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"The Bear shall take up the mantle of Gatekeeper, and the Lost Kin return to the Realms of Man. Brother shall slay brother, as at the Dawn of Time, but the Were-kin stand aloof. Their task set in stone before them. The Son of the Traitor shall lay waste - First the Gate, then the Palace. The Children of Russ shall oppose him or perish, their names reviled for all time. Now is the time, mighty Wolf. Your hunt is nearing its end. Your quarry is set before you. Your saga shall be sung for all time."

— Prophecy of Frode

The Space Wolves 13th Company, also called the 13th Great Company, and Dekk-Tra in the local dialect of Fenris, was one of the original and most renowned Great Companies of the Space Wolves Space Marine Legion.

The Great Company disappeared into the Eye of Terror for unknown reasons during or immediately after the Horus Heresy, only to re-emerge during the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41. Some accounts claim that they promised to hunt down Magnus the Red and his Thousand Sons Legion wherever they fled after the Burning of Prospero, others that the Space Wolves Primarch Leman Russ ordered them to enter the Eye of Terror and slay Ezekyle Abaddon, who had become Horus' successor. The truth of the matter is unclear and the Space Wolves do not tell the tale to outsiders.

Although at the time of their disappearance, Bulveye was serving as the 13th Great Company's commanding Jarl, in the 41st Millennium the Space Wolves now believe that Jorin Bloodhowl is the Wolf Lord of the 13th. Several other members have since claimed the title of Jarl or Wolf Lord of the company.

The Space Wolves have several different accounts of why the company took on this mission, but they refuse to reveal them to outsiders. Even they may not know the truth.

This Great Company was infamous among the Space Wolves Legion for containing large numbers of the mutated Astartes known as Wulfen.

Mentions of the 13th Great Company also vanished from Imperial records after their disappearance, and for ten thousand standard years their loss was only honoured by a black stone in the Grand Annulus in The Fang on Fenris, which held the record of all Space Wolf Great Companies.

Company History

"Guard your tongue, whelp, lest I cut it out. I care not for your moon-touched ramblings, nor for the tales of your grandmother. Mark this well - of the 13th Company we do not speak."

—Ulfric Hoodclaw
SW Legionary Mk II

The Space Wolves Legion's Pre-Heresy Colour Scheme

The origins of the 13th Great Company lie in the dawn of the Age of the Imperium, when the Primarchs were reunited with the Emperor and His Space Marine Legions early in the Great Crusade. The 13th Great Company was formed from the followers of Leman Russ from his days on Fenris, before the coming of the All-Father (the Emperor). They were all old men by the standards of the Astartes, having been reavers and sword-brothers to Leman, King of the Russ.

When the truth of Leman's Primarch heritage was finally revealed, every warrior in the king's mead-hall had drawn their iron blades and clamoured to fight at his side among the stars, as sword-brothers ought. But they were all too old, the Emperor had told them; not a man among them was younger than twenty Terran years. The trials they would have to endure to become Astartes would very likely kill them, no matter how courageous and strong-willed they were.

Yet the men of Leman's mead-hall were mighty warriors, each man a hero in his own right, and they would not be dissuaded by thoughts of suffering or death. Leman, the king, was moved by their devotion, and could not find it in his heart to refuse them. And so his loyal thanes undertook the Trials of the Wolf, and true to the Emperor's word, the vast majority of them died.

Out of hundreds, only two score survived, a number that still amazed even the Emperor Himself at the sheer hardiness of the Fenrisian genome. In honour of their courage, Leman –- no longer king now, but Primarch and rightful lord of the VIth Legion –- formed a new, elite company of Astartes around the survivors.

Ever after, the other warriors of the Legion referred to the 13th Company as the "Greybeards." The members of the company, however, called themselves the "Wolf Brothers."

