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Little new stuff overall but still do not read further if you do not want spoilers.


Harlequins

Motley, the Harlequin character from Path of the Renegade and Path of the Incubus, is confirmed to be a Solitaire.

A Commorrite is killed and the Harlequins catch his soul in a soul stone. It is then given to Motley who consumes it as punishment for what the Commorrite did. It is unclear if the consumed soul is just destroyed or goes to Slaanesh. It is also ambiguous whether Motley has to consume souls even irregularly in order to sustain himself or whether this is purely as punishment for the Commorrite.

The damnation of the Solitaire (barring Cegorach managing to trick Slaanesh of the soul) appears to be in some way the price or condition necessary for the other Harlequins' souls to be immune to Slaanesh's grip. Since it is doubtful that a god of excess would willingly agree to and keep to a deal involving restraint, it is more probable this is some kind of ritualistic magical condition imposed by the Ritual (mentioned in the apocryphal Harlequin army list in Citadel Journal) that frees the other Harlequins from Slaanesh.

Eldar mythology

Hoec is confirmed to be one of the gods, as his name is recited by the Harlequins as they reel off the names of the gods. Hoec is referenced in the last Eldar Codex under the Alatioc entry as the mysterious wanderer that some Pathfinders revere. Hoec is also not Cegorach as Cegorach is also mentioned separately in the recital of gods.

Well, I must say I'm disappointed to find that out. Harlequin solitares should be rare, but now I find out that out of the three path books I've read that contain Harlequins that all three contain a solitare. Neither actually look like solitares nor have the traits of one such as not speaking or alerting other eldar with their ''soullessness''. Especially MY Motely, he was happy and jovial and reminded me of a puppy ( a deadly, deadly puppy *path of the incubus*) is now apparently has no soul and is destined to be live by damnation at the hands of Slaanesh!

Also I must question is the whole empathic vampirism a trait of all eldar? I thought it was only dark eldar, but if Harlequins can swallow souls to, can craftworlders do the same? I understand Harlequins are otherworldly compared to other eldar, but I draw the line that 50% of the 'Quins you meet will be soulless super assassins who can hold there own against a greater daemon and shred hoards of enemies. That's what a solitare is, or at least was, and they where rare. Now they are everywhere! But I admit, this wont stop me buying the book next time I can. I just love Motley so much even if he is dammed and soulless.

Thread necro to rival the Great Sleep of the Necrons, but there's a cool link I've just thought of...

I love the idea that 'empathic vampirism' is a trait that all Eldar share. It makes a lot of sense from a fluff standpoint, given that Eldar are able to move between the various Eldar cultures.

It also adds a little more of the 'alien' to Eldar as a whole. They're completely, utterly different to us humans. The literal ability to drink souls to sustain them, whether Commorite or Craftworlder, adds more depth to this. An entire race of empathic vampires. Grimdark

Combine that with this picture:

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/File:Runes.jpg

Bottom-right is a description of the rune-concept 'soul drinker'.

It's a completely distinct rune from the one for Slaanesh, and is one of the most hideous rune-concepts in the Eldar language.

Imaginative headfluff time: what if there were Eldar pre-Fall that subsisted by drinking other Eldar's souls? Sounds like it would be a heinous crime to most pre-Fall Eldar (and current Craftworlders) based on the description of the rune above. Especially considering that in those days Eldar were able to reincarnate. It wouldn't be just equal to killing someone, but would also deprive them of all the future lives they could have had as well. More grimdark

Post-fall, the Dark Eldar discover that this terrible ancient practice offers them protection from the predation of She-Who-Thirsts, and adopt it through necessity.