Wolf scout advice?

[ScottishSmurf96]

I am working on a story that will include 2 wolf scouts (roran and sven)

 

Roran Jarl Slayer is a remarkably calm space wolf, who favours a stalker bolter, a bolt pistol and his power knife (which he used to kill an infamous demon prince that called himself the 'king of the void'. This high profile kill gave him the name 'Jarl Slayer') l

 

Sven Frost Mane, is a hot headed wolf famed for his ice-white beard. He enjoys brutal close quaters fighting and carries a frost axe and a combat shotgun. He gained his ice-white beard during the final initiation task to get back to the fang. He and his pack mates were doing the trail as usual untill a blizzard of unheard magnatude struck. Nearly all of the aspirants were killed, Sven was found by Roran during the storm Sven had nearly been taken by the wolfen before being calmed and saved by Roran. They were the only aspirants to return and have allways felt isolated, which is why they became wolf scouts. Ever since they have been inseperable.

 

Hope it is believable and I would love some feedback.

 

Also... Are there any circumstances where wolf scouts would be issued with power armour?

 

Cheers, Tom

[greatcrusade08]

you could take a wolf guard in a unit of wolf scouts.. hed be the only one with power armour though

[Toasterfree]

and really the only one to carry a frost blade. scouts dont carry frost blades.

[Wolfsbane]

and really the only one to carry a frost blade. scouts dont carry frost blades.

 

While by the codex wolf scouts cannot take a frost blade (they are allowed 2 power weapons), I believe that fiction in stories is rarely cannon. It could easily be written in one of their operations behind enemy lines their wolf guard leader was struck down and Sven Frost Mane took it upon himself to heave his alpha's weapon upon those that slew him down. Upon return to the Aett when the weapon was to be placed back into the care of the Iron Priests it was given to Sven for his heroic deeds, as he spilled the red snow of the enemy with the weapon, it would be his until his red snow would fall.

 

Special characters are defined very much by their weaponry. As long as their is a story to explain the boon, I believe it is justified.

[Wulfebane]

I love scouts, so I'm eager to see this idea develop.

 

My one critique would be that you didn't explain how Sven got his white hair, unless you're claiming the blizzard froze his hair solid or something... Which doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe you could say the helix ran its course rapidly in him, aging him faster, both physically and temperamentally, than his Claw brethren more to the point of a seasoned Hunter, thus causing him to feel isolated.

[ScottishSmurf96]

I love scouts, so I'm eager to see this idea develop.

 

My one critique would be that you didn't explain how Sven got his white hair, unless you're claiming the blizzard froze his hair solid or something... Which doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe you could say the helix ran its course rapidly in him, aging him faster, both physically and temperamentally, than his Claw brethren more to the point of a seasoned Hunter, thus causing him to feel isolated.

Ahh! Curses I missed that out.... His brush with the wolfen caused him to age.....

[Valerian]

I am working on a story that will include 2 wolf scouts (roran and sven)

 

Roran Jarl Slayer is a remarkably calm space wolf, who favours a stalker bolter, a bolt pistol and his power knife (which he used to kill an infamous demon prince that called himself the 'king of the void'. This high profile kill gave him the name 'Jarl Slayer') l

 

Sven Frost Mane, is a hot headed wolf famed for his ice-white beard. He enjoys brutal close quaters fighting and carries a frost axe and a combat shotgun. He gained his ice-white beard during the final initiation task to get back to the fang. He and his pack mates were doing the trail as usual untill a blizzard of unheard magnatude struck. Nearly all of the aspirants were killed, Sven was found by Roran during the storm Sven had nearly been taken by the wolfen before being calmed and saved by Roran. They were the only aspirants to return and have allways felt isolated, which is why they became wolf scouts. Ever since they have been inseperable.

 

Hope it is believable and I would love some feedback.

 

Cheers, Tom

 

Tom,

 

I've got some fluff issues with it. First, an aspirant doesn't have a pack. He is selected from the youth of Fenris, goes through the Questioning and Feasting (which I won't detail here), then goes through the Blooding and Returning, which I will provide:

 

The Blooding

 

 

When the aspirant awakens he is freezing cold. He lies naked in the snow with a knife of meteoric iron close at hand. He is feverish and distressed. His head throbs and his muscles ache. His gums bleed and his mouth burns. Near him stands the Wolf Priest that selected him, who tells the aspirant that the true test has now begun. To prove himself worthy he must make his way back to the Fang and gain entrance. He is now at the other side of the continent, a thousand miles away from home. The Wolf Priest disappears and the aspirant is truly on his own.