Being the genetic progeny of Leman Russ, the Space Wolves carry within them a unique gift inherited from his gene-seed: the genetic traits collectively called the Canis Helix, the Mark of the Wolf that sets the Space Wolves apart from the Astartes of other Chapters. The Canis Helix invests the Space Wolves with acute predatory senses similar to those of the semi-sentient wolf-like creatures native to their homeworld of Fenris, but this gift comes at a price: the Curse of the Wulfen.

Those Space Wolves Astartes who succumb to this genetic curse degenerate into savage, malformed, werewolf-like parodies of their brethren, in most cases during their early training, but in others many standard years later in the heat of battle. The Space Wolves' harsh induction regime generally ensures that these vulnerable individuals perish at an early stage in the process of being transformed into an Astartes.

However, at the time of the Great Crusade, when the Emperor of Mankind and His Legions were conquering vast swathes of the galaxy in the name of humanity, those Space Wolves touched by the curse were banded together into the 13th Great Company, where their feral ferocity could be brought to bear en masse, as well as contained for the safety of the whole Legion.

That the 13th Great Company accompanied Russ on the Great Crusade is for certain, although the details of the campaigns in which they fought are lost to antiquity. Only the names of actions, long since forgotten, appear in the Imperial archives, battles such as the First Siege of Methrix and the Battle of the Plains of Mo-Shan, the Fall of the Paramours of the Morpheus Rift, and the Crossing of Hangman's Void.

Jorin Bloodhowl, one of Russ' original Einherjar honour guard, became the first Jarl (Wolf Lord) of Dekk-Tra, the 13th Great Company, which was considered the most honourable and the closest to Russ himself during the Great Crusade.

It was among the ranks of these so-called Wolf Brothers that the Curse of the Wulfen had first appeared, afflicting warriors in the heat of battle without any prior warning. During the Dulan Campaign, two Legionaries succumbed in quick succession -- although the affliction had been seen before by Jorin and his huscarl, Bulveye.

The Wolf Priest Ulbrandr Crowhame was unable to discover any physiological cause, neither was the Rune Priest Lief Hemligjaga able to detect any trace of maleficarum -- the touch of Chaos. Jorin resolved to keep the mutations a secret, telling not even the Primarch, though in time the secret was known to all within the VI Legion.

Bulveye later succeeded Jorin as Jarl of the company and led the Wolf Brothers as part of the 954th Expeditionary Fleet at the Battle of Kernunnos and the Battle of Prospero, where they are believed to have first disappeared.

Horus Heresy

The Fall of Prospero

Nordstrand-13th co wolfguard-web

A 13th Company Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour during the Fall of Prospero

The true fate of the 13th Company is a subject of numerous myths, and the Space Wolves themselves will not be drawn as to which holds the true account. In truth, it is probable that an element of veracity exists within each, and that none are wholly inaccurate.

There are some sagas which outsiders are never permitted to hear, ones told by the Rune Priests on only the most sacred of occasions. Though some sagas have been set to record by strangers, and the Space Wolves have spoken, some would say bragged, at length regarding certain aspects of their long and glorious history, there are certain passages that mean death should outsiders overhear them.

Battle Prospero

The 13th Great Company during the Fall of Prospero

The saga known as The War of the Giants purports to be a record of the Fall of Prospero. In the opening days of the Horus Heresy, Leman Russ was treacherously persuaded by the corrupt Warmaster Horus to assault their brother Legion, the Thousand Sons, and to call them to account for the sorcerous actions of their Primarch, Magnus the Red.

The Emperor had desired only that Magnus be brought peacefully to Terra by the Space Wolves to account for his violations of the precepts of the Council of Nikaea and his own sworn oath to end his use of psychic sorcery, but Horus sought to force Magnus and the Thousand Sons into the arms of Chaos. To this end he deceived the volatile Leman Russ into thinking that it would be better to launch an all-out assault on the Thousand Sons' homeworld and become Magnus' executioner rather than his captor.

The saga states that the 13th Great Company was at the head of the assault on the Thousand Sons' Legion's homeworld of Prospero, and that the sheer ferocity of their attack smashed a hole in the Thousand Sons' lines through which the remainder of the Space Wolves could penetrate.

