Legend of Lord Skyrar

[Lone Scout]

I hope you enjoy my fluff for Lord Skyrar. This is the first part and proberbly halfway done . C&C welcomed.

 

 

Origins of the Dark Wolves of Skyrar

 

Lord Skyrar the undying, fearless in battle and as undying as Chaos itself, or so the stories go. Rumours persist that Lord Skyrar Thunderwolf was a consummate warrior long before the Wolf Priest Bergthor recruited him for the Spacewolves centuries ago. As a bloodclaw he would leap from the roof of a speeding rhino hitting the enemy like a thunderbolt a full minute before his battle brothers could join him. He was promoted to a swiftclaw biker pack as much for his safety as for his ferocity yet even here he was the first into battle. Fearless, cunning and deadly as any wolf alive even now.

 

Outside of battle he was boisterous, a loud and energetic pack mate loyal to his Lord and battle brothers. Some say there were signs of his taint, forewarnings of his fall from grace, of his turning to the dark powers of chaos. He disliked ale, citing it as “as bitter as a grox knackers” yet drank excessive amounts of mead. He would eat a full rack of goat ribs only to throw the largest bone at a nearby marine from another company often leading to a brawl which he would enter and leave with a grin. Even upon promotion to Wolflord his tumultuous behaviour continued.

 

It was Lord Skyrar that first rode a thunderwolf into battle. It was he that formed the first thunderwolf cavalry unit, brutally effective and utterly terrifying, just like the warrior. Always industrious Skyrar was not content to stalk a thunderwolf and break it to his will, far from it. He would stalk the blackmane wolves, the largest and most visious predator on Fenris, stealth into their lair and steal their cubs. Of coarse the cubs would howl and snarl at their indignant treatment and all hell would break loose. Many warriors had been lost in these raids and Skyrar himself had been injured scores of times but the prize he reasoned was well worth the risk.

 

Having gained breading stock and with the most advanced cybernetics at his disposal Skyrar had more thunderwolves than any other company and all of these were the blackmaned thunderwolves of legends. At the front of any assault on the back of the largest thunderwolf was Lord Skyrar, frostblade in one hand stormshield in the other, covered in gore and wearing a grin. The legend of Skyrar's Dark Wolves were birthed from these images. For some it showed the very essence of a Wolflord of Fenris for others these were images of doom as terrifying as any nightmare yet brought to life.

[Captain Juan Juarez]

I wouldn't have thought the Tribes of Fenris would be renowned for their cavalry, personally.. That is the first part that stands out.

 

As a bloodclaw he would leap from the roof of a speeding rhino hitting the enemy like a thunderbolt a full minute before his battle brothers could join him

 

Even by 40k physics that'd be impossible.

 

It was Lord Skyrar that first rode a thunderwolf into battle. It was he that formed the first thunderwolf cavalry unit, brutally effective and utterly terrifying, just like the warrior

 

Good evening artistic license.

[Lone Scout]

I wouldn't have thought the Tribes of Fenris would be renowned for their cavalry, personally.. That is the first part that stands out.True and I have removed said referance . Thank you.

 

As a bloodclaw he would leap from the roof of a speeding rhino hitting the enemy like a thunderbolt a full minute before his battle brothers could join him

 

Even by 40k physics that'd be impossible. Indeed but it is an interesting image is it not, and legends are often...skewed ;)

 

It was Lord Skyrar that first rode a thunderwolf into battle. It was he that formed the first thunderwolf cavalry unit, brutally effective and utterly terrifying, just like the warrior

 

Good evening artistic license. Yes perhaps but there is nothing to say this isn't so. Nothing to say it is either so I was just filling in the gaps left wide opened by GW

Over all though did you like it or not?

[Lone Scout]

It was no surprise to some that the blame of the Slaughter of Sandvik fell on Skyrar and his Dark Wolves. Thousands of bodies lay torn to shreds and the sand was stained red from the carnage rort that day. Sandvik had been an imperial trading post on a desert world under the protection of the Space Wolves. Skyrar denied any involvment yet witness came forward pointing prejudiced fingers at Wolf Lord Skyrar. Weapons found among the dead bore Skyrar's motif and bodies bore the marks of animal attack. Skyrar's temper boiled over curses turned to threats and threats turned to violence.

 

Skyrar struck Logan Grimnar such a blow that the King of the Spacewolves was knocked from his feet. Wolfguard come to their lords defence and a general riot eschewed. It is unclear who first drew weapons but at the end of the battle Wolflord Skyrar have been wounded by several bolter rounds and several spacewolves lay dead. Skyrar fled Sandvik with his great company in tow and Skyrar's Dark Wolves were said to have walked to the thirteenth stone an accusation of treachery and rescinded fealty to the Space Wolf Chapter.

