the phoenix of myth, and that the Craftworld's forces should not be frittered away on a fatalistic crusade. This second faction was far smaller, at least at first, but many influential individuals, including the Spiritseer Iyanna Arienal, swelled its ranks.It fell to Taec Silvereye, as head of Iyanden's council, to keep the peace between these two factions. Yriel was given whatever forces could be spared in order to prosecute campaigns, but not to the point that Iyanden was left unprotected or that Iyanna Arienal could not pursue her goals of returning the Craftworld to greatness. Thus did Taec Sivereye keep death and life in balance. It was a solution that pleased neither faction, but it held Iyanden together.
Prince Yriel - WAAAGH! Rekkfist: Only one threat in all this time came close to ending Iyanden: the forces of WAAAGH! Rekkfist. As the Craftworld broached the Antellas System, the runes warned Taec Silvereye that the planets in Iyanden's path were heavily infested with Orks -- any attempt to pass through would end in disaster. Nor was retreat an option; Iyanden's fleet had already engaged several Kill Kroozers, and there could be no doubt that the Orks knew of the craftworld's presence. The only hope remaining to the Eldar of Iyanden was for them to unleash a pre-emptive attack on Rekkfist's empire. It said much for the scale of the Ork threat that Yriel and Iyanna put aside their differences and agreed to work in concert; the needs of survival transcended the sanctity of ideology. Whilst Iyanna did not go so far as to put her supporters under Yriel's command, she had them offer the prince every assistance and ceased questioning his leadership in public. It seemed that the great threat presented by the Orks had brought the two halves of Iyanden's people together in a way that no peaceable endeavour could ever have achieved.
Prince Yriel - Yriel Strikes: In space, Yriel's fleet had at last joined the battle for Iyanden. The prince was briefly tempted to have his warriors disembark and fight aboard the Craftworld as they had against Hive Fleet Kraken, but quickly discarded the idea. The Ork hull was pounding Iyanden's outer hull with kannon shells and rokkits even as it launched more boarding torpedoes at the Craftworld. There could be no victory until it was destroyed. Detailing half his ships to intercept and destroy the boarding torpedoes, Yriel led the rest in low-level flight across the hulk's surface, blasting apart the stanchions that bound together the ruined starships and captive asteroids that formed its hull. After a dozen such flights, the hulk began to break up, jumbled wreckage spinning lazily into space from the force of the explosions. Thousands of greenskin bodies vented into space as the hulk's structure finally lost integrity. With a grim smile, Yriel turned his fleet back towards Iyanden.Despite the efforts of the fleet, countless boarding torpedoes had breached Iyanden, and the Orks had spread far and wide throughout the Craftworld. The greenskins avoided the ghost halls, for the clamouring of spirit voices made them uneasy, but they wrought much damage elsewhere. Taec Silvereye had fallen back before the horde, trading distance for time in which other ghost warriors could be awoken and marshalled to the fight, but at last, he had run out of places to retreat to. Then, as the Farseer prepared for what he knew would be the final assault, salvation came from a most unlikely source. Without warning, Iyanden's webway portal flared and a new and sinister force burst onto the Craftworld. These were warriors of the Wraithkind Kabal and the Cult of the Flayed Hand -- the Dark Eldar of cruel Commorragh had come to their cousins' aid. Like a wind of blades they swept through the passageways and halls of Iyanden, leaving only mutilated greenskin corpses in their wake. Seeing the Orks falter, though not knowing the cause, Taec Silvereye urged his own forces forwards. By the time Yriel arrived, not an Ork remained alive within Iyanden's halls.Moments later, Yriel's fleet was on the move again, this time carrying reinforcement to Antellas Prime where Iyanna Arienal was still embattled. To everyone's surprise, the Dark Eldar Archons offered their aid once more, explaining that they found great amusement in Iyanden's necromantic dabbling and would be delighted to bear further witness. Disgusted, but unable to refuse any aid, Yriel agreed to allow the dark kin aboard his vessels.
