Wolfblade

Wolfblades are an ancient honour guard of Astartes from the Space Wolves Space Marine Chapter that protect the ancient Navigator House of Belisarius, in accordance with an ancient pact that dates to the time of the Great Crusade. The Wolfblade is responsible for the training the Celestarch of Belisarius's House troops and lead them into battle. They act as his strong right arm when there is need. They slay his enemies in open battle and by stealth if need be.

History
The origins of the Wolfblade can be traced back over ten thousand years ago. The ancient pact between the Navigator House of Belisarius and the Space Wolves is lost to legend, but the most commonly accepted version of the story dates from the time of the Great Crusade and the friendship between Primarch Leman Russ and Alexander Belisarius. Belisarius was a Navigator of superlative skill, said to have aided the Wolf King on many of his adventures. On the day of the Feast of Founding they are said to have sworn a pact of eternal friendship. As a sign of this friendship, the Belisarius family agreed to provide Navigators for the Chapter in perpetuam, in return for the Space Wolves' martial aid. An entire Pack of Space Wolves would accompany the Celestarch of the House Belisarius as his bodyguard back to Terra. Given the fractious nature of the Navigator Houses of the Navis Nobilite, and a commercial rivalry which, at that time, could result in conflicts as large as wars, this was an alliance of vast importance for the Navigators. The Space Wolves still enjoy a close bond to House Belisarius, an alliance between a Navigator House and a Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes shared only by the Blood Ravens, White Scars, and Blood Angels Chapters.

The Wolfblades have multiple roles to fulfill during the performance of their duties. Normally they are scattered hither and yon about the Imperium performing various assignments. They are not only responsible for providing personal security to the senior members of the Belisarius Navigators going into particularly dangerous situation, they also perform covert missions on behalf of the Navigator House and are responsible for the martial training of the Belisarian troops. Though the Navigators have no formal soldiery they do maintain a powerful security force that performs the same function. And they have mercenary companies under permanent contract who have served them so long that they might as well be part of the House. They are House soldiers in all but a legal sense.

For most Space Wolves, an assignment to the Wolfblade was considered a dubious honour, for most warriors did not enjoy being separated from the rest of their comrades within their Great Company. There were also few opportunities to compile new passages in the ongoing sagas of their lives associated with the glory of battle. For these reasons many of the Space Wolves posted to Terra as Wolfblades was often done as a punitive form of exile, for they were somehow deemed as outcasts and misfits within the Chapter. Though sometimes a battle-brother was sent to perform the duties of a Wolfblade because their Lords saw potential in the selected warrior. Many of the Chapter's greatest leaders were former Wolfblades, for their secondment to House Belisarius often made them politically savvy and helped them gain invaluable insight into the inner political workings of the Imperium at large, as well as making important contacts within the hierarchy of the various Imperial organisations.

Notable Wolfblades

 * Wolfblade Valkoth - A senior member of the Wolfblade and superior to Ragnar, Haegr and Torin, Valkoth was well-versed in the politics of the Navigator Houses on Terra and just how dangerous they could be.
 * Ragnar Blackmane - When Blackmane was a young Grey Hunter, he helped to prevent the return of the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion to the world of Garm, a planet sacred to the Space Wolves because it was the home of the Shrine of Garm's Skull, by casting the Spear of Russ into a Warp Gate, an action which for a time earned him the bitter enmity of his fellow Battle-Brothers. As punishment, he was sent to Terra in exile by the Great Wolf Logan Grimnar to serve in the Wolfblade. Grimnar informed the young Space Wolf warrior that though he agreed with his actions, he could not let them go unpunished. Therefore, he was sending Ragnar to the Wolfblade, not only as punishment, but to protect him from potential attempts on his life by angry battle-brothers for his actions on Garm. Eventually, Ragnar helped to recover the lost relic and earned redemption in the eyes of his Chapter.
 * Wolfblade Haegr the Mountain - Haegr's legendary size was matched only by his legendary appetite. Friend and comrade to Ragnar Blackmane and fellow member of the Wolfblade bodyguard assigned to the Navigator House Bellisarius, Haegr was a Space Wolf of immense size whose bulk was the result of an aberrant mutation in his development in which he simply did not stop growing. Although many saw Haegr as a strange simpleton, Haegr was nevertheless relentless, loyal and fiercely potent in combat. Haegr met his end during the Charys Campaign, but in doing so saved the Chapter with his sacrifice, using his last moments of life to wrest the Spear of Russ from the grasp of the Thousand Sons Chaos Sorcerer Madox and thwarted his attempts to destroy the Space Wolves.
 * Wolfblade Magni - A young and impetuous Astartes recently assigned to the Wolfblade, Magni fought with distinction but was killed during the Battle for Hyades.
 * Wolfblade Skander Bloody-axe - Skander was a member of the Wolfblade. He was the previous bearer of the Frostblade now wielded by Ragnar Blackmane. Skander was a Space Wolf who went through initiation and basic training with Logan Grimnar and was one of the few remaining members of Grimnar's original Blood Claw pack. There were few left from that generation in the Chapter now, and Grimnar and Skander were among the last. Skander was killed during the assassination of the Patriarch of the Navigator House Bellisarius. Ragnar replaced him in the ranks of the Wolfblade and, after losing his Chainsword while fighting to save the new Patriarch of House Bellisarius, was gifted with Skander's Frostblade as a replacement and reward.
 * Wolfblade Torin the Wayfarer - The second companion and friend of Ragnar Blackmane in the Wolfblade, Torin was a cunning if eccentric Space Wolf, who had the rare talent of understanding foreign cultures and politics. His service with the Wolfblade was exemplary, but like many Astartes of the Chapter sent to serve in the Wolfblade, he was not well suited to life with the rest of the Chapter. He was the only Space Wolf to voluntarily become a member.