 

It has since been said that Skyrar's fleeing was proof of his guilt. Further to this Skyrar's Dark Wolves have been seen wearing armour marked with chaos symbols and festooned with trophies and flesh hooks. Twice the inquisition has come to blows with the renegade company and both times the inquisition has been badly mauled. Indeed several imperial guard armies have been out-rightly attacked and the scene left behind mirrors that of Sandvik. It is clear to all that Skyrar's temper is still hot and his honour and ego still bruised.

 

It would seem that here is where the story of Skyrar should end but it does not. There are some that whisper that Skyrar was not to blame for the Slaughter of Sandvik and that chaos had a hand in the blood letting. The same whispers point to the heroic return of the thirteenth companies from the eye of terror and ask if the Dark Wolves merely wear the armour of their slain foes out of necessity. Perhaps their attacks on imperial worlds are driven by need or information of rebellion that the ears of Terra have not yet heard? To most it is a clear cut case, Skyrar and his Dark Wolves are murderers, traitors and renegades. There is but one fate for such crimes, death. To others Skyrar fights for the justice he was denied centuries ago bitter to the core but perhaps still loyal to the Spacewolf chapter?

[Decoy]

I dunno, mate. It seems you place an undue amount of fluff-based emphasis on Skyrar and his place within the 40K realm, and within the Wolves in particular. I do understand creative license, and I know that folk like their boys to seem like badasses, but I think this particular bit of fluff... AKA, what you've written so far... might strain believability to the breaking point. Speaking of points... Let's go on a point by point breakdown.

 

 

Rumours persist that Lord Skyrar Thunderwolf was a consummate warrior long before the Wolf Priest Bergthor recruited him for the Spacewolves centuries ago.

 

This is a given. ALL Space Wolves are consummate warriors. This is an unneeded bit of fluff.

 

 

As a bloodclaw he would leap from the roof of a speeding rhino hitting the enemy like a thunderbolt a full minute before his battle brothers could join him.

 

As mentioned above, this is about as believable as "And he lept from his Thunderhawk as it swooped low, his Fenrisian Wolves in tow, crashing into the battle-lines." While it might be... at least somewhat believable, no Lord worth his salt would keep such a liability around. A full minute in close combat, or even close range, is a bit long even for a Wolf to survive unsupported. Even then, it is not in a Wolf's particular idiom to go charging about without his pack; such people, if at all, might be slated for Wolf Scouts, but there's probably a better chance of them ending up with partial cranial surgery and working as a servitor somewhere.

 

 

He was promoted to a swiftclaw biker pack as much for his safety as for his ferocity yet even here he was the first into battle. Fearless, cunning and deadly as any wolf alive even now.

 

I would see him more promoted to Jump Packery, given the fluff that you've given. There's nothing inherently wrong with this, so you can keep it or discard it at your leisure.

 

In regards to the "fearless, cunning and deadly", however... His prior actions have already proven that he is -not- cunning, going directly against (admittedly loose) Wolf doctrine, endangering packmates and his fellow Space Wolves, or at the very least, himself. Fearless? Certainly. Deadly? Like any Wolf. However, try to avoid such phrases as "As any Wolf alive even now". If this were the case, he'd probably be mentioned somewhere in the fluff. As it stands, there's a good chance there's nothing horrendously remarkable about him other than that he's somewhat suicidal, and Ragnar's got him beat in that regard.

 

 

Outside of battle he was boisterous, a loud and energetic pack mate loyal to his Lord and battle brothers.

 

Remember this. We'll be coming back to it in a bit.

 

 

Some say there were signs of his taint, forewarnings of his fall from grace, of his turning to the dark powers of chaos.

 

He disliked ale, citing it as “as bitter as a grox knackers” yet drank excessive amounts of mead.

 

Nothing pertaining to Chaos here; Not every Wolf drinks ale, I'd wager, though it's quite common for them to do so.

 

 

He would eat a full rack of goat ribs only to throw the largest bone at a nearby marine from another company often leading to a brawl which he would enter and leave with a grin.

 

Sounds like a standard Wolf feast; nothing out of the ordinary here.

 

 

Even upon promotion to Wolflord his tumultuous behaviour continued.

 

Here, we have an issue.

 

What led to his promotion to Wolf Lord? Or, for that matter, what did this careless, suicidal Blood Claw do to rise beyond that rank? We already have precedent set for troublemakers; Lukas, the Trickster, and his crimes seem about on par to what you've set forth for your Skyrar. As it stands, it seems like Skyrar, with this current Fluff, would never rise beyond Blood Claw status (or Skyclaw, perhaps). Even in acts of great heroism (singlehandedly laying low an Ork world), Lukas was not redeemed for his past transgressions, and still holds the rank of Blood Claw. What makes Skyrar so special in this regard?

