Webway

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The Webway is a labyrinthine dimension within the Warp utilised by the Eldar for faster-than-light travel,[5a] It is a network of tunnels and passages, some as small as an Eldar and others so large that a great Eldar Space Fleet could pass through unconstrained.[21]

Overview

Kyganil shows Ephrael Stern the Webway.[9]

The Webway exists as a labyrinth between the Materium and the Warp. It exists as a part of both yet existing in neither.[5a] In fact, it has been described as not being a true dimension but instead a complex network of capillaries and arteries. This forms a maze of glowing tunnels making a tapestry of hidden threads that spread between the veil of realspace and warp space. Ultimately, it is a construct that spans the dimensions.[2c] The paths of the webway are not ordinal, and would not appear as a spiderweb were they mapped upon the Galaxy, rather the nodes of such a map would appear in an almost random pattern with nexuses appearing only sporadically upon the Craftworlds,[25]Crone Worlds, and the great port cities.[2d]

When viewed from breaches into the Warp it's exterior appears golden in color.[21] Elements of its construction include complex psychic wards to protect it from being breached[3] and hyperspatial pathways.[5a] Present day Eldar do not fully understand the exact shape or form of the Webway.[5b]

In the shattered portions of the network exist dead-ends, mazes that trap the unwary, abandoned or destroyed pathways and some even inhabited by Daemons. The doorways into these parts are sealed with runes of power in order to prevent whatever unknown horror populating them from gaining entry into a Craftworld.[5a] Knowledge of a Craftworld's placement within the Webway is a secret kept by its Seers.[5b]

Artificial portals into the Webway such as those offered by the Dolmen Gates are not stable nor easily controllable. In addition, the Webway itself manages to somehow detect these breaches in its hallways and seal these infected branches off until the danger has passed. Any travelers in these portions can face destruction as the network attempts to correct the breach.[1b]

Drukhari fleet exits a Webway Portal[31]

The Webway was used to connect the Eldar Empire in space, but it was also theorized that it stretched forwards and backwards in time. However, fearful of the consequences, the Eldar never experimented with the Webway's temporal aspects.[15] The more enigmatic Harlequins say that there are remote locations within the Webway where the flow of time seemingly goes in reverse or does not flow at all. The location in the Webway where time flows backwards is known as Uigebealach. The location in the Webway where time does not flow is known as the Crossroads of Inertia.[10] Inquisitor Bronislaw Czevak has theorized that constant travel through the Webway is partially responsible for the Eldar race's longevity. Czevak himself spent several decades in the Webway, which reversed his body's aging by several centuries.[13]

The Webway's reality is more malleable than that of the Materium, but not as much as the ever-changing realm of the Warp. In the ancient past, the Eldar Empire utilized devices such as the Reality Engine to manipulate the fabric of the Webway.[17]

Through large arterial passages, spacecraft are able to journey into the Webway and allow the Eldar to move throughout the galaxy in order to wage war. Most such tunnels, however, can only allow small strike forces to travel on foot or potentially allow vehicles into their doorways.[5b] Incorporated into the hull of a Craftworld is a Nexus of Webway Gates that connects them to the Webway network.[11] Storm Serpents have access to portable portal generators that power a Wraithgate thus allowing Eldar forces to travel directly onto the battlefield.[7] The Dark Eldar make use of mobile portals that link their forces by way of the Webway.[6]

History

Ancient History

Webway Gate within the void.[31]

This realm's origins are traced to the ancient race known as the Old Ones as a conduit through which they could travel to countless far-flung worlds without suffering from the risk of the tides of the Warp.[2c] It became a tool of this species when they became the first race to cross the vast gulf of stars in a single step and learnt to manipulate alternate dimensions. This quickly led them to attaining a mastery over the use of Webway Portals.[4] It would later be used as a way for the Old Ones to outmanoeuver the Necrontyr during the War in Heaven leading to that race being turned into a minor irritant in the span of a few centuries.[1a] This ultimately changed when the C'tan entered into the war on the side of the now metallic Necron armies. By the closing days of the War in Heaven, one of the C'tan known as Nyadra'zatha, The Burning One, had long desired to bring his eldtrich fire into the Webway and taught the Necrons how to pierce the boundary of that space beyond space by way of Dolmen Gates whereupon they turned the Old Ones' greatest weapon against them.[1b]

In time, knowledge of the Webway would pass to the Eldar where the technologies used to create it were once taught to them by the Old Ones.[5a] These secret, invisible passageways between the Warp are noted as being ancient constructs and are older than even the Eldar know.[9] The ancient Eldar discovered that it was possible to move through within its threads.[2c] From the many secrets of the Warp taught to them by the Old Ones, the Eldar created a pan-galactic network of navigable tunnels.[3] It was the ancient Eldar who mastered the original Webway network.[2c]

