Fluff Question: Are the Dark Wolves a Fallen Great Company?

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

So a friend of mine at my FLGS began using the latest Imperial Armour book for his black legion (the stuff he can take now is rather nasty, and I have no counter for it yet, since I don't have the money for forgeworld models, and there are varying opinions on proxying). I found the Dark Wolves. 

 

So I did a little research and found that one theory states they are fallen Space Wolves. Now I suppose this could be true since no-one is immune to temptation, only able to resist it. But the VI Legion lost an entire great company to the Aether, and when they re-emerged, they were mutated, but untainted by Chaos. Furthermore while there are innumerable examples of other Astartes falling to the taint of chaos, the Space Wolves have only one confirmed case, Svane Vulfbad (and I don't even know if that's still cannon).

 

So what do y'all think? I'm curious about this, and I'd like to hear what my Brothers of the Aett think.

[Conn Eremon]

The obsidian-black slab that represents the missing 13th Great Company doesn't just represent that Heresy-era Great Company tasked by Russ and then never seen again. It also represents those Great Companies that have been destroyed or corrupted. I believe the older Codices actually said 'corrupted by Chaos,' while the current one is a bit more vague:

 

 

 

THE 13TH COMPANY

The blank obsidian name-stone set into the Grand Annulus was once that of Jorin Bloodhowl’s Great Company, known as the Wulfenkind; they who hounded the Thousand Sons into the Warp during the Horus Heresy. It represents all of the Great Companies across history that have been destroyed in battle, lost on campaign or claimed by dishonour. Only a handful of outsiders know of its existence.

 

As for the Dark Wolves warband, it seems obvious to me that they want to make it clear that it is a Chaos-corrupted Space Wolves host. But Forge World in particular likes to use clear, in-universe narration. While an entertaining narration, at least for me, it does mean that almost every source of information is framed with maybes and what ifs. The Dark Wolves are no different, as it says things like 'some claim' but 'nobody would dare say that in a Wolf's company,' but the fact that the Space Wolves 'leap at the chance' to bring them to justice lends 'credence to the theory.'

 

 

 

In short: The Space Wolves are known to have lost Great Companies to Chaos, and the Dark Wolves are likely an example of such.

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

the Dark Wolves are a fallen Great Company.

 

No ifs ands or buts about it.

 

Space Wolves can and have fall(en) to the lures of Chaos. The only Marines to remain completely uncorrupted are the Grey Knights.

 

WLK

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

I knew that about the 13th. I just was curious what people thought. The idea that it could happen, makes them flawed, which makes it more impressive when a group resists the fall to chaos. I mean, that's why people have heroes, why we look up to people who are just as flawed as we are, but are good people in spite of those flaws. 

 

I styled my wolves as a sort of renegade lost Company. They went and sought out chaos to beat it's faces in, in a pre-emptive strike, to protect humanity. They defended whole worlds against rampaging hordes of daemons and traitors because it was the right thing to do, because they couldn't stand by while the imperium ignored their pleas for help. They were lost in a warp storm for 400 years, and refused to give up or give in, no matter the hell surrounding them.

 

While that plays to my pathological need to be the good guy, it's sort of fun to contemplate the other direction. 

 

So are the Dark Wolves the antithesis to the Space Wolves? Are the Chaos Undivided, or are they devoted to one of the ruinous powers? 

[Morik]

i remember reading somewhere it stated that the SW have a high tolerance for chaos because they have all they want in endless battle and the chance to prove themselves 

[MaveriK]

i remember reading somewhere it stated that the SW have a high tolerance for chaos because they have all they want in endless battle and the chance to prove themselves

 

the curse of the wulfen? Yea it helps! but I've also read that if you wear a condom it's not 100% fool proof the get a woman pregant. Like Kieran said there has been past examples that prove it, even if the most die-hard fans dislike the idea. It's a fact.

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

The curse of the wulfen is supposed to be a ward against chaos, and the Cnais helix is supposed to increase their resistance to the warp, but like Maverik said, not 100% reliable. It's going to come down to the individual. 

 

I'm looking forward to seeing where this thread goes. So, 2 bits to a dollar say the dark wolves worship khorne. Or do they just loot, pillage, and plunder in the name of anarchy? Or are they devoted to chaos? I don't have the book, and I can't really find any lore on them.

[Leif Bearclaw]

 

The obsidian-black slab that represents the missing 13th Great Company doesn't just represent that Heresy-era Great Company tasked by Russ and then never seen again. It also represents those Great Companies that have been destroyed or corrupted. I believe the older Codices actually said 'corrupted by Chaos,' while the current one is a bit more vague:

I don't know about the 2nd ed one, but the 3rd ed dex wasn't that specific. If memory serves it said the stone represents Companies that have been lost, destroyed or 'recanted their oaths of fealty'.

[Kastor Krieg]

Malal's own little Wolves. You know you want them to be that.