 

 

It was Lord Skyrar that first rode a thunderwolf into battle. It was he that formed the first thunderwolf cavalry unit, brutally effective and utterly terrifying, just like the warrior.

 

Just because a piece of fluff is not explicitly specified does not mean that it's inherently up for grabs. It's one thing to say that "Skyrar used Thunderwolves with brutal effectivity", it's another to say "He formed the first Thunderwolf Cavalry unit". This is similar to such misnomers as "Al Gore Invented the Internet" or "Magnus invented Psykers". I would take out that particular bit entirely; it's completely unbelievable.

 

 

Always industrious Skyrar was not content to stalk a thunderwolf and break it to his will, far from it. He would stalk the blackmane wolves, the largest and most visious predator on Fenris, stealth into their lair and steal their cubs. Of coarse the cubs would howl and snarl at their indignant treatment and all hell would break loose. Many warriors had been lost in these raids and Skyrar himself had been injured scores of times but the prize he reasoned was well worth the risk.

 

Hoo. Where to begin?

 

The Thunderwolves are the largest and most vicious, unless my memory serves me incredibly poorly. The Thunderwolves are the stuff of legends, above and beyond Blackmanes by a large margin. T-wolves only wander in the Space Wolf territories (generally), where Blackmanes are found more across the entire globe. Why would a Wolf Lord settle for a sub-par type of Wolf?

 

Also, there is no record of cultivation of Wolves for breeding, only combating Alphas to win the respect of a pack. Abducting pups would deplete the overall pool of Wolves on Fenris, and I can see no Lord, let alone Great Wolf, sanctioning (or even allowing) such a thing. Moreover, in that regard, if the wolves -were- stolen for breeding purposes, simple knowledge of genetics will show that no stable breed (especially after a hundred generations) would be viable using the same breeding stock. Aside from massive genetic birth defects, the stolen pups would inevitably breed themselves to death after only five to ten generations, barely a hundred years.

 

Finally, wolf hunts of the Space Wolves are done by one's self. One, as a rule, does not bring one's pack. Or, to put it more bluntly; no packmates would be lost in this type of "Raid", because this type of raid doesn't exist. In fact, the Wolf fluff directly contradicts it. Moreover, if a Great Wolf were to find a Wolf Lord purposefully putting Space Wolves in harm's way for the sole purpose of eliminating the Wolf population through inbreeding, there's a very real chance that the Great Wolf would sanction, demote, or outright banish the offending Lord for his casual disregard and disrespect of the native populations.

 

 

Having gained breading stock and with the most advanced cybernetics at his disposal Skyrar had more thunderwolves than any other company and all of these were the blackmaned thunderwolves of legends

 

Breeding stock would have failed, and Skyrar has no more advanced cybernetics than any other Wolf Lord. Moreover, Thunderwolf number count is incredibly unknown; how can he have more than any company if exact numbers aren't known?

 

Moreover, current Wolf fluff indicates that Thunderwolf Cavalry is largely restricted to the Great Wolf alone. In the very few confirmed dispatches of Thunderwolves, it is at the hands of the Great Wolf and no one else. Like Wolf Scouts, Rune Priests, Wolf Priests and other such elite units, Thunderwolves seem to be the providence of the Great Wolf and the Great Wolf alone. There is very, -very- little chance that other companies have access to Thunderwolves on a per-Company basis.

 

Also... To my knowledge, Blackmane and Thunderwolf are two completely different species of Wolves. I'm fairly certain... read, about 95% sure... that there is no such thing as a "Blackmaned Thunderwolf" any more than there are "Monkey-Humans" There might be an exceedingly rare case of crossbreeding, but that is a whole other realm of impossible that I'd love to get into should you wish it. (Genetics is fun!)

 

 

At the front of any assault on the back of the largest thunderwolf was Lord Skyrar, frostblade in one hand stormshield in the other, covered in gore and wearing a grin. The legend of Skyrar's Dark Wolves were birthed from these images. For some it showed the very essence of a Wolflord of Fenris for others these were images of doom as terrifying as any nightmare yet brought to life.

 

Again with the over-the-top, we-are-the-best type of fluff. There -is- no legend of Skyrar's Dark Wolves. They are known Renegades, on par with the... What are they, the Leaking? The grey ones with leaking suits of armor. They are a documented Renegade faction, but little more than that. Thus, when it comes to making fluff, one really shouldn't go saying that a largely unheard-of faction is "the most" anything.

 

 

 

Whew. On to Part 2.

