Night Bringer
From Lexicanum
| This article is about the the C'tan God, for the Graham McNeill novel see Nightbringer (Novel) |
The Nightbringer is a C'tan, a living god of the Necrons. Games Workshop has released rules and a model, allowing it to be used as a devastating force on the tabletop.
Before the Enslavers
The Nightbringer's earliest history is that of a pioneer and death bringer. It's love of pain and death surpassed even the excesses of the sadistic Dark Eldar, and the Haemonculi could only dream of inflicting the kind of suffering that this twisted God has. When the Necrontyr first encouraged the C'tan to cross the 'incorporeal Starlight bridge' into the material realm, the Nightbringer was the first to come (1) and the first to enter a living metal body. It was found feeding on the very star that blasted the Necrontyr (2). Once it had become manifest, it soon learnt of the delights of mortal lives and consumed those who had brought it into the material universe. Only through pledges of loyalty could the Necrontyr convince it to stop destroying their race and concentrate in the vast expanses of the galaxy (3).
This primary episode of mortal consumption led to more destruction on the behalf of the Nightbringer. Nothing else could satisfy its hunger having fed on mortal life, and it threw itself into the battle against the Old Ones. It would lay waste to entire regions of space just to feed (4). It is said that gradually, the Nightbringer fell further and further from the original design the Necrontyr had brought it into the material world for, namely the destruction of the Old Ones. It began to destroy and feed at will, and it reached into the minds of almost every race and planted its image into their deepest fears (5). It is said that it nurtured entire races to fear it and it fed on that fear (6).
Eventually, the Nightbringer began to feed on the other C'tan. How it was persuaded to consume other C'tan is provided in several different ways. Codex: Necrons states that it was the Deceiver that convinced it to consume the other C'tan, but another document says that it was the Laughing God of the Harlequins (7). The Laughing God version is explained in The Death of Light (Harlequin Dance) while Codex: Necrons version simply states that the Nightbringer was 'convinced' somehow (8). Evidently none could match the slaughter of the Nightbringer, but some tried. Soon after that the Old Ones counter-attacked and by then only four C'tan remained. Then the Enslaver plague forced the C'tan into their stasis tombs to await the regeneration of the galaxy. The final great plan of the C'tan was prevented and the Nightbringer's most potent weapon was banished to the Immaterium where it could not reach it, preventing it from gathering the necessary energy to survive its long entombment (9).
The Nightbringer had planted its name as death in the minds of many races, and is known to the Eldar as Kaelis Ra, the Destroyer of Light (10), while humanity simply called it the Reaper. Only the Krork escaped the fear of death.
The Birth of Fear
The Birth of Fear is an article produced by Games Workshop and on their website recounting a tale of a battle between the Eldar war god Khaine and the Nightbringer. It is analysed in The Birth of Fear (Eldar Myth).
Recent History
The Nightbringer is mentioned in Codex: Necrons many times, on pages 5, indirectly on page 11, page 23, 27, 28/29, 63 and indirectly on page 65. Also the story of his awakening is found in "Nightbringer" an Ultramarines novel by Grahmn McNeill.
Page 5 - Translation of an Eldar Artifact
This artifact gives one line of analysis of the Nightbringer, "The Master of Death will drink deep from Isha's Eye" (11). It is stated further down the page that Isha's Eye is referred to as the star Cyclo, but this has since become a dead star, possibly indicated that the Nightbringer has fed on the star, ending its life.
Page 11 - Report by Uriel Ventris
This article briefly reports on the actions of Captain Uriel Ventris of the Ultramarines on actions on the world Pavonis. It says they were attacked by a "deathly spectre" (12) which sounds a lot like the Nightbringer, and relating to other sources confirms this as the world on which the Nightbringer slept.
Page 23 - The C'tan Unleashed, by Paul Dainton
This is an image of a powerful being wrapped in rags and wielding a scythe. This is obviously the Nightbringer as no other being has the same presence or image.
Page 27 - Special Characters
This article gives a brief account of the Nightbringer's image, carrying a scythe and using its necrodermis to channel its baleful gaze.
