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[[Image:The great stage.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Great Stage]]
Harlequins are able to move across the galaxy by traversing the [[Webway]], the quasi-dimensional creation of the race known as the [[Old Ones]]. It is said that [[Cegorach]] is the only being in existence who knows every single path through the webway. This might explain how his disciples possess such an intimate knowledge of its twists and turns, for the Harlequins walk the webway without fear, appearing and disappearing at will. So well versed are they in the webway’s secret routes that many other [[Aeldari]] have credited the servants of the Laughing God with supernatural powers.
The Harlequins utilize their knowledge of the webway’s hidden paths to outmaneuver outmanoeuvre their foes and strike from unexpected quarters. In this way, entire masques of Harlequins can position themselves in ambush, guaranteeing the element of surprise.{{Fn|14e}}
===The Black Library===
==History==
Harlequins date back to the ancient [[Eldar Empire]]. They first appeared amid the hedonistic debauchery of the pre-[[Fall of the Eldar|Fall]] Eldar to perform the dances of their ancient mythic cycles, seeking to remind their people of all that they were throwing away. However, many amongst their audiences reacted with hostility, forcing these early Harlequins to become proficient in combat. In this way, the [[Harlequin#Saedath|Saedath]] becomes forever intwined entwined with the Harlequin dances.{{Fn|14g}}
===The Fall of the Eldar===
In [[M31]], the civilization of the ancient [[Eldar Empire]] is annihilated by the catastrophic birth of [[Slaanesh]].{{Fn|7e}} During the [[Fall of the Eldar]], the Laughing God [[Cegorach]] managed to escape destruction at the hands of [[Slaanesh]]. Many followers of Cegorach are hidden safely away within the [[Webway]] and survived the disaster intact.{{Fn|14g}} In the wake of the [[Fall of the Eldar]] through [[M32]], other surviving worshippers of the laughing god dissapear disappear into the Webway without explanation.{{Fn|7e}} Within the Webway, Harlequins prepare for a war that would consume their future utterly.{{Fn|14g}}
===Return to the Stage===
On '''641'''.[[M33]], after centuries of isolation, the Harlequins made their spectacular return in [[M33]] when the [[Masque of the Midnight Sorrow]] burst from the [[Webway]] onto the world of [[Llayen Nuadh]] to drive back a horde of Slaaneshi [[Daemon]]s and rescuing an embattled [[Ulthwe]] warhost in the process,{{Fn|14g}} although is not until '''666'''.[[M33]] that the harlequins first perform [[Harlequin#The_Dance_Without_End|The Dance Without End]] horrifying the audience as the [[Solitaire]] is seen for the first time.{{Fn|7e}}
In '''358'''.[[M40]], the forces of the [[Masque of the Silent Shroud]] face [[Waaagh! Gutrippa]] on [[Sheng's World]] in the [[War of Mirrors]]. Impossibly outnumbered, only a handful survive but the [[Waaagh!]] destroys itself in the confution confusion they sew.{{Fn|7e}}{{fn|14g}}
In '''454'''.[[M40]] the [[Masque of the Soaring Spite]] aided the [[Wych]] [[Cult of Strife]] in the defense of the [[Exodite World]] of [[Rhildhol]] against the [[Nurgle|Nurglite]] Warband of [[Chaos Lord|Lord]] [[Fulgulus]]{{Fn|7e}} who had been systematically poisoning the planet's rivers, lakes, and forests. Fulgulus is the last to fall, pierced by the twin blades known as the [[Twilight Fang|Serpent's Fangs]].{{Fn|14g}}
In '''778'''.[[M40]] the [[Masque of the Dreaming Shadow]] infiltrate the chronostatic Tomb-Fortress of [[Nemesor]] [[Torlak]] on [[Pardassos]], sabotaging the tomb complex's temporal matricies matrices and triggering a singularity cascade that exterminates most of the planet's [[Necrons]]. The Masque's [[Death Jester]]s ambush Torlak and his [[Lychguard]] in the confusion.{{Fn|7e}}
In '''998'''.[[M40]]{{Fn|7e}} the [[Imperial]] forces of an [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] [[Explorator Fleet]] attempted to plunder [[Archaeotech]] from the [[Dead World]] of [[Karadox]]. The [[Masque of the Midnight Sorrow]] hit-and-run attacks at dig teams and their guards to prevent the Imperials from taking the forbidden technology and unleashing the horrors it held.{{Fn|14g}}