 

 

 

It was no surprise to some that the blame of the Slaughter of Sandvik fell on Skyrar and his Dark Wolves. Thousands of bodies lay torn to shreds and the sand was stained red from the carnage rort that day. Sandvik had been an imperial trading post on a desert world under the protection of the Space Wolves. Skyrar denied any involvment yet witness came forward pointing prejudiced fingers at Wolf Lord Skyrar. Weapons found among the dead bore Skyrar's motif and bodies bore the marks of animal attack. Skyrar's temper boiled over curses turned to threats and threats turned to violence.

 

So, here we come, back with this quote:

 

Outside of battle he was boisterous, a loud and energetic pack mate loyal to his Lord and battle brothers.

 

A direct violation of everything Russ and the Imperium stood for, with little to no cause for reason or justification, displaying a lack of honor in apparently blatant disregard of respect and brotherly honesty or loyalty to his Great Wolf. Yet, for no given reason, this Wolf Lord (remember, a position of high authority and earned competence and wisdom) slaughtered a world and then lied about it?

 

Taking aside what I've critiqued so far... If weapons were found among the dead, that means that some of the dead were of Space Wolf origins. If so, then no one (not even me, a fabled storyteller) would dare go against that much evidence. Furthermore, since T-wolves are fairly distinctive, a witness would be able to quite accurately describe an attack by T-wolf based cavalry, leaving no doubt as to what happened.

 

 

Skyrar struck Logan Grimnar such a blow that the King of the Spacewolves was knocked from his feet. Wolfguard come to their lords defence and a general riot eschewed. It is unclear who first drew weapons but at the end of the battle Wolflord Skyrar have been wounded by several bolter rounds and several spacewolves lay dead.

 

This establishes the timeline of Skyrar. I'd have to fact check, but I'm about 50/50 that Thunderwolves were mentioned being used before Grimnar was Great Wolf, meaning that your prior claim of T-wolves being invented by Skyrar as patently untrue.

 

Oddly, I don't take issue with Skyrar popping Grimnar in the noggin. However, what I'm certain of is that the Wolf Guard would not join in; A conflict between Wolves is settled by Wolves. It would be Grimnar versus Skyrar, and with no mention of Skyrar in Grimnar's fluff, I'm willing to bet it'd ultimately be a great episode of "Fenris's Most One-Sided Fistfights".

 

As a brief tidbit, it is VERY rare that Wolf fights end with drawn bolters, even moreso with casualties. I'd suggest taking that out.

 

What I do take issue with is your interjection of Grimnar in this tale. A conflict like this would not be something taken lightly; you are directly coming to a crossroads with established fluff. As I said earlier, just because something is not said does not give one free reign to write what they see fit; If so, I would make an Ultramarines offshoot that was nothing but pink and glitter because somewhere, Guilliman told them to paint their armor that way and to prance about willy-nilly in the fields of Pansicon VI. After all, there's nothing saying he didn't, right?

 

I hope you look past my over the top hyperbole to see the issue at hand here. You're creating a major rift in the timeline and the fluff that is irreconcilable.

 

 

Skyrar fled Sandvik with his great company in tow and Skyrar's Dark Wolves were said to have walked to the thirteenth stone an accusation of treachery and rescinded fealty to the Space Wolf Chapter.

 

The entire Chapter was present on the planet? Not horrendously unbelievable, but if there was to be a conflict involving a potentially renegade Wolf Lord and Company, I'm fairly certain that the investigation would take place not on Sandvik, but on Fenris. Moreover, there is no way in hell that Skyrar would make it off planet after a brawl with the Great Wolf and after murdering fellow Wolves. Even presuming that Skyrar was on Sandvik, the presence of the Great Wolf implies that his own strike force would be there, and with the Great Wolf commanding superior skyward defenses (as well as, if I'm not mistaken, the entire Wolf fleet since Wolf navigators answer to the Great Wolf alone), there would be literally no way for Skyrar to escape, either off planet or out of the system.

 

 

 

 

Everything else is essentially just filler, and I won't bother going through it as it looks generally fine as is.

 

 

GENERAL ANALYSIS:

 

The Space Wolf flaw, the Canis Helix, has proven resistant to the powers of Chaos time and time again. There are a very few instances of very small numbers of Wolves going to Chaos, but for an entire Company to go to Chaos is literally damned near impossible. When a Wolf is influenced by Chaos, the inner-wulfen resists it; a bestial, animal mind is no place for Chaos gods, who rely largely on human emotion to gain their sway. The Wulfen mind does not crave death or vengeance, magical change or carnal pleasure. It is an animal, and nothing more; this lends the average Space Wolf a supreme resistance to Chaos influence. Hell, the precedent is set by the Wolf Tail Talismans; officially, they are not magical, yet they spoil Psyker-based powers simply because the Space Wolf believes in it hard enough (see Tinkerbell clause).

