Aelindrach is a subrealm of Commorragh, the Dark Eldar city in the Webway. It’s a place where physical laws break down, shadows move with intent, and the Mandrakes make their lairs. If you’re reading up on Drukhari lore, Aelindrach is the part of Commorragh that even other Dark Eldar avoid.
What Aelindrach is
Aelindrach sits inside Commorragh as one of its satellite realms, but it’s not a normal district. It exists in several dimensions at once, and the usual rules don’t apply. Willpower is what keeps your senses intact, which tells you most of what you need to know about the place.
It’s the home of the Mandrakes, along with Shaderavens, Gloomwings, and things the sources only hint at. The realm borders the Bone Middens of the Wych Cults, so it’s not tucked away in some forgotten corner. It’s right there, next to places Drukhari actually use.
History and how it fell
Aelindrach used to be a prosperous satellite realm of the Eldar Empire, full of vaults holding ancient and esoteric treasure. Then something happened. The sources don’t say what, either because nobody knows or because nobody’s willing to talk about it.
After that calamity, the realm became what it is now: a shadow place spread across multiple dimensions. The Shadow-Ghouls of Aelindrach are described as thickening and writhing like living things, whispering about intruders and slithering around their legs with the apparent intent to drown them. Mandrakes, Shaderavens, and Gloomwings lair here, and rumours insist there’s worse further in.
Travelling into Aelindrach
Most Drukhari won’t set foot in the realm itself. Instead, they contact Mandrakes on the borders, using reflective surfaces like mirrors or the surface of pools to make pacts. That’s the safe way to deal with them, if ‘safe’ is the right word.
Some Drukhari still go in anyway, driven by desperation or arrogance, sometimes hired by the Abstrusik Arcanist School of Haemonculi. Whispers persist about supernatural gifts waiting for those who plunge into the shadow. Almost nobody comes back. Those who do tend to be insane, scarred, or changed beyond recognition into something that preys on mortal souls.
The accounts they bring back are a mess of strange images: veils of shadow that numb the flesh and steal sight, ice-cold lakes with dark tendrils writhing in them, hissing horrors with burning silver eyes, trees of mist, domes woven from hair and teeth, and Mandrake kings on thrones of scrimshawed bone. The most haunted survivors talk about a gangly, half-glimpsed thing that stalked them and marked them so completely that part of them is still trapped in Aelindrach, forever the quarry of an endless hunt.
Aelindrach and the Dysjunction
A Dysjunction is when Commorragh’s realms bleed into each other, and Aelindrach has flooded into new parts of the city during them. Its cold shadows and Mandrakes have helped drown Daemonic invaders in shadow and balefire.
The Dysjunction caused by Yvraine’s apotheosis was different. The Mandrake King Kheradruakh finally collected the last of the thousand perfect skulls he needed for his pyramid. The gaze of those skulls bored open a portal to the Midnight Dimension, the home of the Mandrakes and other tenebrous monsters. From there, the shadows began to ebb outward.
Key facts
- Aelindrach is a subrealm of Commorragh that exists in several dimensions simultaneously.
- It was once a wealthy Eldar satellite realm before an unnamed calamity changed it.
- Mandrakes, Shaderavens, and Gloomwings lair there, along with Shadow-Ghouls.
- Most Drukhari deal with Mandrakes on Aelindrach’s borders rather than entering.
- It borders the Bone Middens of the Wych Cults.
- During the Dysjunction caused by Yvraine’s apotheosis, Kheradruakh opened a portal to the Midnight Dimension.
FAQ
What is Aelindrach in Warhammer 40k?
It’s a subrealm of Commorragh, the Dark Eldar city in the Webway. It exists in multiple dimensions at once, physical laws don’t work normally there, and it’s the main home of the Mandrakes.
Who lives in Aelindrach?
Mandrakes, Shaderavens, and Gloomwings all lair there. Sources also mention Shadow-Ghouls and hint at worse creatures deeper in.
Can you enter Aelindrach?
You can, but almost nobody does willingly. Most Drukhari contact Mandrakes on the borders through mirrors or pools instead. Those who go in rarely return, and the ones who do are usually broken by it.
What happened during the Dysjunction?
Aelindrach has flooded into new parts of Commorragh during Dysjunctions before. During the one caused by Yvraine’s apotheosis, Kheradruakh completed his pyramid of a thousand skulls and opened a portal to the Midnight Dimension.