Volsung's Great Company Fluff

[-Volsung-]

Greetings brothers,

 

So I've been formulating my Great Company's background history as motivation for me assembling and painting the rest of them, and I wanted to see what you guys think of it so so far. 

 

Comments, criticism, and fact-checking is perfectly welcomed and appreciated! 

 

 

The Great Company of Wolf Lord Volgard of Blackmane

Circa M.41

 

 

Leader: Wolf Lord Volgard of Blackmane

 

 

Personal History:

 

Volgard was recruited into the Space Wolves as a contemporary of Ragnar Blackmane, having fought side by side with Blackmane during their first engagement on Fenris, against the traitor Madox. Volgard was grievously injured in the battle that killed Pack Leader Hengist, but was later found and rescued from the ruins of the Chaos Temple by the Space Wolf task force sent to purge the heretic outpost. Volgard served for a long time as a Blood Claw under what would eventually be Berek Thunderfist's, and later Ragnar Blackmane's company, but he was never close to the Blackmane as his immediate contemporaries were. By the time he had recovered from his wounds, his former Blood Claw packmates had all shipped out to their respective missions, and he found himself keeping company with a different crowd whom he bonded with. That was when Volgard met the Trickster. Volgard is characterized as quiet, meticulous, and slow to anger, but could be brutal and terrifying when his rage is kindled. He was often considered "the Sleeping Wolf," for he would often lounge lazily in the feast halls, obeying orders only when superiors cracked the whip. While gregarious and well-liked by his fellow peers, he never had any inclination to lead, preferring to lead a simple existence of fighting when he had to, and drinking when he didn't. At the time, he found himself enjoying the company of Lukas Strifeson and his pack of misfits, and spent many days AWOL, participating in whatever mischief the Trickster had in mind. 

 

As the first century of his service passed, Volgard began to change. He didn't find satisfaction in being stuck at the rank of Blood Claw. The advices of his elders, so easily and willingly ignored before, began to make sense. He began to train himself, and as the years passed, senior Wolves took notice of his extraordinary marksmanship. He was eventually hand-picked and assigned to Fjori the Red's pack (then a very old Grey Hunter). "One-Tooth Fjori," as they called him, had already served for centuries after taking the Grey, and was the de-factor pack leader of the Red Reavers, a land speeder squadron within the Great Company. Volgard took the promotion, to the bitter chagrin of his friend Lukas and his fellow Blood Claws, and was personally assigned to be Fjori's heavy bolter gunner aboard the elder Wolf's land speeder. Volgard was thus promoted to the rank of Grey Hunter. His long service as a gunner was his first and only assignment after taking the Grey.

 

His elevation to Wolf Guard was secured during a search and destroy mission decades later against the Tyranids. Fjori's land speeder had been separated from his pack during a dogfight with xeno bio-flyers, and the land speeder took a hit and crash landed in enemy territory. Volgard dragged the injured Fjori clear from the wreck to a rocky outcropping, and held his ground for three days and three nights against hordes of Tyranids armed with nothing except for the land speeder's heavy bolter, which he tore from its swivel-mount. After the battle, Volgard was promoted to the Wolf Lord's personal Wolf Guards, and the elderly Fjori was inducted into the Long Fangs.

 

Company History:

 

As a Wolf Guard, Volgard was well-liked but was never considered, by himself or his peers, to ever climb to the rank of Jarl. By the time Blackmane became Wolf Lord, Volgard was a simple Pack Leader for one of the veteran Grey Hunter packs (the legendary brothers Tyr and Turok being known members of his pack).

 

However, tragedy struck when Jarl Blackmane's company were viciously ambushed during a standard drop-pod maneuver. Planetary defenses opened up on the unsuspecting Wolves, and Blackmane and a majority of his Wolf Guards were slain during the drop. Blackmane's company, in grief and disarray at the loss of their leader, lost a majority of their brothers, and were saved only with the intervention of Logan Grimnar, the Great Wolf's, company.

 

With only a few Wolf Guards still alive, the mantle of lordship fell upon Volgard. Here, the Sleeping Wolf awoke, and showed his true colors. Nearly all of the wolves that had served the late Blackmane were so disheartened and depressed at the loss of their Jarl that the entire remainder of the Company were willing to take the Oath of the Lone Wolf. Confronted with the prospect of dishonor and exile, and having the beloved name of Blackmane joining the list of fallen companies, Volgard took a stand. He swore that he would attempt to rebuild Blackmane's legacy, an oath that impressed even the Great Wolf High Jarl Grimnar himself.  

