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Hi there, I was wondering if anyone could help me flesh out my custom Eldar craftworld and figure out if it's lore friendly/makes sense. Any help is greatly appreciated as I'm still quite new to all this

So I want to start a group of Eldar that only just survived The Fall by the skin of their teeth, the craftworld was wiped out by the birth of slaanesh, but a few of the Aeldari managed to escape thanks to the help of a group of Harlequins. I like the idea that this craftworld had a specific appreciation for the arts and performance, and as a result had close ties with the Harlequins who gave them a saving grace when the fall wiped their craftworld out

Nowadays, the Craftworld are a small band of warriors that travel the galaxy as Nomads, working to keep themselves alive and spread the word of Cegorach. I like the idea that they also work to gather the materials to create wraithbone constructs, which they then take to the location where their craftworld was destroyed to bring the souls of their dead former friends to fight for them

I really like the idea that these people also have a fascination with death, and so bringing back the souls of their old comrades is a way to try and understand it more. They believe that by taking some of the methods of Cegorach and laughing in the face of their enemies, they will gain a more carefree existence, not bound by the pressures of death. They also believe that the other craftworlds should accept their fate and learn to embrace death. Whether they like it or not their souls are bound to she who thirsts and so acceptance is the beat way to deal with it and enjoy what life they do have

This was a way for me to create a joint eldar/harlequin army that had a reason for fighting together: Spreading the word of Cegorach through performance and artistry on the battlefield, and also embracing death and the world the eldar have created for themselves

My two main issues now are figuring out why the eldar haven't turned into Harlequins themselves, and also whether or not it makes thematical sense for someone to want to spread the word of an Aeldari god in this kind of way, and who to? Any help is greatly appreciated as I'm still quite new to all this

Sounds good!

Maybe this Craftworld has earned the favour of Cegorach by showing hospitality and providing aid to the Harlequins when the chips are down.

Cegorach's favour could be to "invite" candidates to join the Harlequins more from this Craftworld than most others. Given their strong belief in death, could this world be a recruiting ground for Death Jesters? Maybe sympathetic to the Ynnari cause?

Eldrad might have convinced the Harlequins that this Craftworld will be important in the coming days, and they are to guide them to some higher purpose. Keep a bit of mystery about it by providing the Craftworld with the challenge of doubt; once in while a battle will put their belief in Cegorach to the test.

This Craftworld could be guardians of a shrine of Cegorach. Maybe inside is a large stage for visiting harlequins?

My advice is to not feel that you have to explain everything, and remember that Harlequins are shrouded in mystery.

Hope this helps!

SamusDrake wrote:
Sounds good!

Maybe this Craftworld has earned the favour of Cegorach by showing hospitality and providing aid to the Harlequins when the chips are down.

Cegorach's favour could be to "invite" candidates to join the Harlequins more from this Craftworld than most others. Given their strong belief in death, could this world be a recruiting ground for Death Jesters? Maybe sympathetic to the Ynnari cause?

Eldrad might have convinced the Harlequins that this Craftworld will be important in the coming days, and they are to guide them to some higher purpose. Keep a bit of mystery about it by providing the Craftworld with the challenge of doubt; once in while a battle will put their belief in Cegorach to the test.

This Craftworld could be guardians of a shrine of Cegorach. Maybe inside is a large stage for visiting harlequins?

My advice is to not feel that you have to explain everything, and remember that Harlequins are shrouded in mystery.

Hope this helps!

Ooo yes that's a massive help! I really just wanted to make sure I wasn't breaking any fluff with an unrealistic background but you added some extra on top of that so thank you very much! Maybe the reason behind not all the eldar being Harlequins is simply that they do not want to, so as to not give up the lives they currently live entirely to become a harlequin, or it could be that they are simply not skilled enough or their skills lie elsewhere. Maybe they need some aeldari to stay that way to focus their efforts on wraithbone structures and piracy to secure materials such as the corsairs. I was also thinking that they could call their travel to the warp to capture the souls of their dead friends 'The Greatest Show', and it's known as this big event amongst the craftworld the the great risks they have to take to obtain them. Maybe the also have some mysterious ties to solitaires???

Sounds really cool to me, you've probably already given your army more background than most!

I've always found their performance of the dance without end the most fascinating thing about the Harlequins, it could be that this particular band of Eldar has become obsessed with finding some hidden truth within the dance and travel the galaxy to catch as many performances as possible?

It's also said that the Harlequins believe that other species should know the history of the Eldar too and so perform for them, so maybe that's who your Eldar are trying to convert?

 Kroem wrote:
Sounds really cool to me, you've probably already given your army more background than most!

I've always found their performance of the dance without end the most fascinating thing about the Harlequins, it could be that this particular band of Eldar has become obsessed with finding some hidden truth within the dance and travel the galaxy to catch as many performances as possible?

It's also said that the Harlequins believe that other species should know the history of the Eldar too and so perform for them, so maybe that's who your Eldar are trying to convert?

Ooo good idea. Maybe they go out looking for exodites or even sneakily finding corsairs from bigger craftworlds off on missions to perform to, trying to convert them. I like the idea of them finding some Alaitoc Corsairs and doing a little jig before making them leave their paths and join the ranks

I like the idea that they're also trying to discover more about the Harlequins as well. Having that air of mystery within the army itself where not all the people quite understand each other could create some really interesting individual character stuff as well as some conflict. Maybe this group of Aeldari have a strange obsession with the Black Library, believing it to house more knowledge on death and its meaning

Is that also a good way to further explain why they're not all Harlequins? They can't be because they want to enter the Black Library, and becoming a harlequin means giving up all you once knew to protect it
Would the Harlequins object to this goal of getting into the black library, or would the Aeldari have to hide this mission from them?