 

Wolves might go rogue as a whole Company, as this has been supported by the Codex, but Rogue does not mean Chaos. The current fluff simply shows that these elements operate within the Imperium as an independent police force, loyal to Russ, but not the Emperor (or the other way around, or both.) Acting much like the 13th Company, these rogue elements are, by and large, still considered Loyalists. However, when they leave, they leave officially, not running with their tails between their legs as you have portrayed Skyrar's flight. They renounce their oaths and are granted permission from the Great Wolf at the time, and they take their leave with one or maybe two token ships granted to them for purposes of transport only (No Battle Barge, for instance.)

 

 

SUMMARY: Coming from a Wolf player, everything in here is almost painful to read. From my eyes, it's almost like you never picked up the Wolf codex other than to glance at Thunderwolves briefly and decide that you want an army based around them. I hold high standards to writing about Wolves as a general rule, and a high standard to any 40K make-your-own fluff because it's such a delicately balanced house of cards already. You have not only tipped that balance, but sent the house of cards crashing to the ground in a burning wreck of shattered dreams and broken hopes.

 

 

It's not that the fluff was not a fairly decent read; You could use some basic proofreading, but in terms of content, it's not -all- that bad. What you need to do, however, is take out everything Space Wolf and base it around a different army. What you're proposing flies in the face of established fluff on almost every level, and is quite honestly patently absurd in terms of basis in 40K "facts".

 

 

 

As a tangential sidenote; Skyrar's Dark Wolves are fairly open-ended in that no one has ever heard of them. Are you deadset on using Space Wolf rules? Because if you really want to justify Chaos Space Wolves... There's really no way to do it without being called a git. Seeing as there is a comment in the fluff that no Wolves have fallen to Chaos en-masse (e.g., Company sized), Wolves are one of the few Chapters that have proven exceedingly resistant to Chaos; you might have better luck with Blood Angels successors or even Dark Angels Fallen. As it stands, Space Wolves are (ironically) the absolute -worst- choice you could think of to represent Skyrar's Dark Wolves.

[Paradill]

Not a criticism as such, but I would advise you to thoroughly read through Decoy's response Lone Wolf. As a long time wolf myself, I'm inclined to agree with a large percentage of his points. It's easy to get carried away when writing about something you are passionate about, but if you take Decoy's advice on board you could really improve the over all experience.

 

Paradill

[Lone Scout]

Decoy where have you been all my 40k life? Thank you for your in depth review of my fluff it is very very welcomed and more so appreicated. I don't claim to be a great writter or knowlegable on 40k fluff which is why I post my meager dibblings on B&C in the hopes that someone like you will step up, thank you.

I have read your points over several times and agree with almost all of your concerns. I wish to adress the very fundermental issue first then come back to the other points and I hope you are up for another read later down the track :)

 

The fundermental arguement that SW are resistant to Chaos I find totally irrelevent. Whilst resistant means they are less likely to turn it in no way makes them immune to it. The much quoted Canis Helix and the inner wolf while loyalist cling to the "stops chaos" stance, I can see that the inner wolf might help turn SW to chaos. It is after all sometimes a seductive part of a SW personality to give oneself over to the power of the wolf. In the Ragnar series he has to fight to put the wolf at bay and stop himself getting angry.(see I do read)

 

That aside I am going to turn SW's to Chaos. Some GW writers have already done so, best to get used to the idea and forget the elitism chaos proof nonsence. What I do seek to do is have a wolf lord and his company turn to Chaos in a credable way...not that crap about suddenly turning on their wolf brothers and joining a chaos boarding party.(worst writting bar my own that I have ever read...hated it). The leaping from the rhino stuff was suppose to be over the top, legends are alway over stated it makes a better story. I realise I have failed miserably in my endevor and so will have a second attempt soon.

"He disliked ale, citing it as “as bitter as a grox knackers” yet drank excessive amounts of mead.

Nothing pertaining to Chaos here; Not every Wolf drinks ale, I'd wager, though it's quite common for them to do so". this too was ment as tounge in cheek, more so to tick off beer drinkers and because I myself find beer horridly bitter.

