The Skeins of Fate

by Aphrael1742

The tales of the eldar tell of the Rhana Dandra, the final battle when eldar and Chaos will meet on the field of battle and where both will perish. But all stories must come to an end. Some of the eldar, however, would much rather write the concluding pages than read it as it unfolds.

1. Prologue

PROLOGUE

Of the Cycles of the eldar, and the acts of Cegorach

Down through the ages the Laughing God watched, unspeaking but never inactive, watching as the eldar moved with the winds of time. And as their race flourished and grew, the other gods grew joyful, and the Laughing God took content in His work. Foremost among His children were the harlequins, and to these did Cegorach assign the duty of forever recording the stories of the eldar and to ensure that the lessons of the past are not forgotten. For the Laughing God held the art of magnificently woven tales close, and loathe was He to let even a simple piece of knowledge or history or lesson slip away. And the eldar continued to grow.

And this was the First Cycle.

Then came the time when Khaine, the mighty god of war, learnt of the doom that awaited Him, and great was his wrath at His findings, and so did the First Cycle end.

Then did Khaine wage war against the eldar, and many did He slew, for war was His domain. Then did the Phoenix King decree that the gods were no longer to walk among the eldar, and thus ended the Second Cycle.

And the time of the Third Cycle was the shedding of the blood of gods by Their brethren as they made war one upon another. And did the heavens tremble and the Fates stir.

But find did Cegorach many ways with which to subvert the barriers of the Phoenix King, and those that He could not find, He made. And thus did His soft guidance of the eldar not cease, though never may He truly walk with His followers as He once did.

But the Phoenix King had erred in preventing the gods from interacting with Their children, and thus did the eldar turn away from their gods to seek the gifts of beings more capricious and uncaring than them.

And this was the Fourth Cycle.

And much did the Mother of the eldar then weep, for She saw the path that Her children had set upon, but helpless was She to stop them. And without their gods did the plight of the eldar grow. And then did the Phoenix King come to regret His decision, but what He did He could not now undo.

But it was not in the nature of Cegorach to remain inactive. And so did He gather the harlequins, and on that day when He conceived of this notion, He gave, through diverse means, much to His followers. And great were the knowledge that He imparted, and awesome were the gifts and boons and assorted blessings, but heavy, too, was the burden that He placed upon them. Gladly did the harlequins accept, doing so despite knowing that their patron was unable to guide them through the whole of their task, so complete was the decree of the Phoenix King upon even one such as the Laughing God.

And so did the duties of the harlequins change, for the Laughing God had instructed them in the proper methods to preserve all that the eldar had and were. And across the stars they went, and much did they hide away for safekeeping.

Then the time came when the eldar race was dashed and much of their civilization consumed even as the Laughing God had predicted. And did the harlequins find refuge in the webway as their patron god had instructed, and though the decree of the Phoenix King weakened many-fold the Laughing God's ability to protect the harlequins, the followers of the Laughing God emerged unscathed.

And so ended the Fourth Cycle.

Down through the long millennia did the harlequins toil, their duties unchanged. And turned they their arts into weapons of war, for though the harlequins preferred to avoid confrontations, the wisdom of the Laughing God prompted them ever onwards, and moved they from battlefield to battlefield under His guidance.

But this was not to last, for though the Laughing God never left, His absences grew ever longer, and His guidance ever less. And though many speculated upon His actions, none could say for certain.

Thus it now stands. The harlequins continue their endless duties, even as the signs to the final act that Cegorach has spoken of countless millennia ago come true.

And as the gates to great woe stand poised to open, the Laughing God takes once more the actions that He took to evade the decree of the Phoenix King in eons past, and once more does He walk among His followers, working even as the harlequins do, though to what end, not even the wisest of His children could say.

But it is said that, written in a secret tome in the script of the Laughing God there will come a time upon the world that Slaanesh shall harness all Her might and rise up, and in doing so sow the seeds by expanding Her own might the seeds of Her destruction.