The First Phoenix To Rise From the Ashes! (Grimdark WIP)

Hello!

New update for the Eldar fans!

As usual, the majority of the Grimdark WIPs are not on Patreon anymore.  But community members can still access the latest WIPs as mentioned in previous posts.  Just to be thorough, community members will receive an email with the access information as well.

Please leave any comments/feedback/reactions on this post like you would normally do. Thanks!

So this month features Asurmen and he's actually pretty important in Space Elf lore. Before the Fall, Asurmen was just a regular Eldar known as Iliathin, a regular citizen of no particular note. But when the cataclysm happened, Iliathin was one of the few survivors who managed to find shelter at an old temple which Daemons refused to approach because the presence of the dying Eldar gods could still be felt there.

Iliathin was understandably pretty depressed with this entire sorry mess. But his life was ultimately given new purpose when he rescued Faraethil, an Eldar child from the Dark Eldar. Asurmen agreed to take the girl as his disciple and they left the ruins of their home now the Crone World of Eidafaeron, gradually gathering more like-minded survivors.

Iliathin then renamed himself "Asurmen" after the chief god of the Eldar Pantheon, Asuryan. Faraethil would also take on a new title to become Jain Zar. Other survivors would take on new names (Baharroth, Fuegan, Arhra etc) and together they would establish a new home on a barren moon they named Asur which was location in a safe region of the Webway. And from that point on, these Eldar that survived and rejected Slaanesh would be known the Asurya "Children of Asur."

Asurmen went on to create the Paths system, a discipline to focus the Eldar's extreme emotions into a singular area of expertise. There are tons of different paths but Asurmen created the Path of the Warrior and the Aspect Shrines. From this came the Dire Avengers, a type of combat unit that was tactically flexible, and his Shrine would eventually become most common of all the Aspect Warriors.

Asurmen himself would be the first Phoenix Lord and teacher to every other Phoenix Lords I mentioned above. Jain Zar was the master of close combat, Baharroth the master of flight and Fuegan the master of melting things etc. Each of them would also create their own Aspect Warriors like the Howling Banshees, Striking Scorpions and Fire Dragons.

Together they would travel to different surviving craftworlds, teaching willing disciples their different suite of combat skills. These students then assumed the mantle of Exarchs before spreading their teachings to new students. Through this system the Craftworld Eldar have managed to salvage a fragment of their once great empire. It's pretty much the best way they can deal with their current situation. Eldar psychology always veers towards extremes and the Paths help channel this mindset into more constructive pursuits away from the decadence that distinguish the Dark Eldar.

So yeah, Asurmen is pretty much one of the reasons Eldar still exist in the 41st Millennium and not just as chicken nuggets for Slaanesh. I'd say that's pretty cool. 👍

Visually, he does have a pretty unique look compared to the other Eldar. I experimented with his armor a bit, giving him slightly different options for helmets and armor styles.

Regarding that giant Ying Yang symbol on his chest...on the one hand, I kind of get why they gave him that to represent the balance of emotions. On the other hand, I really doubt Eldar would adopt a human symbol. I mean come on they didn't even try. So Instead I leaned into the Phoenix motif for Asurmen since he is the first Phoenix Lord. But I'll also leave the crest area empty if players want to kitbash his original symbol.

Next up are the Warp Spiders. They are Aspect Warriors who actually take their name from the tiny but aggressive creatures that are seen amongst the slender wraithbone trees on the Eldar Craftworlds. These sparkling entities can move anywhere within the craftworld, melting their arachnoid bodies into the Infinity Circuit and becoming pure psychic energy before recrystallising in the Materium to reappear at a new location.

Anyways, Warp Spiders are outfitted personal teleportation devices which allows them to make surprise attacks on their foes. This is kind of risky as it means taking small warp jumps and that means there's always a chance they become Slaanesh chow. So these aspect warriors are always considered the bravest members to become Aspect Warriors.

Warp Spiders use Death Spinners which gire a thick cloud of razor-sharp monofilament wire. The wire's own tension causes it to writhe and lash, and where it touches flesh or soft tissue, it slices through the victim's body, causing an agonising and quite messy.

Coincidentally, Warp Spider are my favorite Eldar unit in DOW. They have pretty decent damage and their warp jumps really come in handy to ambush units. But the most hilariously overpowered ranged infantry in that game are the Flash Gitz.

For the longest time, Warp Spiders didn't have an actual Phoenix Lord although it appears recent lore updates have changed that. Anyways, for my proxies, I experimented with different versions, one with the Death Spinners mounted on their spider legs and another holding the weapon with both hands. Like Asurmen, I'll try to give them different helmet variants.

I got some feedback from the community about type of weapons they wanted for the Imperial Knight. The answer was basically all of them. 😅 Don't worry, I can definitely do that. 👍 I've got three of the variants so far and will continue to make the more throughout the month.

Poses and more heretical content is up next! Fantasy month voting starts next week, please have your suggestions submitted in the next couple of days. Thanks!