Illmahnokh
Illmahnokh is a Necron Lord and 'Grand Vizier' of the Suhbekhar Dynasty.[1]
Overview
Beneath Overlord-Regent Ahhotekh is a Royal Court of half a dozen overlords, ostensibly devoted to ruling in the name of their slumbering Phaeron. In practice, the court serves Ahhotekh, who desires only to inherit the mantle of Phaeron of the Suhbekhar Dynasty. Lord Illmahnokh is the most influential of the overlord-regent’s royal court, and in many ways typical of the individuals that comprise it.[1]
Though Lord Illmahnokh bears the title “Grand Vizier,” he is at present a minister without portfolio. This is true of many of the senior members of the dynasty, for the labyrinthine webs of power in place when they entered the Great Sleep were shown to be far less stable upon their awakening. Lord Illmahnokh was once the most senior of Phaeron Ahmontekh’s counselors, and was, prior to bio-transference, tied to his master by bonds of blood as well as fealty. Yet, he was not so closely related as Ahhotekh, and so he was passed over by the crown world’s command program when the need to select a regent came about. Ahhotekh was cautious in the manner he awakened the individuals that would form his royal court, revivificating each in turn and being sure to secure their loyalty and support before awakening the next. Lord Illmahnokh was greatly consternated to learn of his Phaeron’s fate, for he knew it placed himself in potential peril, and so he swore fealty to his new master as a matter of necessity. Though he went down upon one knee at the base of Ahhotekh’s usurped throne and swore service to the overlord-regent, the words were as ashes in his mouth, cold ambition burning yet in his living metal heart.[1]
Lord Illmahnokh’s role within the Hollow Sun is to serve as its chief administrator, a responsibility that, in theory at least, extends beyond the crown world and places him above the individual rulers of the numerous lesser tomb worlds scattered throughout the Outer Reach and beyond. This position should place Lord Illmahnokh in a role of great power, for it should be through him that the overlord-regent’s will is disseminated throughout the dynasty’s holdings. The problem is the exact state and even location of many of those holdings are locked away within the blasted mind of the slumbering Phaeron, and so Lord Illmahnokh has very little in the way of real power. He is in effect a chief administrator with precious little to administer, and a chief advisor to a master who has no desire to hear his advice.[1]
Sidelined by the ascension of the overlordregent, Illmahnokh’s only hope of gaining real power lies in Ahhotekh overreaching his capabilities before the Phaeron’s command protocols are extracted from his mind. Should the regent gain the codes that control the loyalties of all of his underlings, then his ascent will be complete and Illmahnokh will be utterly unable to oppose him, his hand quite literally stayed. It is therefore in the Grand Vizier’s interest to see the Crypteks’ efforts to extract the command codes stymied, and in this he has had some success. But Illmahnokh is not content to constrict his efforts to the political, and he has ensured that, as is his prerogative given his senior rank, he takes what opportunities as present themselves to lead the legions of Suhbekhar in battle. The Grand Vizier’s secret intent in doing so is to uncover those tomb worlds yet unknown to the Hollow Sun, and to ensure that any interred within awaken to receive his commands and not those of the overlord-regent. Thus, Lord Illmahnokh is gradually building his own web of fealty and servitude and mustering his own legions, though to what end even he has yet to determine.[1]
Sources
- 1: Deathwatch: The Outer Reach pgs. 112–113
