Necron Lord - History: The nobles of the ancient Necrontyr kingdoms emerged far better from the race's biotransference into their machine bodies than did the plebeian classes. Within the engrammic circuitry housed within their new bodies, the Necron nobles retained their intellect and personality which was far more extensive than that granted to the lesser Necrontyr.Most Necrons emerge from the Great Sleep as dull-witted creatures, with little memory of the individual they once were. Yet, unless they suffered damage during their long dormancy, Necron Lords and Overlords retain all the personal drives, obsessions and nuances of personality that they once possessed as organic beings.A Necron Tomb World is home to dozens, or even hundreds, of Necron nobles, but only one has the power of absolute rule. For most of a dynasty's coreworlds and fringeworlds this individual is a Necron Lord, while Necron crownworlds and particularly important coreworlds will be ruled by Necron Overlords. A particularly powerful Overlord, known as a phaeron, will also lay claim to a crownworld, from which they rule their entire dynasty.Each Necron Lord is a willful individual with their own personality and goals. Many lords desire to elevate their status within the Necron hierarchy, perhaps to one day rise to the position of phaeron and rule over an entire dynasty. Others desire to expand the boundaries of their dynasty's domain through conquest. While some such lords and nemesors may exterminate the inhabitants of the worlds they conquer, others are perfectly willing to accept oaths of allegiance and servitude from the lesser races.Still others desire to undo the curse of biotransference and return to their organic forms, or perhaps to eliminate their age-old enemies, the Aeldari. Some lords are consumed by strange obsessions, such as collecting objects of historical significance or cataloguing every life form in the galaxy.Necron Lords are easily marked out through the elaborate decorations with which they are adorned. In some cases these take the form of ancient, mouldering robes, possibly dating from before biotransference. Others are clad in tabards and cloaks of shining, segmented metal. Perhaps this choice of attire gives some insight into the minds of these immortal rulers, differentiating those who long for a return to flesh from those who embrace their undying form.Amongst the Necron nobles of a Tomb World, political infighting is common and there are always countless schemes playing out, albeit at a glacial pace by the standards of other intelligent species. As a result of their machine natures, all Necrons tend towards calculating behaviour and a pretender will rarely move openly against his opponent if the chance of success is outweighed by the high probability of failure.At the same time, it is not unknown for a challenged Overlord to yield to a subordinate if there is no hope of immediate victory. They will choose to wait out the passing Terran years and centuries at a lower rank, patiently anticipating an opportunity to reclaim the power that was lost.But if the prize is large enough, such power struggles can erupt into open conflict. When this occurs, the remaining Tomb World nobles will align themselves according to their own loyalties and ambitions, though some will wait as long as possible to negotiate the price of their loyalty.These internal conflicts invariably follow the formalised codes that governed the ancient Necrontyr, leading to set piece battles with forces arranged and rules agreed to in advance by the competing nobles. In the times before the biotransference, such civil wars led to the slaughter of countless millions in a matter of solar days or weeks.But nowadays, the Necrons' cybernetic ability to self-repair enables them to wage such conflicts for Terran years or even centuries with no discernible victor. This is reason enough for all but the most desperate or power-hungry Necron nobles to avoid such an outcome.For each of these battles fought amongst his own kind, a Necron noble will orchestrate hundreds of sprawling campaigns against those alien usurpers who squat amongst the remains of the Necron dynasties in the modern galaxy. For many nemesors, it is unthinkable to honour an alien enemy by following the traditional Necrontyr codes of battle. In their eyes, most intelligent species of the present-day galaxy are little more than vermin to be exterminated with as much efficiency, and as little of the ancient pomp of ceremony, as possible.Most of the more advanced species in the galaxy, such as the Aeldari, have proven themselves unworthy of being treated as equals. As a result, assassination and ambush -- forms of battle forbidden in wars between the ancient Necrontyr nobility -- are employed by the Necrons against outsiders with no reservations.Yet no matter how underserving a Necron ruler considers their enemies to be, they always personally oversees their forces battles whenever possible, leading their vassals into the thick of the fighting. In this way they prove their superiority and right to rule, both to their noble Necron peers and to their enemies across the galaxy.When a Necron Lord strides forth to war, only the strongest and wiliest of opponents have any hope of survival. Their armoured form is impervious to even tank-busting weaponry and features highly sophisticated self-repair protocols, and their robotic body provides them with the physical strength required to crush bones to dust.At their command are all the armaments of the ancient Necron civilisation: Warscythes, Tachyon Arrows and the other extraordinary tools of destruction forged by Necrontyr science. Yet perhaps a Necron noble's most potent weapon remains their mind and the absolute determination that resides there to reforge the ancient Necron Empire.