The fortress world of [[Magnor Prime]], defended by the [[Astra Militarum]], comes under sustained attack by the [[Night Lords]]. Just as the terror raids bring the Imperial forces to the brink of revolt, Harlequins of the [[Masque of the Veiled Path]] appear as though from nowhere offering the Imperial officers intelligence letting them deploy their surviving troops to counter enemy attacks before they arise, turning the Night Lords from ambushers to ambushed. After a fortnitefortnight, the Harlequin forces show themselves to the Night Lords, who melt away into the warp.{{Fn|14g}}
===The 41st Millenium===
In '''056'''.[[M41]] the [[Masque of the Frozen Stars]] removed [[Imperial Knight]] [[House Terryn]] from the [[Maiden World]] of [[Velos]] in a [[Harlequin#Saedath|Saedath]] known as the '''Giant's Lament'''{{Fn|7e}} not a single super-heavy war engine makes it back to it's its landing craft.{{fnFn|14g}}
The [[Tzeentch]]ian [[Sorcerer]] [[Yelgth'ir]] is slain in his inner sanctum by a [[Troupe Master]] of the [[Masque of the Weeping Dawn]], across the galaxy the fates of three planets are altered for the better as [[Necrons]] do not awaken.{{Fn|14g}}
In '''215'''.[[M41]] Harlequins of the [[Masque of the Veiled Path]] doublecrossed double-crossed the [[Imperial Navy]] after a surprising offer of help in defense defence of a base at [[Roth]] against pirates.{{Fn|14g}} Instead, the imperial officers were vented into the void of space.{{Fn|7e}}
From '''785''' to '''795'''.[[M41]] the [[Masque of the Dreaming Shadow]] would engage in a decade-long campaign to purge [[Necron]]s from the tomb world of [[Maedrax]]{{Fn|7e}}, following a forced retreat of [[Ulthwé]] at the hands of the [[Blood Angel]]s in '''783'''.[[M41]].{{Fn|14g}}
After the collapse of a [[Necron]] [[Dolmen Gate]] allows a horde of [[Khorne]] [[Daemons]] to spill into the [[Webway]], the [[Masque of the Veiled Path]] divert the Daemons to [[Magnor Prime]] which they had defended nearly a millenium millennium prior, the resultant war leads to the mutual distruction destruction of both Imperial and Chaos forces. The [[Black Library of Chaos|Black Library]] remains undisturbed.{{Fn|14g}}
With the aid of [[Shadowseer]]s from the [[Masque of the Midnight Sorrow]], [[Inquisitor]] [[Sophia Vilimas]] is able to defeat the [[Alpha Legion]] on [[Safehaven]] in '''948'''.[[M41]] and a massive [[Daemon]]ic incursion is prevented.{{Fn|14g}} For their aid, the seers inform Vilimas that she now owes them a debt.{{Fn|7e}}
In '''990'''.[[M41]]{{Fn|7e}} a [[Great Harlequin]] wins the [[Cult of Seventh Woe]]'s [[Cult_of_Seventh_Woe#The_Dance_of_the_Blinding_Blade|Dance of the Blinding Blade]] in [[Commoragh]] with impossible speed and skill before vanishing. Rumors begin among the Commorites that the attendant had been none other than [[Cegorach]] himself.{{Fn|14g}}
In '''991'''.[[M41]]{{Fn|7e}} Harlequins of the [[Masque of the Dreaming Shadow]] bring a warning to the [[Tech-Priest]]s of the [[Forge World]] of [[Noctillus Dhega-Nox]], but are met with [[Skitarii]] instead. Thirteen days later the Harlequins return in force and strike at high-value targets across the planet – the [[Imperial Titan]] manufactorum, fuel supplies, munitions macrofactorums, and assassinating [[Archmagos]] [[Fabricatus Phogali]]. Furious, the Magi call for millitary military assistance from nearby [[Imperial]] worlds. When the [[Imperial]] forces arrive, they are suddenly engaged by the invading warships of the [[Oruscar Dynasty]] of [[Necron]]s.{{Fn|14g}}
In '''993'''.[[M41]]{{Fn|7e}} several masques combine their forces to topple the [[Echospire]] of the [[Shrine World]] of [[Baedros]], earning the emnity enmity of the [[Space Wolves]].{{Fn|14g}}
The Harlequins are seen in unprecidented unprecedented numbers.{{Fn|14g}} Through a string of bloody battles in '''996'''.[[M41]]{{Fn|7e}} the [[Masque of the Midnight Sorrow]] trap sixty-six [[Herald]]s of [[Slaanesh]] within runic stones uncomfortably simmilar similar to [[Asuryani]] [[Waystone]]s. Each stone is entrusted to the care of a different troupe's [[Troupe Master]] and worn on the breast, the purpose of the practice is uncelar unclear but is shocking to their [[Craftworld]] kin.{{Fn|14g}}
In '''997'''.[[M41]] the [[Masque of the Veiled Path]] trick the [[Khorne]]ate Warband on [[Jai'Hallaer]] into the razor-edged landslide of the planet's Shattered Rift.{{Fn|7e}}
