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So with the new Kill Team imminent, i'm excited to use the opportunity to finally explore Harlequins!

I'll be wanting to lean into the roleplaying elements, making each team member a individual character. So I read through the harlequin codex to educate myself, but was disappointed to find the book is somewhat vague when it comes to the specifics of an actual Harlequin "performance".

Things I DID learn:

Harlequins give up any real names and simply go by the title of their role, which also informs the personality they take on.

Of these roles, the following are identified in passing: Dawnsinger, Blinded Princess, Scion of Cults, Isha's Sorrow, Webway Witch, the Sun Prince, Shaimesh the Poisoner. And obviously, Death (death jester), Fate (shadowseer) and Slaanesh (solitaire).

The only specific performance mentioned is "The Dance" which details The Fall of the Eldar.

From doing some research online, another source mentions these roles within "The Dance": The Laughing God, 9 Troupers play the old race, 3 Avatars to play the Fallen Gods, 4 Mimes who play daemons, and 4 Death Jesters... (what's the difference between a trouper vs an avatar?)

So, questions i'm left with are:

Are any other roles ever identified anywhere else in the fluff?

Of the roles listed above from the codex, do we actually know who some of those characters are/what their personalities should be? (I'm completely new to Eldar lore)

Has the fluff anywhere ever mentioned other stories they perform? Or could they in theory perform any part of the 40k lore and i can let my imagination run wild?

Finally, if i should feel free to simply make up my own personalities and/or performances, do we know if there are any parameters around the things or persons Harlequins would portray? Would it be inappropriate, for example, to have Harlequins tell stories about other Chaos Gods and have them represented by a trouper? (Just spitballing here, but if you kitbashed, say, one of the Kairic Acolyte's masks to denote someone playing Tzeentch?

Long post, but figured dakka might have good input! Thanks in advance

Hi Sentionaut

You could try the short story Faces by Matthew Farrer. It's pretty good story about some humans who get their hands on masks used by a Harlequin troupe.

Here is a dance called the Death of Light about the Necron and the War in Heaven. It is from GW's old site from 2007

http://web.archive.org/web/20070111063117/http://uk.games-workshop.com:80/necrons/eldar-mythology/2

It's quite possible that you already have this but it is from the 1st Ed Eldar codex and provides some info on Harlequins

http://web.archive.org/web/20120504210049/http://www.gamehobby.net/subject_indexes/subject_wh40k_eldar.html

Wow, thanks! I've read the two links you provided, and those definitely provided some helpful insight. I'll give Faces a listen soon!

The novella Masque the Vyle is a book about the Harlequins performing 3 different performances for a Dark Eldar Archon. I haven’t got it to hand but if you’re looking for fluff about the how’s and wherebys of a Harlequin performance this is the book you should be reading.

As for the questions an Avatar was an old name for a Troupe Master. When creating your Harlequin perhaps keep in mind the newer fluff about the different troupes; of light and dark and twilight. Where Quins from a light troupe play heroes, brave and brash. Dark play Villains, cruel and bloodthirsty while Twilight plays morally ambiguous characters like the Morai-heg and her daughters, these are schemers and very “just as planned” types of Quins.

Thanks so much! This'll be the perfect reading material for when i'm off traveling next week

As ALEXisAWESOME noted, some of the old titles mean different things now.

Avatar: Were the "officers" of the harlequins and analogous to Squad sgts. "troupe leader" nowadays.

High Avatar: Was the army "general". Current harlequins have no HQ.

Warlock: The psykers for the harlies.
Current title is "Shadowseer" - they were the only ones issued with the creidann over-the-shoulder grenade launcher for hallucinogen grenades.



All of these names predated the craftworld uses for the names - The Harlequins first showed up in WD 95/96, 2 and a half years or so prior to the Craftworlds (as we know them today) with their path system and the Avatars and aspect shrines (WD127, 1990)

The Dance is not "just" the tale of the fall. It's the combined myths and legends and history of the eldar told as an interactive story. There are individual small stories within the overarching story woven by the dance.

I know in Path of the Outcast, the main character joins up with some Harlequins to go on a mission to gather soul stones. I don't want to post too much be cause *spoilers*.

 Sentionaut wrote:


So, questions i'm left with are:

Are any other roles ever identified anywhere else in the fluff?

Of the roles listed above from the codex, do we actually know who some of those characters are/what their personalities should be? (I'm completely new to Eldar lore)

Has the fluff anywhere ever mentioned other stories they perform? Or could they in theory perform any part of the 40k lore and i can let my imagination run wild?

Finally, if i should feel free to simply make up my own personalities and/or performances, do we know if there are any parameters around the things or persons Harlequins would portray? Would it be inappropriate, for example, to have Harlequins tell stories about other Chaos Gods and have them represented by a trouper? (Just spitballing here, but if you kitbashed, say, one of the Kairic Acolyte's masks to denote someone playing Tzeentch?

