Craftworld Kinshara

[Eldarek]

I love the idea of homebrewing your own entities like Craftworlds, Kabals/Cults/Covens and even Space Marine chapters or Chaos warbands. But I'm also really into building more for ones which exist canonically but have very little official information out there on them. Craftworld Kinshara is possibly the most exciting group of Asuryani to me personally that fits this bill, because while there's only a small amount written about them, what is recorded leads to some pretty interesting conclusions and further questions.

 

They are highlighted in 9th Edition's War Zone Laevenir where they encounter elements of Hive Fleet Ouroboris threatening the Laevenir Archipelago, a region of space that contained nine systems, eleven Maiden Worlds and several sentient species. While the 9e rulebook describes the Archipelago as being under the watch of the Asuryani vaguely, the fact that Kinshara was there to discover it in addition to one local species being known as "Those Who Evade the Crone" specifically being known as such to "the Kinshara Aeldari" suggests a close association with the area. In terms of the total Aeldari forces which answer their call, Kinshara is listed as having a strength of 20 Warhosts which places them as smaller than Lugganath with 26, but slightly larger than Altansar who had 18. So its military strength is not insignificant.

 

Diplomatically it might be assumed that Biel-Tan and Saim-Hann responding to their pleas either represents existing ties but could just as easily be simply due to the conflict involving Maiden Worlds, which both Craftworlds are famous for protecting. Similarly the presence of the other minor Craftworlds of Lugganath and Telennar are not explained against other groups but Kinshara is supposed to have sent warriors wit Maugan Ra to recover Altansar from the Warp, possibly explaining their assistance. Of the other Corsair fleets and Harlequin Masques listed; The Masque of the Twisted Path have a relationship with Telennar, the Masque of the Leering Moon mostly operate on Skyweavers (possible Saim-Hann connection) and the Shattered Stars are focused on defending Maiden Worlds. Of the Corsair fleets none are particularly associated with a given Craftworld other than the Sunblitz Brotherhood's ties to Lugganath and that Craftworld's connection to Corsairs generally. 

 

Militarily we do know that they make use of Aspect Warriors, specifically Shining Spears and Striking Scorpions. They have also appeared piloting ships either in space or planetside. Combined with the knowledge that the greatest bonesinger in all of history came from Kinshara might mean they make heavy use of ships, grav tanks and wraith constructs. They've also appeared in two contexts outside of Laevenir; as part of a Craftworld coalition assisting the Imperium during the Nachmund Rift War and at a site where the Imperium were digging up ancient Aeldari ruins.

 

Breaking down the name, the lexicon defines "Kin" as the active/aggressive form (ie verb) translating to "Hope". The passive or negative versions come across as "patience" and "longing". "Shara" lacks a direct translation with the closest I could find being "Shad" which means Spear or Sier/Siara meaning Scattering/Dispersed.

 

So onto what I personally like to believe about Kinshara based on this information...