History and Society

The Harlequins are a faction of the Eldar, and the most enigmatic of that mysterious race. They roam the Webway,
fighting Chaos and its influence. Their sole purpose is to seek out
Chaos and destroy it wherever they can, and Chaos is their most hated
enemy.

Harlequins must pass a trial known only as The Ritual
upon initiation into a Harlequin band, and this ritual is said to free
them of the fear normal Eldar have of Slaanesh, the Chaos god of
pleasure. This is why they need not wear a waystone when they travel in
the Webway, and do not have to endure the tiring soul-draining that
other Eldar endure when in the Webway for prolonged periods of time.
Note: This is from the most recent incarnation of the Harlequins, in
the third edition of the game. In the second edition, they did wear
waystones.

Harlequin lifestyle is very like the life of a roaming mime or troubadour
of the medieval times. They wander the Webway and occasionally appear
at Eldar settlements: on a Craftworld, on Commorraugh, on an Exodite
Maiden world. They perform dances for the spectators there: Masques, as
they are sometimes called. Their artistic works portray the Fall, the
legendary decline that destroyed the Eldar, the birth of the Chaos god
Slaanesh, and many other tales from the long history of the Eldar.

Way of War

Equipment

The
Harlequins are highly accomplished warriors, each Trouper, as their
warriors are called, almost a one-man close combat army. They are
already graceful and lithe from their lifestyle and dances, they
augment their prowess with so-called 'flip-belts' that generate a small
anti-gravitic field around them and allow them to leap unnaturally
high. They also wear 'holo-fields' and 'masks of fear'. Holo-fields are
a sophisticated substitute for armour: whenever the Harlequin moves,
their image is shattered into a cloud of crystal shards that dance and
swirl around with vigour proportional to the speed the Harlequin is
moving.

The Mask of Fear is a small holographic device worn
like a mask. It projects daemonic visages and scenes of death onto the
mask and has a short-range psychic amplifier which increases enemies'
sensitivity to fear and despair. Other versions of the Mask of Fear
include the Rictus Mask, which projects an aura of death in the general
vicinity of the wearer, or the Dread Mask, which senses an enemy's
worst fears and displays them on the mask, along with a more potent
psychic amplifier like the ones used on the Masks of Fear.

Harlequins
are also noted for their brutal combat weapons. The most gruesome of
these is the Harlequin's Kiss. The Harlequin's Kiss resembles a
sharpened tube, tapering to a wicked point, fixed to a warrior's
forearm. The tube is actually filled with monofilament wires. When the
Kiss is punched into a victim, the wires uncoil and flail around,
slicing the victim apart from the inside. Less disturbing is the
Stormglove (or Riveblades). The Stormglove is basically a Harlequin
adaption of the power weapon used by the humans. It is a set of blades
worn on the forearm, or more typically, on the hand as a glove.

Death Jesters

Harlequins have no heavy weapons or tanks,
save for the Death Jesters. The Death Jesters are the heavy specialists
of the army, carrying an array of weaponry, from the morbid Shrieker
Cannon, to the tank crushing bright lance, to the deadly Eldar missle
launcher. The Shrieker Cannon is the trademark weapon of the Death
Jesters, as only they create and maintain them. They are a variant of
the Shuriken Cannon, but instead of firing a hail of projectiles,
they fire only a single shot. This shot is impregnated with a virulent
acid that causes the victim's blood vessels and insides to expand
violently. This usually results in a small explosion that showers
squadmates with pieces of their companion.

Solitaires

The most chilling of all the Harlequins are the Solitaires, for little is known about them even amongst the Eldar.
The Solitaires are solitary individuals who roam the Webway, seeking
out Eldar they think might be talented enough to join a Harlequin
troupe. Their most startling characteristic is that they are doomed to
go to Slaanesh when they die. Thus, Cegorach (the Laughing
God) must trick the chaos god in order to regain possession of the
Solitaire. Whenever Solitaires are with a Harlequin band, they prefer
to distance themselves from the others. On the extremely rare occasions
when a Solitaire performs, he or she takes the part of Slaanesh
and the Harlequin troupe will perform the legendary tale of the Birth
of the Great Enemy-the greatest and most dangerous of all Harlequin
masques. It is claimed that others have tried to take on the role of Slaanesh
and died or been driven insane. One is considered cursed if one
exchanges words with a Solitaire. The Solitaires show no sign of
emotion, either with other Harlequins or on the battlefield. Psykers
are known to be very depressed in the presence of a Solitaire. The
mental node of the alien is obviously disturbing to them. Psychic
attacks on Solitaires will fall short, and weapons which attack the
enemy's mind, such as the neuro-disruptor, will simply have no effect.
This leads to many imperial scholars to believe that the solitaire
posess no soul at all. It is said that the oldest and most powerful
Solitaires become the dreaded guardians of the Black Library.

The Black Library

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