Of the various strains of xenos active in the Askellon Sector, the Eldar and their various sub-strains are one of the most visible, to those who know where to look, at least. Many reasons have been posited as to why this might be so, with some of the most learned of savants committing their entire careers to further study into the matter. Over the millennia, a range of theories have risen to explain their continued presence and interest in the sector, with some theories being proved wrong or passing out of favour to be replaced with others as evidence shifts. Over recent years, much of the debate at the rarefied level of Inquisitorial circles has revolved around why the Eldar appear to have chosen to remain in a region of space so clearly and drastically afflicted by the Warp when, as a space-faring people, they need not do so. It has been noted again and again that the Eldar are, if anything, becoming ever more active in the region. As the Pandaemonium grows in turbulence, so the Eldar appear to grow more restless, even—so some have claimed—desperate, in their activities. These actions can vary greatly, but it has been noted how the Eldar frequently launch small, stealthy raids against key targets either just before, or just after, an increase in Warp storm activity. Sometimes they are clearly seeking to evacuate some object or some being, or to investigate what effects the Warp incursion might have inflicted on a world or region. Often, however, the Eldar have attacked seemingly at random, often with the apparent aim of dissuading human activity in an area they clearly regard as exclusive to themselves.
There are several different types of Eldar active in Askellian space, perhaps most numerous of which are the forces of Unknown . The existence of this gigantic, star-going ark is almost entirely unknown in the sector’s ranks of humanity, although its presence is suspected by a very small number of Inquisitors, in particular those of the Ordo Xenos. Only a handful of humans are aware of its actual existence, and many innocents have unwittingly gone to the grave to maintain this carefully guarded secret. Others, however, may yet have ascertained by study or observation that the Eldar maintain a strong and decisive presence in a region of space many humans would dearly love to abandon. What such agents intend to do with this information remains a mystery, and for many a deep cause for concern.
Far less predictable even than the mysterious activities of the Craftworld Eldar are those of the Corsairs of the so-called Unknown clan. These wild-hearted warriors range far and wide across the Askellon Sector and presumably beyond, utilising Warp routes and portals entirely unknown to human Navigators to strike from the least predictable quarter. The activities of these pirates and outcasts vary from outright and wanton raiding for resources to attacks that can only be described as sporting hunts. Those Inquisitors with any real knowledge of Eldar Corsairs know that they represent not a general type but a spectrum, and that each band, even each Corsair, can be wildly different from the next and motivated by entirely different drives. Some align themselves to their craftworld cousins and can act in a highly noble manner, while others are barely discernible from the raiders of Commorragh and are wicked, cruel, and intent only on inflicting pain and suffering on what they regard as lesser races.
Those vile Eldar that live within the shadows of the Webway, known to xenos scholars as the Drukhari, are themselves active in the Askellon Sector, though their attacks are even less predictable than those of their craftworld and Corsair kin. This particular strain of the Eldar species is known by Ordo Xenos adepts to raid along a string of outlying systems within Askellian space, and all evidence shows they have been doing so as far back as records are kept. In particular, Dark Eldar raiders have plagued the outlying frontier systems rimward of the Thule Sub-Sector for
many generations. Most attacks have been limited to small-scale, targeted slave raids on the less populated worlds, and to the once-per-century incursions against the densely populated hive world of Hulee V. Unlike attacks by their craftworld or Corsair cousins, attacks by the Dark Eldar in Askellon tend to be launched towards a single, simple objective—the taking of slaves to be dragged back to the bleak pits of Commorragh. In the main, the Lords of Askellon have remained aloof and largely uncaring of the fate of these unfortunates, unless tithes and quotas should happen to be affected—in which case largely ineffectual precautionary patrols are often all they can do to deter them.
On several occasions, the Dark Eldar have appeared to launch targeted raids against specific members of the Askellon nobility, and several, largely inconclusive Inquisitorial investigations have been launched to establish just why. In 334.M40 for example, three minor ranked scions of House of Duss, a prominent line of civil administrators from the world of Juno, were taken in the midst of a grand banquet held in the then capital city of that world, Divinity Salvus. Witnesses described how the shadows beyond the guttering candle lights simply closed in about the noble scions, and
when they receded, all three were vanished. The guests panicked, many fleeing from the great hall, but Lord Duss remained in his seat, his expression downcast and evidently resigned to what had occurred. When pressed on the matter by his peers, Lord Duss would only state that the “shadowed ones” had “taken their due as their right,” and would brook no talk of rescue or recrimination.
When accounts later reached the ears of the Inquisition, an investigation was launched and some evidence was uncovered to suggest that Lord Duss had been involved in a long-running relationship with the Dark Eldar, a partnership of sorts, which had recently gone sour. The investigation team determined that the victims of the kidnapping were beyond aid, but that Duss should nonetheless pay properly for the crime of consorting with the alien. He was poisoned at the height of the next state banquet, and it is said that, after his cold form had collapsed into his Vanth squab, the meal continued in utter silence until all eleven courses had been consumed. The petrified guests were said to have glanced towards the shadows continuously, as if expecting that the fate of the Duss scions would befall them as well.
Of all the kin of the Eldar known to have a presence in Askellon, it is the Harlequins who are the most mysterious. Reports of small “troupes” of
Harlequins turn up rarely in the sector, but when they do, it is inevitably in connection to some matter of great import. Often, the aliens seem concerned with the threat of the Ruinous Powers, such as when a cursed artefact is uncovered or a site they deem forbidden is trespassed
upon. This linking of the two, existential threats to the Imperium—the alien and Chaos—is deemed by some as deserving of immediate intervention, though on what terms none seem to be able to agree. Some at the very highest levels of the Ordo Xenos, concerned with the fate of the Askellon Sector, have even proposed that contact should be made between the Eldar and themselves in order to explore the notion of cooperation against a common foe. They would follow the example of the notorious Inquisitor Czevak, who alone of all men appears to have gained the trust of
these inscrutable Eldar. Attempts have even been made to contact certain adepts amongst Czevak’s extended retinue in the hope that they might travel to Askellon and offer their counsel. To date, neither Czevak’s agents nor the Eldar have responded to attempts to establish contact, though it is unlikely that the minds behind such schemes would set their ambitions aside.