Eldar - Encyclopedia/M

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Eldar Encyclopedia Index:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Named Eldar Individuals and Units
Battles of the Eldar
Appendix


MAIDEN WORLDS

When their civilisation was all-powerful the Eldar settled many new worlds. They learned to turn barren , lifeless places into planets suitable for habitation. Hundreds of otherwise uninhabitable places blossomed into life and became paradises ripe for settlement. Most of these worlds were destroyed during the Fall or swallowed into the Eye of Terror. Their Eldar populations were eradicated by the psychic shock-wave of the warp-space rift and destroyed or else changed in ways too horrible to contemplate.

The process of discovering, seeding and nurturing worlds was a slow one. First simple bacteria were introduced to establish an atmosphere and fix the bio-system in place, then more complex organisms were introduced, and gradually the planet's ecology was advanced so that it became inhabitable. Once the initial seeds had been planted these processes were self-governing, but the time scales were enormous, often taking thousands of years to reach fruition. When the Eldar worlds were destroyed there were many worlds on the distant fringes of Eldar space which had been seeded, but which were not yet ready to inhabit. These worlds were not touched by the Fall, and continued to develop in the manner intended by the now dead Eldar.

The Eldar of modern times refer to these habitable planets as the Maiden Worlds or Lileathan Worlds after Lileath the earth goddess of Eldar religion. As far as Eldar are concerned the Maiden Worlds are Eldar planets, created for them by their forefathers for them to settle. In most cases these worlds are incredibly beautiful, as the ancient Eldar engineered evolutionary processes which would prevent diseases and harmful lifeforms developing. Of course, ten thousand years is a long time even for the Eldar, and many of the Maiden Worlds have since been discovered and settled by other races, especially humans. The Eldar regard this as nothing less than theft and invasion, and the settlement of Maiden Worlds by humans is the most common cause of conflict between the two races (See also Exodites; Lileath).

MANDRAKES

Dark Eldar Mandrakes are vile, chameleon-skinned creatures, lurking in the shadows or Commorragh to predate on their own kin to sate their cravings for blood and flesh (see Commarragh; Dark Eldar).

MARETHE

Lord-Falcon Marethe was commander of the Aconite Class Frigate Siren Cry, transmitting to the Imperial fleet "You cannot defeat us, human. We have eternity on our side". (See also Aconite Class Frigates; Pirates).

MASTER MIMES (ATHISTAUR)

The Harlequin Master Mime commands the Mimes of his or her masque and leads the masque in matters of espionage, infiltration and politics. In performance, the Master Mime joins the other Mimes, generally playing the most prominent and demanding Daemon or mystic role (see Harlequins; Mimes).

MAUGAN-RA

The Phoenix Lord Maugan-Ra is the last survivor of the Altansar Craftworld. He is known as the Harvester of Souls and is the founding Exarch of the Dark Reapers shrine. He carries the ancient weapon Maugetar, The Harvester, into battle, consisting of a shuriken shrieker cannon combined with and executioner blade (See Altansar; Dark Reapers; Phoenix Lords).

MEROS

Detailed only as one of the smaller craftworlds "the doomed Craftworld of Meros." (See Craftworlds).

MESH ARMOUR

Mesh armour is formed from tens of thousands of individual pieces of thermoplas bonded together to produce a tightly woven material rather like reptile scales or archaic chainmail. Similarly to Aspect armour, mesh armour spreads the force of any blows across a larger area (see Aspect Armour; Guardians).

MIMES (DISTAUR)

Harlequin Mimes play mystical and daemonic roles using movement and gesture only. Even in everyday life, Mimes rarely speak, communicating among themselves by lambruith, their system of hand-signals. It is customary for Mimes to go in advance of a masque or troupe to announce their arrival. Frequently they simply appear on a craftworld or elsewhere, without anyone knowing how or when they arrived. This skill is also used in warfare, opposing commanders suddenly and unaccountably finding a Harlequin 'calling card' in their command centres are typical examples of the tactics used by Mimes to undermine enemy morale. Infiltration and assassination are their speciality (see Harlequins; Master Mimes).

MON-KEIGH

The mon-keigh are described in Eldar legend as a race of sub-intelligent beasts that lived in the twilight realm of Koldo. These beasts invaded the Eldar lands and subjugated them for many years. The mon-keigh of legend were cannibalistic, misshapen monstrosities, eventually cleansed from the galaxy by the hero Elronhir. The term has remained in Eldar language, referring to any non-Eldar species the Eldar deem inferior, in need of extermination (See also Elronhir).

MORAI-HEG

Morai-heg the Crone is one of the trinity of the Eldar goddesses. She is an ancient and withered creature who holds the fates of mortals inside a skin rune pouch, whose domain was secret knowledge. She gifted Vaul the Eyes of the Witch to use in the construction of the Talismans of Vaul (See Gods of the Eldar; Isha; Lileath; Talismans of Vaul; Vaul).

MUIRGAYTHH

A lost craftworld, formerly home to the wandering Exarch Yrrthilien Mournsong (see Craftworlds; Exarch; Yrrthilien Mournsong).

MYMEARA

A paradise world, once part of the pre-Fall Eldar Empire, now lost (see Croesus; Fall of the Eldar; Eldorado the Golden; Iydris).