Eldar Empire

Main article: Eldar Empire
Wraithbone Ruins - Eldar Webway[27]

At the height of their empire, they used it to travel thousands of light years safely yet quickly and linked all their worlds. Their starships were thus able to move from one end of the galaxy to the other without entering realspace.[3] By M18, the Eldar empire established Commoragh as its primary nodal port within the Webway.[2d] In this age, the leaders of the excess cults are known to have relocated their power bases into the Webway where they could command entire sub-realms.[2a] This pattern of behaviour continued between M25 to M30.[2d]

According to legend, a map of the Webway is known to have been made many thousands of years ago and resides in the Black Library of Chaos. The map contains many secret ways that are long lost or forgotten, though it is not believed to be entirely accurate in later years.[5b] Harlequins are taught a means to navigate the currents of the Webway without a map, which they teach to the White Seers.[29] Although Solitaires are said to be the only Harlequins which know the correct paths to the Black Library of Chaos whose routes they guard.[30]

Fall of the Eldar

Main article: Fall of the Eldar
Harlequins fight Slaaneshi Daemons in the Webway.[22b]

Much of the Webway was either destroyed or damaged during the Fall of the Eldar.[3] The energies of the Fall are known to have ruptured the hyperspatial pathways of the Webway in countless places.[5a] Despite the damage, the Webway still maintains a link between the Craftworlds, though portions of it have been breached by the Realm of Chaos, and have made these parts impassable. The Eldar are known to combat this intrusion of Chaos into the Webway.[3] Those Eldar that survived within the depths of the Webway eventually became known as the Dark Eldar who made parts of it their home.[2b]

Great Crusade

Main article: Webway Project
The Emperor in Calastar[8a]

The Emperor of Mankind installed the Golden Throne, an ancient and archaic relic, in the Imperial Palace on Terra in an attempt to create a doorway into the Webway and a link to the greater network – a bid to remove the Imperium's reliance on Warp travel and astrotelepathy. However, because the Golden Throne was not constructed of psychically resistant material, the Emperor had to use his own powers to protect the human-built portions from the dangers of the Warp. The project was successful, and the Imperial forces made headway to an abandoned Impossible City of the Eldar: the first step towards greater Webway access.[8b] Ultimately, the project was undone when Magnus the Red attempted to warn of the treachery of Horus and Erebus, his Psychic warning opening Warp Rifts within the human sections of the Webway where the human-built sections of the Webway were invaded by Warp entities.[8c] To hold closed the Webway Gate created by the Golden Throne, a psyker has needed to remain upon the throne since a role fulfilled by the Emperor of Mankind (and briefly by Malcador the Sigilite)[24] for the last ten thousand years.[19]

White Scars artwork depicting the dissapearance of Jaghatai Khan.[28]

During the Great Scouring following the Siege of Terra, White Scars Space Marine Chapter Primarch Jaghatai Khan came into conflict with the Dark Eldar upon Corusil V in the Yasan Sector and persued an Archon into the Webway. The White Scars believe the Great Khan is still alive but lost somewhere in the Webway, forever cursing the Dark Eldar that lured him into it.[20]

Recent History

Webway entrances in the Materium[14]

The Webway in the current age has drastically changed compared to its original form as it has been torn apart by both disaster and war.[2c] In the 41st millennium, many passageways of the webway have been long-abandoned and can house any number of dangers. These forgotten reaches could potentially be infested by Donorian Fiends, emotion-eating Medusae, Khymerae predators or nests of psychneuein.[22a]

Despite the level of protection in their doorways, Daemons are known to find the Webway an easy path of entry into a Craftworld.[3] The parts of the network are also infested by the wasp-like, psychic predators known as the Psychneuein.[5b] The weakening skein of the Webway against the Immaterium has led to entire regions being closed off by the Eldar due to the danger of these creatures.[18]

The Necrons make use of the Webway through the few remaining Dolmen Gates, although these gates only grant access to a small portion of the Webway and many were destroyed by the Eldar. Necrons are a species deprived of psykers and thus Warp Travel, so without this limited Webway access they would be forced to rely on slow moving stasis-ships which would doom them to isolation.[1b]

While the only complete map of the Webway is hidden within the Black Library of Chaos, smaller maps do exist, such as the Webway Pathstones employed by Eldar Corsairs[23], the paper maps of Inquisitor Czevak[13] and the great Scrolls of the Harlequins sought by Ahriman.[26]

Important Locations

Images

See also

Sources

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