A common design for a Webway Gate found on a planetary surface.
A Webway Gate, also known as a Webway Nexus when multiple destinations from a single gate are possible, is a xenos technological artefact composed of wraithbone that are incorporated into the hull of Aeldari craftworlds that provide an opening into the Labyrinth Dimension of the Webway. Webway Gates large enough for voidships to pass through are known as Waygates and are often constructed in orbit around certain prominent worlds within the Webway network.
Webway Gates are also found scattered on worlds throughout the galaxy, allowing the Craftworld Aeldari and their Harlequin and sadistic Drukhari kin to travel to many if not most inhabitable worlds of the Milky Way.
Webway Gates are found on craftworlds and on and above the inhabitable or more strategically important worlds of the galaxy. When not in use, the gates are dormant and are often hidden from detection by the "lesser races" (i.e., non-Aeldari).
History[]
Alurmen's Nexus[]
An orbital Webway Gate, or Waygate, large enough to be traversed by voidships, present in the Koronus Expanse, as depicted in Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader.
Among the greatest of Webway Gates is that found on Craftworld Alurmen, whose Webway Nexus was unmatched by those found on the other craftworlds. Through its Webway Nexus the inhabitants of Alurmen could send explorers and traders to other destinations with an ease that was second only to that of the Labyrinth Dimension's original creators, the Old Ones. Its nexus of Webway Gates allowed it to be connected to other craftworlds, Exodite colonies, Maiden Worlds, and other ancient Aeldari sites. This sheer number of viable destinations made its Webway Nexus Alurmen's greatest strength as well as its most treasured relic of the lost Aeldari past.
Some five thousand standard years ago, during the Age of Apostasy of the 36th Millennium, the Chaos Sorcerer Ahzek Ahriman of the Thousand Sons Legion learned of the existence of the Webway Nexus of Alurmen and decided to use it to travel to the fabled Aeldari Black Library of Chaos hidden deep within the Webway to claim its potent knowledge. Learning of this plot through their precognitive abilities, the Farseers of Alurmen decided to hide their craftworld in order to protect the Webway Nexus as they knew they would not be able to defeat the Tzeentchian sorcerer.
A planetary Webway Gate with a Craftworld Aeldari Phantom Titan of Saim-Hann shown emerging for size comparison.
In desperation, the people of Alurmen severed their ties with the other craftworlds and navigated Alurmen into the nebula called the Cerberus Shroud where they activated ancient C'tan devices left from the War in Heaven that had been designed to suppress the energies of the Warp. This hid the entire craftworld from Ahriman's mystical sight but came at the cost of Alurmen's people being disowned by the rest of the Craftworld Aeldari for violating the ancient taboos against the use of Yngir technology.
The further psychic efforts of Alurmen's Farseers saw the craftworld and a Chaos warfleet trapped within a Warp barrier they erected around the Cerberus Shroud Nebula that prevented anyone else from gaining access to the Alumen Webway Nexus.
See Also[]
- Dolmen Gate
- Warp Gate
- Webway
- Webway Portal
Sources[]
- Battlefleet Gothic Magazine 13, "The Cerberus War: Endgame", pp. 22-23, 25
- Codex: Eldar (3rd Edition), pg. 3
- Voidscarred (Novel) by Mike Brooks, Chs. 2-4
- Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (PC Game) (Image)