![]() ![]() On occ asi on ho wev er, the Eld ar’s des tin y will dra w them to fig ht on a wor ld dis con nec ted fro m the W ebw ay by th e mi ll en ia of tr ag ed y w hi ch ha ve be fa ll en th e El da r. S uc h p or ta ls, ho w e ve r, ar e invari ably far to o sma ll to quick ly dep loy a n entire army, and hen ce su ch met hod s are u sed by fe w amo ngs t the Elda r – only the Rangers, the Harle quins and other dista nt wanderers tread these slender paths. ![]() It is possib le for an Eldar to simp ly travers e the W ebwa y on fo ot, mov ing dir ect ly f rom a cra ftw orl d to a w rai thg ate on s o me f ar d is ta nt w o rl d. Ma ny po rt al s h ad to be perma nently se aled to preve nt the force s of Chao s spill ing fro m the W arp, and the mil len ia of str ugg le whi ch the Eld ar have si nce end ure d con tin ues to dim inis h the onc e great extent of their Webway. The W ebw ay is no t per fec t, ho wev er, and t he bir th of th e G re at E ne my, Sl a an es h, d id mu ch to m ak e it s us e ha za rd ou s t o t he El da r. ![]() It is still th is sam e anc ien t syst em wh ich th e Eld ar use w hen mov ing their armies to war. By m ean s of t his W ebw ay th e Eld ar c oul d mov e almo st unhin dered th rough out the galax y. In the se mer cha nt ve sse ls th e Eld ar jo urne yed acr oss the galax y t hroug h a s eries of intrica tely conne cted warp tunnel s, returni ng to real space by means of wa rp porta ls or ‘wr aithg ates’ w hich t he Elda r had s eeded acros s the sta rs. Th e W eb wa y is a le ga cy f ro m th e da ys w he n th e El da r ruled the galaxy from the many trading sh ips which would later for m the begin nings of the craftw orld s themsel ves. Ins tea d a craft worl d’s army mu st be deliv ered to dista nt battle s by means o f the wa rflee ts of th e Elda r, and more s pecif icall y by the Eldar’s ancient W ebway. Mobil e they ma y be, but thei r own vas t s iz e m a k e s th e m f a r to o m a s s i v e a n d c u m b e r s o m e a pro pos itio n to inv ol ve dir ect ly in any fig hti ng. With such gargantuan vessels at their control, it may seem sur pri sin g tha t the Eld ar re ly u pon a fle et at all, but the cra ftw orl ds sh oul d not b e co nsi der ed sh ips in any re al sense of the w ord. Sin ce the Fa ll of the ir race and the dec lin e of the ir e mpi re, tho se Eld ar who see k to con tin ue the ir a nci ent way of lif e hav e do ne so abo ard th es e cr af tw or ld s, on an ae on s lo ng co ur se ac ro ss th e ga l ax y, a s m uc h in f li gh t a s i n s ea rc h of an y k in d o f des tin atio n, for the Eld ar rac e is a dyi ng one, and eve n th e exo dus of the se gre at cra ftw orl ds wil l do lit tle to ave rt that. ![]() Beneath this d izzying t ide of ve ssels, under c lear cryst allin e dome s th rough which ground and s tars might gaze upon one anoth er, th e Elda r liv e th eir lives aboa rd the se spa ceb orn e worl ds. Whol e battl efle ets clust er aroun d key point s and statio ns a ll acros s th e th ousan ds of miles of t he craft worl d’s ex terio r as sma ller, nimbl er cra ft rush and sur ge acr oss i ts sur fac e in a con sta nt shi mme rin g pat rol. The y ar e not eve n aki n to v ast c itie s, as som e of the lar ges t st ar f ort s of the Imp eri um mig ht b e cons idered, but ra ther ar e immens e spa cefar ing wo rlds acc omp ani ed by va st arm ada s, the lik es of wh ich mig ht oth erw ise be s et as ide t o def end an ent ire s yst em or ev en sub-s ecto r. They are not merel y huge capit al ship s plou ghing throu gh sp ace w ith a sur round ing esco rt of sma lle r ve sse ls. Craf two rlds, thoug h spac ecra ft, are vas t beyon d comp rehen sion. ![]()
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