the fate of the 13th

[Wolf Lord Mjolnir]

Hi guys,

 

Was just reading some posts and had a thought that should be worthy of discussion.

 

1 neither One Thousand Sons or Prospero Burns makes any real mention of the actions of the 13th company.

2 Russ was very against splitting his legion, which would have been small after the attack on Prospero

3 the Wolf Brothers founded during the second founding apparently just degenerated and 'disappeared'

 

Now I was thinking, what if the 13th was taken whole to become the Wolf Brothers by Russ and then told to get the hell into the Eye of Terror and find those good for nothing Chaos boys

 

This has a few benefits for the Vlka Fenryka

1 shows willingness to comply with second founding, although Russ hated it

2 degeneration provides a cover story for the actions of the 13th

3 takes the majority of the problem wulfen out of the legion and on a useful mission, I think Russ would have liked that.

 

I cannot find any recent fluff (bearing in mind the Black Library novels are considered canon) that would stop this happening.

 

I am aware of old fluff stating Russ sent the 13th into the warp portal after the Thousand Sons at the battle of Prospero. Strangely neither Graham McNeill or Dan Abnett make any reference to the 13th being sent into the warp.

 

Anyway, I thought it was an interesting idea.

[Marshal Rohr]

Interesting idea.

 

Space Wolves on a mission to go deep into enemy lines.

[Valerian]

After the fall of Horus, in what has become known as the Great Scouring, Russ took the entire Legion right into the Eye of Terror in pursuit of the fleeing Traitors. Most of the old fluff said that Russ likely instructed Jorin Bloodfang and his 13th Company to continue the Hunt after Abaddon the Despoiler, when he returned with the rest of the Legion at Roboute Guiliman's request. This ocurred at least a decade prior to the Second Founding, which, if memory serves, started about 14 years after the Emperor's Ascension to the Golden Throne. Also, although the Wolfbrother's were also lost to the Imperium of Man, this likely occurred at least 6,000 years after their founding, in M37, when the entire Chapter disappeared in the Eldar webway (chasing after a fleeing Eldar force).

 

If GW does one day establish that the 13th Company and the Wolfbrothers succesor Chapter are one and the same, it would be a major retcon from everything on those two organizations that has been written in the past 18 years.

 

I'm on the iPhone now, but will try to provide excerpts of all of the relevant fluff in the next day or two.

 

Regards,

 

V

[Valerian]

These fragmented pieces of text have been excerpted from Dionerius' Rise of Man, M31

 

 

...Among them were companies of savage creatures, their bestiality far outstripping even the barbaric Children of Russ. By the Space Wolves these were called the Wulfen, at times spoken of as the thirteenth company. They were feral of eye and febrile in nature, strong of limb and blanched by savage tattoos, able to tear a man asunder with their clawed hands and fangs. Eschewing weapons of distance they would stalk their foes as wild beasts, slinking in the shadows and hunting by night 'neath the light of the full moon. Variously, captains say the Wulfen were led by Hirkon Grail or Jorin Bloodfang, maybe when one was slain another took his place.

 

Fragment II

 

 

Now in the aftermath of the Siege of Terra there was a great confusion among the loyal followers of the Emperor, for they had lost their liege lord and were as knights without their king. [[Text lost]] Many voiced loud the thought in the hearts of all - give chase to the traitors and destroy them utterly for the woe they had wrought. The voice of Russ was raised loudest of all, [[Text lost]] but Guilliman and Dorn gainsaid his counsel. To enter the Occularis Terriblis would bring disorder on the surviving Legions, they said, leaving Man vulnerable to both the xenite and the apostate. It is said that Russ, as was so often the way, took his own counsel and sent forth the Wulfen to hunt down Abaddon and his followers. Others say that the thirteenth company pursued the heretics of their own accord, as hounds at the chase who heed not the calls of their huntsman. Others still maintain that the Wulfen had been tainted by the Dark Gods and were summoned by their call to join the traitor legions in the netherworld.

 

Fragment III

 

 

The Wulfen were never seen nor heard of again, passing into the void and becoming lost to the eye and ear of Man. It is said that upon the Space Wolves homeworld of Fenris the loss of the Wulfen was known by the wolves of Asaheim. The great packs gathered before the gates of the Space Wolves monastery in their thousands until every wolf in the world was there. That grey host howled of their loss for a hundred nights before returning to the hinterlands.

