Echoes of Eternity: A Warhammer 40k Necron Lord Quest

Utep barged in the study room like a Rhino in a pottery shop. The Necron Lord ignored the frantic Ptolomes and the two hulking Lychguard, eyes flaring as they focused on Xorathis.

The Arch-Cryptek was in her leisure time, and didn't react to the intrusion, an unacceptable breach of etiquette that would have seen Lords sent to the chopping block back in the day.

A board of white stone stood on the table before her, crowed with ornated game pieces.

"Care for a game, Utep?" She asked, the pleasant, genteel host.

Utep didn't move. He didn't even seem to notice the tense guards. "What is the meaning of this?" He asked, voice trembling with emotion. "What is this… mockery?!"

Xorathis ignored him. "A cup for our guest, Chalchun." Chalchun, looking both outraged and terrified, scrambled to obey.

A moment of tension passed, broken only by the soft clacking of pieces being arrayed on the board.

Utep hesitated, glancing at the Lychguards and the Cryptek. There was an empty place at the table. Stiff, barely holding the frustrated rage at bay, he took it.

"And how is your family doing?" Xorathis asked, pleasant tone never wavering.

Utep stiffened. "If you think you can threaten…"

"Just asking," she chirped. Chalchun planted a cup before Utep, making the pieces rattle. "Be nice now," Xorathis said without heat, tapping the Cryptek's head with one of her tendrils.

Utep stood still, ignoring the cup. For once, the hole in his soul couldn't keep up with the rushing emotions. A strange mix of elation, suspicion, exasperation, disbelief and despair filled him, making him feel like a cupboard filled with rattling cutlery.

He made to talk, but Xorathis lifted a finger, interrupting him.

"Do you know this game, my Lord?" she asked. Slender, metal fingers gripped a piece: it was shaped as a multi-segmented spider construct. The creature had been rendered in exquisite detail, each curve and line caught at the atomic level. "It was quite the popular pastime on my planet. We called it Senat, or the King's Board if you prefer the more vernacular name. Why, it's quite the interesting pastime. Look." The board hummed as she laid the figurine among its sisters. Energy pulsed on its surface, and the pieces started rearranging themselves with sharp, quick movements. When they finished, two armies of black and silver were facing each other.

"Each piece is different, see?" Xorathis smiled. "Each has its own rules and moves in its own way. Here's the Pawn. It doesn't do much, but there's many of them. Here's the effective Immortal. Here's the trusty Vargard. And, of course, here's the King and his Queen. Enough said that they are the only truly important pieces on the board." It was an array of curious shapes caught in necrodermis, and Xorathis smiled, including them all with a wave of her hand. "With that, the winner is the player who uses each piece to its fullest. It's when each piece's quirks, weaknesses and strongpoints work in harmony, each in their right place, that one army triumphs."

Utep frowned inwardly. "Is this to be my, our place?" He asked, slowly standing up. "A piece that is expected to move by its rules and perform as expected? As a… King?" Or a Phaeron. Because that's what that dog Ptolomes informed him. That he was supposed to take the role of Phaeron at the behest of the High Mistress, to be her mask and shield at the same time.

The offer was as mind-boggling as it was outrageous. A Phaeron was a sacred title, the bearer of a Dynasty's pride, not some puppet to nominate at will.

Xorathis stared at him. "Would that be strange?" she said, casual. "Isn't that the way of the Necrontyr? For the better to command and the lesser to obey without question, even beyond death?" She chuckled in a way that made him feel cold despite his lack of a skin "Especially beyond death."

Utep felt strength leave his legs. She was serious. "There are limits," he said, sitting back down. His sensors insisted his mouth was dry.

"I heard," Xorathis picked up a piece, inspecting it. The Vargard seemed ready to move and take its post. "But to answer your previous and more interesting question, only if you want." She set it down, watching him. Her gaze was teasing, but there was no mistaking the calculating edge in it.

"You see, my dear, since my awakening, I have come to realize that most of the inhabitants of this Galaxy move following certain patterns." At her touch, the Vargard morphed, turning into the spindly silouhette of an Aspect Warrior. "Pride and sorrow." Her finger moved to the next, and the piece swelled into an Ork in the act of bringing his Choppa down. "Irreparable simplicity." Another piece became an Uhn'Saekh soldier, loomed over by a Space Marine. "Oblivious faith and stern duty." A Chaos Space Marine emerged beside its counterpart, probably the one event where they stood side by side without violence. "Faith yet again, but arrogant and wicked, glazed with surrender." At last, to Utep's surprise, a Necron Lord, tall and resplendant in his full regalia of beaten copper. "Despair. Memory. Will, be it misguided or not."

Xorathis steepled her fingers together, watching him from above her army of figurines.

"Scripts, if you will. Inevitable when the patterns are fixed, and the game is rigged, may I add." Her eyes shimmered. "It disgusts me. Both the foolishness it creates and the sheer insult of trying to keep me caged. I am taking steps in breaking this pattern as much as I am concerned." She tilted her head, curious. "Would you join me?" She smiled. "No Necron Lord stood as a warden of the lesser. Not one. It would make for a delightful defiance of the pattern, don't you think?"

Utep was without words. He had expected much. That… was not it.

"It's madness," he exhaled.

"It is," Xorathis agreed, pleasant. "Will you do it? I have an army and a ship waiting for you."

Utep thought about it. No, it wasn't right. Images ran across his mind. The Uhn'Saekh, living their little, sunlit lives, ignorant and fragile. His family, slumping into the dark of the crypts, unheeding and without reason.

"Dynasties aren't created on a trifle," he protested weakly.

Xorathis scoffed. "Oh, don't be silly. There has been plenty of puppet kings down our history. And a dynasty is created at any chance." Her expression twinkled with suggestion. "Not like you'd miss on your slice of freedom. A Phaeron is and remains a Phaeron."

That was all the defense he could muster. He lowered his head in acceptance.

Xorathis' eyes narrowed in amused slits. "Just be careful, mh? This galaxy of patterns won't likely tolerate a new one, and Necron Warriors don't grow in caverns. Nor loyal Phaerons do. I'll need my mask."

Utep stood up and bowed. His heart beat, still somber, still slow, yet it did with a strength and a vitality that he had forgotten, let alone imagined to feel again. For the first time since the wretched moment of Bio-Transference, he felt alive again, the closest a dead thing like him could.

Looming over her board, Xorathis watched him, smiling.

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Action Complete!

[] Write the name of the new client Dynasty -
[] Write names for army and fleet -

New Army formed!
You lose:


New Dynasty Stats:


Dynasty Traits:
- Infantry Commanders: The leading elements of the Dynasty come from the Household of Rasetra, which has produced many excellent infantry commanders. They excel in ground assaults that hinge on traditional Necron infantry tactics.
- Wardens of the Living: Finding a new purpose for their undead existences in guarding the living, this dynasty excels in interacting and forming bonds with non-Necrons, as well as in ruling them with a stern but just hand. They can connect with others to a level that no other Necron Dynasty can, making them excellent diplomats. They'll be ready to take losses if it will mean to protect the living.
- The Dead's Ennui: Seeing their existence as mechanoids as cursed and pointless, these Necrons struggle to live for themselves. This attitude can push them to be reckless and to succumb to ennui and lethargy if they fail in their task of safeguarding their charges. [Effect lessened by the promise from Xorathis to send some Cultists their way]

AC - Smaller update this time. I wanted to close this smaller storyline before passing on the other actions. I'll be back soon, hopefully. Meanwhile, I am working on a new kingdom system I hope you guys will like for the next turn.