The Void Dragons are a Corsair fleet, roaming the galaxy in their sleek, alien vessels. Having turned away from the strict doctrines of the Eldar craftworlds, they have chosen a life of adventure and piracy but still maintain their own form of order and employ rules of their own. The Void Dragons welcome into their ranks those Eldar that have turned away from their craftworld and sometimes recruit from the Exodite worlds that they visit. They maintain trading relationships with a number of these so-called Maiden Worlds, bringing them exotic supplies and technologies from distant worlds and their craftworld kin in exchange for the skins and blood of the "dragons" that inhabit many of the Exodite planets.
The Void Dragons use dragon blood in the ritualistic ceremony by which new members are initiated into their ranks. Once an Eldar becomes a fully-fledged Void Dragon, they are permitted to wear the skin of a dragon, usually as a cloak. Depending on the colour of the skin, they also become part of one of the many groups, or "scales", that make up the Void Dragons. Each scale has a different role in the hierarchy; the Red Scales, for instance, are by far the most numerous and make up the bulk of the Void Dragon force, whereas the Purple Scales are the fleet's seers and Warlocks and the elite Black Scales are the command caste.
The Void Dragons are unique amongst the Eldar in one very important area - they are unusually fertile and the majority of those born are female. Curiously, this trait does not seem isolated to the original Void Dragons; it also affects those that join them, a fact that has been a source of much investigation and conjecture. Eldar joining the Void Dragons have to embrace their teachings and ideologies; this eventually culminates in the initiation ceremony, where the Eldar's mind becomes attuned to the cause of the fleet. Due to the psycho-reactive materials used in Eldar technology, this change in the Eldar's mindset actually manifests in her armour, forming scales and even bone-like protrusions. These changes can manifest early whilst the Eldar is still a "hatchling", but is most obvious when she is initiated, gains her dragon skin and joins a scale. The Void Dragons are heralded by some as representing one of the Eldar's best chances of survival. The possibility of rebuilding their shattered empire is discussed in hushed whispers in corners of the Webway and many Eldar factions and groups are keeping a watchful eye on this Corsair fleet.
Eldar born into the fleet are referred to as "Dragonborn" and they will eventually end up piloting the corsair fleet's vehicles and flyers. Because they are born into the Void Dragons (rather than choosing to join) they are looked down upon by the others until they can prove their worth. To this end they are formed into small assault squads and given dangerous assignments. The Dragonborn squads are led by a fuly-fledged member of the Void Dragons, often one who joined voluntarily, as a reminder of the expectations placed upon them. Once they have proven their worth in battle they are afforded a great deal more respect in recognition of their importance for the continued survival of the Eldar race.
The Eldar Pirates bridge the gap between the disciplined Craftworld Eldar and the sadistic Dark Eldar. To that end, my designs are based on the Craftworld Eldar but with much more variety in the equipment and far less uniform armour and clothing. Dragon motifs are common throughout, as are scales and teeth. Lots of the Void Dragons go into battle with bare heads and wear their hair long. Each Void Dragon is an individual and so each model varies considerably. Many of them carry knives and arcane technology that they have recovered in raiding parties. They decorate their armour with sashes and ribbons, often in colours to match the cloak that they wear.
Not wanting to develop a full Codex for the Void Dragons, I have elected to simply use the standard Eldar codex rules and have each Void Dragon unit "count as" a unit featured in the Codex. The weapons and equipment shown on the miniatures themselves sometimes vary a bit those carried by the standard units that they represent. I decided to use the following equivalencies:
The Void Dragons also employ their own terminology for describing units. A "brood" is a squad, a "flight" is a squadron of flight-capable vehicles and a "pack" is a squadron of land-based vehicles or walkers. For example, a brood of hatchlings is equivalent to a squad of Eldar Guardians and a brood of Red Scales is the same as a squad of Dire Avengers.