Fenrisian Wolf

The massive Fenrisian Wolf is a fearsome predator and an enduring symbol of the Space Wolves Space Marine Chapter's frozen homeworld of Fenris. Often befriended and trained (in so much as such a beast can be trained) by Space Wolf Battle-Brothers they fight ferociously beside their masters against his foes.

History
The wolves of Fenris are amongst the most vicious predators in the known universe. Very few know the sheer diversity of wolves that exist upon Fenris, but they range from the common but nonetheless deadly Fenrisian Wolf, to the hullking Blackmaned Wolf, all the way up to the infamous Thunderwolf that prowls that northernmost ice caps. Legends tell of creatures larger still, whose jaws are capable of crushing steel and whose teeth are as large as tree trunks. These creatures roam the vast tracts of Asaheim, the inhospitable tundras and hinterlands that surround the foot of the mountains of Fangard upon whose peaks stands the Space Wolves' vast Fortress-Monastery known as the Fang. The Wolves of Fenris are said to be more intelligent by far than ordinary wolves. It is also said that they are led by a great king of their kind, a black wolf that is darker than night and as large as a mountain who is called Kjarg, King of Wolfkind.

Fenrisian wolves vary from dappled grey or white to the rarer black in colouration. They have wild, shaggy manes and possess powerful shoulders and overdeveloped, iron-hard teeth. Fenrisian Wolves are grouped into packs, obeying the natural order of their kind, hunting in groups and instinctively obeying the largest and most ferocious of their kind functioning as the alpha male. It is these alpha males that lead the packs; making decisions, facing down external threats and challenges to his positions alike and enjoys the benefit of selecting the first pick of the pack's kill and female pack members. The savage menfolk of the Fenrisian tribes respect the position of the alpha male, striving to emulate these creatures in their own social groupings. Hunting down a pack of these supernaturally ferocious beasts, armed with nothing but their wits, and slaying one of these legendary creatures is considered a great feat by the battle-brothers of the Space Wolves Chapter. This ritual is known as a Lone Hunt. Should the battle-brother somehow kill the alpha male of a pack, the rest of the wolves will instinctively treat the Astartes as their new alpha male. When they return to the Fang, it will be in the company of wolves. Many of these packmates form a lasting bond, and from that moment on they will fight at their master's side until one or both of them die in battle. Such is the bond between Astartes and Fenrisian wolf, that should the beast be critically injured in battle the Chapter's Iron Priests will mechanically augment it so that it may live to fight another day.

Fenrisian Wolves as allies
Fenrisian wolves are simple brutal beasts, loyal only to their master and remorseless against their enemies. As a follower, wolves will trail behind the Battle-Brother wherever he goes, whining if forced to stay behind, and attack his enemies with a gesture or a word. Fenrisian Wolves aid Space Wolves in numerous ways during battle. Their speed makes them a great flanking unit with which to harry the Space Wolves' enemies and pick off smaller units. They are also used as a fast moving distraction to the main battle line, leaving the Space Wolves' opponents guessing at their next move. They will also stay by the side of the Battle-Brother if he falls, protecting his body and maybe even pulling him to safety. Fenrisian wolves are also quintessentially linked to the Space Wolves Chapter and will often be a point of contention and friction with Battle-Brothers of other Chapters, especially if they are the ones which have to squeeze into a Rhino with it or suffer it panting through a tactical briefing.

Types of Fenrisian Wolves

 * Common Fenrisian Wolf - The common Fenrisian Wolf is a larger-than-normal lupine creature that is no less deadly than its larger cousins.
 * Blackmaned Wolf - Similar in anatomy to that of the more common variety of Fenrisian Wolf, the Blackmaned Fenrisian Wolf is as tall and muscular as a warhorse. Their heads are proportionately larger and their teeth are even more pronounced. It is said that their jaws can exert as much pressure as those of an ice shark, and they are capable of hunting the largest prey through the thickest winter blizzards. These forbidding creatures are only seen in the dead of winter when packs descend from the mountains to the lowlands of the Fenrisian tribes to feed, leaving little more in their wake then ravaged pieces of bloody bone. Famously intractable, only the most celebrated Wolf Lords of the Space Wolves go into battle alongside these fierce beasts. According to Fenrisian myths, the Blackmaned wolves serve in the afterlife as the minions of Morkai, the two-headed guardian of the Gates of Death. One who crosses into the afterlife with a Blackmane at his side will never truly die.
 * Cyberwolves - Cyberwolves are created from critically injured Fenrisian Wolf packmates and mechanically augmented by the Space Wolves Chapter's Iron Priests to continue serving alongside their Space Wolf masters beyond the point of death. These cybernetically-enhanced lupine allies are often seen accompanying Iron Priests into battle.
 * Thunderwolves - The legendary Thunderwolves is undoubtedly the apex predator in the frozen realms at the top of the world, dwelling at the very northernmost point of Fenris, making their lairs in the fabled Mountainis of the Maelstrom. These fierce creatures are venerated by many Fenrisian tribes as a spirit totem. Solitary creatures, they usually attack each other on sight, as if every Thunderwolf strives to be the alpha male of the entire world. Physically, these creatures are truly monstrous, having more in common with a Terran rhinoceroid than with a normal canine. Clad in a shaggy coat of rough fur as tough as matted steel wire, their jutting jaws are strong enough to chew through steel. Unlike their smaller cousins, Thunderwolves do not track their prey down over time, instead they bear down upon their victims in a terrifying charge. They then snatch their unfortunate victims up in their massive maw, then tear their prey's head off with violent thrashing motions and their gnashing, grinding bite. Only the Space Wolves have the constitution to hunt these fearsome creatures that haunt the perpetually ice-ridden storms that could flay the skin from a lesser creature. This is an extreme version of the ritual hunt known as the Lone Hunt. It is believed that this is an initiation ritual to the upper echelons of the Wolf Guard. Legend has it that those that have joined with a Thunderwolf, do so on a spiritual and sometimes even mental level. By force of will or mutual respect, lesser wolfkin will obey their snarled commands. These creatures has given rise to the legendary Thunderwolf Cavalry. This small elite within the ranks of the Wolf Guard have remained surprisingly absent from official Imperial records. It is believed that the Space Wolves augment their lupine steeds with all matter of cybernetic enhancements, including vicious adamantium jaws, hissing pistons and back-jointed metal limbs that end in razor-sharp blades. Though the Space Wolves continue to deny the practise of riding these beasts to war, rumours still abound across the Fenris sector about the glorious charges of the Thunderwolf Cavalry.

Notable Fenrisian Wolves

 * Freki & Geri - It is said that Primarch Leman Russ himself, was accompanied to war by two gigantic Blackmane wolves at his side, possessed of fierce near-human intelligence known as Freki and Geri, meaning 'Fierce' and 'Cunning' in the Fenrisian tongue. When the infant Primarch came to the frozen Death World, the mewling infant was found by a Fenrisian she-wolf and raised alongside his two lupine companions. They are believed to be his original pack-brothers, growing to maturity at much the same time.
 * Fangir - Fangir is the monstrous Thunderwolf ridden by Canis Wolfborn. It is said that he is strong as a mastadon and as tall at the shoulder as an Ice Troll.