Darrathe, Master of Mimes for the Masque of the Chesire Shadows, walked through the mass of humans unnoticed. His holo-projector was functioning perfectly. To the dirty rabble through which he strode, he looked like a nondescript manual laborer on his way to a menial job for a little pay. The projector was just the start of the disguise. Darrathe's own acting ability completed the look by having the projected person move like a human. They are so inherently clumsy and ungainly in their movements that it was almost painful to mimic them. Not all humans lacked grace. He had once seen an imperial assassin on the battlefield. It was graceful in a hyper-kinetic and brutish way. Of all the humans he had seen though, the one that would even come close to an eldar in fluidity of movement was a commander of a space marine army. Darrathe had the opportunity to watch him for an extended perioid once in another war. He was dressed in gold armor even though the rest of his troops were all in red. He had moved with poise and grace atypical of humankind. However, these genetic and cybernetic human paragons were certainly not the norm. Far from it in fact. He often wondered how the average human managed not to hurt themselves as they bumbled through the universe.
Today his mission took him amongst them and he must conform if the masques plans were to be succesful. So he walked, keeping his eyes down. He could feel the eyes of the other Mimes in the crowd, watching him and guarding him. His students. This was good practise for them. One day, when fate dictated, one of them would replace him. Soon he had arrived at the alley outside his objective. There he stepped into a doorway and triggered the programmed changes on his projector. As he stepped out of the doorway and into the room of the gunsmith's shop, a gasp escaped from shopkeepers open mouth. Before the gapping man stood a tall sensuous human female dressed in studded leather and chains that covered very little. Darrathe moved himself and his illusionary self over to the astounded merchan, using completely different techniques of body movement to convey the right attitude and emotion. With a flair he handed him a small package. Then, as quick as he came in, he moved to the door and disappeared. The shopkeeper raced to the door, only to find no change in the endless caravan of human flesh passing outside. Looking down he remembered the package. He tore it open without hesitation. When he saw its contents, he ran into the back room and looked closer. It was a metallic ornament in the shape of a symbol that he recognized immediately. the symbol of the great one that only his disciples would recognize. Quickly, he checked for the opening that he knew would be there. It was. Inside was a parchment containing a set of map coordinates, a time, and a message. "Gather the disciples and bring them to this spot, if you would know the pleasure of pain". The shop was closed within minutes.
Ginneshe, who had danced the part of the Laughing God in the Great Dance for over fifty years met Darrathe upon his return. "Your mission was succesful". It was a statement, not a question. "Yes, the trap is set", Darrathe said, speaking bot to Ginneshe and to the seer who stood behind him. The seer had obviously informed the Great Harlequin of his success. "They will be coming soon, we must prepare".
Later, as the night was about to fall, Darrathe surveyed the placement of his troupe. The clearing was vacant; an opening in an otherwise dense forest. The terrain was hilly and this clearing happened to coincide with a depression in the topography. Darrathe's mimes were positioned in the trees surrounding the clearing. Even with his trained eyes, looking exactly where he knew they should be, he could only barely see them as they maintained their vigil. They would be the only representatives of the Masque in place when the marks arrived. The thrill of the hunt sent a chill through him. It reminded him of stories he had heard of more primitive Eldars, who existed both in ancient history and on some exodite worlds, that made their homes in the woods and took prey in a similar manner. It was a tribute to a more innocent time of which he was happy to be a part. Behind his two-toned mask, a smile spread on his face. Just as this thought was fully formed, something happened to Darrathe that had not happened to him in years. He was surprised by someone behind him. He wheeled about, leveling his shuriken pstol at the place where the intruder must be, only to find no-one there. "You would kill me, Mime?", came the question near his right ear. He could feel the press of the harlequin's kiss against his neck. "Amazing", thought Darrathe. "I am no more that a child to him", he though. He remained motionless and said aloud to the stranger: "You honor us Solitaire.", "I feld the call." The voice said back. "Where is your leader?", the solitaire asked. Darrathe motioned in the direction of the Ginneshe's camp. The solitaire lowered his arm and mpved in front of Darrathe and bowed slightly. He was dressed in black and red with white accents in the shape of a heart and a diamond. Darrathe wondered where this solitaire had been spending his life. Before he could say anything else, the solitaire turned and vanished into the woods in the direction of the camp.
