Dragon of Mars
The Dragon of Mars is an ancient, exceedingly powerful entity that is currently imprisoned in a cavern beneath the Noctis Labyrinth on Mars. There is a great deal of evidence that points to it being one of the C'tan, probably the Void Dragon, but it has not been explicitly stated that this is the case.
Contents
Overview
The Dragon of Mars was defeated in combat by the Emperor on ancient Terra and later imprisoned under the surface of Mars. It has remained there for millenia, its influence affecting the inhabitants of that planet and leading to the creation of the Adeptus Mechanicus. 1pg363 It is watched over by a series of individuals known as the Guardians of the Dragon - much of the information known about the Dragon comes from these Guardians due to their ability to share the creature's memories, the veracity of these memories is debatable however -
| "It's all the Dragon remembers...Or at least a version of its memories. It's hard to tell what's real and what's not sometimes. I listen to its impotent roars of hatred as it watches from its gaolon Mars and write what comes out...But truth, as of all things, is a moving target. Whatof this is real and what is fantasy...well, who can tell." +++ Adept Symon, Guardian of the Dragon 1pg362+++ |
History
According to Adept Semyon, one of the versions of the Dragon's memories shows him fighting the Emperor near the city of Cyrene in Libya around the 11th or 12th century.1pg358
The Emperor, a lone warrior knight in golden armour and a scarlet-plumed helmet riding on a mighty charger of midnight black, wielding a tall lance of purest silver, from which flew a long red and white banner depicting a soaring eagle grasping a bolt of lightning, fought the Dragon, with the shape of a half crawling beast with talons like scythe blades, half loathsome bird, an immense scaled head and a tail twenty metres long, with a terrible winged body was covered with scales that were steel plates, rippling like liquid mercury, strong, bright and smooth like the emperor's armour and the light of devoured stars shone in its breast and malignant fire burned in its eyes.
After the Emperor defeated the dragon by thrusting the sword at it's weak spot, beneath his left wing, he tied the banner around the helpless Dragon, although he stated that he could not destroy it completely.1pg362
At some point between then and the Age of Strife the Emperor brought the Dragon to Mars and bound it beneath the Noctis Labyrinth. 1pg362
Relationship with the Adeptus Mechanicus
Adept Semyon the Guardian of the Dragon, claims that with the Dragon sealed in Mars, the Emperor orchestrated the rise of the Mechanicus, using the Dragon's dream that would trigger the creation of the first machines of the priests of Mars.1pg363
Guardians of The Dragon
The role of Guardians of the Dragon is to keep the bounds of the Dragon maintained, they are souls chosen by the Emperor for this task and their lifespans are vastly extended.
Up to the time of the Horus Heresy Adept Semyon was the Guardian, around this time he passed the knowledge of all his antecedents and the Emperor's will onto Adept Dalia making her the new Guardian of the Dragon. 1pg365 She is known to have held this position for around ten thousand years.1pg415
Around the time of Dalia's elevation to Guardian, the book which contained the secrets of the Guardians of the Dragon vanished from its place in the Noctis Labyrinth, an event said to have dire consequences in the future -
| "Only much later, when Dalia dared return to the silver cavern, did she see that the book containing the grand lie of Mars had been taken. Ten thousand years would pass before the next Guardian was drawn to the Noctis Labyrinth, but by then the damge had been done."1pg415 |
Similarities with the C'tan
The Dragon of Mars is described as having many qualities which seem to indicate that it is one of the C'tan, these include -
- The Dragon of Mars once lived in space, between the stars. (Unclear whether this info comes from the Akasha, the Warp, the Dragon's memories or Semyon.)
- The Guardian Semyon asks Dalia whether "the others" have already devoured all the stars - likely a reference to the C'tan and their star-eating tendencies.1pg346
- Dalia recognizes the Dragon of Mars as an incredibly old, powerful and exotic life-form which "had brought entire civilisations into existenceand then snuffed them out on a whim" - this could be interpreted as a reference to the C'tans' relationship with the Necron/Necrontyr race. 1pg352
- In the memories of the Dragon of Mars it is said that he waged war against his own kind, which left him in a weakened state, so he hid on Terra. - this could likely refer to the older canon materials which state that the C'tan warred amongst themselves (or post ret-con the Necron uprising against the C'tan). 1pg359
- In the description of the Dragon it is stated that his breast shone with the light of the stars he had devoured - presumably a reference to the C'tans' role as star devouring entities. 1pg360
- During his fight with the Emperor, the Dragon's scales are described as being silver in colour, harder than steel and yet rippling like liquid mercury when struck hard enough - this is very similar to the Necrodermis which the C'tan's bodies were made from. 1pg361