 

Although the aspirant does not know it, the feast had a purpose. The geneseed is beginning to work on his body, rushing through it and restructuring it. Muscle mass is being added, bones are beginning to fuse together, and the very structure of his brain is beginning to alter, quickening his reactions and heightening his perceptions. Vestigial fangs are starting to emerge. The venison provides the raw protein for this, and the sacred ale was laced with the necessary trace chemicals to fuel the change.

 

The aspirant knows none of this. He is wracked with pain and his body stretches and grows. His mind is haunted by visions and sanity fades. He becomes wolf-like, feral, maddened by agony and hunger. Now is the worst time, he is constantly hungry because his changing body needs more and more nourishment if it is to sustain growth. Failure to provide this will be fatal as his body begins to cannibalise itself.

 

These first few days are the most critical. The aspirant must feed often. He is usually left near a source of food such as an elk herd. Near mindless, he must hunt them down, eat their raw flesh and drink their blood. Some aspirants, unable to meet the challenge, perish. Some, whether due to some flaw in themselves or the geneseed, never get beyond this stage. They become mindless creatures, with an animal's cunning. They continue to grow and hunger for flesh, eventually becoming Wulfen, the most feared monsters on Fenris. Others only partially overcome this stage, and in later life will revert to the Wulfen state in times of crisis.

 

 

The Returning

 

 

If the aspirant survives the First few days then his sanity and intelligence slowly return. He looks on the world anew and finds it changed. His senses are keener. He can see for ten miles, hear the crack of a twig a league away, smell the musk trails of deer and wolf. He finds he has grown strong beyond the imagining of a mortal man, able to uproot trees and run for days without tiring. He is almost immune to the biting chill. He recalls who he is and how he came to where he is, which is just as well, for he will need all a man's intelligence as well as the superhuman powers of a Space Marine to cover the distance to the Fang. The land is full of danger from wild beasts, awful weather, and the constant threat of landslide and avalanche.

 

The elks of Fenris are huge beasts, standing near twelve foot at the shoulder, with razor sharp antlers ten foot across. They can easily trample a hunter to death and one sweep of their horns can disembowel a man. There are huge white bears, savage engines of destruction twenty foot tall, weighing many tons. Most feared of all are the packs of Fenrisian Wolves, one of the most vicious predators in the known galaxy. The smallest of these great grey wolves are the size of ponies, and the oldest can attain the size of a Rhino armoured personnel carrier. They are amazingly intelligent and always voraciously hungry. Their pack tactics make them the most efficient hunters on the surface of the world. Working together, they isolate and hunt down even the largest prey.

 

It is these wolves that make Asaheim virtually uninhabitable to man, and tales of these red-eyed, howling beasts are used to quieten unruly children in the Islands. The legend goes that in ancient times mankind lived on Asaheim and grew weak and decadent. Russ saw this and was most displeased, and in his anger unleashed his wolves and they drove man out of his ancestral home. Only when folk are worthy enough to drive out the wolves will they be able to reclaim their land.

 

To combat the cold, the aspirants make themselves clothing from the hides of their prey and attach their ceremonial knives to branches to make spears. Then they begin to cross the land, passing through wolf-haunted forests and over freezing plains. Slowly the land rises before them and the Fang comes into view, visible hundreds of miles away. To reach their destination the aspirants must now climb cliffs and traverse glaciers. In the mountains the aspirants encounter dragons and blood eagles. Food becomes scarce. Many aspirants die on this pilgrimage. Those who do not will eventually find themselves before one of the Fang's many gates. Here, at the heart of the northern continent, where the mountains meet over the pole, they will see the Fang in all its glory for the first time.

 

Warriors are assembled at the gate to greet the aspirants. This time their applause has no irony. They are welcomed as a brother. The Great Wolf takes their oath of fealty and they are invited anew to another feast. After this their real training begins. New organs are implanted, changing them even more. But from the moment that they reach the Gates Of Fenris they have become Space Wolves.

 

So, as you can see, this is very much an individual ordeal, and not something that could/would take advantage of teamwork or pack-mates, especially as the new candidate hasn't been accepted into a pack yet, or indeed even fully accepted into the Chapter yet.

 

Also, here is some good stuff on Wolf Scouts, that might be helpful, too:

 

Wolf Scouts

 

Wolf Scouts are very different to the scouts fielded by other Space Marine Chapters, a fact that has caused some confusion amongst Imperial scholars in the past. In most other Chapters new battle brothers are inducted into the Scout Company first, and it is there that they learn the skills required to become a full Space Marine. This is not the case with the Space Wolves, where new aspirants become Blood Claws upon joining the Chapter.