 

From the Saga of Jorin Bloodfang

 

 

 

 

In time, the ranks of the 6th Legion

swelled to a great host.

 

And many bore the Mark

[FRAGMENT MISSING]

 

And so Russ banded them all into

one Great Company.

 

And to Bloodfang fell the honor

Of leading them to laurels and glory

In the name of Russ and the

All Father.

 

Bloodfang named [FRAGMENT MISSING]

Grail, Orkbane, Sigurd, Thorbrand,

and Grafield.

 

To each a retinue was granted.

 

And as a band of brothers the

13th Great Company

Reaved across the stars.

 

Neither xenite, or Apostate,

nor Fiend

Could stand before [FRAGMENT MISSING]

the Were was upon them.

 

But at the Gates of [FRAGMENT MISSING]

did Bloodfang rage

And plunge headlong into

[FRAGMENT MISSING]

Neither kin nor Master could

restrain him.

 

And beyond the Gates did the

Wulfen-kind pass.

 

At Asaheim, the Wolves did cry for

one hundred nights

To mourn the passage of their kin.

[Valerian]

The saga known as "The War of the Giants" purports to be a record of the fall of Prospero, one of the opening conflicts of the Horus Heresy. The Space Wolves were ordered to asault their brother Legion, the Thousand Sons, and to call them to account for the sorcerous actions of their Primarch, Magnus the Red. The saga states that the 13th Company was at the head of the assault on the Thousand Sons' home world and that the sheer ferocity of their attack smashed a hole in the traitor lines through which the remainder of the Space Wolves could penetrate. At the height of the battle, it is told that Magnus opened a portal, a means of escaping the destruction wrought by the Space Wolves, Magnus and the remnants of his Legion fled, but it is said that Russ ordered the 13th Company to give chase. In so doing, the left the realm of Man, never to return.

 

Fragments of other records suggest that the disappearance of the 13th Company did not occur until after the Siege of the Emperor's Palace, which saw the rebel Warmaster Horus finally defeated and the Traitor Legions routed back to the Eye of Terror. It is stated that in the wake of the galaxy-spanning civil war, which saw the Imperium brought to its knees by Horus's treachery, the Ultramarines' Primarch Roboute Guilliman sought to consolidate the forces of Mankind. But Leman Russ, headstrong and proud as he was, demanded that the Traitors not be allowed to establish a foothold within the Eye of Terror and that the Imperium should strike

 

immediately. Though Guilliman and Dorn overrode him, it has been suggested that Russ may have dispatched the 13th Company with

 

orders to hunt down Abaddon, the Warmaster's Lieutenant, and bring his head as a trophy to set before the Emperor. Other, less

 

charitable theories suggest the Wulfen gave chase on their own accord, and some even whisper that the 13th Company had been tainted

 

by Chaos all along and were seeking to join the ranks of the Traitors.

 

This legend bears up well to the little evidence that exists to support it, and the timing of their emergence from the Eye

 

indicates that the Wulfen may be pursuing Abaddon.

[Valerian]

The Wolf Brothers

(excerpted from the calleria M37)

 

 

 

...And ranging 'cross Yahals plain

The Eldar turned at bay.

They stood and fought, shed blood

And burned

A thousand men that day.

 

Then Wolf Brothers came

To slay them all,

Bloody swords raised, howling,

fangs gleaming

Answering the warriors' call.

 

No alien could stand against

So fierce a foe,

No trick would turn them aside.

On they came, unstoppable

To strike a deadly blow.

 

Turning, fleeing the Eldar ran

Through their portal

Beyond the reach of man.

Undaunted Wolf Brothers

Pursued them unto realms immortal

 

Though aliens were defeated,

Their fury tamed,

The ill-fated Wolf Brothers

Were lost, mourned

Never seen again...

[Valerian]

Tales are told of a thirteenth Great Company whose Wolf Lord took as his sign the pelt of the Wulfen, the legendary spirit of evil whose curse can still turn Space Wolves into monsters of that name. This Wolf Lord, his name has been lost to the ages, said that he could overcome anything, even the curse of the Wulfen, and that was why he took it as his totem. His hubris cost him dear; the Great Company vanished into the Eye of Terror during the Horus Heresy, and none know of its fate. Since then the Space Wolves have traditionally considered the number thirteen unlucky and a portent of bad omen.