Prince Yriel - A Brief Respite: With the Orks of WAAAGH! Rekkfist defeated, the Eldar of Iyanden at last experienced a few brief years of relative peace. There were still wars and battles to be fought, of course, for the galaxy was ever a cruel home, and Yriel's spear seldom found itself resting idle.But these, at least, were not conflicts fought for Iyanden's very survival; never since that time have alien feet tread uninvited through the Craftworld's hallowed halls. This period of relative calm allowed the Bonesingers to affect a great many repairs; as the millennium drew to a close, their constant labours had seen a substantial part of the Craftworld restored to glory. Given another thousand Terran years, or so the Bonesingers said, Iyanden would perhaps be made whole.Though it all, Iyanna Arienal continued her search to fulfill the prophecy of the Phoenix Arisen. Fully half the Tears of Morai-Heg had now been discovered, or so she said, although shared no details of her final goal with even her closest supporters. On those rare times she could be found aboard the Craftworld, Iyanna could invariably be found communing with Olari Dreamshaper, one of the oldest of Iyanden's Bonesingers. It was rumoured that they talk only of the Craftworld's infinity circuit, though one knew the reason behind it.
Prince Yriel - The Kraken's Legacy: A desperate decision from the past now came back to haunt Iyanden. In the aftermath of the battle with Hive Fleet Kraken, the Craftworld's Farseers had created an artificial Warp Storm to block the Tyranid pursuit. Hundreds of bio-ships had plunged into that otherwordly tempest, and the Eldar assumed they had all been destroyed, or at least banished to where they could wreak no immediate harm.Alas, this was not the case. Forewarned by the prophecies of Taec Silvereye, the Eldar of Iyanden learned that the fickle eddies of the Warp had cast the Kraken's tendril back into realspace. Worse, the bio-ships had reappeared near Dûriel -- a world known to the Imperium as Valedor -- directly in the path of Hive Fleet Leviathan. The two fleets could not be permitted to combine, lest an unstoppable potent strain of Tyranids emerge to threaten Iyanden again. The Tyranids had to be stopped, and they had to be stopped at Dûriel.Iyanden knew its forces were too distant to reach Dûriel in time, and too few to guarantee victory, but it would not need to stand alone. Biel-Tan soon pledged its aid, and even the dark kin of Commorragh agreed to join the fight. Indeed, it was the Dark Eldar who provided the solution -- a psychically triggered device that could spark the planet's molten core into a cataclysmic fury, destroying Dûriel and every Tyranid upon it. This device was known as the Fireheart, but it could not be detonated remotely -- Dûriel could be destroyed, but it would require the seers who actived the Fireheart to perish along with it.
Prince Yriel - The Red Death of Dûriel: In 778.999.M41, Dûriel had become a crucible of war as the Eldar fought to prevent the melding of Hive Fleets Kraken and Leviathan. The Swordwind of Biel-Tan arrived first to Dûriel, and thus bore the burden of the initial fighting, but Iyanden's forces soon found that their own battles began before they even reached their destination. The unthinkable had happened -- the Tyranids had breached the Webway.As Iyanden's vanguard confirmed that the Dûriel Webway gate had been compromised, Taec Silvereye ordered the Craftworld's Ghost Warriors to lead the counterattack. A wall of implacable wraithbone forms blocked the glowing Webway tunnels, a barrier that only the mightiest bio-abominations could breach.Suncannons and D-Scythes flared, and the Tyranid infestation stalled. Then, Iyanden's Avatar, reborn in rage and fire, entered the battle. As the molten giant plunged into the Tyranid lines, the glory of Khaine swept over the Guardians and ghost warriors that came in his wake. Those Tyranids that were not hacked down or torn apart by shuriken were trampled underfoot as the Eldar of Iyanden forced their way through the webway portal and onto Dûriel's embattled surface.They arrived to find the final battle for Dûriel well underway atop the mountain known as the Godpeak. As the Farseers of Biel-Tan bent the Fireheart to their will, the combined Eldar and Dark Eldar hosts fought to keep the Tyranid swarms at bay. The air reverberated with alien roars and the hissing of shuriken fire. Time and again, the Tyranids hurled themselves at the Eldar positions, the ruthless will of the Hive Mind ever probing for a weakness to exploit. It did not find one.The Eldar fought at the last as the planet came apart beneath them. Taec Silvereye perished there, guiding the Wraithguard of House Illumenwë as they held back the doomed Tyranid swarms long enough for the remaining Eldar to escape. In the skies above, Yriel led the Iyanden fleet against the bio-ships of Hive Fleet Kraken, harnessing his hard-won experience to destroy every last obscene vessel.Even then, at the last, it seemed as if the Hive Mind might win its prize, that the precious bio-information encoded in the Kraken swarms might be reclaimed by Hive Fleet Leviathan, but a last minute strike by Dark Eldar fighter-craft delayed the reabsorption long enough for the Fireheart to complete its cataclysmic purpose. Though many lives had been spent, the union of the hive fleets had been denied. Iyanden was safe again.
