Motley -- An agent of She Who Thirsts?

Greetings fellow Commorrites,

I would have a fluffy question for those who read the "Path of Renegade/Incubus/Archon" books. At the end of the third book, it was revealed by Motley (the Harlequin) there were 3 Chaos gods present -- Xelian as champion of Khorne, the self-proclaimed shadow king from Aelindrach being the champion of Nurgle and Archon Yllithian as champion of Tzeentch (not to mention the other shadow king).

He also added that where one Chaos god is, the other follows. Imo, meaning if there's one god from two pairs (Nurgle - Tzeentch, Khorne - Slaanesh), there will necessarily be the other one as well.

As Vect heard this, he pointed out that the champion of Slaanesh is missing and he accused Motley of being the one. To which he responded all Eldars are, in certain way (or something of the sort).

Furthermore, a few chapters before, Angevere (the witch from cursed realm of Shaa-dom) said to Bellathonis (the renegade haemonculus) not to listen to Motley, because he serves Slaanesh.

Here comes the question: What do you think, is Motley a servant to She Who Thirsts?

My take would be: No.

Throughout the trilology, his motives were plain -- to minimalise the suffering and fragmentation of the Eldar race. That's provable by his actions of help during the whole story. Were he a Slaaneshi servant, I think, there wouldn't be so much effort of his to stop the bloodshed amongst Eldar (Commorrites especially) -- let's not forget that sould of every dead Eldar belongs to She Who Thirsts, except if he/she has a soulstone.

Of course he is.  Every Eldar is a servant of She Who Thirsts, whether they realize it or not.  The fact that Motley refuses to believe it just puts the joke, ultimately, on him.

The demonic aspect of the series reflects not 'the Chaos Gods go to Commorragh,' but rather, 'Tzeentch, Nurgle, and Khorne try to crash Slaanesh's party.'

(That being said, don't think about it too hard--the Path of the Dark Eldar was a mediocre series at best, and Path of the Archon by itself was pretty stinky.)

Also remember that Motley is a Solitaire - literally an eldar embodiment of the dark prince!

Massaen wrote:

Also remember that Motley is a Solitaire - literally an eldar embodiment of the dark prince!

Eh?

Was that in Path of the Incubi? They certainly didn't mention it in Archon.

He's a Harlequin who is by himself, but in Archon they never gave any indication he was supposed to be a Solitaire.

The Agent of Slaanesh was already killed in Path of the Renegade.

Motley is a Solitaire (it is obvious in the Mask of Vyle) but in this specific case not the Agent of Slaanesh.

Huh. Never read Mask of Vyle.

He's kind of a chump for a Solitaire.

Writing a good end for a story is considered the hardest part by some for a reason.

Unfortunately, the entire third book is lackluster. It isn't a failure to come to a satisfying story conclusion that kills it, it's an utter failure to portray the Dark Eldar, and even more egregiously their principal characters, as anything more than two dimensional cutouts.

I was seriously left wondering if Andy Chambers even likes the Dark Eldar, or was just assigned this work.

Motley is a Solitaire, which is something confirmed because he plays the part of Slaanesh in the Masque of Vyle. A Solitaire is the only one who can do this. Unfortunately, the Solitaire runs the high risk of being consumed by Slaanesh on death.

This means that he could be seen as an 'agent' of Slaanesh, but he isn't working for Slaanesh as such - he is working for Cegorach. Vect's perception of the matter may differ, because he is a Dark Eldar who despise the old gods for basically (as they see it) losing.

Also, in fact there was already an agent of Slaanesh present in the form of El'Uriaq, who got possessed/contaminated by a daemon during his resurrection. So that's the 'missing' piece - it seems Vect missed his old rival's schemes after all

Yeah, someone mentioned the Mask of Vyle thing earlier. My bad for missing it. Is that book any better than the Dark Eldar Path trilogy?

I actually liked those books.

Seconded. And as someone who has been reading novels for ages I really don't understand all the hate.

Oh, I totally forgot about El'Uriaq's possession of Slaanesh. I read the first novel few months ago and I've just remembered he was possessed. Nice, thanks!

I'm on my way to read the Mask of Vyle. However, if he plays Slaanesh in the plays of a Masque, it's settled then. Still left me wondering why it isn't compatible with fluff about Solitaires (not really a talkative person with a mask of horns -- moreover, in one part of the third book, Motley's head was described as a face which was masked by half-mask covering part of his head from mouth upside. I'm not really sure why, if there was a description, author didn't mention horns).

Same here. I pretty much enjoyed the books. <Offtopic> Anyhow, fellows, would you recommend me the best novels featuring Eldar/Dark Eldar/Harlequins/Corsairs based on your opinion? </Offtopic>

EDIT: Also, thanks for the replies.

There are several appealing Eldar options

The Inquisitor Trilogy by Ian Watson

Atlas Infernal by Rob Saunders

Both are Inquisitor books (far more appealing than SMs and IG to my mind.)

Both contain characters who have been known to think about (and even <gasp> do) sex.

Tengu wrote:

Both contain characters who have been known to think about (and even <gasp> do) sex.

Heresy! Which reminds me: although they are the antagonists, the Eldar in Void Stalker come off as well written.

Jimsolo wrote:

Yeah, someone mentioned the Mask of Vyle thing earlier. My bad for missing it. Is that book any better than the Dark Eldar Path trilogy?

In my oppinion, yes.
It is only a short story, but then again maybe that is what makes it better.  
If you want to read a pretty pointless prequel to the dark eldar omnibus, you might want to seek out Treasures of Biel-Tanigh as well.

At the end of Path of The Archon, Motley says the agent of She Who Thirsts is still unaccounted for; then the story flits to Kheradruakh and his skull temple/palace where they are staring into a fixed point. I took this to mean by implication that he was Slaanesh's agent in Commorragh.

I liked Motley. Especially him clearly being attracted to Lady Malys and the cheerful nonchalance in the face of peril he displays. Proper Harlequin that one...

Yes and No Motley is a solitaire so he plays the role of Slaanesh and like Slaanesh he consumes eldar souls but not like the dark eldar (Masque of Vyle to anyone who's interested).

This closeness to She Who Thirsts is enough for most including his fellow Harlequins to distrust him. Personally I don't think he would be an agent of Slaanesh if for no other reason than the principle. Also Slaanesh really doesn't seem the type to have 'hidden' agents, I mean he/she has Noise Marines enough said.

A quick tidbit of information. The harlequin troupe Motley accompanies is protected from the ravages of she who thirsts because one of their number is already promised to her. That would be motley. You can see a hint of this when he claims he isn't an agent of Her with the "deal with the death of our race not withstanding". It is also how he can play her role in the frequent plays, such as in the masque of vyle. It is also true he does swallow certain soul stones (read masque of vyle! it is a good book.). So is he an agent of She who thirsts? depends on your perspective ^^

He's promised to She Who Thirsts but he's still a harlequin so if I understand things correctly the Laughing God can intervene and try to win back his soul from She Who Thirsts

He is a solitaire. Ofc he is "promised to her". :-) All solitaires are.