This could also lead to a nice Solitaire fetch quest story for the army which is a fun concept

Overall fantastic advice definitely sparked some new inspiration for me so thank you so much

Lots of fun stuff there, KingChub. Ultimately, you're welcome to ignore or headcanon whatever fluff you find most enjoyable for your army. That said, here are a few things to keep in mind:

* "Harlequins" didn't really exist until some time after the fall. There were worshipper of Cegorach who *became* harlies, but not harlies proper. So there probably weren't mask-wearing-kiss-wielding clowns rescuing your craftworlders in the middle of the fall unless time travel was involved.

* Wraith bone specifically is created psychically. Like, out of thin air. So while they might need material for the non-wraithbone bits of a wraith construct, the wraithbone itself isn't something they'd have to harvest from other worlds.

* Infinity circuits and the path system in general are things that Asurmen brought to craftworld culture, so if they have a reservoir of spirits somewhere (an infinity circuit) and have aspect warriors, they probably met up with Asurmen and pals at some point; otherwise they might be more like corsairs than craftworlders.

*Eldar gods don't generally seem to be big on getting worshipped. They're sort of manifestations of aspects of the eldar psyche. You don't pray to Khaine to keep him happy. You meditate on his nature when you're already on the path of the warrior as a way of exploring your own soul/psyche. So with that in mind, "spreading the word" of Cegorach sounds more like sewing seeds for a scheme than a conventional form of worship.

* Becoming a harlequin seems to be a big deal. You have to feel a supernatural call to give up your own identity and become a clown; it's not just a cool career path. So even if your craftworld is on good terms with the clowns, that doesn't mean they'd all run out and start buying masks.

* I'm all for creating your own craftworld. BUT! Lugganath and Alaitoc both have canon ties to harlies that make them more likely to team up. The former is also big on corsair allies if you think you might want to go in that direction.

* Have fun!

Wyldhunt wrote:
Lots of fun stuff there, KingChub. Ultimately, you're welcome to ignore or headcanon whatever fluff you find most enjoyable for your army. That said, here are a few things to keep in mind:

* "Harlequins" didn't really exist until some time after the fall. There were worshipper of Cegorach who *became* harlies, but not harlies proper. So there probably weren't mask-wearing-kiss-wielding clowns rescuing your craftworlders in the middle of the fall unless time travel was involved.

* Wraith bone specifically is created psychically. Like, out of thin air. So while they might need material for the non-wraithbone bits of a wraith construct, the wraithbone itself isn't something they'd have to harvest from other worlds.

* Infinity circuits and the path system in general are things that Asurmen brought to craftworld culture, so if they have a reservoir of spirits somewhere (an infinity circuit) and have aspect warriors, they probably met up with Asurmen and pals at some point; otherwise they might be more like corsairs than craftworlders.

*Eldar gods don't generally seem to be big on getting worshipped. They're sort of manifestations of aspects of the eldar psyche. You don't pray to Khaine to keep him happy. You meditate on his nature when you're already on the path of the warrior as a way of exploring your own soul/psyche. So with that in mind, "spreading the word" of Cegorach sounds more like sewing seeds for a scheme than a conventional form of worship.

* Becoming a harlequin seems to be a big deal. You have to feel a supernatural call to give up your own identity and become a clown; it's not just a cool career path. So even if your craftworld is on good terms with the clowns, that doesn't mean they'd all run out and start buying masks.

* I'm all for creating your own craftworld. BUT! Lugganath and Alaitoc both have canon ties to harlies that make them more likely to team up. The former is also big on corsair allies if you think you might want to go in that direction.

* Have fun!

Wow lots of useful stuff here thank you!

Yea I had a feeling that was the case regarding Aeldari Gods and worship. Would it feel weird to have a band of Eldar that meditate under Cegorach if they aren't Harlequins themselves? They're not going down a path that warrants this so I'm not sure if it makes sense. Maybe they simply believe in their own 'new' path that has ties with Cegorach
In general I'm probs gonna make all these small adjustments to the army lore wise to bring it more in line with head canon, as it's all just minor changes that don't affect my overall goal in any major ways, so thank you so much!

Also, does anyone know of any good recourses, websites etc that showcase some cool eldar paint schemes? Looking for some general inspiration for my armies colour scheme

KingChub wrote:


Wow lots of useful stuff here thank you!

Yea I had a feeling that was the case regarding Aeldari Gods and worship. Would it feel weird to have a band of Eldar that meditate under Cegorach if they aren't Harlequins themselves? They're not going down a path that warrants this so I'm not sure if it makes sense. Maybe they simply believe in their own 'new' path that has ties with Cegorach

In my headcanon, part of Cegorach's shtick is that he's the mirror held to the eldar mind/society. If someone is too prideful, too fixated on something, etc., he's the one that uses those character flaws to knock them down a peg. I see that as being part of why it's appropriate that the clown guy survived Slaanesh and why his servants are so devoted to fighting chaos (especially Slaanesh).

So with that in mind, I'm personally completely on board with eldar intentionally holding up the mirror and asking themselves, "Why so serious?" Also, Iybraesil is a craftworld with strong ties to an eldar god (the Morai-Heg). They don't really "worship" her, but they do believe that their ancestors made a lasting pact with her that results in the continued (relatively) good fortune of their women. So that might be something to look into.

Also, does anyone know of any good recourses, websites etc that showcase some cool eldar paint schemes? Looking for some general inspiration for my armies colour scheme

Google image search and facebook groups tend to work for me.