 

Having gained breading stock and with the most advanced cybernetics at his disposal Skyrar had more thunderwolves than any other company and all of these were the blackmaned thunderwolves of legends

 

Breeding stock would have failed, and Skyrar has no more advanced cybernetics than any other Wolf Lord. Moreover, Thunderwolf number count is incredibly unknown; how can he have more than any company if exact numbers aren't known? Never said more advanced...just the best he could find

 

Moreover, current Wolf fluff indicates that Thunderwolf Cavalry is largely restricted to the Great Wolf alone. In the very few confirmed dispatches of Thunderwolves, it is at the hands of the Great Wolf and no one else. Like Wolf Scouts, Rune Priests, Wolf Priests and other such elite units, Thunderwolves seem to be the providence of the Great Wolf and the Great Wolf alone. There is very, -very- little chance that other companies have access to Thunderwolves on a per-Company basis. I respectfully disagree, from what I have seen very little at all has been written regarding TWC espesally who has what or even where they originated from.

 

Also... To my knowledge, Blackmane and Thunderwolf are two completely different species of Wolves. I'm fairly certain... read, about 95% sure... that there is no such thing as a "Blackmaned Thunderwolf" any more than there are "Monkey-Humans" There might be an exceedingly rare case of crossbreeding, but that is a whole other realm of impossible that I'd love to get into should you wish it. (Genetics is fun!)No idea at all to be honest, I thought a wolf was a wolf, some bigger than others but not different. More akin to say a poodle and a Newfoundland, sure it would be uncomfortable but not impossible I'm not going to go through the whole breading thing...it was poorly thought out...best wrestle your mount to the ground like a true warrior of Fenris. (get ur own, I ain't breadin em for ya!)

 

"Just because a piece of fluff is not explicitly specified does not mean that it's inherently up for grabs." indeed and this piece of gem has been golden thank you.

 

A direct violation of everything Russ and the Imperium stood for, with little to no cause for reason or justification, displaying a lack of honor in apparently blatant disregard of respect and brotherly honesty or loyalty to his Great Wolf. Yet, for no given reason, this Wolf Lord (remember, a position of high authority and earned competence and wisdom) slaughtered a world and then lied about it?No you have it all wrong. He denied his involvment, and in fact Skyrar wasn't involved nor were his company, it was a set up. This misunderstanding is golden too as I had asumed the reader would pick up on this...must be more direct in the future.

 

Now I'm at a bit of a loss thanks to your awesome reasoning.I can't see Logan and Skyrar haveing a punch up and remaining enemies...thats not how it works. Nor would bolters be drawn so where to now.

So now I need to write about a awesome kick arse grumpy WL that takes his entire company to the abyss but he has to look good doing it. Any suggestions?

[Decoy]

Long Post Snip

 

 

If you're deadset on finding a way to Chaos, you'll find your way there. Since you are dedicated to doing just that, I see no problem with your potential storyline; I'm just letting you know that the path to Chaos for Wolves is not simple in the least.

 

With that said...

 

 

The Wolf resistance to Chaos isn't something that you should casually disregard. Yes, it is possible for the Wolves to fall from grace, but on the Company scale, it's almost completely unheard of. What you have on your plate (and I find it intriguing and potentially quite fun, if done well) is a manipulation or a deception that would rival the Chaos workings against Magnus through Russ. However, seeing as I find it incredibly difficult to bring up my points in anything but an itemized list... Have this! A list of my musings and thoughts regarding your potential fluff.

 

 

CURRENT ISSUES

 

1.) The biggest one, as you pointed out prior, is that Wolves -do- fall to Chaos, just not often. What I think you've been looking for is a one-shot event that would send Skyrar and his Company into the pit of Chaos rather abruptly. IF a Wolf Company were to fall, I don't think that it would be a sudden system-shocking Chaos-fest (if you catch my meaning); even Blood Claws or Grey Hunters would reject their Lord if they found out that he was serving Chaos.

 

Thus, we're confronted with a bit of a dillemma; how to go to Chaos without the Lord and the rest of the Company noticing?

 

Simple answer, you can't. You don't just fall into Chaos in a heartbeat and NOT get noticed. So, this leaves us with some options that I will explore a bit later, but will list here:

 

THOUGHTS

A.) Skyrar's Company was set up for a failure of monumental proportions by Chaos agencies.

B.) Like any good Wolf, Skyrar and his boys got in a good fight with the Great Wolf, but ended up committing some taboo objectionable offense. They were banned or exiled.

C.) Skyrar n' Company went too long in the Warp (A bit of stock fluff, but it's a good fallback.)

D.) Skyrar and Company were out on a personal Great Hunt beyond the Galactic Rim and witnessed something so horrid that they knew they could never return.

 

 

2.) Thunderwolves. Always with the Thunderwolves. I can see someone's desire to run a largely Wolf-based army, however (I've proxied a Fenrisian/T-wolf-exclusive army. It actually did fairly well, and was fun.) So, the best I can say is just to leave the fluff relatively ambiguous; We don't -really- know when T-wolves were brought about since it's a retcon, but we have a general idea that it's been fairly recent. That means that Skyrar's fall from grace is a recent event (maybe within the past 1000 years?)

