WARSCYTHES

Examination of the artefact designated ‘warscythe’ is once again proving fruitless. The power field generated by the blade impedes all our efforts to conduct a meaningful catalogue of the weapon’s inner components. It somehow grows in magnitude to match whatever force we bring to bear – the weapon is, to all intents and purposes, indestructible.

What is more worrying is that the power field pulses with each attempt I make to breach it. At first, I believed this to simply be the field’s energies sliding into new configurations in response to my probes. However, I now theorise that each of these pulses is actually an encoded message, a distress signal, of sorts. I respectfully suggest that this outpost’s defences are not sufficient to repel a Necron attack, and that the artefact be removed elsewhere. It is possible that forge world Pentos might have the resources both to conduct a more useful investigation, and prevent the warscythe’s forcible reclamation. Failing that, can I suggest that we arrange for the artefact to fall into the hands of the greenskin warlords of Okaral? They are no more likely to uncover the warscythe’s secrets than we, and if the Necrons attempt reclamation, they may well neutralise the Ork threat for us.

+++ File ref: Xenos/95z/0051g +++

+++ Subject: Xenos Weaponry/Warscythe +++

+++ Archivist: Magos Trantor +++

+++ Collated: 873941.M41 +++

Warscythes are bladed battle-staves – the favoured weapons of Necron nobles and their bodyguards for many thousands of years. They are incredibly cumbersome, and in the hands of a lesser creature would be of little threat. However, when wielded by a Necron’s mighty mechanical frame, a warscythe is a most formidable weapon. The entropic power field that flickers about the warscythe can disrupt almost any material known to man, leaving the victim’s underlying structure – be it organic or inorganic – vulnerable to the weapon’s cleaving impact.

Like all Necron weaponry, the warscythe is an expression of a science far beyond Mankind’s grasp. Nevertheless, there is nothing mystical about its function, as there is with some Eldar technology. Indeed, if anything, a warscythe is crudely functional and composed of similar, though far more advanced and reliable, elements as the more ubiquitous power weapons. It has a blade, several energy field generators and an insulated grip, but while the function of the warscythe’s elements are broadly understood, comprehension of how they function is beyond non-Necron life. There is no shortage of captured Necron weaponry within the Adeptus Mechanicus’ stasis vaults – indeed, there is some suggestion that some such prizes have lain there for many thousands of years – but almost every attempt the Tech Priests have made to reverse-engineer the technology has ended in abject failure.

A curious side effect of the warscythe’s power field is to render the weapon almost impossible to destroy. There are several well-documented instances of warscythes surviving direct hits from lascannons, and even from turbo-lasers, with little harm to show for it. Unfortunately, this protection does not extend to the wielder, and it is quite common for a warscythe to survive a battle where its master does not.

There are two distinct classes of warscythe. The first and most common of these types is wielded exclusively by the Lychguard – the incorruptible protectors of the Necron nobility. Their warscythes are the most basic expressions of the artisan’s craft, with little effort given to aesthetic refinement or customisation. In a Lychguard’s hands, the warscythe is nothing more or less than brutal instrument of battle – its power stems only from its potential for slaughter.

By contrast, the regal warscythes wielded by the nobility – the lords, nemesors, thantars and phaerons – are as much sceptres of rule as they are implements of battle. Seldom are any two warscythes from this second category exactly alike. Pride is a powerful emotion in those Necrons still capable of feeling it, and to possess weaponry identical to that of a rival would be interpreted as weakness, or possibly as an insult. If two regal warscythes are identical, it is always through deliberate choice. It might mark an alliance of brothers, or of dynastic houses, declaring plainly the common cause between the wielders.

Regal warscythes are masterpieces of workmanship, loving recreations of weapons long-lost to the entropic forces of the universe. Should such a weapon be forsaken upon the field of battle – or worse, stolen – then its owner will often go to great and violent lengths to recover it. Worlds have been laid waste and planetary systems brought under siege in this cause. Some Ordo Xenos Inquisitors point to this behaviour as an element of commonality between Mankind and Necron, for the Imperium’s forces often enter battle in order to recover an important relic. Alas, they misunderstand, as they so often do when it comes to the workings of the Necron mind. A Necron Lord’s warscythe is a tangible connection to the life he once knew; for those who desire to some day return to the flesh, it is a symbol of hope that such can be achieved. It is not a relic whose theft provokes cultural outrage, but a personal possession whose thievery provokes a very personal ire.

Regardless of the wielder’s rank, a warscythe’s blade and power core always blazes with the heraldic colour of his dynasty. Power signature colours are often shared by different dynasties. This is a throwback to the days before biotransference, and shows the state of alliance between the various dynasties of that time. Inevitably, the War in Heaven and the tumultuous aeons that followed have done much to shatter the alliances of old. The power signatures are now, therefore, more misleading than useful. A phaeron could, of course, order the power signature of his forces changed at any time. However, the present configurations have been established for so long that, for most nobles, the notion of altering them is just as unthinkable as ordering that the dynastic glyphs be defaced. To Necrons, tradition is everything. Indeed, it can be argued that tradition is all that is left to them.

‘This is no mere weapon. It is an expression of my right to rule, and the deliverer of my royal wrath. Together, we have scoured gods from heaven and shattered the power of the perfidious C’tan. Now it has come to accept your fealty, or grant your death. Which do you choose?’

- Overlord Akanabeth to Iron Captain Grolvoch

WARSCYTHES

Warscythes are energy-bladed battle-staves – the favoured weapons of Necron Lords and their bodyguards for many thousands of years. A warscythe is incredibly heavy and cumbersome. In the hands of a lesser creature it would be of little threat, but when wielded by the tireless mechanical musculature of a Necron, it is a most formidable weapon.

A warscythe is a two-handed close combat weapon. Attacks made with a warscythe are resolved with a +2 Strength bonus. Additionally, hits with a warscythe roll 2D6 for Armour Penetration. Armour saves are not permitted against Wounds caused by a warscythe.

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