Event · M31–M41

Contest for Nephreth’s Tomb

The Contest for Nephreth’s Tomb was a struggle lasting nearly ten thousand years, from about M31, between the Necron overlord Trazyn the Infinite and the cryptek Orikan the Diviner for access to the tomb of the legendary Necrontyr overlord Nephreth on the Eastern Fringe world Serenade. Trazyn struck first while the world was still the Exodite maiden world Cepharil, fighting through Eldar settlers to reach the tomb. Later, by order of the Awakened Council, Trazyn and Orikan were compelled to defend the world then called Cephris against an Ork invasion under Painboss Bigsaw; early human settlers later confused their Necron rescuers with Space Marines. In a further phase Trazyn released a Genestealer into Serenade’s depths against Orikan; the creature escaped, raised a cult, and the Imperium answered with Exterminatus, leaving the tomb intact beneath a dead world. When Trazyn returned to claim Nephreth’s tomb on the ruined planet, he found shards of the C’tan known as the Deceiver rather than the expected wonders. With Orikan’s aid the two defeated the shards. Accounts of their rivalry hold that they had both been deceived, and that Orikan afterwards continued to vow revenge.

See where Contest for Nephreth’s Tomb occurred on the galactic map in the 41st Millennium.

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