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The Eldar
of the Craftworld Saaremaa have long harried and waylaid
the forces of the Emperor.
Although very small, indeed it is not
numbered among the great Craftworlds, its inhabitants
almost constantly embark upon incomprehensible
raids against all manner of targets.
This
activity intensified in recent years
culminating with a massive assault against the world
of Braion III where the aliens fought
fanatically for possession of an ancient shrine thought
to predate the age of the Imperium.
Following
that battle there have been no reported
contacts between Imperial forces and
the Eldar of Saaremaa.
That was until a patrol of Imperial Cobra
Class Destroyers encountered the Craftworld
itself
in open space. Knowing they would not survive
a battle with the Eldar fleet the ships fled,
but not before noting the vessel’s
location. But oddly no ships gave chase.
 The sad fate of Saaremaa is known only to
the Eldar themselves. Almost always isolated,
Saaremaa
had little contact with the other Craftworlds
that fled the fall of the Eldar. The inhabitants
of Saaremaa constantly sought to recover
objects of power or significance from the
old Empire.
They believed that such valuables should
not be allowed to fall into the hands of
the galaxy’s
filthy usurpers.
In recent years the potent Farseer Shar’lessia
drove the fate of Saaremaa. Shar’lessia
was a powerful psyker even by the reckoning of
the Eldar. Despite this she never felt her powers
enough to attain the goals of her people. Shar’lessia
scoured the galaxy for objects that would enhance
her abilities. Ever she sought the power to change
the fate of her people, and it was through this
blind pursuit that the fall of Saaremaa came
about. A raid on an Ork held world turned up
a talisman of great power, it was through this
object that the Chaos god Tzeentch began to whisper
in her ear. At first it seemed that this new
guide led Shar’lessia to greater success,
many ancient artifacts were uncovered and restored.
It was not until Shar’lessia ordered a
massive attack against Braion III that the nature
of her guide was revealed to all. Having sacrificed
much to recover an ornate tomb from a mon-keigh
temple Shar’lessia went into seclusion
taking with her, her latest prize.
For many days she was alone and the other
Seers began to see dark purpose to her seclusion.
Finally when Shar’lessia could not be contacted
her quarters were thrown open and the truth reveled.
What was found was no longer Shar’lessia
but a daemon who had taken her form as a vessel
in the material world. The daemon had used the
artifact recovered from Braion III to open a
gate to the immaterium and a flood of daemons
set upon the Eldar of Saaremaa. In a final act
of bravery the remaining Seers gathered the many
objects and secrets Saaremaa had recovered and
fled into the webway sealing the entrance behind
them. The daemon Tar’kel’maz’eil
was enraged by the loss of it’s prize
and sated its rage in the blood of the Eldar
of Saaremaa.
Now the Craftworld floats inert in space,
its secrets hidden, its inhabitants long
dead.
Only the daemons walk its halls now. But
the danger
has not passed Tar’kel’maz’eil
refuses to accept defeat and seeks a way
to gain access to the webway portals. Fearing
that it
may succeed Eldar from many Craftworlds have
converged on Saaremaa hoping to put an end
to this threat. Throughout Saaremaa war rages
between
the forces of Chaos and the Eldar.
Thanks to the chance encounter of an Imperial
patrol, word of Saaremaa’s location
has reached the ears of Marshal Titus. Thinking
this a great opportunity to exact revenge
and
eliminate
a constant threat he has dispatched a force
of Black Templars to destroy Saaremaa.
When playing battles in the Saaremaa
battle zone you may opt to use the following special rules
if both players agree. These rules are intended to add
a measure of campaign flavour to your games of Warhammer
40,000.
The Halls of Madness
Saaremaa was once a tranquil place of beauty, much has
changed in recent years. Daemons now stalk its halls bringing
madness in their wake. Those brave enough to take up arms
in this place will find it to be a warped palace of madness,
which tears at the edges of sanity.
Troops fighting within Saaremaa have a tendency to lose
their way, especially those weak of will. During each players
shooting phase he may nominate one unit or character in
the opponent’s army. The model(s) must pass a leadership
test or become beguiled by the twisting, haunting presence
of Saaremaa. If the nominated unit fails this test it will
spend it’s next turn dumbfounded. The unit will take
no action other then to move it’s full movement in
a random direction determined by the scatter dice. A roll
of a ‘hit’ indicates that the unit simply stays
in place and generates a small puddle of drool. Troops
that count as fearless are immune to this effect. |
