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So its well established that Pirates and Mercenarys will frequently go into Commoragh to sell captured slaves and goods and to work mercenary jobs for the Drukhari but has it ever been established how they get into Commoragh since most races dont have asscess to the Webway? Is there like hidden port planets that you can go to to get a Drukhari ship to escort you in? Is there some secret Web way gate somewhere that is only known in Pirate Circles?

To me it seems more plausible the second option.

I believe this issue has never been addressed officially in the lore.

The only way i imagine a human or Khaine knows what entering the Dark city is probably through a secret passage widely know by the pirating community.

 Elian wrote:
To me it seems more plausible the second option.

I believe this issue has never been addressed officially in the lore.

The only way i imagine a human or Khaine knows what entering the Dark city is probably through a secret passage widely know by the pirating community.

It has and it hasn't. There is (was) a sprawling pirate cove on the edge of the EoT (whether it is still there in present day 40k it's not been said) on a planet called Sublime, that is very much like "The Bitter Pill" planet from the Doctor Who episodes The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit, but I digress. All manner of different Xenos (including Eldar pirates) dock and trade there so it is quite natural that this information can get out, willing or otherwise.

Sublime has only been mentioned once in the first Fabius Bile novel, so take its canonicity with a pinch of salt.

Doesn't it say in "Atlas Infernal" that there are hidden webway portals scattered around - you just need to know what you're looking for (and have a key)?

Could be wrong as it's been a while since I read it...

Didn't know that thanks @Grimtuff old fluff as always is a bit shaky!

As i recall @beast_gts many people can enter the webway even Necrons if i recall correctly so i don't think you need to have a key.
You just need to be at the right place at the right time.. Maybe.
Can someone else jump on this? i'm not sure

 Elian wrote:
Didn't know that thanks @Grimtuff old fluff as always is a bit shaky!

It's fairly new background, that book only came out a couple of years ago. I'd be wary of the link though with the other bits, much of the stuff on the ruler; Mordrac is pulled out of someone's backside. He's not a CSM, he's not a member of the EC, Bile refers to him as a "sergeant" as he is mocking him. The whole character is simply a reference to Count Modrek the Damned. But I'm going off topic here...

As for the key. You need a key, but not a traditional one. In the aforementioned Bile novels he opens them with a captured Eldar (imaginatively named "Key" ) who is melded with Wraithbone to create a resonance frequency to activate the gates.

Some gates can be left open (or do not require keys, only proximity). The Salamanders stormed Commorragh at one point. (As part of a complex plan by Vect to rid himself of some enemies)

Most likely, there are places that are known as Commorragh nexuses. The drukhari on the other side are manning a watching post of some variety, so they can recognize if you're really pirates or, say, a fleet of Adeptas Sororitas ships trying to get in to kill folks. These gates are probably located in galactic "bad neighborhoods" and are jealously guarded secrets in pirate circles.

 Grimtuff wrote:

 Elian wrote:
Didn't know that thanks @Grimtuff old fluff as always is a bit shaky!

It's fairly new background, that book only came out a couple of years ago. I'd be wary of the link though with the other bits, much of the stuff on the ruler; Mordrac is pulled out of someone's backside. He's not a CSM, he's not a member of the EC, Bile refers to him as a "sergeant" as he is mocking him. The whole character is simply a reference to Count Modrek the Damned. But I'm going off topic here...

As for the key. You need a key, but not a traditional one. In the aforementioned Bile novels he opens them with a captured Eldar (imaginatively named "Key" ) who is melded with Wraithbone to create a resonance frequency to activate the gates.

Didn't know that! Cheers my guy

Its the secret craftworld of Tortuga! (eldar for Port Royal).

There's probably also a few backrooms in a shady bar or two that leads to another backroom in a shady drug den in Comorragh. Something simple as a key (an "unwillingness to enter" or a "stolen knife")

A few captains might actually know what is on the other side and out the doors (and may even be allowed through, if they want), whilst new comers might just think it's a second hidden room.

Some more famous ones might even lead to the odd archon or corsair pirate prince's secret base, and not be part of the larger mass of Comorrogh. You wouldn't be able to fly a ship to the rest of it, but the Dark city is just one place - it's a network of hundreds of private pocket dimensions. So whilst a Dark Eldar might think nothing of walking through several portals to get from their home to the trading post, the humans granted access to this private realm would have no idea that it is part of something even grander

Rogue trader has a dark eldar base (the nexus of shadows) in realspace that pirates can access.

It's basically a tiny bit of comorragh protruding out of a small moon.

locarno24 wrote:
Rogue trader has a dark eldar base (the nexus of shadows) in realspace that pirates can access.

It's basically a tiny bit of comorragh protruding out of a small moon.

Cool - which book is that in?

I always thought those pirates and mercenaries were themselves Eldar, as, being anything less, going to Commorragh would gain you nothing but a one-way ticket to the slave pens.

 Mr Morden wrote:

locarno24 wrote:
Rogue trader has a dark eldar base (the nexus of shadows) in realspace that pirates can access.

It's basically a tiny bit of comorragh protruding out of a small moon.

Cool - which book is that in?

Soul Reaver

 Threeshades wrote:
I always thought those pirates and mercenaries were themselves Eldar, as, being anything less, going to Commorragh would gain you nothing but a one-way ticket to the slave pens.

No, the Drukhari engage non-Aeldari mercenaries on a fairly regular basis. Sslyth and Medusae are two examples that actually show up in the codex (a rarity), while Barghesi are mentioned as gladiators and Galg are noted to be used as poison-dispensing pleasure-servants in the fluff, but I'd be very surprised if at least one Archon didn't employ a Kroot Kindred, a Human Warband, or some other, more obscure Xenos species like the Tarellian Dog-Soldiers, Khrave Vampires, Fra'al Ether-Casters, Lacrymole Mimics, Saharduin Water-Devils, Loxatl Flechettes, Thyrrus Squiddies, Hrud Shadow-Runners, Zoat Remnants, Blood Axe Merks, and so on.

All this to say, I'd really like T'au and Drukhari to have more alien mercenary options.

Medusae aren't mercs per se. They're a webway parasite that attaches themselves to a host that the DE have weaponized.

 Grimtuff wrote:
Medusae aren't mercs per se. They're a webway parasite that attaches themselves to a host that the DE have weaponized.

Are they not sentient, though? I seem to remember a line to that effect somewhere in a codex...

 Threeshades wrote:
I always thought those pirates and mercenaries were themselves Eldar, as, being anything less, going to Commorragh would gain you nothing but a one-way ticket to the slave pens.

Nah. The concept of Loyalty is a concept completely alien to Dark Eldar and employing other Dark Eldar as Body Guards is a sure fire way to be killed in your sleep so they will frequently recuit other races most notably the Slyth as bodyguards ans mercenarys cause they wont kill there employers in there sleep. There value as a strong LOYAL body guard that wont muder you in your sleep supercedes there value as a torture slave. Also if a pirate is selling slaves to you and continues to do so doesnt it make more sense to just buy more and mores slaves from them then to attack the pirate ship and enslave its crew. You get far more slaves in the long term by amicably doing buisness with pirate captains then by attacking them. The best way to survive in Commoragh as a non Aeldari is to either be a pirate or the be a mercenary with a strong record of not betraying your employers.