| rdfs:comment | - A Necron Tomb World may be home to dozens, or even hundreds, of Necron nobles, but only one has the power of absolute rule. For most coreworlds and fringeworlds this individual is a Necron Lord, but Necron crownworlds and particularly important coreworlds will be ruled by Necron Overlords. A particularly powerful Overlord, known as a Phaeron, will lay claim to, and rule, an entire Necron Dynasty. All Necron Lords and Overlords have royal courts made up of lesser nobles owing them fealty, Crypteks in their service, and, in some cases, trusted bodyguards. These courts are commonly hotbeds of intrigue that would astound even the most conspiratorial of Imperial nobles. These royal courts often accompany their liege into battle, as well.
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| abstract | - A Necron Tomb World may be home to dozens, or even hundreds, of Necron nobles, but only one has the power of absolute rule. For most coreworlds and fringeworlds this individual is a Necron Lord, but Necron crownworlds and particularly important coreworlds will be ruled by Necron Overlords. A particularly powerful Overlord, known as a Phaeron, will lay claim to, and rule, an entire Necron Dynasty. All Necron Lords and Overlords have royal courts made up of lesser nobles owing them fealty, Crypteks in their service, and, in some cases, trusted bodyguards. These courts are commonly hotbeds of intrigue that would astound even the most conspiratorial of Imperial nobles. These royal courts often accompany their liege into battle, as well. 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 races. As a result of their android 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 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 days or weeks. But nowadays, the Necrons' cybernetic ability to self-repair enables them to wage such conflicts for 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 Overlord 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 races of the 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 races in the galaxy, such as the Eldar, 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 his enemies to be, he always personally oversees his forces' battles whenever possible, leading his vassals into the thick of the fighting. In this way he proves his superiority and right to rule, both to his noble Necron peers and to his enemies across the galaxy. When a Necron Overlord strides forth to war, only the strongest and wiliest of opponents have any hope of survival. His armoured form is impervious to even tank-busting weaponry and his robotic body provides him with the strength required to crush bones to dust. At his 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 his mind and the absolute determination that resides there to reforge the ancient Necron empire. In battle, Necron nobles tend to favour weapons that speak to their status: staves, mighty Warscythes, and even heavy, ornate gauntlets that crackle with green flame. Almost without exception, Necron Lords and Overlords are skilled warriors and commanders, completely capable of making split-second tactical decisions even as they cut their way through the enemy’s ranks. In fact, the advanced technological minds of the Necron nobles are capable of evaluating possible outcomes and computing the most advantageous tactical decision with a speed and accuracy that even the most accomplished autosavant could not hope to match. This powerful synthetic mind is at once both a great strength and, perhaps, the greatest weakness for many Necron rulers. The process of bio-transference and the long aeons have eroded the sanity of many Necron Lords and Overlords, whether by the sheer impossibility of a living mind preserved for eternity in an artificial brain, or due to simple mechanical faults. Despite the best efforts of their tomb guardians, the awakening from stasis is rarely flawless, save for the most fortunate of Tomb Worlds. Even a minor glitch in the process can result in drastic changes to the personality of a Necron royal, or even its very perception of reality. In some cases, this serves to exaggerate the personality quirks a Lord possessed in life, while others result in bizarre, aberrant behaviour, or even severe delusions. Perhaps one of the more extreme cases of this madness can be found in the so-called Necron Destroyer Lords. While Necron Lords and Overlords generally fight at the forefront of large armies of conquest, they are just as likely to take a personal hand in more delicate operations. After all, few of their servants possess the intellect, let alone the initiative, to lead such missions, which could range from sabotaging a rival’s own efforts, to infecting a nosy Inquisitor with Mindshackle Scarabs.
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