At the height of the battle, it is told that Magnus opened a portal into the Immaterium, a means of escaping the destruction wrought by the Space Wolves. Magnus and the remnants of his Legion fled, but it is said that Russ ordered the 13th Company to give chase, and in so doing they left the realm of Man, never to return.

This legend claims that the members of the 13th Company swore terrible binding-oaths; to hunt their implacable foes down until every last one of the cursed Traitor Marines was slain, no matter how long it took, nor where they fled -- even if it meant following them into the Eye of Terror.

Wolf Lord Bulveye himself has cast doubt over the veracity of these legends with his guarded response to Ragnar Blackmane's historical account of their mission.

The Battle of Terra

Fragments of other records suggest that the disappearance of the 13th Great Company did not actually occur until after the siege of the Imperial Palace during the Battle of Terra, which saw the rebel Warmaster Horus finally defeated and the Traitor Legions of the Heretic Astartes routed to the Eye of Terror. In the wake of the galaxy-spanning civil war, which saw the Imperium brought to its knees by Horus' treachery, some of the Loyalist Legions sought to consolidate the forces of Mankind.

But Leman Russ, ever headstrong and proud, demanded that the Traitors not be allowed to establish a foothold within the Eye of Terror, and that the Imperium should strike immediately. Though Primarchs Roboute Guilliman and Rogal Dorn overrode their erstwhile brother, it has been suggested that Russ may have dispatched the 13th Great Company with orders to hunt down Ezekyle Abaddon, the Warmaster's chief lieutenant and First Captain of the Sons of Horus Legion, and bring his head as a trophy to set before the Emperor.

Other, more dubious theories suggest that the Wulfen gave chase of their own accord, some even whispering that the 13th Great Company was tainted by Chaos all along, and were seeking to join the ranks of the Traitors. This legend bears up well to the little evidence that exists to support it; the Wulfen did embark upon some form of pursuit, which has been given credence by the timing of their emergence from the Eye of Terror ten Terran millennia later during the 13th Black Crusade.

A further legend speaks of the disappearance of a Space Wolves force through an Aeldari Webway portal, though in this particular case the story relates to the so-called "Wolf Brothers". Little information as to the true identity of this group survives, though what scraps of data have been recovered suggest that the Wolf Brothers were in fact a Successor Chapter of the Space Wolves that was disbanded due to some form of genetic instability. A passage in The Calleria (ca. M37) cites the Wolf Brothers as pursuing an Aeldari force through a mystical portal, from which they never returned:

"...And ranging 'cross Yahals plain
The Eldar turned at bay.
They stood and fought, shed blood

And burned A thousand men that day."
"Then Wolf Brothers came
To slay them all,
Bloody swords raised, howling,
Fangs gleaming
Answering the warriors' call.
"
"No alien could stand against
So fierce a foe.
No trick would turn them aside.
On they came, unstoppable
To strike a deadly blow.
"
"Turning, fleeing the Eldar ran
Through their portal
Beyond the reach of man.
Undaunted the Wolf Brothers
Pursued them unto realms immortal.
"
"Though aliens were defeated,
Their fury tamed,
The ill-fated Wolf Brothers
Were lost, mourned
Never seen again...
"

The similarity between this and other legends suggests that a kernel of truth lies at the heart of the matter, though the exact details will likely never be known.

An excerpt from Dionerius' Rise of Man, authored sometime in the 31st Millennium that is entitled, "The Wulfen" speaks of these legends even further:

Fragment I - "...Among them were companies of savage creatures, their bestiality far outstripped even the barbarian Children of Russ. By the Space Wolves these were called Wulfen, at times spoken of as the Thirteenth Great Company. They were feral of eye and febrile in nature, strong of limb, and blanched by savage tattoos, able to tear a man asunder with their clawed hands and fangs. Eschewing weapons of distance they would stalk their foes as would beasts, slinking in the shadows and hunting by night ‘neath the light of the full moon. Variously, captains say the Wulfen were led by Hirkon Grail or Jorin Bloodfang, maybe when one was slain another took his place."


