C'tan Shards
Shattered star gods wielded as living weapons against the stars they once devoured.
C'tan Shards are the jagged remnants of the C'tan Star Gods—ancient entities composed of living starstuff that once devoured suns across the galaxy. Following the betrayal during the War in Heaven, these deities were shattered by their Necrontyr former servants to prevent their return. Today, these fragments serve as volatile power sources for the Silent King's legions, retaining a sliver of their original godhood while fueling the living metal technology that defines the Necrons.
- Role
- Power Source / Reality-Warping Weapon
- Affiliation
- Necrons (Formerly C'tan)
- Origin
- The War in Heaven
- Nature
- Fragmented Star God Entity
- Primary Users
- Necron Overlords, Crypteks, Dynasties
- Status
- Scattered and Bound
Lore & Background
Though diminished by their fracturing, a single Shard retains enough power to level cities or crack void shields with a thought. They are not mere tools; they are sentient prisoners bound in metal. The Necrons must constantly maintain technological restraints to suppress the Shard's will. Should these bonds fail, the entity seeks to consume its host and return to the void, aiming to rebuild its shattered form from the ashes of a galaxy.
In Their Own Story
The tomb world's silence was broken by the hum of awakening metal. An Overlord raised his gauntlet, the C'tan Shard embedded within flaring with cold blue fire that cast no warmth. Space Marines charged through the dust, bolter rounds sparking harmlessly against the living metal floor. He did not raise a gun; he simply pointed. A beam of starfire tore through reality, erasing the squad before they could scream. The Shard whispered in his mind, hungry for more, but the Overlord's will was iron. He fed it the battle, and it burned brighter.
Reader's Guide
C'tan Shards act as volatile focal points for Necron weaponry, channeling raw starfire energy through Gauss technology to bypass void shields and phase matter. While they can be mounted on monolithic constructs or wielded personally by Overlords, their true value lies in their ability to sustain the living metal of tomb worlds.
Controlling a Shard requires more than physical restraint; it demands constant psychic suppression via binding algorithms to prevent the entity from consuming its host. Because Necrons lack natural psychic resistance, this technology is critical—if the link fails, the Shard's hunger will turn inward. Strategically, a dynasty's power is measured by the number of Shards under its command. Their loss represents not just a tactical defeat but a collapse of a tomb world's reactivation potential.
Did You Know?
- The Nightbringer is renowned as the most feared C'tan Shard due to his obsession with death.
- The Void Dragon remains unique, trapped within the physical universe rather than banished to the void.
- Shards can be destroyed, though doing so requires immense power and often results in massive reality distortions.
- Some Necron Crypteks are rumored to attempt creating artificial shards using captured warp energy.