[Frater Cornelius]

It is said that the Dark Wolves have committed an unspeakable crime and thus were sent on a penance crusade. Those things that happened to them pushed them over the edge and they became traitors.

That is the extend of the fluff given by FW at least.

[Emperors Immortals]

AFAIK the origins of The Dark Wolves under Skyrar seem to be renegades and pirates rather then" classically fallen" astartes.

There gene seed would protect them from the worst of mutations, but chaos is as deep as the soul and not the skin and any human, even mighty astartes may fall victim to hubris.

In my fluff,Skyrar is a renegade a pirate and head of a cult of SW who recruit only Sons of Fenris that they turn with honeyed words.

Looking forward to more responses.

[Vash113]

Well technically we don't know if Skyrar's Dark Wolves are Space Wolves. They probably are, all indications would suggest as much, but it's not 100% certain. We also don't know the fate of the wolves who turned traitor from the Wolf of Fenris, the ship captured by Huron Blackheart. Some wolves betrayed their brothers and sided with the renegades. Maybe they serve the Red Corsairs, maybe they are in fact Skyrar's Dark Wolves, or maybe they have gone to do something else. There's also Svane Vulfbad whose entire Great Company went renegade and there may still be survivors from his men out there somewhere.

 

However all of those groups for the most part appear to be renegades more than chaos worshipers. Just because a group of marines betray the Imperium and go rogue doesn't necessarily mean they have started worshiping chaos, chances are they will start using the power of chaos eventually but not necessarily right away. For instance Abaddon serves chaos undivided but Huron Blackheart doesn't appear to bend knee to any chaos powers or serve chaos directly at all, even if he is happy to let some of his warriors and warbands do so. Skyrar's Dark Wolves may be chaos worshipers tainted by the power of the warp, or they may just be pirates and renegades.

 

As for wolves falling to chaos, of course it's happened, as others have mentioned only the Grey Knights (so far) can boast never having a single warrior fall to chaos.

 

It is said that the Dark Wolves have committed an unspeakable crime and thus were sent on a penance crusade. Those things that happened to them pushed them over the edge and they became traitors.
That is the extend of the fluff given by FW at least.

 

Where has FW printed that material?

[Frater Cornelius]

IA13, page 60. Talking about some renegade warband 'Dark Wolves'. Some claim them to be a former Great Company. They had been tasked with an all but impossible mission in punishment for some recorded failing or crime. This mission took the Dark Wolves to the very edge of the Abyss, and some say they lingered there overlong, the taint from Beyond poisoning their souls for all time.

Then it goes ahead describing their impressive armoured division, including a Fellblade called 'Aegisvisir'.

[NightHowler]

It's my understanding that many Space Wolves have gone renegade over the centuries. It's in our nature to rebel. It's also my understanding that there are many reasons why Space Wolves might go renegade - and not all of them are nefarious.

There's that group of grey hunters who hijacked a ship to go and prove the existence of a secret organization within the Imperium bent on the destruction of the Space Wolves - if they return victorious they'll be received as heros and if not their names will forever be erased from the sagas. I forget the details exactly.

There's also the story of those that turned to join Huron Blackheart to save their own lives. So obviously some wolves turn for less honorable reasons.

But I also recall reading that the canis helix makes Space Wolves practically impervious to temptations of the warp. Admittedly, the word "practically" implies that it's not 100%, but also implies that living in the Eye of Terror for thousands of years has little to no effect on a Space Wolf besides activating the canis helix and revealing more runepriests. My understanding of that relationship was that it is the wulfen inside that wards off the temptations of the ruinous powers, that the mutations caused by the curse of the wulfen were the only mutations a Space Wolf was likely to suffer.

This isn't to say that a Space Wolf couldn't say, " it!" and willfully decide to kill in the name of Khorne, but rather to say that even if they did, chaos would have a hard time communicating with said space wolf and an even harder time trying to mutate them.

Just my two cents worth.

[Combat_Vet]

Keep in mind this is all opinion and I've been attacked for my ideas here before

1) The Imperium spent 10K years in stagnation and is now in it's death throws. Any that do not stand with it, stand against it. Any "wolf" that strayed outside their firing line could easily be declared "renegade", but that doesn't make them heretics. I see three classifications myself: heretics, independants, and renegades. Some fight for mankind, some for themselves, and others for the Gods.

2) The Canis Helix acts as a "boost" to fight mutation and the influence of Chaos. It is a last resort if you will. The marine is lost to the wulfen rather than being lost to Chaos. Unless the marine has chosen Chaos. I think that the struggle, the fight, the inner rage is needed to activate the Helix. Voluntary acceptance of mutation may not be enough to cause the Helix to respond.

