40K Loremasters: Szarekh, The Silent King
Today Loremasters we talk about the last Necron King, who exiled himself to the void and has now returned to the galaxy.
Szarekh, also known as the Silent King, was the last ruler of the Triarch of the Necrontyr and later Necron race.
The Silent King
The office of The Silent King was the historic ruler of the Necrontyr.
The Silent King was the most preeminent Triarch and by tradition never spoke, instead issuing edicts to the two other Phaerons on the council. The King and his two other Triarch’s issued edicts which bounded the various Dynasties of the Necrontyr race. The ruler’s command was law, against which disobedience meant death. Meanwhile, a Royal Court of lesser nobles and advisors, astrologers and physicians surrounded the Triarch. All three ruling positions were nominally hereditary – though the uncertain life spans of the Necrontyr ensured that the title of Silent King had passed from one dynasty to another many times.
The War in Heaven
Szarekh was born into the Szarekhan Dynasty, which at the time tended to have its members appointed as the Silent King. At the time of his rule, the Necrontyr empire was already engaged in a vicious struggle against the Old Ones. In desperation, Szarekh agreed to form an alliance with the C’tan and transfer the Necrontyr into new bodies of living metal, becoming the Necrons. He was convinced into the agreement by The Deceiver and ignored the advice of his court adviser, Orikan. However while they now lived immortal lives and were finally able to emerge victorious in the War in Heaven, Szarekh realised that his people had become soulless pawns of the C’tan and before the war even ended was determined to exact vengeance against the star gods. During biostransference Szarekh was imbued with the command matrices able to control the entire Necron race.
Biding his time, Szarekh waited until the Old Ones were defeated before finally leading a Necron revolt against the C’tan, eventually defeating their former masters and shattering them into shards. However Szarekh saw that the new races created by the Old Ones such as the Eldar were now becoming dominant, and the Necrons, exhausted by aeons of war, could not stand against them. He ordered that the Necrons withdraw into their Tomb Worlds and slumber in the Great Sleep, to reawaken sixty million years in the future and assert their dominance over the galaxy once more. The Silent King, however, did not join his people in slumber. He destroyed the command protocol that allowed him control over the Necron race and journeyed into the void of intergalactic space, where he may find not only solace but also penance for dooming the Necrontyr race.
Exile Into the Void
The Silent King took to the stars in a massive planet-sized sepulchral engine and set out for the void. With him went legions of his own Szarekhan Dynasty in stasis-crypts for despite his shame it was not befitting for the Silent King to travel without an entourage.
For millions of years, the Silent King traveled in the void between galaxies. However he eventually encountered the Tyranids and saw the threat they posed to the Necron race. If the Tyranids consumed the biomass of the galaxy, the Necrons may never be able to reverse their transformation. While his duty to defeat the Tyranids was clear, he had no desire to preserve other civilizations.
Return of the Silent King
In 744.M41, the Silent King ended his self-imposed exile and returned to the galaxy after encounter with the Tyranids within the intergalactic void. He discovered the Tyranids were just one of many threats facing the Necrons. Other alien races had swarmed over their Tomb Worlds and the Warp now seeped across the Galaxy. He has begun a journey across the galaxy with a band of his loyal Triarch Praetorians to reawaken Tomb Worlds that still slumber so they may unite against the Tyranids. The returned Silent King is careful to not reveal his true identity, even to fellow Necrons. He works primarily through Triarch Praetorians or unwitting Crypteks and Necron Overlords to achieve his goal, and has steadily influenced the galaxy from one side to the other. Slowly, he has pursued his his great work from the shadows. He intends to unite the Necrons against the Tyranids while also manipulating the younger races to his own schemes.
In 995.M41, the Blood Angels Space Marine Chapter engaged a Necron army under the Silent King. In what became known as the Gehenna Campaign, when Tyranids appeared over Gehenna the Blood Angels and Necrons of the Silent King were forced to join forces to defeat their common foe.
~ Whatever his plans, the Silent King is no friend of mankind.