 

The young and lazy Blood Claw had come a long way. Threatened with the prospect of dishonor and having the Great Company which he so proudly represented fading into obscurity, the fire of the Wulfen blood stirred within Volgard to stand tall as his forefathers had. He summoned his pride, his heart kindled with newfound motivation, as he came to the realization that if he did not take a stand, then who else would? Casting formalities to the wind, Volgard went from pack to pack, from the Wolf Guards, to the elderly Long Fangs, to the grizzled Grey Hunters and the wet-behind-the-ears Blood Claws, to friends and even rivals in different Companies of the vast Vlka Fenryka, calling in any favors and debts he had from friends and comrades in arms. Most were surprised by this newfound dedication, but while several still doubted him, Volgard's confidence became irresistible at a time of great sorrow. For many of the Blackmane survivors, he offered them hope in light of overwhelming despair.

 

The other Jarls, save for Grimnar, were not so optimistic. To them, Volgard was bound for failure. "Blackmane's legacy is dead," they spoke cynically, over mugs of mjod and ale.

 

In a move that would astound the other elder Wolves for centuries later, Volgard approached his old friend Lukas, and to even greater surprise, the Trickster, having a soft spot for this new underdog Jarl, put aside the conflict he had with his former Blood Claw comrade and swore his loyalty, for the first time ever, to Jarl Volgard of Blackmane.

 

As his first act as Jarl, Volgard promoted to his Wolf Guard: the Long Fang Fjori the Red as his advisor and the unpredictable Lukas as his second in command, a move that demonstrated how far the new Jarl would go to rebuild Blackmane's Great Company.

 

 

Company Disposition:

 

With only a handful of Grey Hunters still alive from the disastrous battle that claimed Jarl Ragnar's life, Volgard's rebuilding of Blackmane's Company afforded him many significant and necessary changes. Firstly, Volgard rejected the idea of renaming his company, opting to keep the soubriquet of Blackmane in honor of Ragnar and his memories. All brothers were ordered to paint their right kneepads black as a symbol of mourning for their fallen lord. This act secured Volgard the loyalty of the grieving survivors in a time where typical Space Wolf bravado might have lost him respect. Within years, the men took this gesture to heart, and profoundly responded in kind. They declared the new Wolf Lord: "Jarl Volgard Blackmane."

 

Volgard's first act was to modify the pack system, forming them around the surviving Grey Hunter packs that still lived. Thus, the Grey Hunters of the modern Blackmane Great Company now recruited more like Codex Tactical Squads, where packs would be replenished with new members, as opposed to the entire packs being elevated to the next rank. Blood Claws rising to become Grey Hunters would no longer form their own packs but be distributed to each of the solidified packs that already exist, leading to the rise and retainment of famous pack names like Hargund's Heroes, the Sons of Ragnar, Aeric's Rabid Dogs, or Tyr's Pack and Turok's pack (the last two being company legends, blood-brothers of the same mother who were both recruited into the wolves and who shared an intense sibling rivalry that carried on to their packs. It was said  that the two brothers fought side by side in a desperate last stand, and spent the last minutes of their lives bickering to the bitter end as to who got the most kills. To this day, the two packs argue violently as to which of the brothers died first and which outlasted the other)

 

Still in their rebuilding stage, the company features a large number of Blood Claws and Skyclaws, spurred by the influences of Lukas, who pulled many strings and stirred many of the troublemaking youths to declare their allegiance to Jarl Volgard. 

 

Volgard Blackmane's company also featured heavy use of land speeders and Thunderhawks, as opposed to drop pods, preferring to use his men conservatively and with care. The company prides itself on mobility and quick deployment, specializing in search and destroy missions, establishing landing zones and extracting when the targets are eliminated. Many of the older Wolf Lords sneer at Lord Volgard's tactics, claiming that wolves should be fighting with feet on the ground rather than in the air, and often call his company: "Volgard's Flying Dogs," a term that with certainty will instigate a massive and violent brawl between companies in the feasting halls of the Fang.

 

It remains to be seen if Volgard's leadership could bring back the glory days of Blackmane's legacy, or be insufficient to spare the company from going the way of the 13th. 

 

 

 

EDIT- On second read, some stuff didn't make sense to me. To the chopping block they go! Edit makes perfect.

[maverik_girl]

I don't think Ragnar was even around during the first war of Armageddon.

[-Volsung-]

Oh good call. Fixed!

[Russ Brother 92]

You mention Fjori the Red and Fjori the One-Eyed in the same breath - are they the same? Also you state him as being a Long Fang "in centuries past" yet go one to state that once Volgard is inducted into the Wolf Guard Fjori is inducted as a Long Fang?

 

Other than this very good :)

[-Volsung-]

Thank you, Brother Russ. It is fixed at once!

I appreciate all the help! Hopefully I can get some pictures up soon of what I have so far.

I'm working on the Red Reavers Land Speeder squadron at the moment. The lead Typhoon is a converted Land Speeder Storm piloted by PA marines!