[Valerian]

The Space Wolves remained loyal to the Emperor throughout the Heresy and took part in some of its most renowned actions. From those times, ten thousand years ago, come few details of any certainty. It was a time of legends. It was an age of war. Such records as made have not survived, and only later did chroniclers of the Administratum describe the bloody events of those days. According to their own tradition, the Space Wolves were pivotal in one of the early campaigns of the war, when the entire Legion attacked and devastated the Thousand Sons Space Marines on their home world of Prospero. The Primarch of the Thousand Sons, the cyclopean giant Magnus the Red, is said to have fought Leman Russ whilst all around the rival Space Marines battled for supremacy. Eventually the Thousand Sons gave way and Magnus the Red fled with what remained of his forces. It was while pursuing the Thousand Sons that the Space Wolves lost the Thirteenth Company, the Wulfen. Since then the Space Wolves have never had a thirteenth Company nor has any Wolf Lord born the badge of the Wulfen.

 

The Space Wolves were not present during the final battle for Earth which ended the Heresy and doomed the Emperor to a living death in the stasis field of his Golden Throne. Afterwards, Leman Russ was to rage against events that kept him from his beloved Emperor. He led the Space Wolves deep into the Eye of Terror in pursuit of the renegade Space Marine Legions of Chaos.

 

With the enthronement of the Emperor came a different age, and they rule of the Imperium passed into the hands of the High Lords of Terra. Both the High Lords and the Primarchs feared the resurgence of Chaos. Many worlds were purged. On many planets the tainted were sought out and destroyed. Everywhere the rapidly expanding ranks of the Inquisition prospered.

 

Never again would the Imperium tolerate the possibility of Space Marine armies falling under the influence of the great enemy. The original Space Marine Legions were broken up into smaller Chapters and a code was drawn up to redefine their role and jurisdiction within the Imperium. The new Chapters that were created became known as the Second Founding. The Space Wolves were never a very large Legion and so were divided only once, creating the ill-fated Wolfbrothers Chapter.

[Valerian]

Whew! There, that should be most of the relevant stuff. Note that the last bit does say the 13th were lost on Prospero, although unsubscribe to the bits where Russ sent them after Abaddon; explains better why they reappeared pursuing Abaddon during his most recent Black Crusade. Either way, I don't think there is anything out of all that to cause us to believe the 13th and the Wolfbrothers are one and the same.

 

Regards,

 

Valerian

[lothbrok]

actually if you pay really careful attention while reading a thousand sons it mentions an wolflord with bloody fangs leading the wulfen across the boliling river against the last of the thousand sons.

[MaveriK]

Strangely neither Graham McNeill or Dan Abnett make any reference to the 13th being sent into the warp.

 

Aye, as stated by lothbrok in the book A Thousand Sons, there were subtle hints about the 13th. Also with Prospero Burns when the main character spoke about the howls, the primal noise that accompanies death. Nobody who hears it ever forgets it, and few who hear it ever survive.. SPOILER ALERT! "It turns the blood to ice and the gut to water. I do not believe, and I speak in all honesty, that the Thousand Sons, even though they were Astartes and therefore engineered to be free of fear, were not inspired to terror when they heard it. You scare me, wolf-brothers. You scare everything." - Prosperso Burns. I took all that as the main character's description and subtle hint about the 13th and wulfen.

 

also.. there was an actual wolf-brother who was stranded in Medrengard, in the book "Dead Sky Black Sun." And another instance when members of the wolf brothers allied themselves beside Oneus Prayd, during the scouring of Mekenna VII. This part might have been reconned or it might not be. I guess will see in the upcoming Balab War II article.

 

Also if The Wolf Brothers and 13th Company are one and the same, as you've suggested.. I think the whold idea of renaming a whole great company is something I can't see a wolf lord do. Out of pride and all, I think each great company's number is a badge of honor that your willing to fight under. Suddenly calling themselves the wolf brothers in the second founding seem, off to me. In the recent codex, your shown how each great company has its own personal identity.. try telling one of the companies to rename themselves all of a sudden, I can't see Sven Bloodhowl change his great company as the tattoo wolves. I'm not trying to put off your idea wolf brother, it's a good one. I just think if the time frame was allot closer to each other then I could think your theory can be concluded as plausible.

