Personal Fluff for my Iyanden Warhost // The Fall of Taspia
Welcome to my Eldar Army fluff. So as part of my Eldar project, I love to write fluff and background stories for my forces. So expect plenty of tales like these; some are entirely made up, whilst some are based on moments from games I've decided to immortalize. To get the ball rolling will start with the Fall of Taspia and my Anti-Hero 'Umr.
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Here follows the Tale of 'Umr At-Tawail and the Fall of Taspia. Taspia was once an ancient Maiden world seeded by the Aeldari. A jewel of a long-lost empire, after centuries of Imperial abuse, it has become a polluted husk of its former glory. Once beautiful, the green world now hangs in space like a brown rotting apple. Only the Southern Pole has managed to hang onto life. But even those ancient trees are losing the will to fight. The Imperium of man had brought this upon Taspia. The filthy Mon-Keigh had found this beautiful orb, filled its air with toxins, and polluted its rivers. They stripped it of all its natural wealth and resources. Trampling and flattening the ancient Eldar structures as they went, caring not for the history of the world.
Only the Southern Forests had held off the Imperial's pillaging. Rumours were spoken by the Taspian garrison's militia in whispered voices of the Ghosts that haunted those old forests. That the trees themselves were fighting back and that any attempts to enter the region were met only with death. Little did they know it was the surviving Eldar Exodites and a contingent of Rangers from Craftworld Iyanden. Hopelessly trying to hang on to their homelands.
The Rangers had been sent to protect an ancient entrance to the Webway. Farseer Hastur of House Haladesh declared the reclaiming of this Maiden world a priority for his kin and that the Mon-keigh would be shown no mercy for the destruction they had brought upon this world. 'Umr At-Twail was assigned High Autarch for the Taspia cleansing. The attack would fall on the third cycle of the moon, and the polluted capital city of Taspia would burn in its light.
The night before the main attack, the Iyanden Warhost code-named "Carcosa" appeared through the Webway portal. Using the old forests for cover, the Warhost gathered. Autarch ‘Umr’s face was lit by the pale interior lights of the Falcon transport; his fusion gun hung heavy at the waist. Even in such a confined space, ‘Umr's anger could be witnessed as quickly as the light shimmering off his golden yellow armour. His eyes burned with hatred at what he was seeing via the sensor’s read-outs. Mere minutes after passing through the Webwey portal, the Command Falcon's rear ramp lowered gently to the polluted ground. Slowly decaying tree roots crunched under ‘Umr's foot as he disembarked with his Fire Dragon bodyguard. His eyes still full of hatred, he bent down, placing his forehead upon the poisoned ground and whispered, "You shall be avenged. Soon, a storm shall descend on the capital of Taspia, and rivers shall nourish the ground with the blood of the Mon-Keigh."
The southern walls of the capital loomed like a cliff. Their colour was a dark, rotten brown due to the industrial smoke pluming from its vast factories. The city was ninety kilometres across and rose like a weed. Climbing high into Taspia’s now smog-filled polluted atmosphere. The fortified section destined to be attacked was covered with gun ports, battle towers, trenches and bunkers. Even though the Imperials had faced no threat, they still fortified their positions like paranoid tyrants thought ‘Umr. Turning his eyes to the defences map, he spotted a command bunker with the ability of long-range warning sensors. The hive's meager garrison militia were easy to spot, hailing orginally from Mordian they wore their parade uniforms of bright red and white, which made them stand out among the browns and grays of the dying planet. "Stupid Mon-keigh, might as well paint targets on themselves." thought ‘Umr, as he turned his attention to watch the live feed from the infiltrated Rangers gun slights. "This won't take long.” ‘Umr declared as he turned to meet his advisers and devise the best strategy for sacking the Hive.