Prince Yriel - The End Times Approach: Though Iyanden had lost comparatively few of its warriors during the defeat of the twin hive fleets, those losses it had suffered were hard to bear. Many of its Farseers had perished during the pivotal battle at the Godpeak, Taec Silvereye amongst them, and the absence of their wisdom would hurt the Craftworld greatly in the future. Many thought also that Iyanna Airenal had been slain. She had been ever at Taec Silvereye's side during that battle, and most had assumed that the Farseer's fate had been hers also.Yet this fear, at least, was unfounded, for Iyanna was soon discovered amongst the wounded. She had tried to remain at Taec's side, she insisted, but the Farseer had ordered her to leave and continue her work. As for Yriel, he was weary to his bones. He sensed that Dûriel had been his last battle and that the Spear of Twilight had burnt away all but the last of his soul. For nearly ten years, he had fought the enemies of his craftworld without rest and without companionship -- whatever hope he had remaining was not for his own fate, but for that of his kin.In the depths of night, Yriel returned to the Shrine of Ulthanash, whence he had taken the Spear of Twilight those long years ago. He said no farewells and spoke not of his purpose. No one marked his passage. The prince soon stood within the shrine, before the very reliquary where the Spear of Twilight had once lain. He bowed his head, intending to return the weapon to its rightful repose, even though the act would claim his life. With one last whispered prayer to Asuryan, he began to lower the Spear of Twilight into its cradle, only to stop when the felt a hand upon his. Yriel looked up and beheld the smooth, dark mask of the Shadowseer Sylandri Veilwalker, who he had not seen since he had first taken up the spear.The Shadowseer told the prince that his labours were not yet done; that night was descending upon the galaxy, but that a chance of an Aeldari Empire restored waited in the dawn. As Yriel listened, the walls of the shrine flickered with vibrant images of worlds afire, of daemons loose among the stars and of the Aeldari Gods reborn to glory.Yriel felt his soul grown strong again, though whether it was the Shadowseer's words, her touch or the images he saw that wrought this change, he did not know. Yriel drew the Spear of Twilight to his side once more and stood tall -- taller, indeed, than he had in many years. In that moment, he saw that he had many more battles to fight -- it was not yet time for his soul to know peace. Veilwalker's illusions faded away, and she beckoned Yriel after her into the shadows of the shrine. Tightening his grip on the Spear of Twilight, Yriel followed. It was a long time before he was seen in that part of the galaxy again. Meanwhile, the story of Iyanden Craftworld continues on, but to what destination, not even the gods can say.
Prince Yriel - Death and Rebirth: In the closing days of the 41st Millennium during the 13th Black Crusade, Iyanden was again invaded. This time, Space Hulks carrying the daemonic legions of the Daemon Prince Gara'gugul'gor threatened the Craftworld in the name of the Plague Lord Nurgle. Iyanden was only saved thanks to the efforts of Yriel and the newly arrived Ynnari, the Aeldari of all factions who served the slowly awakening Aeldari God of the Dead, Ynnead.In the final stages of the battle Yriel used the Spear of Twilight to destroy Gara'gugul'gor and his Space Hulk at the cost of his own life. However shortly after his corpse was recovered brought to Iyanden. Yriel was resurrected by Yvraine, the leader of the Ynnari and chosen prophet of Ynnead who revealed that the Spear of Twilight was actually one of the five legendary Crone Swords, five ancient Aeldari artefacts lost for millennia.Guided by the hand of Ynnead, Yvraine transformed the "Spear" into its true form as a sword and plunged its blade into Yriel's body. As Ynnead's power flowed through the sword, Yriel was resurrected, ready to lead the Aeldari forward into a new and hopeful future.