Fragment II - "Now in the aftermath of the Siege of Terra there was a great confusion among the followers of the Emperor, for they had lost their liege lord and were as knights without their king. [Text lost] Many voiced loud the thought in the hearts of all-give chase to the traitors and destroy them utterly for the woe they had wrought. The voice of Russ was the loudest of all, [Text lost] but Guilliman and Dorn gainsaid his counsel. To enter the Occularis Terribilis would bring disorder on the surviving Legions, they said, leaving Man vulnerable to both the xenite and apostate. It is said that Russ, as was often the way, took his own counsel and sent forth the Wulfen to hunt down Abaddon and his followers. Others say that the Thirteenth Great Company pursued the heretics of their own accord, as hounds at the chase who heed not the calls of their huntsman. Others still maintain that the Wulfen had been tainted by the Dark Gods and were summoned by their call to join the Traitor Legions in the netherworld."


Fragment III - "The Wulfen were never seen nor heard again, passing into the void and becoming lost to the eye and ear of Man. It is said that upon the Space Wolves homeworld of Fenris the loss of the Wulfen was known by the wolves of Asaheim. The great packs gathered before the gates of the Space Wolves monastery in their thousands until every wolf in the world was there. That great grey host howled of their loss for a hundred nights before returning to the hinterlands."


The Return of the 13th Great Company

ObsidianStone13thCompany

The only fixed stone of the Grand Annulus. This slab of black obsidian now holds the position of the 13th Great Company, but also is used to collectively represent all those Great Companies the Space Wolves Chapter has lost in its history.

What is established fact is that the 13th Great Company eventually vanished from Imperial records. To this day, a place is reserved at the feasts held in the Hall of the Chapter's Great Wolf in The Fang for a Wolf Lord who has not attended his liege since the time when Russ himself led his sons into battle.

Their loss is honoured by a black stone set in the Grand Annulus (the record of the Space Wolves Great Companies). Yet, somehow, these hardy Sons of Russ survived their journey through the Eye of Terror and emerged back into realspace, long after they should have perished, in pursuit of Abaddon the Despoiler.

Given that if the story of the 13th Company's pursuit of Magnus is true it is likely that they vanished before the Emperor was interred within the Golden Throne in the early 31st Millennium, they have been missing for approximately 10,000 standard years. Their reappearance at the beginning of Abaddon the Despoiler's 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41 has brought them back into the light of the Emperor's grace. They appear to still be in pursuit of the goal their Primarch Leman Russ set out for them. It was believed by the Space Wolves left behind on Fenris for many centuries that Leman Russ himself was their leader, although this was never proven.

The first reported instance of direct contact between Imperial forces and a 13th Great Company warband was during the raid on the Ormantep Listening Post in 999.M41. One of only a handful of survivors, a Sanctioned Psyker stationed with the post's Kasrkin defenders reported that she was almost decapitated by a Wulfen with whom she tried to communicate, and it was only on the orders of another 13th Great Company leader that the beast spared her. That the Wulfen are highly effective in close quarters combat is evident, but it is also clear that they are potentially as dangerous to Imperial troops as they are to the enemy.

The Hunt for Ahriman

Elements of the 13th Great Company led by Grimur Red Iron pursued the Thousand Sons Sorcerer Ahzek Ahriman using the visions of Scyld, a Space Marine first blooded at the time of the Burning of Prospero who had found the Wyrd (psychic powers) in himself during the hunt.

They followed Scyld out of the Eye of Terror into realspace as he sought the Athenaeum of Kallimakus. These Space Wolves were forced to kill members of the Ultramarines and White Consuls Chapters who unwittingly barred their way out of the Eye at the Cadian Gate.