 

Instead, in the Space Wolves Chapter, certain battle brothers are promoted to join the Scouts, in a similar manner that others are promoted to the Wolf Guard. However, promotion to the Scouts is based on the warrior's natural character and aptitude, rather than being in recognition of a feat of valour. Certain Space Wolves are simply not well suited to the close-knit and boisterous brotherhood of the pack. Instead they are solitary people who yearn for wide open spaces and isolation. They are taciturn men of few words, whose soul is touched by the call of the wild.

 

Such Space Wolves can be very disruptive to the smooth running of a pack, and as soon as they are identified by the keen senses and understanding of a Wolf Priest they will be asked if they wish to become a Wolf Scout. Most accept readily, though some are loath to leave their pack-brothers, especially if they owe debts of honour as yet unpaid. In such circumstances they will be counselled by the Wolf Priest until they understand that it would be for the best for all if they left. Any debts that they might owe will be called void, for all know that they will serve their brothers well in the Scouts.

 

To mark his transition to a Scout the warrior undergoes a ritual to find his Were-Spirit. The initiate must fast for several days, all the time attended by a Wolf Priest. When the time is right, the Wolf Priest calls upon the services of a Rune Priest who, with the aid of a potent hallucinogenic brew, guides the initiate into the spirit realm. There the Space Marine will soul-bind with one of the Were-Spirits of Fenrisian myth. According to Fenrisian tradition these creatures embody the traits and characteristics of the different animals that inhabit Fenris. By binding with such a creature one gains some of the traits of the living creature. Those that bind with the Were-Spirit of the Blood Eagle are said to be blessed with extraordinarily acute eyesight, for example, while one that binds with the Were-Spirit of the Snow Leopard will become unusually fleet of foot. Once the Scout has been bound with his Were-Spirit he is considered to have become a full-fledged Wolf Scout, and can never be accepted back into the Chapter proper. To mark the change, the Scout will have tattoos applied to his body. He may collect and wear totems to show the Were-Spirit to which he has bound.

 

Wolf Scouts are equipped with lighter weapons and armour than that worn by their battle brothers in the Great Companies. They are used to range ahead of a Space Wolves army, using stealth and infiltration to catch their foe unawares and cause maximum confusion amongst the enemy. Packs of Scouts will often be dropped deep behind enemy lines, from where they wage an ongoing guerrilla war, striking at the enemy when least expected, and then vanishing back into the wilderness that is their natural home. It is not unknown for Scout packs to operate like this for months, and in some cases years at a time. Such is the nature of a Wolf Scout that they do not find such a lonely duty onerous; indeed they seem to prefer such missions, as they call for little contact with anyone other than the victims that die silently at their hands.

 

Best of luck,

 

Valerian

[ScottishSmurf96]

Well I assumed that the groups that go to camps like 'Russvik' (i think it is called that) allways stay togother. I am basing this assumption off the space wolf omnibus, and I know that the trail to get back to the fang is done alone but they may have crossed eachothers paths on the way by chance.

[ScottishSmurf96]

I think after reading the info you posted (thank you by the way!) My story will be including a 5 man ubit of scouts but these two are the only remaining wolves alive, that would explain sven having a frost axe.

[hendrik]

also note that only once a battlebrother becomes a grey hunter he is able to join the scouts, in addition to all that val just said.

[Wulfebane]

also note that only once a battlebrother becomes a grey hunter he is able to join the scouts, in addition to all that val just said.

 

I'd wager there are exceptions for very isolated pups.

[hendrik]

nope, the dex is and was actually very clear on it, they must learn the lessons of warfare just like their contemporaries. becoming a scout is a honour they've got to earn

[Wulfebane]

Yes, well as the 2E codex proves, canon lore isn't exactly consistent. Once upon a time, our scouts were inducted from recruits prior to becoming Claws. While I agree with and prefer our scouts being veterans, per the current codex, there's enough ambiguity to allow some elbow room on the lore.

 

Not to mention that the honor you speak of can be attained as a Claw. It can take decades or longer to advance to the Hunter ranks. Also, the Space Wolf Omnibus indicates that Ragnar skipped past becoming a Hunter and straight to a Wolf Guard.

[hendrik]

offcourse canon can change any time,but induction into the wolf guard happens after you do a very brave deed and your wolf lord decides he wants you as his bodyguard. joining the scouts on the other hand is not a promotion of a great deed, but rather becaue you don't fit in with the pack. the whole point is that the isolated bloodclaw has to earn the right to be this independant and as such first he must make it as a bloodclaw and learn the lessons of war and murdermake before he's able to join the veteran scouts, because that's what they are,veterans in their own right