Prince Yriel - Wargear: Eye of Wrath - A monocular device worn over Yriel's left eye that can unleash a tempest of lightning upon those under his gaze.Heavy Aspect Armour - Incorporating thick armoured plates but retaining much of the vaunted Aeldari flexibility, Heavy Aspect Armour is amongst the finest forms of personal protection in the galaxy.Forceshield - A Forceshield is a wrist-mounted device that contains a powerful gravitic projector that can deflect almost any ranged or melee attack. The force field projector's small size sets it apart from the more clunky and restrictive armour used by other races.Plasma Grenades - Aeldari Plasma Grenades use a small amount of exploding plasma that is deliberately released from an electromagentic containment field held within the grenade's core to blind the enemy and prevent them from properly using their terrain to defend their position against advancing enemy forces.Spear of Twilight - Eternally bound to this Cursed Blade of the House of Ulthanesh, this weapon is said to contain the baleful energies of a dying sun, a literal supernova of power. Yriel constantly battles with the sentient energies of the Spear of Twilight  to prevent them from consuming him, his Forceshield allaying the worst of the weapon's effects. However, the day will come when he no longer possesses the willpower to master the Spear, and on that day he will be consumed by the weapon's raging internal fires. However, the "Spear" was recently revealed to be one of the Crone Swords intended to awaken the Aeldari God of the Dead Ynnead. It was used by Ynnead's prophet, Yvraine, to resurrect Yriel after he was slain defeating the forces of the Nurglite Daemon Prince Gara'gugul'gor.
Prince Yriel - Trivia: Yriel first appeared in the Warhammer 40,000 universe as the "self-styled 'Lord Prince Yriel,'" where it is mentioned that Imperium-fostered rivalries between Yriel and other pirate bands resulted in factional fighting; his conquest and absorption of two of these rival groups (Xian's Black Raiders and the Scarlet Command) transformed him into the single most powerful Aeldari pirate operating in the galaxy.
Princeps - Ranks: Beyond their command of an individual Titan, princeps are accorded different ranks within their Titan Legion, status which is usually based upon both their length of service as a princeps and the type of Titan that they command. More senior princeps usually command the more powerful classes of Titan.The various ranks accorded to princeps tend to differ from Legio to Legio, wholly dependent upon that Titan Order's culture and the traditions of the variant of the Cult Mechanicus that rules its home Forge World.The ranks presented below represent some of this diversity in titles, and they have been placed in relative order of seniority, from highest to lowest. Not all of these princeps ranks are present in every Titan Legion, and some of them may simply be alternative names for the same ranks present in more traditional Legios.Grand Master - The grand master is the most senior princeps of a Titan Order, and serves as the overall commander of their Legio. They are responsible only to the ruling magi of their Legio's home Forge World.MarshalPrinceps MaximusHigh PrincepsPrinceps Seniores (Princeps Senioris) - The command of a Titan maniple is generally granted to the most senior princeps within it, although there have been notable exceptions. In any case, the elevated officer is granted the High Gothic rank of "princeps seniores" or "princeps senioris," which means a "senior princeps" in Low Gothic. The princeps seniores is charged with dictating the maniple's strategic and tactical approaches. The senior princeps' personality will shape the way the maniple hunts and fights, and as such the rank is highly sought after by ambitious princeps who wish to prove their worth.Princeps MajorisPrinceps UltimaPrinceps PenultimaPrinceps PrimusPrinceps CaptainPrinceps - A Collegia Titanica officer with the rank of princeps always has full command over one Titan of any class.
