I assure you, I am NOT being condescending, Ardeth, I'm just trying to warn you of digging yourself further into a hole of seeming ignorance. Something I doubt either of us want to see you do.
And yes, Ardeth, from a technical standpoint, a Splinter Cannon and a Shurriken Cannon run on identical principles, using virtually identical ammunition (with different variations and upgrades), they may use slightly different words to describe the ammunition, but none of those words are mutually exclusive of each other, they were just written by different people, at different times, for codexes released at different times.
Everything in the fluff hints at them being the same technology put to slightly different uses.
So yes they are extremely similar weapons, and the Shrieker Cannon has multiple similarities to each.
Similarities to Shurriken Cannons:
-fires disks
-propellant
-trigger mechanism
-base material for ammunition
Similarities to Splinter Cannons
-propellant
-trigger mechanism
-base material for ammunition
-injected poisons into base material core
And some would argue that the poisoned core is a more important distinction than the shape of the ultimate projectile. And more importantly, it proves that the Harlequins, and their Craftworld Eldar allies, do not have a significant problem with each other using weapons involving poison, which was one of the arguments against them earlier in the thread.
I never said they weren't different weapons. However, in point of fact they can, and do get mistaken for each other all the time by imperials, if the fluff is to be believed.
The standard guardsman, and even most guard leaders cannot really tell the difference, at a glance, between most Eldar factions and weapons. They frequently confused Dark Eldar and Eldar Corsairs, or Eldar Pirates for that matter, with their their Craftworld, and Exodite cousins. Many Imperials do not even have a clue that there are multiple Eldar factions at all. But then, many of them do not even seem to care for that matter either.
And actually, Jest of Death, Dark Eldar are still ELDAR, in fact many would argue they are more-so than the Craftworld Eldar, at least when it comes to "the legend of the Fall of the Eldar".
And if what you claim there is true, they wouldn't use shrieker cannons, or fusion pistols, or "harlequin" kisses, because none of those are "craftworld" weapons. The harlequins have a number of weapons that they created and use themselves. Weapons which did not even exist before the fall. So just quoting a reference that says they have a self-appointed task and a heavy emphasis on tradition is not a cannon reference to say they cannot ever change weapons. In fact, the very idea that they use shurriken pistols, and can swap between regular weapons and harlequin kisses (or a power sword in the case of the troupe master) disproves your theory at least to some extent.
Plus, as I said before, we're talking about an actual combat scenario, not just their performances recounting the fall. Which, I might add, is not the only tale they perform. I am not suggesting that they use chain swords, or any other 'races' weapons, I'm simply suggesting that sometimes they might use a weapon crafted in their own style but using a slightly different technology often associated with another faction of the ELDAR race.
So, would it be too much to ask for people to write up their arguments for and against the idea plainly and simply, rather than dancing around the subject, and bringing up tangents (such as Shrieker Cannon similarities) which only barely relate to the subject?
"-That is all."