In the interim time gained by the forging of the Iron Knights, the [[Eldar Mythology|Eldar god]] of the Forge, Vaul, created the Talismans of Vaul, or [[Blackstone Fortress]]es as they are known to the Imperium. These too were powered by the souls of Eldar seers, and were used by Vaul to attack the Void Dragon. Here the legend provided by the Eldar ends, and there is little indication as to the outcome, other than the opinion of the Inquisitor, which was that the attack had failed.<sup>1</sup>
==Recent History==
This is most of the information available to us, giving the Void Dragon a mysterious character. There are three obvious mentions of the Void Dragon on pages 5 and 49 of ''[[Codex: Necrons]]''.
;Translation of an Eldar artefact.
This article only briefly mentions the Void Dragon, saying that "The Vaul-moon shall bring forth the Dragon" ('''12'''). It is possible that the term Vaul-moon references Mars, or another Forge World.
;Interrogation of Tech-Adept Uvochi.
This article sees the introduction of the Void Dragon residing on [[Mars]], specifically within the [[Noctis Labyrinth]], an area visited by five Necron [[Shroud Class Light Cruiser|''Shroud''-class Light Cruiser]]s. Although only one successfully landed on the soil of Mars, each ship survived alarmingly well, even against the greatest defences in the Imperium, until they were finally all vapourised.
==Key Features of the Void Dragon==
*The Void Dragon may be based on [[Mars]].
*The Void Dragon may be worshipped by some of the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] as the Machine God.
*The Void Dragon may be feeding in order to return in strength.
*The Void Dragon controls and consumes victims slowly through the use of technological implants.
*The Void Dragon may be able to remotely control technology over vast distances.
==Horus Heresy and the Dragon of Mars==
In the book series, ''The Horus Heresy'', a great deal about an entity that is implied to possibly be the Void Dragon is revealed, called "The Dragon of Mars". The [[Emperor]] himself defeated a creature of godlike power who existed on [[Terra]] itself centuries ago (what this implies about the Emperor's natural lifespan is uncertain, but [[Space Marine]]s, his genetic children, do not age normally either) sometime during the 12th century (the text states during the reign of the Emperor Diocletian however, which suggests a date around the 3rd/4th century)<sup>3</sup>. He travelled to Mars and imprisoned the entity within the [[Noctis Labyrinth]], purposefully not destroying it. The creature is described as having "drunk the heart of stars" and "worshipped as a god", which heavily implies it to be a [[C'tan]]. It had no name of its own, but the Emperor dubbed it "The Dragon of Mars", and bound it there. Once the [[Warp]] storms began and the [[Dark Age of Technology]] ended, the Dragon of Mars sought to claim the red planet by sending out dreams from its imprisonment, teaching the humans there how to build incredibly advanced machines, and in turn, worship those machines. Thus, the Dragon directly created the [[Mechanicum]]. This was in fact the Emperor's plan all along: to create a technologically advanced society that would be able to provide the industrial machinery for his Great Crusade.
The Dragon of Mars is a being and a location at the same time. It exists beneath the [[Noctis Labyrinth]] in the form of an empty cavern of great size with walls of silver. The room is literally immeasurable, as physical laws warp and bend to the point of being meaningless inside. The air itself is malevolently sentient, and one can feel the hate and anger of the bound god all around them, driving most insane. The Dragon is guarded by a small lineage of humans who receive intense visions and are granted the ability to control and repair all technology merely by touch, this ability does not come from the Dragon however as the ability manifests itself from psychic energy. [[Dalia Cythera]], the [[Guardian of the Dragon|Guardian]] during the Horus Heresy first received her visions from direct contact with the [[Akashic Reader]], a psychic device akin to the Golden Throne. It is strongly implied in [[Mechanicum (Novel)|''Mechanicum'']] that this power is passed down from the Emperor himself as the Emperor displayed this ability (page 9). This group, the Children of the Dragon, live one at a time inside the Dragon, called to it by its desire to be free and replacing the previous Guardian. The Dragon's power grants them immortality until it passed on, and thus far all have chosen to deny the Dragon its freedom and serve the [[Emperor]] instead by waiting for the next guardian to arrive. It does not appear the Dragon has a choice in whether or not the Children receive its power, but instead they are somehow part of it to begin with.
Dalia Cythera, Guardian during the Horus Heresy, accidentally allowed a book containing the account of the Dragon to be taken from the Dragon's cavern. It it said there was much harm done because of this, but this couldn't be unmade when the cavern was again recovered and entered ten thousand years later, in the 41st millennium. <sup>3</sup>
==Sources==
* <sup>1</sup> [http://uk.games-workshop.com/necrons/eldar-mythology/3/ Games Workshop Website - Dawn of the C'tan]
* <sup>2</sup> [[Codex: Necrons (3rd Edition)|''Codex: Necrons'' (3rd Edition)]]
* <sup>3</sup> [[Mechanicum (Novel)|''Mechanicum'']]
==See also==
