The Masque of the Manic Curtain Calls

> "From the dusk comes night, from the dawn day. From murder comes death and from birth life. Between all these, lies twilight. The moments before the babe opens its eyes, the seconds before the sun is swallowed by the horizon, those are the moments betwixt we act. The will of the Father we enact, not for law, not for coin, but for duty, for only in death does duty end, and we shall *never* die."
>
>

> -Prayer of the Masque of the Manic Curtain Calls.
>
>

Also known as The Masque of the Unseen Gaze, the Troupe of the Tragic Tale, and La Masque De Dieu, the Masque of the Manic Curtain Calls is one of the smaller but more influential Masques in the Webway. Having been founded long ago by Eckerel the Manic Executioner, this Twilight Masque is the epitome of the traditions and long lasting form of the Harlequin order, being the most puritan and rigid in its ways out of all Masques, and is the greatest enemies of the Hierarchy.

Most well known for its performances of the adventures of Morai-Heg and Cegorach in ancient times, performances they use to explain the importance of tradition and the history of the Harlequins.

### **Culture**

The culture of the Curtain Calls is one of paradoxical rigidity. It is inherently traditional and will not tolerate straying from the path Cegorach set for His children, but that path in and of itself includes innovation and a tinge of disorder, meaning they both oppose AND embrace difference of methods in a manner that is nigh incomprehensible to non-Eldar but which is quite simple to the members of the Masque.

It's performances are as paradoxical, as they oft involve actors doing multiple, diametrically opposed parts, such as both hero and villain, or both lover and nemesis, and put forth just as opposed morals, such as the good of tradition as well as its foibles or the horrendous of murder yet also the beauty in the taking of someone's spirit,with the stories revolving around how to comprehend these paradoxes all the while living a productive, moral lifestyle in the name of the good of one and all.

Often times the actors of these performances are unwittingly a part of it, manipulated into it by the Masque in a century long ploy to lead the actors to the right stage at the right moment to perform their parts. One of these plays was La Fermeture ón Mire, wherein the Masque lead a force of Ultramarines led by Cato Sicarius into a Hivecity's stripclub where the Harlequins had the marines, in full armor, perform for the Hiver's via well placed trips and pushes while cloaked in invisibility rouge, in a mockery of Imperial propaganda and how it proudly displays its assets to impress the swaths of humanity.

Of course, these performances have led it to become enemies of perhaps the most unlikeliest of forces, in the Hierarchy of the Black Library, another Harlequin force that claims itself to be led by none other than the children of the Laughing God himself, who have radically attempted to overthrow the 10,000 years of tradition the Harlequin Masques have adhered to for all that time. Due to the sheer opposition of moral and culture between these two groups, the Curtain Calls have sabotaged and gotten in the way of the Hierarchy ever since its foundation, and have, in essence, cut the roots and leaves of the still blossoming tree to prevent it from seeding more of its kind.

### **Specialties**

Hit and run tactics: Using the Webwalking skills imparted on the Masque by its original High Troupe Master Eckerel the Manic Executioner, the Masque of the Manic Curtain Calls quickly appears and disappears whenever it needs to, leaving naught but single footsteps hundreds of metres away from one another until every enemy lays dead on the ground.

Disorientation: While the Masque has a sizable number of soldiers to deploy, alongside many aids it has acquired over the years, no one outside the Harlequin order knows just how small its forces truly are compared to the other Masques, as while it fights it uses hundreds of Hololithic projections draped in special mists and smokes to make it appear as if its forces are at least ten times the actual size of the deployed Harlequins, leaving the reports made by survivors non-nonsensical, as a lone soldier may claim the Harlequins came over the hillside, while no actual evidence of their presence in that area can be found, not even a single broken blade of grass, and gives the Troupe the ability to lead the enemy into favorable areas while being able to stay in the backline before they charge in and cut the enemy into naught but pieces of meat and Auramite.