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I was reading up on my fluff for a few of the 40k races, and I found something that's kind of been bothering me in the Necron fluff. If the Necrons are mechanical, who made the Necrons? I understand that the Necrons are a "ancient race" and whatnot, but are the Necrons we know and love the actual race, androids that served other empire(s), a spontaneous generation of machine at the beginning of time, robots that got sucked into a wormhole, or something completely different? I don't have a copy of a Necron codex of any sort, so I don't know what information is divulged there, but I would still appreciate some enlightenment on the topic.

Happy to help you out!

I would type out some of the Necron codex stuff (got it under my monitor to lift it up, along with a bunch of other old RP books), but I can give you a short version.

They were a race, a long long time ago, very fragile and weak because they had a really nasty star that bombarded the planet with brutal radiation (their lives were short and brutal). Their scientists discovered there was some sort of powerful energy being out there, on their Sun, and geniuses that they were, they created a body for it and sucked it down into it. After it killed a bunch of them, they convinced it they could be more help than food, and they began to work with it.

They went out to find more of these guys, and these energy beings, star vampires, were the Necron Gods. Long story short, the Necron people got into a war with the Old Ones. Well, their bodies being so fragile, they envied the long-lived Old Ones. The Necron gods made them an offer, of immortal life. Anyways, turns out it was a bit of a trick, and they ripped out the souls of the people and put them into these machine bodies that the Gods had designed. Those who had worshipped well got to retain some of their sentience (Immortals, Lords, etc) and those who did not or who tried to resist the process became mindless (Warriors).

Basically, jerk gods, tricked them, put them into mechanical bodies to fight a war against the Old Ones. No more biological Necron people, but no more brutal short lifespans (whole planet was essentially a necropolis back in the day).

I may have gotten a bit wrong, but the gist is there.

The Necrontyr were humanoid at one time but the C-Tan either tricked them of forced them into devices that transformed them into what they are now "Necrons".

Tk421 wrote:I was reading up on my fluff for a few of the 40k races, and I found something that's kind of been bothering me in the Necron fluff. If the Necrons are mechanical, who made the Necrons? I understand that the Necrons are a "ancient race" and whatnot, but are the Necrons we know and love the actual race, androids that served other empire(s), a spontaneous generation of machine at the beginning of time, robots that got sucked into a wormhole, or something completely different? I don't have a copy of a Necron codex of any sort, so I don't know what information is divulged there, but I would still appreciate some enlightenment on the topic.

Once apon a time there was a race known as the necrontyr. The necrontry looked alot like humans, were at a 21st centuryish level of technology and lived on a planet orbiting a massive star. Now the radiation of this massive star was causing the necrontyr to die prematurely and as such they were a culture obsessed with living longer.

Eventually the necrontyr came into contact with a race of extremely long lived scientists only known as the old ones, jealous of their longevity the necrontyr declared war on the old ones and the two races fought for several decades.
during this war the necrontyr discovered an enitity feeding on the star they orbitted and through some technological marvel managed to transfer the being into a necrodermis (living metal) shell, this being was the nightbringer and soon his various siblings came to the necrontyr to be given physical form via necrodermis.

The C'tan gave the necrontyr a much needed edge in the war against the old ones and soon were worshipped as gods due to their seemingly unlimited power over the materium, this lead to a C'tan now known as the deciever to offer his followers (and later all the necrontyr) eternal life.

As you can imagine every single necrontyr wanted to live as long as the old ones and as such they all agreed to the decievers plans, yet as his name suggests the deciever had tricked them into becoming mindless and souless slaves.
The necrontyr were captured and injected with raw living metal and converting them into what we identify as a necron.

then there was the whole war in heaven thing but i wont go into that unless you ask

Okay, it's making a lot more sense so far. But how are they so widespread if Necrontyrians had such short lifespans? Did they expand through the galaxy after their transformation?

corpsesarefun wrote:then there was the whole war in heaven thing but i wont go into that unless you ask

Well, I feel like I have to ask now. What's the deal there?

