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{{HarlequinsPortal}}
[[Image:HarlequinsGuard.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[['''Harlequin]]'''s fight the [[Imperial Guard]].{{Fn|7f}}]]
The '''Harlequins''', or '''Rillietann'''{{Fn|1}}{{Fn|33a}} (a word synonymous with [[Troupe]]s),{{Fn|1}} are warrior troubadours{{Fn|37}}, a unique [[Eldar]] faction which splits their time between being talented battlefield fighters and theatrical performers. They exist outside of normal Eldar society and hold no allegiance to any [[Craftworld]], [[Kabal]], or other form of authority other than to their own belief in the Eldar deity [[Cegorach]], the Laughing God.{{Fn|1}}
===Return to the Stage===
[[Image:HarlequinsArt.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Harlequins battle [[Slaanesh]]i [[Daemon]]s]]
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_EndThe 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 confusion they sew.{{Fn|7e}}{{fn|14g}}
[[image:HarlequinsDarkAngels.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Harlequins]] engage [[Dark Angel]]s in the ruins of [[Craftworld]] [[Theminarae]] on [[Quintus (Forest World)|Quintus]]{{Fn|40}}]]
The souls of the destroyed [[Craftworld]] of [[Theminarae]] call to the [[Harlequin]]s Harlequins to lay their souls to rest now that the [[Warp Storm]]s which covered their world have abated. Upon the craftworld, the [[Harlequin]]s Harlequins slay [[Human]] [[Chaos Cultist]]s and encounter [[Dark Angels]] before discovering the world is a [[Tomb World]] – together with the [[Imperium]] they destroy the awakening [[Necron]] force.{{Fn|40}}
[[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 siege, driving cultists mad with terror. Gharros launches a final breakout attempt, but is stymied as the [[Shadowseer]]s steal the words to his summoning ritual from his mouth before he 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|250px|Organization Organisation of a Harlequin Masque{{Fn|14d}}]]
Harlequins have no formal leaders, being a collective of like-minded players each of them profoundly aware of their role.{{Fn|14b}} They perform around the galaxy as [[Masque]]s, each masque a company comprised of [[Troupes]] 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}}
==Development History==
{{Trivia}}
In an interview for [[White Dwarf]], [[Jes Goodwin]], the original designer and sculptor of the [[Aeldari|Space Elf]] line,{{Fn|36}} explained that as Harlequins introduced in September of 1988 predate the [[Asuryani|Craftworld Eldar]] [[Aspect Warriors]] introduced in July of 1990, as the [[Aeldari]] infantry elite in [[Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader|Rogue Trader]], and making them arguably the first distinct Eldar faction.{{Fn|36}}
Like their [[Asuryani|Craftworld]] and [[Commorrite]] brethren, the Harlequins are a distinct and separate force whose equipment and vehicles echo their kin, in part to maintain the faction's distinct [[Aeldari]] identity but which also hints at common ancestors of equipment, ur-weapons, and patterns of vehicles from before the fall of the great [[Aeldari Empire]].{{Fn|36}}
