Harlequins prior to The Fall?

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**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

How do?

Just something I realised I don’t know.....

We know Harlequins are followers of Cegoarch, the Laughing God and only survivor of the Eldar Pantheon.

And we know they have it in for Chaos. But what I don’t know is whether they existed as a society before The Fall?

Anyone?

**beast_gts**

According to Lexicanum -

Harlequins date back to the ancient Eldar Empire. They first appeared amid the hedonistic debauchery of the pre-Fall Eldar to perform their ancient mythic dances. These acts sought 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.[14c]

During the Fall of the Eldar, the Laughing God Cegorach managed to escape destruction at the hands of Slaanesh. The followers of Cegorach were hidden safely away within the Webway and survived the disaster intact. Yet immediately after the Fall, the Harlequins vanished into the Webway to prepare for a war that would consume their future utterly. After centuries of isolation, the Harlequins made their spectacular return in M33 when the Masque of the Midnight Sorrow burst from the Webway upon the world of Llayen Nuadh to drive back a horde of Slaaneshi Daemons, rescuing Ulthwe forces in the process.[14c]

(14c: Codex: Harlequins (8th Edition))

Automatically Appended Next Post:
So it sounds like they started out like UK Morris Dancers - trying to preserve some ancient custom, ritual or dance.

**Hellebore**

Overtly militarized units probably didn't exist that much pre fall, except in a paintball spyrer hunting the plebs kind of way.

But the Eldar did have a pantheon and they worshipped them, although it petered off as they slipped into decadence.

So what I imagine is that there were those devoute cegorachi worshippers that stayed true during the fall, probably picked on as the nerdy religious kids.

But the fall was a cultural apocalypse so they basically look like what a post apocalyptic sect would look like trying to survive. imagine what a circus crew would look like in the walking dead...

**Iracundus**

Hellebore wrote:
Overtly militarized units probably didn't exist that much pre fall, except in a paintball spyrer hunting the plebs kind of way.

But the Eldar did have a pantheon and they worshipped them, although it petered off as they slipped into decadence.

So what I imagine is that there were those devoute cegorachi worshippers that stayed true during the fall, probably picked on as the nerdy religious kids.

But the fall was a cultural apocalypse so they basically look like what a post apocalyptic sect would look like trying to survive. imagine what a circus crew would look like in the walking dead...

The timeline from the 7th edition Harlequin Codex says:

C. M32 Cegorach's Summons
In the wake of the Fall, the surviving worshippers of the Laughing God disappear into the webway without a word of explanation.

641.M33 The War Begins
After centuries of isolation, Cegorach's followers return in spectacular fashion....

So it seems that the Harlequins received a summons and spent centuries in isolation before suddenly returning to fight, and also to perform new dances such as the Dance Without End, first performed 666.M33. Like the Craftworlds, current Harlequin society is a new thing formed in the aftermath of the Fall. Presumably they changed from their old pre-Fall organization to their new (retaining some pre-Fall remnants) while they were hidden in the webway or Black Library, or wherever they went, and after enough rehearsing, they began their fight against Slaanesh. Either they were directly instructed by Cegorach or received inspiration from him somehow, perhaps through dreams or visions.