Awesome site with some great information. Check it out.

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/C%27tan

Tk421 wrote:Okay, it's making a lot more sense so far. But how are they so widespread if Necrontyrians had such short lifespans? Did they expand through the galaxy after their transformation?

corpsesarefun wrote:then there was the whole war in heaven thing but i wont go into that unless you ask

Well, I feel like I have to ask now. What's the deal there?

yes they spread after the whole necron transformation thing.

The war in heaven occured long after the original transformation and was the series of battles between the eldar gods and the C'tan, it is also the period in which the outsider was tricked by the deciever into consuming half the weaker c'tan and the dragon and nightbringer ate the majority of the left over weaker c'tan in a bid to boost their powers and sate their hunger.

Actually, the Necrontyr spread far and wide throughout the galaxy long before their transformation into the Necrons. Their ships were made of living metal and they travelled via stasis to other worlds. During this time they encountered the Old Ones and waged a war against them, the War in Heaven, but the Old Ones easily defeated the Necrontyr who were banished to the Halo stars for millennia.

It was then at this point they discovered the C'tan (Necrontyr for Star-Gods) and, using the living metal of their ships formed bodies to draw in some of the vast consciousness of the C'tan. The C'tan then played somewhat of a trick on the Necrontyr, consuming their entire race and investing the left-over shreds into living metal bodies. It's worth mentioning that the C'tan feed on life force itself, the movement of every particle in a living creature gives it a flavour and this is what the C'tan consume and not the soul of their victims.

Gogsnik wrote:Actually, the Necrontyr spread far and wide throughout the galaxy long before their transformation into the Necrons. Their ships were made of living metal and they travelled via stasis to other worlds. During this time they encountered the Old Ones and waged a war against them, the War in Heaven, but the Old Ones easily defeated the Necrontyr who were banished to the Halo stars for millennia.

It was then at this point they discovered the C'tan (Necrontyr for Star-Gods) and, using the living metal of their ships formed bodies to draw in some of the vast consciousness of the C'tan. The C'tan then played somewhat of a trick on the Necrontyr, consuming their entire race and investing the left-over shreds into living metal bodies. It's worth mentioning that the C'tan feed on life force itself, the movement of every particle in a living creature gives it a flavour and this is what the C'tan consume and not the soul of their victims.

Are you sure of this? im pretty sure in the necron codex is says that the necrontyr died young due to the star and thats why they went to war with the old ones, not that the old ones banished them.

You haven't read what I posted correctly. I said that the Necrontyr spread outward from their homeworld and encountered the Old Ones, waged a war against them and were driven into the Halo Stars by the Old Ones.

It would seem that the Necrontyr's home star gifted them with a quick evolution but also a short life span (well it might have been shorter or longer, by the tone of the background they could never really be sure) so plenty of mutations presumably and seeking a cure they left their home world.

The Necrontyr

...born under a fearsome, scourging star, which uncaringly/ drove their evolution forth with atomic winds and plasma/ storms... ...their lives were short and uncertain, their bodies blighted/ and consumed... ...The Necrontyr sought control of their destiny through science... ...Unable to find peace on their own world, the Necrontyr blindly/ groped outward to other stars... ...Sometime in their slow expansion, the Necrontyr/ encountered the Old Ones... ...and the Necrontyr turned their entire/ civilisation towards destroying the Old Ones...

Pg 24, Codex: Necrons

War in Heaven

Their superior/ technology was consistently outmanoeuvred by the Old Ones... ...The Necrontyr/ were pushed back... ...to the outer/ dark among the halo stars, exiled and forgotten...

Pg 24, Codex: Necrons

So as I said, the Necrontyr race spread throughout the galaxy, or rather was spreading throughout the galaxy, when they encountered the Old Ones (makes sense really, how else would they have encountered them?) were so jealous of their longevity that they went to war with them but were roundly trounced. They spent millennia exiled and imprisoned in the far reaches of the galaxy until they discovered the C'tan and then came back for round two.

Ah i understand now

thanks for clearing that up