Flayer virus

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The Flayer virus, also known as the Flayer Curse or Longing Sickness[5e], is a condition exhibited in Necrons which causes a gore-obsessed madness.[1]

History

The Flayer virus originated from the C'tan Llandu'gor the Flayer, who during the Necron revolt tainted the upstart race with an echo of its fearsome hunger.[1] Before Llandu'gor was destroyed, it issued the following to the Necrons:[2]

To those who have turned their faces away. To those who are faithless and wretched in their jealousies. To those who have denied us. To those who have denied me. I will wreak vengeance. I will wrench your souls and break your bones. I will cast hunger through your accursed existence. Down the eons, you will not forget. I will grant you this gift from love turned aside and make you like me, break you in my image as you have broken me. I shall cast the fear of myself into you and all of your kind. I am Llandu'gor. I am the hunger. I am the flayer, and from this moment, you shall be too.[2]


Virology

Main article: Flayed Ones

The Flayer virus causes those who succumb to it to become little more than feral beasts known as Flayed Ones. They exhibit an intense hunger for gore, blood, and carnage. Flayed Ones will even debase themselves by wearing the skins and viscera of other species.[1] While largely mindless, Flayed Ones can access their own red dimension dubbed the Ghostwind to travel about the galaxy.[6] Thus far no known cure for the virus exists, despite some Necron crypteks spending millennia researching the condition.[5c] Some believe that the possibility of a cure exists with Valgûl, who is said to have been the only Necron to succumb to the curse but keep his sense of self.[5d]

The Flayer virus spreads through contact with the living metal skin of the Necrons,[2] though it could also be spread by mere thought.[7] Some crypteks believe it can not merely be spread through proximity however, and to succumb to it depends on the mental state of the infected.[5d] It can rapidly sweep through courts and cause immediate madness, while in other cases Necrons can take many years to fully succumb.[5b] In one bizarre case, Adeptus Mechanicus tech-priests experimenting with living metal became infected with the Flayer virus and engaged in self-mutilation and worship of Llandu'gor;[4] the exact nature of their experiments is unclear.

After they become Flayed Ones, the fallen Necron will then actively begin worshiping their progenitor star god.[2] In one case, a Chaos knight known as Death's Sabre earned the admiration of a Flayer cult which believed the flesh-covered knight to be a manifestation of Llandu'gor.[3]

Shortly before their minds are consumed by the Flayer virus, infected Necrons will begin repeatedly saying the same words over again:[2]

I am Llandu'gor.[2]


See Also

Sources

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