Craftworld - Iyanden: The Iyanden craftworld was once one of the largest and most prosperous of all the remaining Asuryani craftworlds. Having barely survived the Fall, the Asuryani of Iyanden did not long despair. Disaster fanned the flames of their arrogance where it had doused them in others.Those who had survived the Fall had done so precisely because they had never succumbed to corruption, or so the Asuryani of Iyanden said, and it was their duty to rebuild. Thus did the Seers of Iyanden harness ancient techniques of mysticism and science to recover the first Spirit Stones from the Crone Worlds, and soon thereafter adapted the Infinity Circuit of their craftworld to be a conduit for the souls of the dead.Though Slaanesh's shadow could not be truly denied, the Dark Prince would at least have to work harder for its prizes in the years that followed. It was a small victory, but against a nemesis of such terrifying and indescribable power, there would only ever be small victories. Deeming this noble goal could be more swiftly achieved though unity of purpose, Iyanden sent emissaries through the Webway to other craftworlds.They shared with them the discoveries of the Spirit Stone and Infinity Circuit, and bade them join in their great work. Iyanden's Seers soon lamented, for though their discoveries were welcomed, their call to action fell upon deaf ears or encountered minds too closed to embrace the opportunity.Many craftworlds deemed their resources just barely sufficient to ensure their survival in a hostile galaxy, and would not indulge such grandiose plans. Other major craftworlds -- Alaitoc and Ulthwé foremost amongst them -- claimed higher duties, ones that required them to focus their strength on the destruction of ancient enemies rather than rebuilding their own past. In the end, only the Asuryani of Biel-Tan joined Iyanden's cause.For thousands of Terran years, Iyanden and Biel-Tann fought as inseparable allies, their distant craftworlds united by the common goal of defeating Chaos. Though the Asuryani forces were few, when considered on a galactic scale, their mastery of the Webway allowed their fleets and warhosts to span the stars with a speed and surety no other starfaring species could ever have hoped to match. As Biel-Tann purged the western arm of the galaxy, so did Iyanden drive the forces of Chaos from the eastern rim, tirelessly defending the Exodites and Maiden Worlds they hoped would one day form the heart of a new Aeldari civilisation.Then came the Tyranids. Iyanden had encountered such creatures before, but those had only been tendrils of the Hive Mind's awareness, groping blindly through space; now Iyanden stood exposed before the onset of an entire hive fleet. In their pride, the Asuryani of Iyanden underestimated the threat. They believed that their might could weather even this storm, that their armies and fleets could vanquish the Great Devourer. Alas, they were terribly wrong.Iyanden drifts through the stars of the eastern rim. Once, its halls were busy and vibrant with life, but no longer. Now, it is but a shadow of its former glory, a sombre and desolate vessel where the dead walk and the living dwindle.Iyanden teeters on the brink of extinction after being invaded by Hive Fleet Kraken in 992.M41. Thousands upon thousands of its noble warriors fell in battle against the Great Devourer. On the verge of utter defeat, Iyanden was saved from extermination by the return of Prince Yriel and the Aeldari Corsairs of his Eldritch Raiders.Yriel had formerly been the high admiral of the Iyanden fleet. Yriel and his Asuryani Outcast pirate raiders, even though previously vowing never to return to Iyanden, could not bear to have their home craftworld destroyed and launched an attack on the Tyranid fleet. Taking the final battle to the craftworld itself, Yriel used an ancient artefact spear called the Spear of Twilight to slay the Hive Tyrant that led the assault.In doing so, Yriel doomed himself to a slow and painful death due to the psychic artefact being bound to its user and then slowly burning away their soul. The forceshield worn by Yriel staved off the constant negative energies of the Spear until such time as Yvraine, the prophet of Ynnead and her Ynnari, came to the craftworld during the Battle of Iyanden against the forces of Nurgle. Yvraine revealed that the Spear of Twilight was actually one of the missing Crone Swords, resurrecting Yriel from death with the power of the Aeldari god of the dead in the bargain.Regardless of Yriel's actions and the coming of the Ynnari, the chances of Iyanden recovering from its losses against the Tyranids remain slim and their future still looks bleak.The Iyanden craftworld can usually be located in the galactic southeast in the Segmentum Ultima and is one of the two Asuryani craftworlds found near the borders of the T'au Empire, the other being Alaitoc.The Asuryani of Iyanden rely much more heavily upon the spirits of the dead to defend them because of their low numbers. Iyanden makes heavy use of the cybernetic warriors known as the Wraithguard and Wraithlords that are animated by the souls of their fallen kin. The Iyanden have specialised psykers called Spiritseers who are trained in aiding the reanimated souls in battle.However, most Asuryani see Spiritseers as necromancers, and even the Spiritseers themselves hate disturbing the spirits of their dead. Indeed, on the eve of the attack by Hive Fleet Kraken, Iyanden's leader Farseer Kelmon made the fateful decision to take the Spirit Stones from their resting places and place them into wraithbone constructs to take to battle, knowing that they would make the difference in the craftworld's survival.Asuryan is the oldest and greatest of the ancient Aeldari deities. He is the father of the gods, the ancestor of all living things. The world-rune of the Iyanden craftworld means "Light in the Darkness," a reference to the ever-burning shrine that honours Asuryan and the flame of hope for the Asuryani of Iyanden.It has been noted that the world-rune of Iyanden that represents this Shrine of Asuryan closely resembles the torii of the Shinto religion practiced in Japan.Iyanden's chosen colours are gold and blue.