Too late, Grimur discovered that Scyld's visions had actually been sent by Ahriman to manipulate them into attacking the Grey Knights Strike Cruiser Sigillite's Oath above the world of Apollonia so he could more easily seize the knowledge of the Athenaeum.

Encounter with the Blackmane

At some time in the late 41st Millennium just before the 13th Black Crusade, elements of the 13th Great Company were encountered by the Wolf Lord Ragnar Blackmane on the shadow-copy of the world of Charys conjured by the sorcery of the Thousand Sons. Bulveye was the Wolf Lord in command at this time, though he was not forthcoming about the 13th Great Company's origins, or how the Great Company had fared in the 10,000 Terran years since their departure.

A small number of the 13th Company's Astartes fought alongside Ragnar and his comrades to defeat the Chaos Sorcerer Madox, thwarting yet another plot by the Thousand Sons to destroy the Space Wolves. The 13th Great Company was also suspected of having intervened to rescue Imperial forces who came under attack by the Black Legion in the conflict remembered as the Ormantep Raid.

Company Combat Doctrine

To date, only a handful of reports have been logged regarding actions in which the newly emerged 13th Great Company have taken a hand. In each of these battles, the company has attacked without warning, penetrating deep into enemy lines before launching a devastating close-range assault.

It has been observed that 13th Great Company warbands prefer to attack during the hours of darkness, where the element of surprise can be used to greatest effect, but even in the daylight hours, its ambushes and infiltrations have proven decisive in a number of early engagements in Abaddon's latest 13th Black Crusade.

In terms of equipment, the warriors of a 13th Great Company warband fight, and travel, light. They have never been observed to use transports of any type. It is of course entirely possible that the 13th Company were never issued any vehicles in the first place, as their superior infiltration skills would make the use of frontline vehicles undesirable and unnecessary. The equipment carried by the company appears basic, and even debased compared to a conventional Space Wolves force.

Each Space Marine carries a variety of weapons, from Bolter to primitive Combat Blade, and many of these weapons appear to have been scavenged from Chaos forces, or have been adorned in such a manner as to appear that way.

There is no doubt that some of the men of the company wear Power Armour stripped from the bodies of fallen Traitor Marines, and this is a matter that the Ordo Malleus will no doubt wish to pursue when the current crisis has been resolved. Indeed, a number of Inquisitors have already expressed a desire to call them to account: amongst them Radicals who see the company as successfully having turned the weapons of Chaos upon itself, and Puritans for the very same reason.

Company Organisation

The 13th Great Company's organisation departs heavily from the Space Wolves' norms, due to the lack of reinforcements resupplying the company, the inability to train members in specialist roles, the lack of heavy equipment and new armoured vehicles, and the effect of having to exist within the heart of the Eye of Terror for 10,000 standard years while still remaining uncorrupted by Chaos (though time does pass differently within the Immaterium).

The core of a 13th great Company warband are the Grey Slayers. Similar to Grey Hunters, they fulfill the same role as their Grey Hunter counterparts within a standard Space Wolves Great Company, but each Slayer is far and away a superior fighter to his Grey Hunter equivalent.

This is no surprise to Imperial observers, as the normal flow of new recruits into a Great Company has been cut off, making the progression from Grey Hunter to Wolf Guard impossible. The 13th Company has adopted an ad hoc structure, often separating men into specialised units that support one another, in the manner of a pack of wolves on the hunt. The core of this force remains the equal of the elite elements of many other armies.

As the Grey Hunters are unable to advance to the traditional post of Wolf Guard, it can be noted that there are no Blood Claws within the Company. It can be expected that any Blood Claws that disappeared with the Company would have either died in action, or long since progressed up the ranks, and that no replacements would have been forthcoming within the Eye of Terror with which to replenish them.

The Company's assault specialists are the Storm Claws. They are equally experienced, but still more hot-headed and aggressive than their kinsmen in the Grey Slayers. Some of the senior ranks found within the Space Wolves are also absent from the 13th Company. Other than the Wolf Lord himself, the only leaders to be found operating outside of the Packs are the Rune Priests and Wolf Priests.