The first of the humans arrived just after sunset. They continued to arrive for several hours, until nearly two-hundred of the disciples were present. The humans set the fire that the Masque had left ready waiting for them in the center of the clearing. The mimes watched as the humans cavorted around the fire in a startling display of poor combination (dancing
). After a while, Darrathe relayed the signal from Ginneshe to the mimes that the show was about to begin.From the east, over the ridge of the valley, a light began to appear. As the light grew, the human revelers ceased their contortions and looked to the light. In complete awe, they froze as if rooted to the ground, as suddenly a figure bathed in pinkish-purple light seemed to fly from behind the ridge and then land on the clearing. Close on its heels followed one after another by what seemed to be an endless stream of similarly firefly figures. As each landed, it began to dance towards the dumbfounded humans with a degree of grace, a beauty, the humans had never seen. In the end there were nearly fourty of the dancing figures, dazzling the humans as they danced in their midst. The light coming from the figures totally obscurred their features, which seemed to entice the humans into dance with them as best they could. As the humans became completely absorbed in their fascination on the dancing figures, a bright flash came from the bonfire and a huge brilliant figure stepped forth. it was bathed in a similar glow as the dancers, but its features were visible through the light. The features constantly shifted between that of an incredibly beautiful human female and a perfectly formed human male.
One of the humans saw the figure and shouted "The Master!". At once the human throng wheeled and, upon seeing the emerging image, fell to their faces. The figure stepped out of the fire and rose into the air. Looking down on the crowd and the lighted dancers, it said in a voice that seemed it could melt iron and freeze blood in the same time: "You have come to learn the pleasure of pain?" "Yes", the humans shouted in unison. The great image turned and looked around the prostrate group and after a pause said in a soft voice: "Then you shall!" At that uttering,great beacons shone down upon the clearing from the outside. As the humans blinked to adjust their eyes, the screams began form all around. The lighted dancers had been replaced with darkly clad Eldar warriors, wielding death in either hand. They cut a swath through the mass of humans like a wildfire across dry brush. The central figure dropped his disguise, revealing the Solitaire, triumphant in his role of Slannesh, the great destroyer, knowing that this performance only served to deepen the doom of his calling. Once revealed, he walked toward the east edge of the clearing, killing ten humans on the way as casually as one might pick a weed on an afternoon walk. A few of the humans, still living, tried to run from the onslaught, only to find their path blocked by one of Darrathe's mimes, which discpached them cleanly.
In five minutes the performance was over, the solitaire gone and Darrathe, Ginneshe and the seer met on the rise above the clearing. "An adequate performance", said Ginneshe. Darrathe knew this to be high praise from the Harlequin. "Did you know that the solitaire would come?", Darrathe asked. "It was to happen", stated the seer flatly. "We have performed a service for the universe today", Ginneshe said. "These weak-willed humans will no longer provide sustenance for the great enemy." "They were weak willed and beyond help", Darrathe said. "Everyone is at risk", Ginnethe replied. "Will you do the honours for the masque?", Ginneshe asked, holding out a multicoloured tube to Darrathe. "It would be my pleasure", Darrathe replied as he took the tube and strode down the slope to the middle of the clearing. When he arrived, he noticed the body of the shopkeeper, to whom he had given the package earlier. He knelt beside the body, noticing the missing arm severed by a power sword, and the shuriken sticking out of its chest.He used the good arm of the body to cradle the tube and pushed a small button on its side. As he leaned over the body he said: "It was no pleasure causing you pain". While looking at the man, he activated his rictus mask to record the death face of this cultist, so that others might see the pain and know better in the future. He stood up and walked away through the scattered bodies and body parts to the top of the edge of the clearing. The Masque had left the stage, he was the last to leave and he had one task to perform. He sent the signal from his comm unit to the tube. The tube deployed its anchoring spikes and the standard unfurled as it went up, showing the white and red backround and smiling vlack shadow, that told everyone that the Masque of the Chesire Shadows had performed here.
As he walked away, Darrathe felt the Laughing god laughing at the gods of chaos.
Elikkä sellanen taru Chesire Shadowsin Darrathesta.
Jos jotakuta jäi kaivelemaan, niin solitairet on Harlequinejen assassineja vastaavia yksiköitä..kovempia vaan tietenkin, kun eldareista puhutaan.