Masque of the Midnight Sorrow
The Masque of the Midnight Sorrow are a company of Harlequin Eldar that associate closely with the Dark Eldar and seek to combat the dangers of Chaos.[3]
Contents
Overview
Often seen amid the spires of High Commorragh, their renditions of the tale of The Fall are widely regarded amongst Commorrite high society as the pinnacle of the Harlequin's art, and their every step is perfectly choreographed to evoke the sorrow and terror of that ancient catastrophe. Indeed, the Midnight Sorrow are so committed to their performance that many of their players have, other the centuries, lost their original identities altogether. Now they walk the paths of the Webway as echoes of that terrible age - reminders of an evil so voracious that it still consumes Eldar souls to this day.[1] Their focus on the Fall has led the Midnight Sorrow to become focused on battling all the servants of Chaos. For the Midnight Sorrow, this has become a destructive obsession where no price is to steep. The Masque stalks the Webway tunnels around the Eye of Terror, striking fearlessly at Chaos strongholds.[3]
Upon the battlefield, the Masque's warrior-acrobats move and fight with the same perfect grace that they display on stage. The Masque's name stems from the eighteenth verse of the third act of the Fall; that infamous scene wherein Cegorach witnesses the darkest time to have befallen his children. Echoing the bleak misery and clashing violence of this scene, the Midnight Sorrow will always endeavor to strike at their foes as the witching hour tolls. They strike suddenly and leave nothing but ruin and misery in their wake.[1]
The monomanical focus of the Midnight Sorrow has cost them not only many of their own lives, but also their own minds and souls. So intent upon their Daemonic foes all else fades into obscurity for these Harlequins. All their performances are based around the dangers of Chaos, and in recent centuries they have abandoned all others in favor of even more vivid depictions of the Fall. As this mania has overtaken them, the Players of the Midnight Sorrow have become trapped within their roles. Unlike most other Harlequins, they are so committed to character that no spark as to who they were before exists.[3]
The Midnight Sorrow were instrumental in Eldrad Ulthran's scheme to awaken Ynnead at the Battle of Port Demesnus, and since then many have joined the Ynnari.[3]
The symbol of the Masque is a spear driven through an inverse heart of Twilight. This design reflects the Masque's desire to strike when daylight is slain, before darkness reigns once more.[2]
Notable Battles
- Their first appearance in M33 on Llayen Nuadh to strike at a horde of Slaaneshi Daemons and rescue an embattled Ulthwe warhost.
- Dark Harvest
- The Osteria Campaign
- The war on Ynaavaire
- The Battle for Antoria
- The Battle of Port Demesnus
- Breaking open the Ninefold Vault upon Dementiax and slaughtering its Daemonic overlords.[3]
- Defeating Lucius the Eternal's Coils of Perfection upon the Bridge of Blighted Bliss.[3]
- The Bitterblood Wars[3]
- Cleansing of Khardel
Images
Sources
- 1: Codex: Dark Eldar (7th Edition) — Harlequins of the Laughing God
- 2: Codex: Harlequins (7th Edition) pg. 32
- 3: Codex: Harlequins (8th Edition) — The Midnight Sorrow