+++The Harlequins+++

The Harlequins are followers of the strange Eldar god the Great Harlequin, also known as the Laughing God, one of only two Eldar gods to survive the Fall.  The Harlequins live on no Craftworld but wander from world to world through the network of interspacial tunnels that binds the Craftworlds together.  Only they know the whereabouts of the Black Library, for they are the keepers of its terrible secrets about the Fall and the tru nature of Chaos.

The Harlequins are warrior troubadours whose carefully constructed masques and impressive displays of mime and acrobatics tell the many strange stories of Eldar mythology.  They wear exotic multi-coloured costumes, brightly patterned to represent figures from the Eldar myth cycles.  They never show their real faces but conceal them beneath a shifting costume mask which can assume any image at the will of the Harlequin.  When the Harlequins fight in battle their masks are said to reflect the worst nightmares of all those who gaze upon them, causing their foes to quail with supernatural terror.

The Black Library of the Eldar

Much of the Eldar's ancient knowledge and culture was lost during the flight from Chaos. The craft-worlds became the sole repository of Eldar wisdom, and this fragmented as the Eldar nations drifted apart. Craft-worlds were lost over the millenia, and knowledge vanished with them.

A single source of Eldar knowledge has remained untouched and inviolate since the Fall. Aboard a dark craft-world, far beyond the boundaries of the Imperium, is the Black Library of Chaos. Here are the collected tomes, books and codices describing the Eldar studies of the warp. The forbidden lore of the Black Library describes the blandishments, influences, forms, creatures, perils, promises and horrors of Chaos. Enclosed within a nearly impenetrable psychic barrier, the Black Library is watched and maintained by its Guardian-Scribes; they collate and transcribe the knowledge of the Library, a task that they have carried out since the Fall of the Eldar. They also maintain a hawk-like watch over their charges, the books; dreadful repositries of secret powers and must be monitered at all times.

The existence of the Library is known to only a few, and entry is allowed to even fewer individuals. The library's 'mind' defends itself from the weak who would misuse its knowledge by refusing entry to all except those who have acknowledged and tempered the Chaos within themselves. The immature, who are still vulnerable to the promises and seductions of Chaos, find that they are unable to pass through its gateway. As a resultfew have seen within the Library or read any of its books. Only two groups come and go at will: The Human Illuminati and the Solitaires of the Eldar Harlequins. The Guardian-scribes rarely leave once they have entered.