I've read the Mechanicus novel, and I gathered that there is a sleeping c'tan on Mars, diverting the worship of the tech-priests towards itself.

But I know nothing about these c'tan except that they have something to do with the Necrons, and that they're very powerful somehow.

But I'd like to know more. What does this mean for the priests of Mars? What will it mean for the Imperium? What kind of RPG-plothooks will this allow for? What secrets could a preiest learn of this matter, and what difficult choices would it force him to make?

Just what does this Dragon want anyway? And why does he need cog-boys to do it?

The C'Tan were portrayed in the original Necron Codex as a Xenos race that evolved very early on in the history of the galaxy. They are solar vampires, sun baskers, themselves consisting of continent sized streams of matter that float within suns, feeding on their energies.They were intelligent, but their minds worked in ways totally different to most other races.

Their existence was discovered by the Necrontyr, a more traditional race, who evolved on a planet orbited by a star occupied by a particularly powerful C'Tan, later known as the Deathbringer. The Necrontyr (a highly advanced race) developed means of communication with the C'Tan, and eventually found ways to transfer their gaseous forms to a "necrodermis," a liquid metal shell that contained their energies.

The Necrontyr came to worship the C'Tan as Gods, and with their assistance managed to acheive a number of stunning victories in the "war in heaven" a vast battle with the "Old Ones" an ancient, mysterious and relatively benign race who created the webway.

The C'Tan eventually came to dominate much of the Necrontyr civilisation, and used their obsession with death and immortality to trick them into a kind of species-wide ascension/sublimation into metallic bodies, thus creating the Necrons. To the horror of the more senior members of the Necron civilisation, this process was not all it was cracked up to be. The most senior members of the Necrons found a way to shatter the C'Tan into "shards," in revenge for the effective destruction of their race. The C'Tan are now effectively semi-sentient doomsday weapons used on the battlefield by the Necrons.

This is a pretty much potted history of the C'Tan, but there's a lot we don't know about them. The "shard" concept is a new invention, a product of the latest Necron Codex, which has its supporters and detractors among people who loved the old codex.

As for the Dragon, he was one of 4 C'Tan identified in the original Codex (the others being the Outsider, the Deceiver and the Nightbringer). The second codex identifies many more C'Tan, but the latest Codex suggests (with deliberate ambiguity) that some C'Tan may not have been shattered into shards, and may be out there in the galaxy, plottign away.

For more, I'd recommend reading the Necron codices (they'reboth good, in different ways) and Lexicanum for a summry of the race.

Hope that helps!

Aside from the broader elements of the C'Tan background (which Lightbringer has summarised well in his post), there are some specifics regarding the Void Dragon.

As with all things regarding the C'Tan, it is to be regarded as equal parts myth, legend, supposition and conjecture.

Of the species in the galaxy, the Eldar have the greatest amount of information regarding the C'Tan, and even they can discern little of the truth from their own ancient history and mythology. What legend suggests is that the Void Dragon was once one of the mightiest of C'Tan, its legions unstoppable. It is believed that the ancient war-engines known as the Blackstone Fortresses (referred to in Eldar parlance as the Talismen of Vaul) were originally wrought as weapons to destroy the C'Tan - particularly the Void Dragon - though whether they were ever successfully deployed is uncertain. Vaul is also credited as having created soul-fuelled war-constructs that are regarded as analogous to contemporary Direswords (the "Swords of Vaul" of myth), Wraithguard and Wraithlords to aid the Eldar in battle against the legions of the C'Tan.

Millions of years later, a being believed to be an earlier incarnation/guise of the Emperor is said to have defeated a "Dragon" upon ancient Terra, within the distant (pre-spaceflight) past. The "Saint George and the Dragon" myth is believed to stem from this conflict. The novel "Mechanicum" strongly suggests that this "dragon" is the Void Dragon, and it was imprisoned beneath the surface of Mars by the Emperor himself - the imprisoned and dormant star-god used to secretly spark the technological development of the Mechanicum (later the Adeptus Mechanicus). This is not information that any in the Imperium actually knows - the secret is heavily guarded, and known only by its keeper, within the hidden vaults of Mars itself.

A bit

I did read the blurb on the 40k wiki, and knew about the star-eating god(ish) thing.