3) I won't say they are your dolls do what you want with them, as I am sure you are tired of that old cliche. We all want to fit into the fluff as much as we can. WWRD? The Wolves were the Emperors thread cutters. Vikings in space. There were Pagan and Christian vikings and vikings that worked for the highest bidder at times as well. The Salamanders are the closest Chapter to humans, but the Wolves are the Chapter that retain the most human traits. It makes sense that some would lose their beliefs in the "council of Terra" and perhaps even the Allfather given the right circumstances. There is a fine line between "sheepdog" and "wolf" and given the extremes of the 40K universe it's believable that a Company could go rogue from time to time. If not from mankind then at least from the Imperium.

Again, it's all my opinion and I have no books or pages to support it. It's just my thoughts based on reading everything I have. Sorry about the rant by the way.

[Valerian]

Here's the most recent example of a 'rebel' Great Company, that hadn't necessarily turned to Chaos:

 

 

 

 

All Space Wolves are headstrong and in the past this has even led to a Wolf Lord forswearing his oath of fealty to the Great Wolf and striking out on his own.  This last happened in 815M41, when Wolf Lord Sven Ironhand revoked his oath and led his Great Company into exile on the Eastern Fringes.  He was declared outlaw by Logan Grimnar, and a new Great Company was raised to replace the one that was lost.  Some say that Sven went on to carve out an Empire in the Eastern Fringes and rules there to this day.

 

 

[Valerian]

And here is a copy and paste from a thread that I made for the Resources section, pinned to the top of this subforum;

 

Here we go:

"From the residue genetic helices of the Primarchs the Emperor created twenty Space Marine Legions, each utilising the genetic material derived from one of the Primarchs....The implants of the Space Wolves were developed from the genetic helix of the Primarch Leman Russ." 5th Edition Codex Space Wolves, page 8.

"Space Wolves are chosen from the bravest and noblest youths of Fenris. In the constant tribal warfare for possession of land, each youth is given a chance to fight and die in service of his warrior gods, the Emperor and Leman Russ. Space Marines must be selected young for them to have any chance of surviving the difficult transformation from normal human to superbeing."--WD156/246

"The Space Wolves, the 6th Legion, were the genetic progeny of Russ and carried within them a unique gift: the Canis Helix, the Mark of the Wolf that sets the Space Wolves apart from the Space Marines of other Chapters. The Canis Helix invests the Space Wolves with the acute predatory senses of the wolves native to their home world of Fenris, but this gift comes at a price: the Curse of the Wulfen. Those brothers who succumb to the Curse degenerate into savage, malformed parodies of their brethren. In most cases, the Curse manifests during training, but in others, the effects of the Curse become apparent many years later in the heat of battle. The Space Wolves' harsh induction regime generally ensures that these individuals perish at an early stage in the process. "Children of the Night - WD 283.

"Little needs to be said of Fenris, the inhospitable, ice-bound world from which the Space Wolves come, but whether the 13th Company have found a home within the Eye of Terror is unknown. Certainly, the Canis Helix would prove a vital factor in surviving within the Eye, for it is known that the Curse of the Wulfen is want to surface as a defence against the influence of Chaos." Children of the Night - WD 283.

"That the Canis Helix is responsible for the condition of the Wulfen is known, and it has been suggested that the savage force that resides within each Space Wolf has allowed the 13th Company to survive the long millennia of contact with the power of Chaos. What is not known is whether the 13th Company's presence within the Eye of Terror has tainted its gene-seed in any way." Children of the Night - WD 283.

"Before then the Emperor was unable to duplicate the long and arduous work which had created the Primarchs. Instead, from the residue genetic helices of the Primarchs the Emperor created twenty Space Marine Legions, each utilizing the genetic material derived from one of the Primarchs. Thus the warriors of the First Founding Legions echoed to some degree the particular strengths and powers of the Primarch whose genes were used to develop their implants. The implants of the Space Wolves were developed from the genetic helix of the Primarch Leman Russ, and so Space Wolves to this day have some of the qualities of this great man." The Wolves of Fenris - WD 246.

"The Wolf Priests guard the Chapter's genetic seed, bio-culturing new implants and maintaining the vigour of the strain by weeding out any weakness or mutation. Their knowledge is deep, and for many centuries they have studied the effects of the cursed Wulfen gene helix in a search for a way to modify it and make safe the Chapter's genetic seed. However, their efforts have only succeeded in preventing the curse spreading, and it is unlikely that the damage can ever be repaired completely." The Wolves of Fenris - WD 246.

"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." -WD 156/246

Also from the 5th Edition Codex (page 10) is a brand new piece of lore: "The trial is long, for the warrior is taken a thousand miles into the barren wastes beyond the fortress of the Fang. He drinks from the Cup of Wulfen, and his body absorbs the first and most deadly gene-seed of the Space Wolves - the unique Canis gene helix."

You can't separate the Canis Helix from the rest of the geneseed. "The Canis Helix is necessary, however, as without this esential part of Leman Russ' heritage the other gene helices cannot be implanted at all." 5th Edition Codex (page10).