Arcadia (Eldar)
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This article is about the the library planet of the Eldar Harlequins. For other uses of Arcadia, see Arcadia (disambiguation). |
| Map | Basic Data | Planetary Image | |
|---|---|---|---|
  Arcadia |
Name: | Arcadia | 
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| Segmentum: | Segmentum Obscurus | ||
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| Population: | |||
| Affiliation: | Eldar (Harlequin) | ||
| Class: | Xenos World | ||
Arcadia, also known as the Planet of Law[1b], is a hidden Harlequin site within the Eye of Terror[1h] only accessible through the Warp and the Webway guarded by the Harlequins of Arcadia within the canyons of which the fabled city-sized Arcadian Librarium sits, one of the most extensive repositories of knowledge in the galaxy.[1c] Necrons have sought to close all portals to Arcadia, and it was in this pursuit that they appeared on Lorn IV.[1b] The carved settlements of the world form the glyphs of the Laughing God, and its information is known only to his followers – including information on how to travel through time itself using the secrets of the Warp.[1e]
History
Little is known of the history of Arcadia,[1c] or the Arcadian Librarium, the great repository of knowledge known only to the followers of The Laughing God – its history hidden even to Craftworld Eldar.[1e] It is guarded by the Harlequins of Arcadia,[1d] to which the famous Solitaire Karebennian belongs and the world is the false path through which his Tome of Karebennian leads those who might seek the Black Library.[1g]
The architecture of the world, with its massive amphitheatres designed to fit tens of thousands,[1g] suggests the world may have at one time been home to a larger population but now it is guarded by the Masque of the Harlequins of Arcadia.[1d]
It was in pursuit of this route to the Black Library that Ahriman and his Thousand Sons sought out the Arcadian Librarium in late M41[1b], where they encountered and recruited to their company the amnesiac Blood Ravens Librarian Rhamah who together fought the guardian Harlequins.[1b] Already in an alliance of their own, a command group of Blood Ravens under Gabriel Angelos followed the prophecy of the Warlock Taldeer and her navigation through the Warp to Arcadia (after discovering the Webway Gate on Lorn V to Arcadia had been destroyed) in hopes of recovering Rhamah and discovering the truth of his absence.[1e] Instead, Rhamah fell to Chaos and then to the Solitaire Karebennian and Ahriman escaped (although not to the Black Library as he had believed)[1g] granting Gabriel Angelos the great destiny of reuniting the blade of Lanthrilaq and travelling through the webway to deliver it to Farseer Macha to defeat a great Necron threat.[1g]
Planetary Conditions
The Arcadian system sits among raging tempests of deep red nebulae[1a] and has three suns[1a] and two pale red moons[1a] whose blinding red light[1e] have rendered the planet a pale barren desert with temperatures that fluctuate between blazing heat and freezing cold amidst unrelenting clouds of dust.[1a] The planet itself has two red moons, one of which sits as large as a sun in the sky,[1a] and its pale surface reflects the colours of the skies above.[1a]
The only known settlement on the world is a hidden city within a large rocky mesa, either dug out of the sandstone or built within a pre-existing valley - the craftsmanship of the dwelling is such that it is hard to tell which is the more likely.[1a] Ground approach to the city is through a maze-like series of canyons.[1a] and the streets of the city are a maze which wind and lattice like cracked rocks, with only subtle details exposing the windows, balconies, spires and towers, dry fountains of sand[1a], and gargoyles and statues – some of Aeldari (with both Asuryani and Drukhari features), some Human, and some creatures of the Creatures of the Warp.
Within the buildings lies the Arcadian Librarium, an ancient library of the Harlequins and one of the most extensive repositories of knowledge in existence with stone-carved desks and shelves[1c] on which works are said to be so at home that they defy gravity itself to staty in place.[1f] The library is the final archive of many ancient documents, many only known to the Harlequins themselves. Among these works are:
- The The Legend of Lanthrilaq[1f]
- Quezul'reah, the historic text of the Blood Ravens Chapter[1f]
- Harlequin Charts of the Webway[1f]
Trivia
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- Arcadia was the Region of Greece from which the worship of the god Pan arose and, in Greek Mythology, the virgin wilderness domain of Pan's court of dryads, fauns, and other forest spirits. The 16th Century European Renaissance revival of Classical Latin poetry, in particular the Bucolic Poems of the Roman poet Virgil, repopularised through poems such as Jacopo Sannazaro's 1504 Arcadia and Sir Philip Sidney's 1593 The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia the use of Arcadia as a poetic byword for an idyllic unspoiled pastoral wilderness forever in its golden age.
