The Laughing God - Cegorach

I haven't posted in a long time! Real life has been crazy, and being a new blog this was one of the first things to slip out of my todo list. After adepticon I was a bit burnt out on my harlequins after non-stop painting and playing since January to get an army ready by Adepticon. but now I am ready to jump back in! so lets take a look now at one of my favorite characters in 40K:

Cegorach, The Laughing God, the Great Fool, the Trickster God. Cegorach is the patron Deity of the Harlequins and one of the last remaining gods of the Eldar pantheon. Little is known of this particular Eldar god, as he seems to take almost no part in Eldar myths from before the Fall. Here I have attempted to piece together what is known of the Laughing God from various sources to paint a picture of one of the most interesting characters in the Warhammer universe. 

 

Cegorach the laughing god is best known for escaping Slaanesh during the Fall of the Eldar. There are many different accounts of what exactly happened to allow the Laughing God to escape, but then again he is the Trickster, and has likely muddied the waters of his legend to further hide himself from Slaanesh. 

There are common themes in the tales of his escape from Slaanesh, however. While many of the Eldar gods were fighting Slaanesh, Cegorach was the only one to openly taunt her. She pursued him through the warp where they both existed, but he evaded her at every turn. For a thousand years he escaped her grasp, always one step ahead but never far enough to completely escape. 

The Laughing god was only buying time, however, waiting for the right time to escape. different accounts disagree about what exactly happened next. some say that Cegorach simply slipped away as Khaine stepped forward to challenge Slaanesh in combat, others say that Endobai, the Eagle of Heaven sacrificed himself buy flying at Slaanesh and distracting her long enough for Cegorach to escape. 

Endobai the eagle of Heaven

However it happened, Cegorach escaped into the webway, which only he knew completely. As he escaped, Khaine fell to slaanesh and was shattered into a thousand pieces and hurled into the mortal realm. Cegorach continues to evade Slaanesh, though she is always searching for him. He insults her at every turn, always a step or two ahead. he further incites her wrath by stealing away the souls of his followers that slaanesh would otherwise consume, uniting those souls with his own warp essence where they can be at peace. 

The character of the Laughing god is not clearly defined. Some see him as a benevolent god, watching over the harlequins as their protector and patron. Others see him as a cruel trickster with a dark sense of humor not unlike the morbid humor of the death jesters. 

The Darker Side of Cegorach

The warhammer fantasy equivalent of the laughing God is the trickster Loec. in Loec we can see another side of the laughing god, one who is not trusted by the other Elven gods or the mortals who serve him. his face is always hidden in shadow and he is seen as a deceiver and a liar. but he is also a god of song and dance and is given tribute during feasts. 

Whatever his character is like, the harlequins serve him with extreme loyalty and faith. they fully believe that their souls will be protected by their god, and as a sign of that belief do not wear the soulstones that protect the Eldar of the Craftworlds. Of the eldar gods, Cegorach is the only one to survive in his original form, and so even some eldar of the craftworlds and exodites offer him tribute as the last link they have to the pantheon of old. 

The only other gods to survive the fall are Isha (who is currently being held prisoner by nurgle to test out his newest experiments on) and Khaine (who is shattered but alive, and remains a major deity in the Craftworld beliefs, and serves as a model for the Path system that is followed by all Eldar warriors)