It is assumed that this is due to the fact that casualties amongst the other ranks could not be replaced due to the lack of specialised training and resources. This poses some interesting questions regarding the Rune Priests, as the company appears to have had no trouble maintaining a cadre of these psychically-gifted individuals. Evidently, the Eye of Terror has had some effect on the men of the company, apparently unlocking previously untapped psychic ability within its ranks.

The use of the Wulfen by the company represent the most drastic departure from the order of battle of a normal Space Wolves force. The Wulfen are consummate predators, who throw themselves at their foe as soon as he is scented. Whether the Wulfen packs are standing formations, or are formed on a temporary basis as men succumb to the Curse of the Wulfen is, at this stage, unknown.

The Space Marines who mutate into Wulfen are similar to the mythological Terran creatures known as "werewolves" in the same way that those Blood Angels who are cursed with the gene-seed flaw known as the Red Thirst resemble the legendary monsters called "vampires."

Any Space Wolf who suffers the Curse of the Wulfen becomes a half-man, half-wolf creature with a feral mind. The mutation, a result of the genetic instability inherent within the genetic sequence of the Space Wolves' gene-seed component known as the Canis Helix, normally manifests itself in the Neophyte stage and Space Wolves must spend time in their training in a scenario designed to out those who have become Wulfen.

Though normal Space Wolves sometimes use individual Wulfen in battle as close assault troops, the 13th Company uses entire packs. Each and every member of the 13th Company carries the Curse, and it manifests itself in them at different times. Thus even the Wulfen packs do not stay the same.

It has manifested itself so strongly and so late in the Astartes of this formation because it reacts to the influence of Chaos and the Warp; because of this side of their nature acting as a kind of spiritual defence mechanism, Space Wolves are exceptionally resistant to the malign influence of Chaos. It is believed that the 13th Great Company have only been able to survive living as Loyalist Space Marines in the Eye of Terror so long precisely because of this trait.

It has been noted by Inquisitor Asmorales that the numbers of the Wulfen-kind that disappeared 10,000 Terran years ago must have been equivalent in size to a contemporary Space Marine Chapter, based on the far larger size of the First Founding Legions. To date, only a handful of men of the 13th Company have been observed, and so the Inquisitor believes that the majority of the company remains within the Eye of Terror, slain, or engaged upon a mission only they know the nature of. It is also likely that a number of separate contingents or packs of Wulfen-kind are at large, each harrying the forces of Chaos and each led by a lord who is vassal to an individual yet to reveal his hand in the conflict.

Company Beliefs

The 13th Great Company has reappeared at a time of great peril for the Imperium, and is mercilessly hounding the forces of Abaddon in a campaign of ambushes and infiltrations. That they are engaged upon a pursuit is evident, and is entirely consistent with the legend that Leman Russ despatched the Wulfen-kind to hunt down the Despoiler at the end of the Horus Heresy. That they must have been engaged upon their hunt for 10,000 standard years is testament to their persistence, though none can tell how many years have actually passed for them within the warped dimensions of the Eye of Terror.

One question that remains to be answered is just how the current Space Wolves Great Wolf Logan Grimnar will receive the returned Wulfen-kind. Will they disappear once more when some unknown short-term goal is met, or will they seek to return to their Chapter?

Some say that the Wulfen have spent too long within the Realm of Chaos, expressly against Inquisitorial dictate, and this alone should preclude their return to the Imperium. Of course, the Space Wolves, known for their strident independence from the institutions of the Imperium, may well oppose any and all censure of their erstwhile brothers. With Abaddon's invasion at full height the Imperium can ill-afford internecine conflict.