 

THOUGHTS

A.) Skyrar, while on mission, discovered another planet of Wolf-ish creatures on par with T-wolves.

B.) Skyrar's Wolves were one of the first (NEVER "The First") Companies who used Wolves large-scale by order of the Great Wolf, as a sort of testing ground for the modified T-wolves and Cyberwolves.

C.) Skyrar/crew was ordered to guard the transport of a shipment of F/T-Wolves to a battlefield.

 

 

 

 

 

Those are the two MAJOR GLARING issues that we, as writers, seem to be having a staredown with. These are the pivotal points that will decide how your fluff shapes itself, and these points are the ones that are vital to examine. If we make the ABSOLUTE BEST out of these points, we can have a great story that practically writes itself. I'll elaborate on each thought that I've thrown out there, and you can comment/critique/question at your leisure. Feel free to steal anything that catches your eye, of course.

 

 

CHAOS WOLVES:

 

A.) Skyrar's Company was set up for a failure of monumental proportions by Chaos agencies.

 

In this, I think that you stand to have an excellent story. This is the fall of Magnus, played out in reverse; Imagine if the Thousand Sons, with the help of the Alpha Legion, set up this Company to fall (and, in a grander scheme, was setting up the Wolves to fall apart piecemeal). The way I see this playing out is the following.

 

Skyrar defeats Kson Lord time and time again, but never manages to kill him.

Kson Lord knows he can't assault Skyrar directly so plots out nefarious scheme to make Skyrar fall to Chaos.

Nefarious Scheme results in Skyrar being framed for Sandvik Massacre (I'm torn on suggesting a namechange for Sandvik. All I can think of is Team Fortress 2's Heavy scream/singing "SAAAAAANDVIIIIIK! SAAAAAAANDVIK! SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANDVIK!")

Skyrar, put up for trial, is exonerated thanks to wisdom of Great Wolf.

RIGHT after the exoneration, another world is slaughtered, with the same tactics, more witnesses saying "GEESUS T-Wolves!"

Wolf Lord has no choice but to exile Skyrar

Skyrar, dejected, goes on a bitter crusade to redeem himself but ends up consumed by his emotions (along with his Great Company), falling to Khorne.

 

 

B.) Like any good Wolf, Skyrar and his boys got in a good fight with the Great Wolf, but ended up committing some taboo objectionable offense. They were banned or exiled.

 

This one is fairly open-ended. You can pretty much do what you want; Skyrar's meteoric rise creates a sense of undue self-worth. Perhaps around the time that Grimnar was made Great Wolf, Skyrar held such a grudge that eventually the two come to blows at a great feast, screaming about "It should have been me", et cetera. Grimnar, faced with open rebellion of a rogue element, is forced to exile Skyrar and crew to eternally wander the stars. Skyrar, wrathful, goes on a bitter crusade to redeem himself but ends up consumed by his emotions, falling to (insert Chaos God Here for whatever fluff reason you want.)

 

 

C.) Skyrar n' Company went too long in the Warp (A bit of stock fluff, but it's a good fallback.)

 

This needs no explanation. However, it smacks of "A wizard did it", so I'd avoid it unless you have no choice.

 

 

D.) Skyrar and Company were out on a personal Great Hunt beyond the Galactic Rim and witnessed something so horrid that they knew they could never return.

 

This bit also has great potential. There is precedent for this... In the C:SW, a Wolf battlegroup finds itself accidentally spit out FAR beyond the galactic rim. They encounter what appear to be peaceable humans, but after a faux-pas, the humans attack and the Wolf battlegroup is never seen again.

 

Imagine what kind of indescribable horrors would annihilate the mind of a Space Wolf! Great potential for creative license. Just don't make it too gimmicky.

 

 

 

 

 

I'll come back to address the second points later, as I have to go do a bit of work for a while. Let me know what you think thus far, and we'll poke around at it a bit more.

[Lone Scout]

Thanks, glad to have you onboard. Firstly "always with the thunderwolves"....hell yes. I have chaosed up some of the mythicast models and I love them...TW's FTW :P

 

I don't like option a but it might work. (btw Sandvik came about because my gaming table is based on a sand world...so Sandvillage seemed to work. Never played TF2)

It smacks of Chaos out thinks you again?

 

b I like this it sets up well for a self absorbed chaos wolf lord.

c has been done to death so I definatly don't want to go there

d too hard too obscure

 

So I will work out some senerios for b.

[Emperors Immortals]

First of all, its good to see someone else trying to write some background for Skyrar!

