Aeldari Mythology - Fall of the Aeldari Gods: Millions of Terran years later in the 29th Millennium of the Imperial Calendar, after the Aeldari race had travelled to the stars and forged a great empire through the creation of their Webway in the Immaterium, they grew decadent and indulgent. Their thoughts and emotions coalesced in the Warp into a new and deadly God of Chaos -- Slaanesh, the Prince of Pleasure. The birth of Slaanesh and the Fall of the Aeldari heralded the end of the Aeldari pantheon.Slaanesh slew the Aeldari gods viciously -- Lileath, Asuryan, even the old, blind Morai-Heg, the goddess of fate, all were murdered by Slaanesh. Khaine, the mightiest warrior of the gods, did battle with Slaanesh and was cast down and eventually shattered into a million pieces which became the Avatars of Khaine that now belong within the Infinity Circuit of every Asuryani craftworld. Thus did Lileath's ancient prophecy come true, for the Aeldari were the cause of Khaine's destruction -- even as he battled to save them.Though this is certainly the most well-known of their myths, Aeldari mythology contains many stories, and each Aeldari is expected to know at least all of the major ones. The effect of these myths upon the Aeldari language is profound as it is said to be amazingly complex and almost incomprehensible to Human ears, mainly due to the constant and intricate references to these myths. For example, the Aeldari word Faolchú, which commonly refers to the Aeldari gravitic tank known as the Falcon among Mankind, also refers to the legendary bird and its actions during the Aeldari myths, lending the word connotations beyond the immediate meaning.Near the end of the Aeldari's version of the War in Heaven, it is believed by one craftworld that when Slaanesh claimed Isha as his own, Nurgle the Plague Lord heard her cries for help and came to her aid. Nurgle took Isha from the jaws of Slaneesh and now she is caged within his cauldron chamber in the Realm of the Plague Lord in the Warp, making her taste all of the poisons and poxes that he designs. If the results please him, he empties the contents into a bottomless drain, making it rain upon the mortal worlds. If it does not please him, he swallows the concoction, vomits it back into his cauldron and starts afresh. It is said that while Nurgle is busy with his plagues, Isha whispers to mortals, seeking to tell them the cures for the poxes she has tasted.Note that the "War in Heaven" is also a term occasionally used to describe the [[War in Heaven (Necron)|war between the Necrontyr and the Old Ones sixty million Terran years ago]] in the days when the galaxy was young. This war is not the same as that conflict of the same name described in the Aeldari myths -- it merely shares the same name, though some Imperial and even Aeldari scholars contend that the one is based upon the other. It is also important to remember that the War in Heaven may be a myth, not actual history -- the Aeldari believe it happened, but believe it as a religious myth or metaphor rather than as an actual sequence of events.However, it should be noted that "gods" do exist in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, often as the psychic manifestation in the Immaterium of the collective unconsciousness of a large group of sentient beings built up over time. Slaanesh was created in this way, just as the new Aeldari god Ynnead is forming even now within the protected Immaterium of the craftworlds' Infinity Circuits. The C'tan (also called "Star Gods"; in fact, C'tan is said to translate from the ancient Necrontyr tongue as "Star God") are incredibly powerful, god-like entities which feed on the energy provided by stars and mortal life energies, though their energies exist solely within the material universe, which is why they are so vulnerable to psychic abilities.