Warhammer 40K: The Eldar Webway That Winds Behind Space And Time
Delve into the ancient network that spans the galaxy, allowing those who possess its secrets to traverse the Imperium in seconds – the Eldar Webway.
The Webway is a labyrinthine dimension utilised by the Eldar for faster-than-light travel.
Early History of the Webway
This realm’s origins are traced to the ancient race known as the Old Ones. They used it as a conduit through which they could travel to countless far-flung worlds without suffering from the risk of the tides of the Warp. It became a tool of this species. They became the first race to cross the vast gulf of stars in a single step and learned to manipulate alternate dimensions. This quickly led them to attain a mastery over the use of Webway Portals. It would later be used as a way for the Old Ones to outmaneuver the Necrontyr during the War in Heaven.
The situation ultimately changed when the C’tan entered into the war on the side of the now metallic Necron Legions. By the closing days of the War in Heaven, one of the C’tan known as Nyadra’zatha had long desired to bring his eldtrich fire into the Webway. The Burning One taught the Necrons how to pierce the boundary of that space beyond space by way of Dolmen Gates. This allowed the Necrons to turn the Old Ones’ greatest weapon against them.
The Eldar Webway
In time, knowledge of the Webway would pass to the Eldar. The technologies used to create it were once taught to them by the Old Ones. These secret, invisible passageways between the Warp are noted as being ancient constructs. Older than even the Eldar know. The ancient Eldar discovered that it was possible to move through within its threads. From the secrets of the Warp left by the Old Ones, the Eldar created a pan-galactic network of navigable tunnels. It was the ancient Eldar who mastered the original Webway network.
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. By M18, the Eldar empire established Commoragh as its primary nodal port within the Webway. In this age, the leaders of the excess cults are known to have relocated their power bases into the Webway. There, they established and ruled entire sub-realms. This pattern of behavior continued between M25 to M30.
An Eldar legend says a master map of the Webway was made thousands of years ago. It resides in the Black Library of Chaos. The map contains long lost and forgotten secret ways, some not exactly accurate. Much of the Webway was either destroyed or damaged during the Fall of the Eldar. The energies of the Fall are known to have ruptured the hyperspatial pathways of the Webway in countless places. Despite the damage, the Webway still maintains a link between the Craftworlds. Portions of it have been breached by the Realm of Chaos, and made impassable. The Eldar fiercely combat such intrusions into the Webway. Those Eldar that survived within the depths of the Webway eventually became known as the Dark Eldar who made parts of it their home.
Commorragh, the Dark city lay entirely within the Eldar Webway.
The Emperor and the Webway
The Webway in the current age has drastically changed compared to its original form. Disaster and war damaged the webway over time. During the Great Crusade, the Emperor created the Golden Throne on Terra as a means of entry into the Webway. He intended to remove the Imperium’s reliance on Warp travel and astrotelepathy. This plan involved the construction of a new short section into the Webway and linking it into the abandoned Eldar network. Magnus the Red ill-fated attempt to warn the Emperor of Horus‘s betrayal prior to the Horus Heresy crippled the project. Warp entities quickly invaded the human-built section of the Webway. Since that time, a psyker has needed to remain on the Golden Throne and hold the portal between the Webway and realspace. The Emperor has filled this role for 10,000 years.
Mechanics of the Eldar Webway
The Webway exists as a labyrinth between the Materium and the Warp. It exists as a part of both, yet exists in neither. 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. Elements of its construction include complex psychic wards to protect it from being breached and included hyperspatial pathways. Present-day Eldar do not fully understand the exact shape or form of the Webway.
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. Runes of power seal these doorways. These wards prevent whatever unknown horrors populating them from gaining entry into a Craftworld. Knowledge of a Craftworld’s placement within the Webway is a critical secret kept by their Seers.
Webway Defences & Temporal Properties
Artificial portals into the Webway such as those offered by the Necron Dolmen Gates are not stable nor easily controllable. In addition, the Webway itself detects these breaches and seals infected branches off until the danger has passed. Any travelers in these portions can face destruction as the network attempts to correct the breach.
The more enigmatic Harlequins say that there are remote exotic locations within the Webway. Places where the flow of time seemingly goes in reverse or does not flow at all. Likewise, 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.
Users of the Eldar Webway
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. Incorporated into the hull of a Craftworld is a Nexus of Webway Gates that connects them to the Webway network. Storm Serpents have access to portable portal generators that power a Wraithgate thus allowing Eldar forces to travel directly onto the battlefield.
The Dark Eldar make use of mobile portals that link their forces by way of the Webway.
The Necrons are known to make use of the Webway via Dolmen Gates as they are a species that are deprived of psykers. They require access to it to avoid the use of their slow-moving stasis-ships.
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