Illuminator Szeras is coming soon with the next Psychic Awakening book and this miniature really hits it out of the park. Definitely one of the most fascinating miniatures put out from Games Workshop in quite some time.
via the Warhammer Community
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2020/04/24/illuminor-szeras-what-we-know/
Talk about a glow up – looks like Illuminor Szeras has had a mechanical makeover!
With Psychic Awakening: Pariah on the way, we’re looking at the history of one of the book’s archvillains – a legendary Necron without whom biotransference may never have been possible…
Crypteks
First, some background. The Necron race is overseen by a senior caste of engineers, scientists and technomancers known as Crypteks, geniuses with millennia of experience and powers that lesser beings would attribute to sorcery.
Crypteks exist outside of the labyrinthine hierarchy of the tomb worlds, but often attach themselves to Overlords in order to gain power and experience – or pursue their own goals. Perhaps the greatest of the Crypteks is Illuminor Szeras.
The Time of the C’tan
Before the Necrons were the Necrons, they were the Necrontyr – an ancient and proud race, but a short-lived and bitter one too. The tale of the Necrontyr’s descent into their soulless torment is legendary, with Szeras playing a role in it almost as significant as that of the Silent King or the malevolent C’tan.
While these rapacious star gods provided the knowledge required for biotransference – the process by which Necrontyr were converted into mechanical Necrons – it was Szeras who made it a reality, using his peerless skills as a scientist in order to design the process. While many of those Necrons fortunate enough to maintain sentience throughout this grisly process resented it, and now seek to return to bodies of flesh, Szeras looked further, seeing biotransference as but the first step on a long road which will see the Necrons eventually ascend to beings of pure energy.
Millennia of Terror
Now, in the 41st Millennium, Szeras is a grim spectre who has haunted countless battlefields. Despite his notoriety even among his own kind, and his ruthlessness when it comes to modifying his kin, he can often be found working with Necron Overlords who seek his expertise. Aeons spent studying the living through endless vivisections have allowed him to pioneer all manner of improvements to the Necron form, from better armour plating to superior targeting optics.
However, one piece of knowledge escapes Szeras – the nature of the soul. Nevertheless, his search for knowledge continues – one live-dissected victim at a time…
Just what is “Pariah”? What’s that thing on Szeras’s back? Why is he taking all of that nice man’s skin? All these questions will be answered before too long!