Craftworld Biel-tan
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| Biel-tan | ||
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| Translation | "Rebirth of Ancient Days" | |
| Location | Segmentum Pacificus, southern rim | |
| Specialty | Aspect Warriors, Exarchs | |
| Hero | Autarch Mauryon | |
| Enemy | Anyone who isn't an Eldar; the main enemy are Orks | |
| Colours | Green and white | |
Biel-tan is an Eldar Craftworld with a penchant for war. Unlike other Craftworlds, who are generally ruled by Seer Councils, Biel-tan is led by a council of Exarchs, Eldar who are trapped on the Path of the Warrior. This gives them a rather idiosyncratic view of the world and how to deal with it -- in particular, their goal is nothing less than a re-founding of the ancient Eldar empire, and to do that, they need to cleanse the galaxy of all the upstarts squatting on planets they see as rightfully theirs.
They perform this cleansing by assembling an army of Aspect Warriors and Exarchs known as "the Swordwind" to raid a planet, scour the inhabitants, and leave before anyone has time to respond. They prefer to target planets that have just been colonized, as the defenders will have had less time to get stuck in -- in fact, many Explorator Fleets have discovered planets that still contain the corpses of previous settlers. This "cleansing planets" policy, however, only applies to Maiden Worlds, those under the rule of enemies of the Eldar such as Orks or Necrons, and to invaders of Exodite Worlds and Eldar colonies, they don't wipe out all non-Eldar life on every planet they pass.
To the surprise of no one this cause the alliance between Iyanden, who had simpler goals, and Biel-Tan (this was pre-Tyranid attack, and were most successful) to grow increasingly strained. This is why Orks are their most hated enemy; once Orks land on a planet, their spores will start to spread, and if they aren't wiped out quickly, they will be impossible to dislodge. Biel-tan armies will prioritize the eradication of Orks above all other foes, even allying with non-Eldar if that means the Orks die faster -- though they have no problem turning on their one-time allies once the Orks are defeated. That said, they have occasionally relocated human populations instead of wiping them out, so perhaps they aren't entirely racist pricks.
Biel-tan's greatest priority is protecting Exodite worlds, because they believe that the Exodites will be the foundation upon which the new Eldar empire will be built, with their planets used as staging areas for re-colonization and expansion efforts. Iyanden and Biel-tan used to work together on the "rebirth of the Eldar Empire" project, with Iyanden doing the colonizing and Biel-Tan acting as a provisional military force to protect the new colonies. However, Iyanden's refusal to aid Biel-Tan in protecting a Maiden World from Imperial attack (having decided that it would be a waste of time to do so when they could be fighting greater threats like Chaos instead) led to the alliance's dissolution, as the disagreement led to both Craftworlds assuming that the other was not as fully invested in the alliance as they were. Unsurprisingly, they're the largest Craftworld with crazy high birth rates compare to other Craftworlds.
One reason not to mess with a Craftworld
Despite this, Biel-tan's claims of military might are true. The forces of Biel-Tan was able to beat TWO Imperium sector fleets and effects of a dozen Space Marine chapters, in order to get just one Maiden World (As the saying goes; If six Space Marines fought six different Aspect Warriors the Space Marines would kill all but one, and the last aspect Warrior would slaughter all the Space Marines). This contrasts to Alaitoc, which was attacked by a rather small Imperial force (given what they were up against) and the Eldar defenses were basically roflstomped at high cost to by the Imperial Guard.