As he faced his cohort of advisers, it was hard not to notice the Ancient Wraithseer Phantom of Truth. Woken to aid in the destruction of Taspia, the Wraith construct stood like a statue. The D-Cannon she carried lay dormant by her side. The Wraithseer had been much loved in the House of Haladesh, and her thoughts carried much weight, and when she spoke, all stopped to listen. After a short while, a strategy was chosen. The Rangers were to sneak in and set up for a twilight ambush on the Command post. Then, as the moon reached its zenith, the Scorpion tanks would move forward and begin firing at the southern wall. During this opening phase, the Rangers would be tasked with assassinating the superior officers of this section. Without their head, the body would be weak, and the defenders would be easily crushed. Allowing the main force to storm the city.
Twilight came, and with it, the opening shots were fired. Vast chunks of the city walls collapsed and imploded from the fire of the twelve deadly scorpion tanks—beams of destructive fire-torn holes in a wall that was never meant for combat. Soon, whole sections started to crumble inwards from the fierce barrage. From within his Command, Falcon ‘Umr watched the carnage unfold. The Mon-Keigh comm-links were full of screams of dying officers as his Rangers located and killed each one, with precise headshots. Following this success came the order for Exarch Uoht and his Shadow Weave of the Warp Spiders Shrine to strike. The blip on the screen, which represented them, disappeared only briefly—reappearing in the heart of the Imperial lines. A slight grin formed on ‘Umr's face as he thought of the carnage being brought down upon the Mon-Keigh. Everything was going according to plan, and soon, the city would fall.
The battle for the outer wall was waged for one hour and twenty-three minutes. Both sides were fighting desperately. It had soon become clear that the Imperials were losing fast. Without a senior officer's codeword, the city's main garrison hadn't accepted the order for reinforcements. The main garrison stood idle even as the sounds of war were waking many of the populace. Then, at the stroke of 2:23 am, a massive section of the southern wall finally gave way and collapsed. The Aspect Warriors and Guardians swarmed into the city, led by the imposing form of The Phantom of Truth, who led an honour guard of ghost warriors. Now the killing had truly begun. All traces of Imperial life were about to be extinguished.
Soaring over the blasted trench works and into the city. The command Falcon of ‘Umr now headed an Aspect host mounted in Wave Serpents. As they flew deep into the doomed Imperial city, ‘Umr saw soldiers and civilians fleeing before the onslaught at the wall. At least they had enough sense to try and run. However, it was a wasted effort as they were cut down by Pathfinders and Warp Spiders of Uoht’s host. Lost in the moment, ‘Umr nearly missed the looming Imperial Palace as it came into view. Its walls were built from the rare white marble of the planet's crust; it shone brightly in a World cast in smoke and shadows. Here is where the battle would end, thought ‘Umr. Here and now!
The host of Wave Serpents came to a halt on the far side of a square, just outside the Palace's main gate. Standing defiantly on the step in front of the gate were the Governor and his household guards. How stupid they looked in their brightly coloured uniforms. To ‘Umr and his warriors, they looked more like children playing pretend rather than soldiers of a long-dead corpse God.
But then, from out of the ranks strode a portly, ill-looking Governor, and over a primitive loudspeaker, he spoke: "I am Governor Fernando Handoff of Taspia, the Emperor's voice on this world. I demand to know why you have attacked us!" With a mocking laugh, ‘Umr descended from his Falcon alongside his Fire Dragon escort. Calmly and with an air of arrogance, he crossed the square. "You!.... The voice of the corpse Emperor! Dare to demand of ME!" Coming within shuriken range of the Governor, ‘Umr could see the overweight man shift awkwardly at the full sight of him. ‘Umr so enjoyed these moments, never knowing if the enemy would shoot.
"You are Mon-Keigh! How dare you even speak, Let alone make demands of me." With this, ‘Umr fired his fusion weapon and set the fat governor ablaze. His household guard stood frozen in place as the fat body of their leader started to bubble and pop from the heat of the flames.
"Kill them all! Wipe them from this world and cleanse it for the glory of the Aeldari."
End.
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