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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
adding detail from harlequin history
As they are said to be touched by the Great Harlequin directly, [[Eldar]] folk tales tell many accounts of a hero not realizing that instead with a Solitaire they met with Cegorach himself.{{Fn|1}} Solitaires are among the few that can freely enter the [[Black Library of Chaos]].{{Fn|5}} Pivotal roles for '''Solitaires''' include the '''Prince of Sins''', the '''Spectre of Despair''', and the '''Thirsting Darkness'''.{{Fn|10}} Solitaires are chosen by [[Cegorach]]{{Fn|1}} to tread upon the Path of Damnation and forfeit their essence to [[Slaanesh]], fated to be claimed by the Prince of Excess.{{Fn|2}}{{Fn|3b}}{{Fn|4a}} At their death, Cegorach himself fights for their souls in an uneven battle with the [[Chaos God]] Slaanesh,{{Fn|2}}{{Fn|3b}} a battle the [[Laughing God]] is only able to win through trickery.{{Fn|2}}
'''Solitaires''' are able to engage to some degree in the [[Great Game]] with their deaths, in '''113'''.[[M41]] a Solitaire dueled a [[Skulltaker]] before the [[Gate of Souls]] and, through it's self-sacrifice at the Skulltaker's hands, sent a resonating psychic echo through the warp which banished a horde of [[Slaanesh]]i [[Daemons]] about to breach the gate.{{Fn|3d}}
The '''Solitaires''' seek out Eldar considered promising and able to survive the trial that all Harlequins must endure. Though they are capable of speech, they do not speak and are not spoken to, except in ritual form during a performance. It is said that any who accidentally addresses or touches a Solitaire is cursed, and would be better to take their own life outright.{{Fn|3b}}
**{{Endn|3b}}: pg. 31
**{{Endn|3c}}: pg. 74
**{{Endn|3d}}: ''Millenia of Mystery''
*4: [[Codex: Harlequins (8th Edition)]]:
**{{Endn|4a}} pg. 38
