Obyron

"Only the deathless can truly comprehend the burden of unfailing loyalty."

- Vargard Obyron

Obyron is a Necron who serves as the Vargard, or primary protector and bodyguard, of Nemesor Zahndrekh, the Necron Overlord of the crownworld of Gidrim that now belongs to the Sautekh Dynasty. Having served with him since his first campaigns when they were still Necrontyr, he is intensely loyal in the execution of his duties, and is the primary reason why Zahndrekh is still alive to this day. Indeed, there are many Necron Lords in Zahndrekh’s Royal Court who would dearly love to see the old general removed from power, for they judge his adrift perceptions greatly outweighs his feats of battle. However, as befits his station, Zahndrekh has formidable defences against regicide. His personal sepulchre is heavily woven with traps, his personal household retinue boasts three entire legions of Lychguard, and he even employs four score food tasters – even though it has been countless millennia since any morsel passed his lips. Yet Zahndrekh has one defence greater than all others –Vargard Obyron himself.

Obyron served as Zahndrekh’s Vargard in their very first campaign – an undignified by hugely successful series of skirmished in the swamps of Yama – and has stood steadfast at his side ever since; both on the field of battle and off it. Unlike his master, Obyron is very much away of the changes wrought upon their existence by the Great Sleep, but has long since abandoned any attempt to awaken Zahndrekh to reality – whatever the fault in his master’s mind, the damage lies too deep. So, like any dedicated servant, Obyron attends to all the loose ends created by Zahndrekh’s eccentricities, chief of which are seeing to it that ‘honoured’ prisoners of war are ‘killed whilst trying to escape’, and that upstart Necron Lords of Zahndrekh’s Royal Court are either silenced or disposed of.

Obyron’s instincts for Gidrim’s politics are every bit as finely tuned as Zahndrekh’s are for battle. It is quite impossible for any plot to mature without word of it reaching Obyron, at which point he takes action to ensure it dies. The exact method depends greatly on what Obyron considers to have the greatest impact. A public trial by combat for the chief plotter is invariably Obyron’s favoured method – is skill with a blade, legendary before biotransference, has decayed little with the passing millennia. Sometimes however, Obyron deems the quiet terror of a conspirator’s disappearance to have a more enduring effect. Regardless of the method, Obyron has proven his supremacy hundreds of times over, yet every few decades, another upstart noble foolishly chances his arm against the Overlord of Gidrim, who, for his part, is content to leave the Vargard to his work. On many other worlds, Necron or otherwise, Obyron would be considered the true power behind the throne, yet his loyalty is total and completely without guile. He seeks no reward beyond continued service, and has never displayed an iota of desire to rule through his master.

During their campaigns, Zahndrekh and Obyron have proven to be an almost unbeatable combination. Zahndrekh seldom lowers himself to personal combat, but instead wields as a weapon his grand battlefield acumen that somehow remains undimmed by his faltering memory. Under his gaze, the Necron armies of Gidrim react almost instantaneously to counter enemy strategies, shifting between aggressive and defensive postures at a moment’s notice. With a few carefully chosen words of command, outflanking foes are isolated and crushed, enemy assault waves dispersed, and fire support positions obliterated. Such is Zahndrekh’s crystal-perfect reading of the flow of battle that even the enemy’s experienced veterans often seem like raw and fumbling recruits as their every tactic is anticipated and their every skill countered. For his part, Obyron fights in the front lines, wielding his Warscythe with a precision to be expected of a warrior who counts his campaigns by the thousand. Yet no matter how distant he is, Obyron always keeps close watch on Zahndrekh – his responsibilities as a bodyguard outweighs any other considerations. Should Zahndrekh be threatened, Obyron always returns to his master’s side.