Company Gene-Seed

Wulfen Attack

Wulfen Battle-Brothers of the 13th Company fight the Forces of Chaos during the 13th Black Crusade

That the Canis Helix is responsible for the condition of the Wulfen is known, and it has been suggested that it is this savage force of nature that resides within each Space Wolf that has allowed the 13th Company to survive the long millennia of corruption by the power of Chaos. One other thing that sets the warriors of the 13th Company apart from the rest of their Space Wolf brethren is the large percentage of warriors who have succumbed to the animal nature that is part of the genetic legacy of their Primarch: the Mark of the Wulfen.\

This genetic mutation causes their canine nature to manifest itself more fully and, amongst other things, thick hair to grow over all the body and claws to sprout from the hands. These warriors gather together in packs, surrendering themselves to their animalistic nature, rushing headlong at their foes, eager to use their sharp claws and teeth in close combat.

What is not known, and remains to be seen, is whether their presence within the Eye of Terror has tainted the gene-seed of the 13th Great Company in any way. Many simply point to the bestial appearance of the Wulfen-kind, and their use of scavenged Traitor Marine wargear as all the evidence needed to condemn them, but others defend their methods as pure necessity.

Wulfen packs are often led into battle by Wolf Priests, and it is theorised that these individuals play a vital role in controlling the excesses of the Wulfens' curse. Wolf Priests of the Space Wolves are the keepers of the genetic lore passed down to them in a direct line from Leman Russ, and appear to be the only men able to control a Space Wolf when the Were is upon him. The Wolf Priests are obviously acting as guardians, leading packs of Wulfen in combat, and ministering to their charges between conflicts.

The Adeptus Mechanicus undoubtedly wish to analyse the gene-seed of slain 13th Company Space Wolves, though to date they have not succeeded in doing so. Should they find any impurities, the scale of the Imperium's response, and what side the Space Wolves will take, can only be imagined.

Notable Members of the Space Wolves' 13th Great Company

  • Hjalmar Stormfist - Hjalmar Stormfist was the Jarl of a large force of the 13th Great Company that emerged from the Eye of Terror during the 13th Black Crusade. He fought during several notable campaigns of the Great Crusade, and disappeared alongside a sizeable force of the 13th Great Company during the Burning of Prospero. He was one of the original "Wolf Brothers" of the Dekk-Tra, having served as one of Leman Russ' warriors before the coming of the Allfather to Fenris during the Great Crusade. He was one of the handful of veteran warriors to survive the implantation process in spite of his age, becoming Dekk-Tra's Standard Bearer. He later reemerged, ten millennia later, as Jarl of a sizable force of the 13th Company from the Eye of Terror during the 13th Black Crusade. But his presence and the fact the he and the rest of his fellow Space Wolves bore ancient marks of Power Armour that had salvaged bits of battle-plate from fallen Chaos Space Marines provoked Inquisitor Lord Karamazov to order a strike force of Sisters of Battle to attack the Space Wolves. In the ensuing battle, Stormfist valiantly fought against the Battle-Sisters, but ultimately met his fate when he was torn limb-from-limb by a Penitent Engine.
Wulfen vs