The formation of the [[Great Rift]] battered the [[Webway]] with shockwaves, opening closed gates into [[Real Space]], re-opening closed labyrinthine sub-dimensions, collapsing stable sub-realms, and overloading gates into screaming rents that empty straight into the [[Immaterium]].{{Fn|14g}}
Within [[Nykos Secundus]] during the [[Noctis Aeterna]] the [[Solitaire]] known as the [[Spectre of Despair]] stalks [[Governor|ImperialGovernor]] Govenor [[Sylas Ghorondine]] relentlessly across every world in the system. Ghorondine releases an [[Eversor]] assassin against the Solitaire whose bioplasmic meltdown as the Solitaire deals its deathblow obliterates the Eversor, the Solitaire, and Govenor Governor Ghorondine.{{Fn|14g}}
Within the [[Webway]] the [[Masque of the Dance Without End]] locate an intersection where the [[Crystal Labyrinth]] of [[Tzeentch]] was overtaking the passages. The masque perform a slow and sombre dance falling to slumber and projecting their dreaming selves into the twisted mirrors to fight the invading [[Daemons]] within their mirror domains.{{Fn|14g}}
Several [[Harlequin Masque|Masques]] of the [[Masque of the Shattered Mirage|Shattered Mirage]] begin a campaign of violence against a [[Red Corsair]]-held [[Blackstone Fortress]] which lurks on the fringes of the [[Maelstrom]]. Together with a rogue faction of [[Yme-Loc]] [[Asuryani]] they retake the [[Talisman of Vaul]].{{Fn|14g}}
The [[Great Unclean One]] [[Rotigus]] moves across the [[Maiden World]]s and [[Exodite World]]s of the [[Eastern Fringe]], bringing with him the storm rot and foul waters of the Deluge of [[Nurgle]]. On each world so beset, the [[Masque of the Frozen Stars]] appear, fighting their way to each planet's [[World Spirit]] to perform dances of startling beauty which move all present [[Aeldari]] to tears. With their tears cleansing waters that glow like moonlight sweep across the landscapes in monsoons ot to undo the corruption of [[Nurgle]].{{Fn|14g}} Rumors Rumours spread among the [[Exodite]]s that if enough [[Eldar]] weep for their Maiden Worlds their combined sorrow might somehow release the goddess [[Isha]] from her imprisonment within [[Nurgle]]'s foetid manse.{{Fn|14g}}
[[Explorator Fleet]] [[Ulm-Ohm-7]] puts down upon a nameless world covered in ghostly ruins. There they are ambushed by the [[Death Jesters]] of the [[Masque of the Reaper's Mirth]], who engage in a contest to inflict the most iconic demise, culminating in an act of sabotage where five-hundred [[Skitarii]] are crushed instantenously instantaneously by the collapse of a void-shield generator.{{Fn|14g}}
Following the opening of [[Khaine's Gate]] within [[Commorragh]] and the assassination of [[Asdrubael Vect]], the [[Masque of the Veiled Path]] stage a wake unlike any other for Vect with all but [[Lady Malys]] in attendance. In the midst of their performance, the Harlequins release airborne hallucinogens which turn ally and enemy [[Archon]] against eachothereach other. Vect himself arises from a column of dark energy and declares himself the '''Living''' [[Dark Muse]] as the Harlequins of the Veiled Path vanish into the webway with the unassailable Supreme Overlord of Commorragh in their debt.{{Fn|14g}}
Following the fracture of [[Biel-tan]] it's its disparate fleetborne fleetborn elements clash over the remainder of the Swordwind. Disaster is averted when the [[Masque of the Frozen Stars]] travel across the warships warning of the [[Daemonic]] threat over the [[Exodite World]]s known as the [[Three Sisters]].{{Fn|14g}} The Harlequins lead the Swordwind to purge the worlds, and eventually to fall upon the [[Hive World]] of [[Khazhar]] where players lower the city's void shields to give the Swordwind the opportunity to strike.{{Fn|14g}}
The [[Imperial]] [[Agri-World]] of [[Methuselax]] is overrun by a splinter-fleet of [[Hive Fleet]] [[Hydra]], risking the critical [[Webway]] that sits at it's its south pole. The [[Masque of the Soaring Spite]] lead an airborn airborne coalition of [[Saim-Hann]] [[Asuryani]] with [[Drukhari]] [[Wyches]] to destroy the threat, leaping from [[Starweaver]]s onto the carapaces of brood-beasts and back before igniting plasma charges. Casualties are high, but the Hive Sheets abandon the planet leaving behind a [[Dead World]] but a safe Webway Gate.{{Fn|14g}}