Notable Campaigns

 * 813.M41 Escape from Cano'var - At Nemesor Zahndrekh's instruction, the Necron armies of the Tomb World of Gidrim invade the Tau world of Cano'var, routing the planetary defenders after two standard weeks of campaigning. The Necron victory is short-lived however. A demi-company of the White Scars Space Marine Chapter, led by Kor'sarro Khan, arrive on Cano'var, pursuing a now-obsolete punitive mission against the previous Tau inhabitants. As overwhelming volley of Gauss Weapon fire destroys the White Scars' Thunderhawks moments after they land, leaving Khan and his Battle-Brothers to fight a bold, but doomed, series of hit-and-run battles. Almost all of the White Scars are slain on Uzme Plateau, but Zahndrekh commands that Kor'sarro Khan be spared and imprisoned. So does Khan begin a peculiar period of captivity beneath the surface of Cano'var. Zahndrekh treats him with honour, through few of the other Necron Lords even acknowledge his presence. At a bizarre feast, where food is placed before Zahndrekh and his court but goes uneaten, Khan learns he us but one of a dozen prisoners. With the desire for freedom outweighing any ranklement or rivalry, Khan and the other captives conspire to escape. The Necrons are slow to react and so the breakout goes well at first. Only when Vargard Obyron takes command do things go badly for the escapees. Several of the fugitives are slain by Obyron's Warscythe, leaving only Kor'sarro and an Eldar Ranger by the name of Illic Nightspear to fight on, and the latter swiftly receives a blow that sends him sprawling from the fight. Thus does the battle devolve into a duel atop bleeding bodies and broken machines. Khan's sword is quicker and guided by a desperate fury, but Obyron's undying machine body repairs any damage within only moments. Little by little, Khan tires, and the sweeping Warscythe comes closer to connecting with each swing. Finally, one of the Vargard's blows is too swift for Khan to evade -- the Warscythe slices through his armour and deep into his flesh. Before Obyron can finish his foe, there is an intervention from an unexpected source. Unknown to either combatants, Zahndrekh has been watching the fight from afar and, impressed by Khan's skill and bravery, orders Obyron to stand aside and let him leave. Dragging the crippled Nightspear behind, Khan finally escapes to surface, finds a still-functioning Tau spacecraft and leaves Cano'var far behind. Khan and Nightspear part ways shortly after, the Eldar t/o his Craftworld and the White Scar to Chogoris. Shortly after Khan's return to his Chapter planet, Nemesor Zahndrekh and Vargard Obyron are added to the Scrolls of Venegance, their names to be put forward as possible quarry for the next Great Hunt of the White Scars Chapter.
 * Unknown Date; Conquest of Uttu Prime - The Conquest of Uttu Prime was a military campaign led by the Nemesor Zahndrekh against the Imperial world of Uttu Prime in the Vidar Sector in the late 41st Millennium. Despite the intervention of a force of Space Marines drawn from the Imperial Fists Chapter, the world was lost to the Necrons and was integrated into the personal domain of Zahndrekh within the larger Sautekh Dynasty.

Wargear

 * '''Warscythe – The traditional weapon of Necrontyr nobility and their bodyguards for eons, a Warscythe is an energy-bladed battle-staff. The energy field that encompasses the Warscythe allows it to cleave through almost anything with ease. Heavy and ungainly, these weapons are only effective in the hands of an untiring Necron combatant.
 * Sempiternal Weave – A Sempiternal Weave is an enhancement of a Necron's exoskeleton in which filaments of phase-hardened Amaranthine and Adamantium are threaded throughout the Necrodermis, strengthening it to the point where the protection offered by it is akin to that of Terminator Armour.
 * Ghostwalk Mantle– The Ghostwalk Mantle is a unique and specialised Veil of Darkness used only by Vargard Obryon. Originally commissioned to aid him in his role as the bodyguard of Nemesor Zahndrekh, it was designed by the foremost Cryptek Psychomancer of the Tomb World of Gidrim, the Dagon of the Shadowed Matrix. The Ghostwalk Mantle differs from a standard Veil of Darkness in that it allows Obyron to spirit himself away from the grasps of the enemy even when in combat, thus giving him the ability to redeploy himself and his unit with unparalleled ease, and stand at Zahndrekh's side immediately whenever he is needed to protect his charge.