Long post, but figured dakka might have good input! Thanks in advance

I think, you've got most of the named roles. We know from short stories that they portray the various eldar gods, so it's safe to assume that any character from eldar mythology is fair game. Of those you listed, Shaimesh is one of the dark muses admired by the dark eldar. As his title suggests, he's a famed poisoner. The lhameans (the long-haired lady from the court of the archon models) pay homage to him. The fact that he's a dark muse suggests that he isn't a god, so he's probably more of a "hero" in the classic sense. Sort of like the Phoenix Lords, although we don't really know when he would have been alive. He could be closer to Eldanesh's age than Jain Zar's.

From what I can tell, harlequin stories generally don't focus on the chaos gods directly. This may or may not be due to their stories being based on ancient myths while the chaos gods (despite time shenanigans) are sort of kind of recent developments depending on which lore you read. That, and referring to a chaos god directly is generally just a bad idea. I suspect, based on almost nothing, that they're more likely to allude to mythological figures that embody certain traits that might correspond to chaos gods rather than to chaos gods directly.

So you don't do a story about Khorne. You do a story about Khaine and how his rage brought misery to eldar while he sought to exterminate them. Instead of talking about Tzeentch tricking people, you talk about Lileath's mournful visions being ignored or misinterpreted. Instead of saying, "Nurgle loves stagnation," you talk about the Ivory King whose stubborness and abhorance of change lead him to force his lands to wither and rot until he was nothing more than a skeleton upon a throne within an empty palace.

One more thing when naming your harlequins: they aren't exclusively named after mythological figures; at least, not while they're dealing directly with non-harlequins. In the Rise of the Ynnari: Ghost Warrior, the Path of the Dark Eldar series, and in Valedor, we see examples of various harlequins that seem to have personal names rather than just being named after mythological figures. It is implied, however, that these names aren't their birth names and that they wear them to make interactions with others easier rather than seeing them as a personal form of identity.

 ALEXisAWESOME wrote:
The novella Masque the Vyle is a book about the Harlequins performing 3 different performances for a Dark Eldar Archon. I haven’t got it to hand but if you’re looking for fluff about the how’s and wherebys of a Harlequin performance this is the book you should be reading.

As for the questions an Avatar was an old name for a Troupe Master. When creating your Harlequin perhaps keep in mind the newer fluff about the different troupes; of light and dark and twilight. Where Quins from a light troupe play heroes, brave and brash. Dark play Villains, cruel and bloodthirsty while Twilight plays morally ambiguous characters like the Morai-heg and her daughters, these are schemers and very “just as planned” types of Quins.

I just finished reading Masque of Vyle, and... wow! This really exceeded my expectations, not just for being a perfect look at a troupe in their element, but for also being a fantastic story. Thanks much for the recommendation.

Wyldhunt wrote:


I think, you've got most of the named roles. We know from short stories that they portray the various eldar gods, so it's safe to assume that any character from eldar mythology is fair game. Of those you listed, Shaimesh is one of the dark muses admired by the dark eldar. As his title suggests, he's a famed poisoner. The lhameans (the long-haired lady from the court of the archon models) pay homage to him. The fact that he's a dark muse suggests that he isn't a god, so he's probably more of a "hero" in the classic sense. Sort of like the Phoenix Lords, although we don't really know when he would have been alive. He could be closer to Eldanesh's age than Jain Zar's.

From what I can tell, harlequin stories generally don't focus on the chaos gods directly. This may or may not be due to their stories being based on ancient myths while the chaos gods (despite time shenanigans) are sort of kind of recent developments depending on which lore you read. That, and referring to a chaos god directly is generally just a bad idea. I suspect, based on almost nothing, that they're more likely to allude to mythological figures that embody certain traits that might correspond to chaos gods rather than to chaos gods directly.

So you don't do a story about Khorne. You do a story about Khaine and how his rage brought misery to eldar while he sought to exterminate them. Instead of talking about Tzeentch tricking people, you talk about Lileath's mournful visions being ignored or misinterpreted. Instead of saying, "Nurgle loves stagnation," you talk about the Ivory King whose stubborness and abhorance of change lead him to force his lands to wither and rot until he was nothing more than a skeleton upon a throne within an empty palace.

One more thing when naming your harlequins: they aren't exclusively named after mythological figures; at least, not while they're dealing directly with non-harlequins. In the Rise of the Ynnari: Ghost Warrior, the Path of the Dark Eldar series, and in Valedor, we see examples of various harlequins that seem to have personal names rather than just being named after mythological figures. It is implied, however, that these names aren't their birth names and that they wear them to make interactions with others easier rather than seeing them as a personal form of identity.

I really appreciate the in-depth and informative answer, thank you! Very excited to be back from a vacation and ready to dive into Killteam..