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I had a look in Lexicanum and there was nothing on the page. Anyone know?

Do you mean the Ghoul Stars?

http://www.joachim-adomeit.de/wh40k/spacemap/map.html

The Journal of Keeper Cripias from 2nd Ed mentions

the dark perils that await those who passed beyond the Gates of Varl

989.M41 Helbrecht is elected as High Marshal of the Black Templars and declares a Crusade against the Cythor Fiends of the Ghoul Stars. Codex: Black Templars (4th Edition), p.44

Cythor Fiends were a race of extraordinarily evil aliens who lived in a desolate region in the north eastern corner of the Segmentum Obscurus known as the Ghoul Stars. High Marshall Helbrecht of the Black Templars Space Marines led a crusade against them a few years prior to the Third War for Armageddon. The few surviving records of the crusade describe the Cythor Fiends as humanoid Bat-creatures with leathery wings attached to their arms, which were topped with a long, curved claw with which to eviscerate enemies. They had bulging ice-blue eyes and many sharp shard-like teeth sticking out of their leering jaws. They bred in vast numbers and had a preference for swarming the enemy with massive wave attacks. Little is known about the Cythor Fiends' society or way of life, but Imperial Intelligence suggests that their civilization was based on the principles of Warlordism and "Rule of the Shrewdest". Fierce warlords commanded millions of bloodthirsty warriors armed with spike-shooting carbines and their wing-talons. Helbrecht lead the crusade to their homeworlds, but once they arrived found them strangely empty...Codex Black Templars pg44,

I guess there are others who inhabitant them as well, I think it's where a few Necron tomb worlds are as well as Ork Empires.

Pilau Rice wrote:Do you mean the Ghoul Stars?

http://www.joachim-adomeit.de/wh40k/spacemap/map.html

Yep, fail.

The inhabitant of the Ghoul stars.......

My ex-wife

Desert_thunder_heart wrote:

Pilau Rice wrote:Do you mean the Ghoul Stars?

http://www.joachim-adomeit.de/wh40k/spacemap/map.html

Yep, fail.

Not a fail at all, it actually says they are also referred to as the Ghost Stars so cease your facepalming

Thanks very much Pilau.

To me they sound half Nid half Ork.

Woah, those dudes sound cool. They sound a little bit like scourges

And when the BT arrived, all of the bat monsters were just gone? What a cop out. Any other mention of this species?

The fact that they were gone when the crusade arrived makes it sound like they were some DE creation being used as a lure to draw attention away from something else.

Yeah spike shooting carbines and leathery wings sound familiar. Really like the new scourges, only this is older fluff , it could also be tyranids testing a new evolution

Tmonster wrote:Yeah spike shooting carbines and leathery wings sound familiar. Really like the new scourges, only this is older fluff , it could also be tyranids testing a new evolution

Nids testing a new evolution? Nids never "tested" anything. Why would they go so far just to test a new breed of flying warriors? The ghoul stars are a bit too far in the north of the galaxy for being touched by tyranids anyway.

In the novel hellforged there was humans living their but the necrons were killing them all so maybe humans....

person6 wrote:In the novel hellforged there was humans living their but the necrons were killing them all so maybe humans....

Is that the Ghoul stars? I always thought it was just some random place the Imperium hadn't bothered to go...

Tmonster wrote:Yeah spike shooting carbines and leathery wings sound familiar. Really like the new scourges,

But the part that says

Fierce warlords commanded millions of bloodthirsty warriors

doesn't make me think Dark Eldar, I might be wrong but there aren't that many of them about are there?

I think the part about the Gates of Varl is actually saying something about being 'through' the gates, like they are actual gates. Digging around it appears that the C'tan are trying to get through them? So The Gates af Varl are something different from the Ghoul Stars, sorry!

More searching -

THE BLOODMOONS OF THEX PRIME
(approx. 15% of total Thexian Trade Empire)
Hailing from the oxisdised worlds known as the Bloodmoons, the Thexian Elite are a bimorphic race few in number but strong in influence. They are masters of manipulation and have worked themselves into integral positions in the Borlac, Loxatl, and Nicassar civilisations. Though Thexians are famously persuasive, when quile is not enough their battle form is quite horrifying to behold. BRB P117

Probably whichever evil and devious races that GW could come up with at the time. I think the Ghoul Star fluff is a bit old now-ie Loxatl may well be part of an empire, but its mercs can be found off in the Segmentum Obscurus, Nicassar is a Tau world etc-, so judging by its name, like I said gribbly things; but probably not Nids, too far away for that. Necrons for sure due them fleeing to all the quiet places of the galaxy, the odd non Imperial human colony-possibly pirates or something pretty bad due to the number of big bad aliens about-, and yeah, ork clans-they get everywhere you see. The area may be touched on in fluff by a novelist looking to place their book somewhere different, but really its up to you just what gribbly things you want to live in this area of space-its a big place and you've got 10,000 years worth of time to play with. =P

Pilau Rice wrote:

Fierce warlords commanded millions of bloodthirsty warriors

doesn't make me think Dark Eldar, I might be wrong but there aren't that many of them about are there?

Several trillion at the least? Commoragh is a combination of all the surviving webway cities and estates, is large enough to contain seven stars, and is described as "to the largest of Imperial Hives as a soaring mountain is to a mound of termites. Its dimensions would be considered impossible if they could be read by any conventional means." The very largest Imperial Hives house hundreds of billions of people. Even assuming Commoragh is much lower density, it's still large enough to contain seven stars.

I always assumed the Ghoul Stars were left intentionally vague so down the road we could have the potential for some cool fluff. GW seems to do this a lot, leave open plot hooks on purpose. I think the C'tan came around like this too with the Callidus sword and whatnot.

Sir Pseudonymous wrote:

Pilau Rice wrote:

Fierce warlords commanded millions of bloodthirsty warriors

doesn't make me think Dark Eldar, I might be wrong but there aren't that many of them about are there?

Several trillion at the least? Commoragh is a combination of all the surviving webway cities and estates, is large enough to contain seven stars, and is described as "to the largest of Imperial Hives as a soaring mountain is to a mound of termites. Its dimensions would be considered impossible if they could be read by any conventional means." The very largest Imperial Hives house hundreds of billions of people. Even assuming Commoragh is much lower density, it's still large enough to contain seven stars.

Fair enough, not so much of a dieing race then even if they are Dark Eldar. I thought that was one of the whole Dark Eldar/Eldar thing, that they were deadly but small in number.

Just because something is big, doesn't mean that it's densely populated

Pilau Rice wrote:
Fair enough, not so much of a dieing race then even if they are Dark Eldar. I thought that was one of the whole Dark Eldar/Eldar thing, that they were deadly but small in number.

Just because something is big, doesn't mean that it's densely populated

And the fact that most DE would probably lack the stature to be accepted as a warrior in most Kabals. Only the Kabal headed by Asdrubael Vect might measure in the millions of warriors.

As for the emptiness of the xeno homeworlds, I took that to be a reference to Necron (or Tyranid) activity.