Princeps - Chaos Princeps: During the Horus Heresy, half of the Titan Legions declared support for the Warmaster Horus, and since those ancient times, the fickle blessings of the Ruinous Powers have warped many of them.Although some of the Traitor princeps have remained largely unchanged, and are presumed to operate their Chaos Titans as described above, the rest have become hideously disfigured and physically merged with the corrupted war machines they command, linked with them not only in mind, but in flesh as well.
Princeps - Sources: Adeptus Titanicus (1st Edition), pg. 6Codex Titanicus (1st Edition), pp. 4, 7, 15, 22, 30Adeptus Titanicus: The Horus Heresy - Rulebook (Specialty Game), pg. 53Imperial Armour Volume Six - The Siege of Vraks - Part Two, pg. 182Imperial Armour Volume Seven - The Siege of Vraks - Part Three, pg. 49Wargammer 40,000 Rulebook (4th Edition), pg. 121Titanicus (Novel), by Dan AbnettMechanicum (Novel), by Graham McNeillHelsreach (Novel), by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Chs. IV, XXIIMortis (Novel) by John French, "Dramatis Personae"Warlord: Fury of the God Machine (Novel) by David AnnandaleServants of the Machine God (Anthology), "Gates of the Devourer" (Short Story) by David Annandale
Principia Belicosa - Principia Belicosa: The Principia Belicosa, also spelled Principia Bellicosa, was the principal tome of Imperial military organisation, strategy and tactics used during the Great Crusade. It was based on those used by ancient Roma and many other military guides of the Human past stretching back long beyond even the Age of Terra into deep antiquity. It was utilised by the Legiones Astartes as the primary source that dictated their disciplined structure and tactical organisation when they were first created in the latter years of the Unification Wars in the seventh century of the 30th Millennium.The sage wisdom of this work was taken from the ancient and proven Terran patterns of strategy, hierarchy and function as laid down in this revered text, as well as Krom (Oliver Cromwell)'s fragmentary New Model, that had survived in the hands of the tyrants of Old Earth down the blood-stained generations of the Age of Strife. To these venerable treatises the Emperor of Mankind and His commanders had added their own genius and created a sturdy but adaptable strategic framework that spoke to the fundamental strengths and transhuman abilities of the Astartes themselves.The chain of command was simple and direct, and the Legions' officers, themselves mighty transhuman warriors, would lead them into battle personally as had long been the wont of the techno-barbarian tribes of Old Earth, and the battle would be taken always to their enemy. This was because to defeat a foe was never enough for the Legiones Astartes, only the utter destruction of an enemy of the Emperor was victory.This cold logic, coupled with their inhuman strength and bearing, and the sheer dread they inflicted on friend and enemy alike, was to give them one of their earliest appellations, and perhaps their most appropriate -- "the Angels of Death." It would be a name they would earn time and time again.At the outset of the Great Crusade, in ca. 798.M30, many of these early Legions were organised according to the so-called "Terran Pattern" of military hierarchy, nomenclature and tactical organisation as formulated by the Imperial Officio Militaris.
Principia Belicosa - Legion Structure: Throughout the early years of the Great Crusade, many of the Space Marine Legions kept much of their outward structure as it had existed since the wars for Terran and Solar Unity, which had adhered closely to the Terran Pattern laid down by the Officio Militaris before the Legions' unification with their primarchs.However, by the time of the outbreak of inter-Legionary hostilities during the Horus Heresy in the early 31st Millennium, the command and organisational structure of a Legion was often more a mirror of the character and preferences of its primarch and its abiding culture than formal writ. While certain formations and features were common, as an outgrowth of practical matters such as deployment and logistics, the Legions' organisation and nomenclature was far from standardised. The various terms of convenient external classifications for internal Legion tactical formations ("great companies," "regiments," "chapters," "battalions," "cohorts," "demi-chapters," etc.) were realities during the Great Crusade.More often the practical reality of the Legions' disposition would vary still more as terminology used within different Legions for equivalent ranks and specialisations bore the mark of each Legion's character and culture rather than the desires of central administrators for a common nomenclature. In some cases this discrepancy increased as local planetary languages came to replace Imperial Terran -- the language known to later generations as High Gothic.