[[Iron Warriors]] lead by the [[Sorcerer]] [[Gharros]] raise a fastness known as the [[Indomitasmium]] on the [[Death World]] of [[Toros]] before they are beset by the [[Masque of the Silent Shroud]] who clear the fortress chamber by chamber, an eerie silence befalling the Indomitasmium which renders those within it deaf, blind, and dumb. Weeks pass as the Harlequins accept painful losses to upkeep their seigesiege, driving cultists mad with terror. Gharros launches a final breakout attempt, but is stimeyed stymied as the [[Shadowseer]]s steal the words to his summoning ritual from his mout mouth before he spaks speaks them. As the [[Iron Warriors]] prepare to make a last stand at their landing craft, [[Craftworld]] [[Iyanden]] arrives to unleash orbital bombardment.{{Fn|14g}}
==Masques==
{{Main|Masque}}
[[Image:MasqueOrg.jpg|thumb|right|350px|Organization of a Harlequin Masque{{Fn|14d}}]]
Harlequins have no formal leaders, being a collective of like-minded players each of them profoundly aware of its their role.{{Fn|14b}} They perform around the galaxy as [[Masque]]s, each masque a company comprised of [[Troupes]]s and specialist performers.{{Fn|1}} Each Harlequin performs their role, even on the battlefield in the [[Saedath]], such that Masques function with brutal efficiency, able to operate with extreme cohesion and coordination despite lacking a formal military chain of command and having little direction upon the battlefield.{{Fn|14b}}
In a similar way, each Masque performs a role with the greater '''Grand Masques''', joining with other Masques that perform the [[Eldar Mythology|Mythic Cycles]] to enact [[Cegorach]]'s will throughout the webway and beyond.{{Fn|14b}}
One by one, seven figures appear behind Slaanesh to mingle with the old race. First, four Mimes, appearing as daemons who pass their sensual and disturbing movements to the rest of the dancers. Secondly come three dark figures, the Death Jesters, their suits displaying skeletons as they leap and slay among the fallen gods, bringing their inert forms to the feet of Slaanesh. As the last god falls, the Warlocks emanate a psychic scream that echoes through the minds of the audience. The scream becomes a laugh of madness and depravity. As the High Avatar enters, there is within the laugh, another, ironic laugh. As the Laughing God, he strolls casually onstage, laughing at the cosmic folly of the fallen. For a moment he is lost among Slaanesh's servants, but leaps clear of their tumbling to face them. One of the dancers he drags free of Slaanesh, the writhing figures on the dancer's suit dissolving and taking on the lozenge pattern of the Laughing God. The rest of Slaanesh's servants fall or flee, at which point Slaanesh confronts the Laughing God. The battle, which seems to go on forever, ends suddenly, unresolved.{{Fn|1}}
In the year before [[M42]], the Tale of the Fall altered instead prophesying the coming of [[Ynnead]] and the [[Rhana Dandra]].{{Fn|14g}} Some [[Harlequin Masque|Masques]] have introduced [[Ynnead]] to their cast, a ''twilight'' role cast variably as a saviorsaviour, liar, or fool and time-waster depending on the masque.{{Fn|14g}}
==Notable Grand Masques==
===Acquisition===
[[Image:HarlequinLandRaider.png|250px|thumbnail|right|[[Troupe Master]] and Harlequin [[Land Raider]]{{Fn|1}}]]
Harlequin forces will on occasion use [[Imperial]] [[Robots]] and vehicles, including the [[Rhino]] and [[Land Raider]], which they bedeck in banners of their Masque, festoon with gaily colored coloured bunting, and repaint in their distinctive colors colours and patterns including garish stripes, dots, and multicolored losengesmulticoloured lozenges.{{Fn|33}} These assets are acquired by various means, including looting, and are abandoned when they break down. Acquired robots are sometimes used in performance of '''The Dance''', a clumsy and amusing counterpoint to the grace of the harlequins.{{Fn|1}}
==Notable Locations==
*{{Endn|36}}: [[White Dwarf 127 (2016)]], pgs. 9-10
*{{Endn|37}}: [[Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War]] [https://ia600707.us.archive.org/10/items/AS0C0/warhammer_40000-rites_of_war-manual.pdf Instruction Manual], pg. 57 ''(last accessed 12/2/2025)''
*39: [[Dawn of War: Tempest (Novel)]]:
**{{Endn|39a}}: Chapter Eight
**{{Endn|39b}}: Chapter Nine
===Uncited===
{{Uncited}}