[Durfast Spiritwolf]

Also if The Wolf Brothers and 13th Company are one and the same, as you've suggested.. I think the whold idea of renaming a whole great company is something I can't see a wolf lord do. Out of pride and all, I think each great company's number is a badge of honor that your willing to fight under. Suddenly calling themselves the wolf brothers in the second founding seem, off to me. In the recent codex, your shown how each great company has its own personal identity.. try telling one of the companies to rename themselves all of a sudden, I can't see Sven Bloodhowl change his great company as the tattoo wolves. I'm not trying to put off your idea wolf brother, it's a good one. I just think if the time frame was allot closer to each other then I could think your theory can be concluded as plausible.

 

Accept that according to Tales of Heresy the core of the 13th GC were formed from Russ' original Huscarls - the Wolf Brothers. So it is reasonable that this name lived on in the 13th GC.

 

Regards,

[MaveriK]

I stand corrected.. err I mean I recognize my failing and will be sure to correct it

[Durfast Spiritwolf]

I stand corrected.. err I mean I recognize my failing and will be sure to correct it

 

Accept that given that the leader in ToH isn't even the same as in other sources, I'm not sure on how to regard it's validity anyway :D

[hmk17]

Which is one of the more interesting things. It has been established in two books, that Bulveye is Wolf Lord of the 13th dating back to its creation by Russ. 5th ed codex says differently, trying to recall what the EoT Codex had if anything. One of the more glaring continuity errors I wish they would lock down. I doubt the authors are misinformed intentionally, but the multiple

 

Wolf at the Door flushes out the idea that the 13th Co were a much smaller company based that they were the surviving members of Russ' huscarls. Greybeards (because they were full adults when changed to Astartes) and the Wolf Brothers (they as huscarls were sworn brothers to each other and the Wolf King).

 

I don't think there is going to be a retcon turning the 13th Co into the ill-fated Chapter, but revisions to when and where their long hunt begins.

[Epic Thoughts]

I think I may have found one entry where this idea could be discredited. In the Apocalypse book, in the 'The Forces of Chaos' section, there is a very brief, a in one line, entry about 1 squad of Wolf Brothers fighting with Oneius Prayd of The Red Corsairs.

[Valerian]

Which is one of the more interesting things. It has been established in two books, that Bulveye is Wolf Lord of the 13th dating back to its creation by Russ. 5th ed codex says differently, trying to recall what the EoT Codex had if anything. One of the more glaring continuity errors I wish they would lock down. I doubt the authors are misinformed intentionally, but the multiple

 

 

That's an easy one, hmk, and here is the differentiation:

 

The novels, published by the Black Library subdivision of the the company (Games Workshop, LLC), have established Bulveye as the original (and apparently still) Wolf Lord for the 13th Company. I do not know how many separate novels have been written that have used this character, but I'm sure someone else who is more familiar with the novels will come along and inform us.

 

The design studio, which are the folks that write the rules, write the codices, and write the articles for White Dwarf magazine, have always written it as Jorin Bloodfang*. Jorin has been written as the original Wolf Lord of the 13th in the following sources: Space Wolves 2nd Edition Codex, Space Wolves 3rd Edition Codex, Lone Wolves article (White Dwarf 244), the 13th Company Index Astartes Article (White Dwarf 283), and the Space Wolves 5th Edition Codex* (Actually the 5th Edition version calls him Jorin Bloodhowl, rather than Bloodfang, but this is clearly an editing cock-up, as he has always been Bloodfang, and Sven Bloodhowl is another Wolf Lord). A character named Bulveye has never, every, been mentioned by the design studio folks.

 

What one really has to do before going into these discussions is to declare which set of fluff they are going to be including into the discussion. If you go only with design studio fluff, you get much less conflict, and it stays fairly consistent. If you include the novels, then you introduce tons of new authors, and with them tons of contradictory information.

 

Regards,

 

Valerian

[MaveriK]

another perfect example is Wolf Priest Ranek and Wolf Priest Ulrik... editors need a "facts" checker just as much as writers need spell check.

 

@Epic Thoughts, deja vu??

[Valerian]

another perfect example is Wolf Priest Ranek and Wolf Priest Ulrik... editors need a "facts" checker just as much as writers need spell check.

