The Aeldari Empire, also sometimes anachronistically called the Eldar Empire, was the great interstellar empire of the Aeldari species. The Aeldari Empire was the dominant power of the Milky Way Galaxy in the years after the end of the War in Heaven until the Fall of the Aeldari in the 30th Millennium A.D.
The Aeldari Empire held almost complete control over the galaxy, even during Mankind's Age of Technology, and was characterised by both its own highly advanced technology and the increasingly cruel and hedonistic excesses of its people in its final years.
The Drukhari or "Dark Ones" in the Aeldari Lexicon, also known to outsiders as the Dark Eldar, are a forsaken and corrupt Aeldari kindred, the sadistic, malicious counterparts of the Asuryani. Like their cousins of the craftworlds, the Drukhari are an ancient and highly advanced alien race of fey humanoids.
The alternative term "Dark Eldar," or Eladrith Ynneas in the Aeldari tongue, was first coined by the Drukhari archon and Supreme Overlord of Commorragh Asdrubael Vect in the 32nd Millennium.
Aeldari Corsairs or Anhrathe are bands of piratical Aeldari Outcasts. They are a constant threat to merchant shipping, though very rarely pose a threat to a major Imperial battlefleet.
There are many bands of so-called Corsairs scattered across the galaxy, and all are savage and deadly raiders. Outcasts from the strict confines of the Craftworlds, the Corsairs live in self-imposed exile, seeking to explore the galaxy and experience the full gamut of emotion and sensation accessible to the Eldar’s sensitive psyche.
A craftworld is a vast, planetoid-sized spacecraft populated by the Asuryani faction of the highly advanced humanoid species known as the Aeldari. The craftworlds travel through the void of space at sublight speeds, carrying the greater remnant of the Aeldari species after their Fall.
Every craftworld is built upon a skeleton of psychoactive, crystalline wraithbone whose structure extends throughout the gigantic voidcraft. A similar skeletal core lies at the heart of most Asuryani constructions and every one of their spacecraft.
The warriors of the Drukhari Kabals lie at the heart of every Drukhari strike force, pirate fleet and slave raider assault. They are the cruelest members of their caste, hungry for power over their fellows and thirsty to taste the suffering of others.
Each warrior will have forged a fearsome reputation for himself in the war-torn halls of High Commorragh, and has proven himself in multiple battles to be a merciless combatant. The more vicious and ruthless a warrior is, the better his chances for advancement within the Kabal.
A Harlequin, known in the Aeldari Lexicon as a Rillietann, is a member of a very distinct sub-group of the Aeldari species who belongs to none of the existing Aeldari factions, including the Craftworld Asuryani, the Exodites or the Drukhari. They are the keepers of the Black Library and serve the enigmatic Aeldari deity called the Laughing God.
The Harlequins see no distinction between art and war, and their outlook can best be explained by reference to the legend of the Fall; one of their self-appointed duties is to keep this legend alive through their performances. The central figure of Harlequin belief is Cegorach, the Great Harlequin -- also known as the Laughing God.
A Harlequin, known in the Aeldari Lexicon as a Rillietann, is a member of a very distinct sub-group of the Aeldari species who belongs to none of the existing Aeldari factions, including the Craftworld Asuryani, the Exodites or the Drukhari. They are the keepers of the Black Library and serve the enigmatic Aeldari deity called the Laughing God.
The Harlequins see no distinction between art and war, and their outlook can best be explained by reference to the legend of the Fall; one of their self-appointed duties is to keep this legend alive through their performances. The central figure of Harlequin belief is Cegorach, the Great Harlequin -- also known as the Laughing God.