Kyrl Grimblood

Wolf Lord Kyrl Grimblood was a mighty Wolf Lord of the Space Wolves Chapter whose deeds in the 36th Millennium during the the infamous Plague of Unbelief saved the Chapter's homeworld of Fenris in its time of ultimate peril.

History
Kyrl Grimblood had come to command a Great Company at a time when the Imperium was weak and all hope was drained form the great mass of humanity. For it seemed that the Emperor had forsaken Mankind, for no one could know that He was fighting his most deadly battle of all within the Warp, or that the very existence of humanity hung by a thread. During the long, dark Age of Apostasy of the 36th Millennium, several decades after death of the infamous High Lord Goge Vandire, many false prophets appeared throughout this anarchic age; some little more than madmen leading rebel bands, others spiritual demagogues who commanded whole worlds and armies. The most powerful of these was the Apostate Cardinal of Gathalamor, Bucharis, whose heresies reached such proportions they became known as the Plague of Unbelief.

Gathalamor was not a rich diocese but Bucharis, driven by jealousy of his peers' achievements, vowed to build one of the largest temples to the Emperor's glory on his Cardinal World. After brutally enslaving the population of Gathalamor, Bucharis still needed more men and resources. Using an army of thugs and cut-throats he conquered the nearby world of Rhanda. With access to the richer mines of that world, Bucharis' wealth grew. It was also here, in the Rhanda System, that Bucharis joined forces with the renegade Imperial Navy Admiral Sehalla and Colonel Gasto of the Rigellian XXV Imperial Guard regiment. With these forces at his disposal, Bucharis was able to carve out a small empire to the galactic west of Terra and within the next seven years fifty star systems had fallen under his control.

Isolated from Terra by a great concentration of Warp storms, Bucharis preached that Terra had fallen, and set about establishing himself as the head of the Ecclesiarchy. Having no contact with the Imperium, the people of the region had no way of knowing the truth, and soon the armies of Bucharis were advancing on nearby systems, imposing his cruel regime on every world they encountered. Bucharis preached a particular strain of the Imperial Creed, which held that salvation was only to be found through personal strength and the casting out of the weak. Only through advancing his own interests at the expense of all others could a man attain divinity, Bucharis preached, a doctrine that ran counter to the Imperial Creed's assertion that only through sacrifice for the good of humanity would deliverance be granted.

Armies fought for him, sick and depraved individuals gathered underneath his dark banners, Xenos flocked to his court and the Chaos Gods doubtless worked their evil under his protection. His armies of fanatical devotees marched across the galaxy, conquering all before them, subjugating one world after another and growing stronger with every fresh conquest. In a single bold sweep the forces of Bucharis lept from the distant galactic east to the very heart of the Imperium. The armies of Bucharis continued to conquer world after world, and only when his conquests infringed upon the domains of the Space Wolves Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes did events turn against him. For three years the fanatical armies of Bucharis pounded upon the gates of the Fang. Attack after attack, bombardment after bombardment fell against the walls and gates of the Fang and yet the citadel remained unbreached. Bucharis drew in more and more soldiers, until even his forces on distant Gathalamor were at a quarter of their normal strength. Believing his domains secure he mustered his armies for one last assault to sweep all resistance before him. Millions died as the native Fenrisians fought a protracted guerrilla war against the invaders. Though they tried many times to penetrate the attackers' lines, the Space Wolves were unable to do anything to break the siege.

Fate intervened once more, but this time to deal a cruel blow to Bucharis' plans, for the salvation of Fenris had come in the form of Wolf Lord Kyrl Grimblood. Grimblood's Great Company had departed from Fenris five years before, on a mission into the Eye of Terror. Now he had returned just in time, as the besieging forces gathered for the final attack. Out beyond the furthest planet in the system, reality tore itself apart as a war fleet emerged from the warp. As Bucharis' own vessels investigated they were confronted by an armada of Space Wolves battle barges, returning to their home planet. The Space Wolves lost no time in attacking. smashing nearly half of Bucharis' Feet in their first strike. Caught between the newcomers and the attack of the remaining Space Wolves' vessels from the centre of the system, Admiral Sehalla ordered a withdrawal. Wasting no time in pursuit, the Space Wolves powered towards Fenris.

The counter-attack of Kyrl Grimblood's Great Company smashed into the enemy's flanks, killing tens of thousands of traitor Guardsmen and scattering thousands of their number into the forbidding forests of Asaheim during the first week. Driven by hunger, the ravenous packs of Fenrisian wolves fell upon the fleeing heretics and consumed them. The besieged Space Wolves finally broke out, to finally seal the fate of the traitors, and the battle was won. Of those few that escaped the wrath of the enraged Space Wolves none survived the hardships of Asaheim. The Apostate Cardinal managed to escape on a shuttle to line with Admiral Sehalla, who dropped back out of Warp to briefly rendezvous with his fellow conqueror. Leaving Fenris to the Space Wolves, Bucharis pulled back his northern forces and consolidated his hold on the rest of his domain. Grimblood had saved not only Fenris but possibly Terra itself. From that point on, system after system defied Bucharis, the faithful rising up to resist his forces by whatever means possible, even when they were slaughtered in the attempt. It was not yet the end of Bucharis, whose armies were as numerous as the stars, but it was a major setback. The victory of Kyrl Grimblood was heralded as the rebirth of a unified and powerful Imperium.