 

@Epic Thoughts, deja vu??

 

That's exactly right, Mav. Another perfect example of the dichotomy between the designers and an author. This is just my opinion, but the way I look at it is that the designers establish the fluff or background material; they don't always make everything clear, but they've tried to build a somewhat coherent universe to play in. Meanwhile, the novels are set in the same universe, and are 'inspired by' the background established by the designers. For example, I consider the protagonist Ragnar of the early series to be simply 'based on' the Wolf Lord Ragnar Blackmane of the M41 fluff, and not necessarily an 'actual' account of Blackmane's exploits.

 

This is why I chose to distinguish between the two, rather than try to jumble them together. There are too many inconsistencies when you treat them all the same.

 

V

[t-tauri]

There's possibly more than one thirteenth company. The Wolves have long had a habit of Great Companies leaving the Fang or being on active service on the other side of the galaxy. Lost companies which are replaced at the Fang could still be active somewhere in the Universe. With a Wolf Priest and a large vessel to base themselves on they could even replace lost marines. In the current time the 13th haven't been replaced but during the heresy or the Scouring a 13th which pursued the Thousand Sons into the Warp after Propero could have been replenished in time to follow Russ into the Eye.

[Starkhan Fellblade]

There's possibly more than one thirteenth company. The Wolves have long had a habit of Great Companies leaving the Fang or being on active service on the other side of the galaxy. Lost companies which are replaced at the Fang could still be active somewhere in the Universe. With a Wolf Priest and a large vessel to base themselves on they could even replace lost marines. In the current time the 13th haven't been replaced but during the heresy or the Scouring a 13th which pursued the Thousand Sons into the Warp after Propero could have been replenished in time to follow Russ into the Eye.

 

Ok first off what sources are you using that suggest that great companies have been replaced multiple times in the past. The current codex only states that one whole company has ever disappeared (besides the 13th of course) The company of Svengar the Red and there are no statements as to whether or not it was replaced.

 

Also there is no source that i have read that that indicates that there was ever more than one of each company.

 

If i am reading you last sentence correctly you are saying that the thirteenth went after the TS and then came back and followed russ into the eye of terror? please correct me if i am wrong. This cannot be possible as the codex states that he only took his wolf guard (excluding Bjorn).

 

EDIT: In the codex it does say that the 13ths blank obsidian stone that is on the Grand Annulus represents all lost great companies and destroyed ones.

 

I do not mean to cause offense with this post i am just wondering what sources you got this information from.

 

Thanks,

Starkhan

[hmk17]

Which is one of the more interesting things. It has been established in two books, that Bulveye is Wolf Lord of the 13th dating back to its creation by Russ. 5th ed codex says differently, trying to recall what the EoT Codex had if anything. One of the more glaring continuity errors I wish they would lock down. I doubt the authors are misinformed intentionally, but the multiple

 

 

That's an easy one, hmk, and here is the differentiation:

 

The novels, published by the Black Library subdivision of the the company (Games Workshop, LLC), have established Bulveye as the original (and apparently still) Wolf Lord for the 13th Company. I do not know how many separate novels have been written that have used this character, but I'm sure someone else who is more familiar with the novels will come along and inform us.

 

The design studio, which are the folks that write the rules, write the codices, and write the articles for White Dwarf magazine, have always written it as Jorin Bloodfang*. Jorin has been written as the original Wolf Lord of the 13th in the following sources: Space Wolves 2nd Edition Codex, Space Wolves 3rd Edition Codex, Lone Wolves article (White Dwarf 244), the 13th Company Index Astartes Article (White Dwarf 283), and the Space Wolves 5th Edition Codex* (Actually the 5th Edition version calls him Jorin Bloodhowl, rather than Bloodfang, but this is clearly an editing cock-up, as he has always been Bloodfang, and Sven Bloodhowl is another Wolf Lord). A character named Bulveye has never, every, been mentioned by the design studio folks.

 

What one really has to do before going into these discussions is to declare which set of fluff they are going to be including into the discussion. If you go only with design studio fluff, you get much less conflict, and it stays fairly consistent. If you include the novels, then you introduce tons of new authors, and with them tons of contradictory information.

 

Regards,

 

Valerian

 

Exactly, its non-communication.