 

That said, ive recently decided to scrap what i had written and instead continue with what was written in the Dornian Heresy IA articles for Khornate SW and Loyalist 1ksons.A truly excellant read.

 

If you havent read that yet, please take teh time to go to Amicus Aedes and download it.The relevant sections are pg.63, middle paragraph towards teh end and again on pg.70 under teh description "Skyrars Rift".

 

Personally i feel this answers background material concerns much better then trying to fit Skyrar within "our" universe and also resonates with my love for alternate history (ie; Kim Newmans description of a Superman who landed in Nazi Germany instead of America).It also neatly solves teh SW cant be corrupted argument.

 

So, to add to the scant information contained within, Skyrar is a devoted Khornate champion and true son of Fenris, willing to sacrifice himself and his crew to strike hard at his enemies heart as a matter of martial pride and honour.When the ship emerged on the Rifts otherside (this rift i believe is the main location for Skyrars sightings) Skyrars Blood Priests (sort of Apothocary/Chaplain cross) are delighted to inform him that Khornes will has guided them to a reality where Fenris still exists, the SW are loyalists (providing the most sport for there butchering raids and purest source of wolfhelix gene-seed) and teh 1k sons were traitors (o the beautiul irony).This is taken as both a blessing to continue the butchery and a martial challenge - this realities Imperium is weaker and ripe for the kill - and Skyrar has been blessed with the chance to do so.

 

In my mind, Skyrar is not a raving bezerker, but an old gaurd Khorne devotee, cunning and able to use tactical genius to increase teh skulls his Lord will recieve.He uses Jumppack infantry in small numbers, has no TW cav (being that he crossed through on board what we can assume was a cruiser class vessel) and is willing to ally himself with "our" chaos and renegade faactions in order to continue the existance of his (now unique) band of WolfBrothers.He is a raider a butcher and a pirate,and while he may have access to some heavier equipment, he is moslty constrained to using infantry and support tanks.I see veterans (chosen) playng a big part in his force.

 

 

Thhis is IMHO the easiest, best and strongest background for Skyrar.It is unfortunatly probably not what you are looking for - as there is no TW , just teh last stand of a proud Khorneate champion whos martial honour and prowess is said to be rewarded in the form of a "rebirth" (which incedentally will propel my Skyrar even further into realms of the megalomaniac and empire builder).

 

 

The beauty of this is of course, that in this reality, there could possibly be 2 Skyrars - the one crossed over and the one in this reality.Though in my background Skyrar did not exist here until he crossed over, theres no reason we cant both have unique background in this one reality.

 

 

Lastly, because of his method of arrival, i call him the "Shadow between Stars" (in a nod to;

 

The Stalker Between Stars

-This Wolf was the totem of Leman Russ and is still the icon born by every Great Wolf. The Stalker Between the Stars teaches the Sons of Russ that wherever they walk no matter how distant they bring the glory of Fenris with them.

 

Ranek, the Hidden Wolf

-Ranek is the Wolf who stalks the shadows, and teaches the young Wolves the virtues of stealth and hunting, that the fang from the dark is sometimes doubly as wounding as any other. )

[Lone Scout]

Here I was getting excited finding new allies and all of a sudden you have vanished into the warp.

I will still develop SDW in this reality, if for no other reason than to have all the SW players continue to loath me. :)

I'm seriously thinking of pinching the skyrar is a chaos goddess concept, that corrupts vain SW's. Much like a wolf culls the weak and therefore allows the strong to remain strong, skyrar will prune the vain and overly aggressive or headstrong while loyal SW will resist her. Will make a nice story line I think.

[Emperors Immortals]

It sounds really good, the godess idea was from an ancient thread somewhere here on the BC, and it was just that Skyrar is a chaos goddess that gives brotherhood and protection to those in need and who activly defy the Emperor/empire.The ministorium/Inquisitions take on that would however be just as you described :(

 

The concept was that she was the 5th chaos god (move over Malal), though no where near as powerful as any of the other 4 she was growing in influence amongst pirates and traitors.

 

I really decided to go teh way i have posted above because as a long time SW player (though my most recent army is about 8 yrs old and in need of a revamp) i just couldnt justify the fall from grace idea, at least not since teh 13th co was expanded on.My skyrar band is actually teh 13th co i heard about waaaay back in 2nd ed.So ive been superseded by fluff unfortunatly.

 

Id still love to help you though, i think the above posts are some really great advice, and the one thing id say when creating characters in 40k is to avoid making a rock'n'roll Jesus - the bad ass mutha with a heart of gold who just may be the saviour for many.40k is full of heroes, and there are many types of wolves :P

 

 

Lastly, id say i never disapeared into teh warp - in fact its just the opposite ;p