Zahndrekh - History: Whilst possessing a grand and calculating military genius, many among the Necron nobility believed that Zahndrekh did not grasp reality as it truly is. Many thought his mind suffered damage during the Necrons' Great Sleep, and as a consequence he is trapped deep in the past, in the Wars of Secession that wracked his corner of the ancient Necrontyr empire.In his mind, it seemed that he still fought these campaigns as a creature of flesh and blood, crushing rebellious kings and bringing their domains back into the fold. He did not see armies of Orks, Aeldari or Humanity, but hosts of rebellious kinsmen battling to sunder his beloved dynasties.As such, Zahndrekh is one of the few Necron Overlords to employ the full protocols of honorable Necron warfare against all encroachers –- where others see aliens, he sees only Necrontyr. He disdains the use of Deathmarks, assassin Canoptek Wraiths and other strategies forbidden by the Necron codes of battle –- not that his subordinates have any such compunction.Wherever possible, Zahndrekh ensures that enemy commanders are captured, not killed, and thereafter treated as honoured prisoners -– much to the outraged consternation of Zahndrekh's Royal Court.Indeed, there are many Necron Lords in Zahndrekh's court who would dearly love to see the old general removed from power, for they judge his adrift perceptions to greatly outweigh his feats of battle. However, as befits his station, Zahndrekh has formidable defences against regicide.His personal sepulchre is heavily woven with traps, his personal household retinue boasts three entire legions of Lychguard, and he even employs four score food tasters -- even though it has been countless millennia since any morsel passed his lips. Yet Zahndrekh has one defence greater than all others -- his aide and protector, Varguard Obyron.During their campaigns, Zahndrekh and Obyron have proven to be an almost unbeatable combination. Zahndrekh seldom lowers himself to personal combat, but instead wields as a weapon his grand battlefield acumen that somehow remains undimmed by his faltering memory.Under his gaze, the Necron armies of Gidrim react almost instantaneously to counter enemy strategies, shifting between aggressive and defensive postures at a moment's notice. With a few carefully chosen words of command, outflanking foes are isolated and crushed, enemy assault waves dispersed, and fire support positions obliterated.Such is Zahndrekh's crystal-perfect reading of the flow of battle that even the enemy's experienced veterans often seem like raw and fumbling recruits as their every tactic is anticipated and their every skill countered. For his part, Obyron fights in the front lines, wielding his Warscythe with a precision to be expected of a warrior who counts his campaigns by the thousand.Yet no matter how distant he is, Obyron always keeps close watch on Zahndrekh -- his responsibilities as a bodyguard outweigh any other considerations. Should Zahndrekh be threatened, Obyron always returns to his master's side.It is well that Obyron is so dedicated, for few lords of Gidrim are eager to fight alongside their Nemesor. Some simply cannot tolerate Zahndrekh's constant stream of reminiscences to battles fought long ago, relevant to the campaign at hand though these recollections always are.For others, Zahndrekh's damaged mind is a constant reminder of the fate that might one day be theirs, should need dictate they enter stasis sleep once more. None of them see that such damage has doubtless already been wrought -- that they are, in truth, just as blind to their own involuntary idiosyncrasies as Zahndrekh is to his own.However, Zahndrekh's mind did not suffer complete engrammatic damage during his bio-transference. His moments of delusion are interwoven with moments of clarity. In one of these rare moments of lucidity, Zahndrekh revealed to his Vargard that he had not actually suffered engrammatic damage during the Great Sleep. Instead, he simply sometimes chooses to play the part of the fool.He believes in accepting his fate as a soulless Necron and enjoying the immortality it has brought by pursuing endless campaigns with a merry attitude that is as honorable as when he was still a flesh-and-blood warrior. If others choose to see that as insanity, Zahndrekh can live with that stigma.However, once his delusions return, Zahndrekh believes himself once more to be a living Necrontyr. It is difficult for observers to determine when he is actually lucid or truly in the grip of his delusion, for his behavior and mannerisms are identical in either state.