Pages 28/29 - The Nightbringer
This gives information on the life of the Nightbringer up until it fled into its tomb. This is mostly covered above. It specifically mentions that the Nightbringer was based on Pavonis until it was set free (13).
Page 63 - An article by Farseer Maechu of Ulthwe
This article briefly gives further information on the hunger of the Nightbringer, or the "Master of Death" (14). It also gives a brief account of how he cultivates herds of the living until they reach the peak of their horrors and then feeds on them.
Page 65 - Xenos Imagnifier
This gives information on the world of Pavonis, and states that an "Unidentified xeno creature escaped from underground complex" (15). This ties with other records to say that the Nightbringer was the unidentified xeno creature and it was asleep on Pavonis.
The Awakening of the Nightbringer
The 4th Company of the Ultramarines, led by Uriel Ventris, was sent to Pavonis to guard an adept, who was later revealed to be an inquisitor, that was going to dethrone the governor of Pavonis for failure to pay the tithes. Tensions on Pavonis were running high and eventually a civil war broke out. The cartel causing this war was also digging to the tomb of the Nightbringer while the Dark Eldar collected the keys that would unlock the Nightbringer's sarcophagus. When the Ultramarines and the Inquisitor heard of the civil war they made best speed for Pavonis (they were investigating an Eldar raid on another planet in the system) and they rescued the Governor and investigated the cause, discovering the cartel's real plan. The inquisitor was going to initiate an Exterminatus, but Uriel changed his mind and launched an attack on the mine in which the digging took place. Unfortunately the Nightbringer was awoken as they entered the tomb and they tried fighting it. During the battle Uriel's right hand man, Sergeant Pasanius, had his right arm lopped off by the Nightbringer which infected him. Uriel soon realized that they couldn't defeat the Nightbringer even in its weakened condition, but he remembered that the tomb was filled with explosive fumes. Uriel whipped out a Melta Bomb and informed the Nightbringer of his plight saying "I don't think even you could survive" being trapped for another couple million years, which, apparently, was right judging by the Nightbringer's reaction because he stood down. Uriel retreated and they eventually launched an orbital strike on the mine, but, unfortunately, the Nightbringer had already escaped.
Key features of the Nightbringer
- Scythe and baleful gaze (does not affect his combat skills)
- Insatiable need to feed
- Now released from Pavonis
- Can use an etheric tempest to blow enemies away from it
- Can drain the life of enemies
Sources
- (1) - "The first of the C'tan to manifest across the incorporeal starlight bridge, the Nightbringer..." - Codex: Necrons P28
- (2) - "The very star under which the Necrontyr race lived their brief, morbid lives gave birth to the vast sun-spanning energy that was the Nightbringer." - Codex: Necrons P28
- (3) - "...and slaughtered those who had brought it into being, feeding on the essence of their terror and suffering. Its appetite knew no bounds and only with desperate pledges of servitude were the Necrontyr able to convince the creature they had summoned forth that there were yet more races beyond their world..." - Codex: Necrons P28
- (4) - "...laying waste to entire regions of space in the name of its monstrous appetite." - Codex: Necrons P28
- (5) - "The Nightbringer used its powers to reach into the minds of the young races and plant the seeds of their darkest fears," - Codex: Necrons P28
- (6) - "...nurturing whole species whose entire existence was suffused with the horror of death and mortality." Codex: Necrons P28
- (7) - External Link A
- (8) - "...the Deceiver convinced it that the most succulent feasts were to be had in the living energies of its fellow C'tan." - Codex: Necrons P28
- (9) - "...thus preventing it from accumulating the vast amounts of the energy it required to survive the entombment." - Codex: Necrons P28
- (10) - "To the Eldar is was known as Kaelis Ra, the Destroyer of Light..." - Codex: Necrons P28
- (11) - "The Master of Death will drink deep from Isha's Eye" - Codex: Necrons P5
- (12) - "deathly spectre" - Codex: Necrons P11
- (13) - "Though weak from its long dormancy, the Nightbringer escaped its tomb on the world of Pavonis..." - Codex: Necrons P28
- (14) - "Master of Death" - Codex: Necrons P63
- (15) - "Unidentified xeno creature escaped from underground complex" - Codex: Necrons P65
