The Dreaming Shadow
| Masque of the Dreaming Shadow | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Performance Specialties | Trolling other Masques, Necron Hatred | |
| Tactical Specialties | Long-Range Assault | |
| Colours | Dark Green and Red. | |
The Masque of the Dreaming Shadow is a Harlequin Grand Masque with a simple, ancient duty: Keeping the Necrons down for their forever-nap, and casually reminding everybody that Chaos is far from the worst thing that could pop up to potentially destroy the Eldar race.
Overview[edit | edit source]
The Dreaming Shadow is a bizarre Masque by the standards of any Harlequin. While other Harlequins consider the saving of the Eldar race and the destruction of Chaos (while having a good laugh the whole time) to be the entire reason for their being, this Masque's sole goal for millenia has been the complete and utter destruction and suppression of the Aeldari's oldest foe, the Necrons. They hate and fight the Necrons with such passion that they're not exactly known for quality joke telling, and they openly mock, resent, and challenge other Masques for being so preoccupied with Chaos when the real threat lies underneath the surfaces of millions of planets. Hell, even their rune looks like it does because it asks "Who's the real threat here, guys?", and not just because a bunch of clowns walking around with question marks means you can have a 40k version of the Riddler as an army. As a result, they barely if ever show up on Craftworlds or in Commorragh, and if they do, it's because they either want to put on a performance about why killing the Necrons is cool and you should join up, or skip the performance altogether in lieu of "recruiting", which in this case is a generous description of their practice of shanghai-ing other Eldar into their ranks, [[Grimdark| often without the consent of the person they picked up.]
While most of their cantankerous reputation and collective personality is genuine, and their ancient mission from Cegorach hasn't wavered at all, there's at least an understanding among other Eldar and even other Harlequins that what they're doing is also somewhat of an act: The Dreaming Shadow loudly making as much of a racket about the Necrons as a smokescreen for their comrades activities. The Dreaming Shadow deliberately obscuring the fact that Cegorach is dead set on ensuring Slaanesh pays for what they've done by making it seem like he's still focused on the Necrons. As a result, they're held in high-esteem among Harlequins for their selflessness in their pursuits, though they'll still throw pies at them to make them shut up. But it's a pie with affection tossed into it.
About the only ally they really have is the leadership of Alaitoc, who are also all-in on Necron hunting. But the Alaitocii have their own deserved reputation for being joyless buzzkills; most of their kin run off to become rangers or corsairs, adventuring and raiding with other masques that know how to have a good time without fighting zombie killbots.
While initially a major pain in the ass of the Mechanicus due to their insistence of harassing their digsites, The Dreaming Shadow has recently found themselves making staunch allies of Imperial worlds, often coming to their aide against Tyranids, Heretics, and even the Dark Eldar sometimes. Naturally, the reason for why they did it becomes crystal clear, as without fail the planet is almost immediately either attacked by Necrons afterwards, or was revealed to be a Tomb World the whole time, at which point they become noticeably absent.
On the Tabletop[edit | edit source]
The shooty clowns, with a surprising amount of staying power for their army. They get bonuses for bringing Death Jesters, and their Masque Form gives them a chance to have a slain model get a shot off/swing at whatever they're closest to on a 4+. It's generally considered a good idea to load these guys up with fusion pistols, which gets buffed by their Warlord trait, making it consistent and dangerous. Their stratagem and their relic also synergize very well, potentially turning a character into a deeply dangerous perforator unless they have invuln. It should also be noted that Plasma grenades, like the ones the Troupe Master carries, count as ranged weapons, so it's usually good to have more than a few grenade lobbers kicking around to really make sure.