Ulfar

"Before becoming an Astartes, I dreamed of becoming a skjald, a keeper of stories. At feasts I often sing of my brothers' exploits. Thousands are stored in my memory. When I am near, Space Wolves fight even more ferociously, for they know their deeds will be immortalised. One of the tech-priests theorised that our songs contained hidden psychometric codes to increase courage. Maybe there is such a thing in other places. But on Fenris our sagas are spun from memory, from respect, from pride."

—Ulfar of Fenris, Lone Wolf of the Vlka Fenryka

Ulfar was a Space Marine, a Lone Wolf of the Space Wolves Chapter and a native of the Death World of Fenris who would eventually join the retinue of the Rogue Trader of House von Valancius while serving in the Koronus Expanse.

The enemies of the Imperium are countless and terrifying, but among its defenders there are those who know no fear. Those from whose souls the very capability to sense terror has long been etched away by the sacred gene-seed of a primarch, exhausting trials, sophisticated hypno-training, solar decades of rigorous drills, and unshakable devotion to the Emperor. Clad in ceramite and adamantium power armour, armed with the finest weapons of Humanity, they march proudly, their massive, genetically-enhanced transhuman bodies driven by the blood of the Emperor Himself. The Space Marines keep their vigil.

The culture, customs, and appearance of the Space Marines vary from Chapter to Chapter. Some brotherhoods are few and little known, others are innumerable and trace their history back to the time of the Great Crusade. But few can compete in glory with the Space Wolves -- the furious and proud sons of Primarch Leman Russ, bloodthirsty hunters from the frozen Death World of Fenris. Just as their ancestors sailed drekkars into the harsh Worldsea of Fenris to slay krakens and sea dragons, so today they voyage out into the Sea of Stars to make battle against the vile and blasphemous enemies of the Allfather.

Wrathful Ulfar stepped on the hunting path many solar decades ago, and ever since, a trail of blood has followed in his wake. With triumphant howl, he thunders into every fight without fear -- for there is no fear of death for one whose saga will be forever sung with reverence by their brothers in the Hall of the Great Wolf. His violent temper and youthful craving for fame and boasting has not simmered with standard years of campaigns. His loud laughter instills awe in the hearts of ordinary mortals, and his stern roar wrings horror from his enemies. His memory is as strong as the jaws of a wolf, holding the saga of each battle-brother and his every deed.

But now his brothers are lost. The proud Space Wolves of his pack (squad) have not returned from the hunt, and it is not known whether they are alive or feasting with the Allfather in his Hall. But Ulfar will find out, for such is he -- unstoppable, stubborn, driven by instinct. If needed, he will sweep across the Koronus Expanse like a bloody blizzard, but he will find his pack. The void will tremble in fright, hearing his mighty battle cry, and will return to the stubborn Ulfar his kin!

History[]

What is there to say about a member of the Adeptus Astartes' Vlka Fenryka, the scions of Fenris and sons of the primarch Leman Russ?

They are the noble savage personified, feral warriors hailing from among the highest echelon of a Death World where culture and pride blend together into an unidentifiable slurry that goes down as a treat with the Canis Helix that initiates the transformation of a young, mortal Fenrisian into an immortal Space Marine. Then they ascend into the stars where they hunt down the enemies of Mankind.

With bolter and blade, they carve through their prey with the ferocity of a feral animal and work towards the Allfather's dream of a secure and unite Humanity. Each foe slain, each campaign waged, and each victory claimed is another deed to add to the ever-growing saga of the Space Wolves Chapter and each battle-brother who propels them into glory.

And Ulfar, young and brash, remembers each verse from every saga attributed to his brothers. He sings of his brothers' deeds, of the Chapter's storied history and his own growing tale with the staccato of bolters and symphony of heavy ceramite boots beating against the floor. All while fertilising the soil of whatever world he has sailed out into amid the Sea of Stars with the corpses of his enemies.

But his songs have gone silent and his demeanour, once wolfish, has darkened under the inauspicious quiet. The battle-brothers of his pack (squad) have vanished from the Koronus Expanse, those he had hunted with, during their pursuit of the wretched raiders who had skulked about the Expanse's shadowed reaches. He knows not whether they have gone to the Allfather's Hall or lie between the stars, under siege or held hostage by unfeeling creatures of the dark.

So long as Ulfar yet breathes, he will not stop until their fate is confirmed -- whether he sings their dirge atop the crushed bones of those who slew them or has them join in lauding their lengthened sagas is yet to be determined. What is known, however, is that a great storm has come to sweep through the Koronus Expanse. And only time will tell what shall transpire under its heavy snows.

When pitted against the worst of Mankind's foes, even the Emperor's angels of death with their transhuman might and indelible power armour might find themselves hard-pressed to attain victory. But they fight on regardless, heedless of the odds bearing down upon them. And at times, their unwavering determination manages to shatter the spines of whoever stands against them.

Other times, their refusal to kowtow to their enemies lands them where Ulfar recently found himself -- held within the slave holds of one of Commorragh's Haemonculi. But only those who have resigned themselves to failure will never find a way to break their bonds.

With the arrival in the Dark City of the Webway of a true scion of the Imperium, the Rogue Trader of House von Valancius, the fortunes of this caged Lone Wolf finally seem to be turning around. Together, they may just be able to bring the fight to the sadistic Drukhari and break out of their shared confinement. Although it won't be so easy, not if their wretched gaolers have anything to say about it. Yet only time will tell if this relationship, this alliance, is one of convenience or something more.

There are no words that can provide an apt image of what it is like to behold a member of the Emperor's angels of death engage another in whatever particular flavour of death their Chapter delighted in. Whereas the Astra Militarum treats fighting as only a soldier could, a bloody gravitas that pulls others into the muck, and the Sisters of Battle march to war as a procession of the faithful to worship, the Adeptus Astartes have long since turned murder into an art form. Each Chapter finds new and brutal ways to fill the horrors of warfare with a macabre beauty.

For the Space Wolves, this often means falling victim to the Curse of the Wulfen, in which the savage, bestial anger of their genetic inheritance from the Wolf King is released without quarter upon the foes of the Emperor and His people.

Personality[]

In service to the Emperor and the defence of Mankind, all worldly desire and vestiges of Humanity are discarded in favor of the transhuman might of the Adeptus Astartes. Space Marines are Humanity's foremost bulwark against fear. But this also means they have shed any chance of finding a life outside of war, outside of endless bloodshed alongside their battle-brothers. And this, too, means they have forsworn themselves from the niceties of amorous intimacy and the pursuit of love and family that makes life in the Impium somewhat bearable for its repressed masses.

Ulfar is no exception to this rule, even though he hails from the wily and anti-authoritarian culture of the Space Wolves, and thus will respond to no such romantic advances.

Of the innumerable warriors made to bear arms under the Imperial banner, it is the Adeptus Astartes who are perhaps among the most staunch devotees of the Emperor and His many institutions. While they maintain a notable political independence from the other arms of the Imperium, including the Inquisition, they believe in Him and adhere to what His will would have Mankind do as set in the Great Crusade. Some Chapters adhere to the Emperor's perceived will even more so than normal, and the Space Wolves, Ulfar's Chapter, are among the most loyal to the Emperor's vision.

Because of this, Ulfar would be considered a staunch Puritan as the Inquisition defines such things.