I was wondering more specifically about what the Ad Mech boys are doing worshiping one, and as to the rumors about it actually being the Omnissiah. How can I use this … heresy? to mess with my Tech-Priest player

The Emperor defeated the Void Dragon, and "made it" into the Omnissiah? The Omnissiah is actually the Emperor using a C'tan for his own purposes?

In the Imperium, there is only the Emperor, all other religions are heretical, including the Machine cult, so if you really want to screw with your tech-priest player using the void-dragon you could combine it with the fact that he, or she, is technically already a heretic.

Well Darth,

there's no point in me trying to tell you the little I know from Wargaming, becuase others have MOST CERTAINLY got their type on. (most impressive.)

how can you use it…? Same way as Lovecraft. Insane ramblings from a Captured Heretek or Rogue tech priest scrawling, in his Auto-sanguinuary fluid, "the Dragon is coming" is an amazing plot seed. Who's to say that much more than that could be found out? A tomb-world, a C'Tan Necrodermis Shard, a Sleeping John Doe is a Shard Vessel… It's got 'At the mountains of Madness' written all over it.

The Dragon's C'Tan shard could talk to the Tech-Priest, try to get into his mind as he examines it.

Your players could be dealing with Errant mining collapses and glowing green eyes in the dark, only to come across on of the Dragon C'Tan's factions (the Monolythic, Cyclopean insanity-inducingly-big tomb architecture should be enough to make a Tech priest cringe and squirm at the 'miscalculation/recalculation of the angles and placements does not confer upon a 3-dimentional universe…')

What about the SDC's?

The Standard Design Constructs that were created Pre-Heresy and Post-Heresy are regarded as some of the most valuable technological artifacts amidst the Adeptus Mechanicus. The fact that any one of them could have been derived from Tech-Priests of that time who were unknowingly contributing to the cause of the Void Dragon is disturbing.

The uncovering of one of these SDC's on an Imperial World would be a monumental achievement for the Adeptus Mechanicus. Even if it doesn't create something phenomenal like the Plasma Cannon it would be a boon to the whole of mankind. In one particular BL novel they mention one that created a superior blade material for knives that became the cause of celebration amidst the entire Sector. If such an SDC, perhaps one that improves the functionality of Servitor's, turned out to be a devious implement of the Void Dragon…well imagine what it would do to the Tech Priest. Perhaps it begins affecting the actions of Servitors through the whole of the sub-sector? Could a kernel of the Void Dragon be afflicting the Machine Spirit of the Servitor's assigned to cataloguing the most guarded of the Adeptus Mechanicus secrets?

From what I recall the Void Dragon was able to assume control of complex mechanical devices foreign and friendly. Most of the time people think about it taking over something like a Baneblade, Warship, etc. But what if it's more subtle? Maybe you could draw on some Neuromancer or Ghost in the Shell?

EDIT: And need I mention that with this concept you could implement one of my favorite Sci-Fi scenes? Think of the movie Alien, with Ash and Ripley.

Another option, based on the newer Necron codex, is that the Necrons hear about this hidden C'Tan. From my understanding the new Necron mindset is to re-conquer the galaxy because they had it once and now they want it again. They would however realise that: 1. directly attacking the Sol system is the quickest way to all the Astartes all the time all up in your grill. 2. That any non shattered C'Tan is really bad for them and they want their revenge for the whole metal bodies thing to be complete.

So they might consider contacting members of the human race that might consider doing something about…enter you tech priest. Can they convince him of the truth? Does he want to consider it? Even if he questions his faith for one second it has been worth it from a game point of view (IMO).

Ahhh, now THAT is an idea that might work very well for my campaign.

I believe the whole Margin Crusade is about a Warp-gate to the Jericho Reach where the Necrons are just waking up, no? Hmmm

I just wanted to say that I love the title of this thread. Every time I check the threads and see the title I get a picture of a little kid saying to their father "Tell me about The Dragon of Mars" like it is a bed time story or something.

Zenoth16 said:

"Once upon a time, there was an eldritch nightmare super being, a quiescent peril beyond the comprehension of all but the insane, that slumbered beneath the red sands of Mars…"

Lightbringer said:

And now the image is complete with John Hurt as Professor Broom telling a story to a younger Hellboy.

Darth Smeg said:

Go ahead, would love to hear how it goes!