Huscarl Bulveye battles Izzakar Orr during the Fall of Prospero

  • Bulveye - Bulveye, known as the "Old Wolf," was a Jarl of Dekk-Tra, the Space Wolves 13th Great Company. He had fought alongside the Primarch Leman Russ before the coming of the Allfather to their homeworld of Fenris. During the Great Crusade he served as Huscarl of Jorin Bloodhowl, the former Jarl of Dekk-Tra. During the Dulan Campaign, when two of the Dekk-Tra's Astartes fell to the Curse of the Wulfen, Bulveye secretly tasked both Wolf Priest Ulbrandr Crowhame and Rune Priest Leif Hemligjaga with finding a cure for this genetic affliction. Sometime later, he succeeded Jorin Bloodhowl as Jarl of Dekk-Tra, and commanded the Space Wolves' 954th Expeditionary Fleet. He later fought during the Burning of Prospero, and at the end of the battle disappeared with a large force of the Dekk-Tra into the Warp in pursuit of surviving Thousand Sons Legionaries. Since the dawn of the Imperium, Bulveye had been the Great Company's Jarl, leading the 13th Great Company from Prospero, to the untold horrors of the Eye of Terror, and back into the present age of the late 41st Millennium against the vile forces of the Thousand Sons Sorcerer Madox.
  • Jorin Bloodhowl - Ancient contradictory accounts state that it was Jorin Bloodhowl who led the fabled 13th Great Company -- given command by none other than the Space Wolves' Primarch, Leman Russ himself. Whether or not this is fact, the truth remains unknown due to the passage of time, missing and contradictory accounts. The Space Wolves of the present, however, believe that Jorin is still the commanding Jarl of the 13th Great Company.
  • Hirkon Grail - Ancient contradictory accounts also state that it was Hirkon Grail who led the fabled 13th Great Company. But once again, the truth cannot be ascertained with any certainty. He is more than likely one of the remaining Wolf Lords of the original 13th Great Company, when it was at its original Chapter-sized strength.
  • Valief Thunderbrow - The first Jarl of Dekk-Tra.
  • Sternhammer, Warden of the Lost - A Wolf Priest known only as Sternhammer to the defenders of the Cadian Gate came to represent all the actions of the Space Wolves' lost 13th Company during the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41. Sternhammer often fell on the foul Forces of Chaos mercilessly and then withdrew before any Imperial force could make successful contact. Sternhammer was reported to have been in a great many different war zones light years apart from each other, leading a band of bestial warriors that he would unleash like giant hunting hounds upon the foe. He was reported to have saved the 143rd Cadian Regiment at Cadmus Binary. Alongside a powerful Wolf Lord, this Wulfen Guard slew the Night Lords' Chaos Lord Sinax. Only a few solar days later and five light years away, Sternhammer was reportedly sighted once more, leading a boarding action aboard an Imperial Navy vessel that resulted in the scuttling of the Light of Fatidicus, so that the enemy would not capture it. More than a hundred victories were attributed to Sternhammer and his warbands. Whether they were the same band, or many, and whether Sternhammer led them all himself is unknown, but the Defenders of the Cadian Gate remain both heartened and terrified at the memory of the mournful howls of the Wulfen he led into combat.
  • Ulbrandr Crowhame - Ulbrandr was a Wolf Priest of Dekk-Tra during the Great Crusade. When two Legionaries succumbed to the Curse of the Wulfen during the Dulan Campaign, Ulbrandr examined the bodies of the Legionaries through dissection but was unable to discern an adequate physiological explanation for their condition. Both he and Rune Priest Leif Hemligjaga were tasked by Huscarl Bulveye with finding a cure for this genetic deficiency. His ultimate fate is unknown.
  • Torvald - Torvald is a Rune Priest of the 13th Great Company, he was also known as Torvald the Reaver of Red Kraken Hold. This mighty Son of Russ was one of the Space Wolves' first Rune Priests. He fought by the side of Russ himself during the Great Crusade and has been Jarl Bulveye's lieutenant since that bygone era. His ultimate fate is unknown.
  • Asmund - Admund was a Rune Priest who fought in Dekk-Tra as a part of the Censure Host during the Fall of Prospero.
  • Leif Hemligjaga - Leif Hemligjaga was a Rune Priest of Dekk-Tra during the Great Crusade. When two Legionaries succumbed to the Curse of the Wulfen during the Dulan Campaign, Leif examined the bodies of the Astartes and determined they were free of maleficarum. Both he and Wolf Priest Ulbrandr Crowhame were tasked by Huscarl Bulveye with finding a cure for this genetic deficiency. Like the rest of Dekk-Tra, Leif would later disappear during the Fall of Prospero while battling against the Thousand Sons. He would later emerge ten millennia later as part of the 13th Great Company force led by Jarl Hjalmar Stormfist from the Eye of Terror during the 13th Black Crusade. His presence, along with the fact that he and his fellow Space Wolves were wearing salvaged battle-plate from Chaos Space Marines, provoked Inquisitor Lord Karamazov into ordering a strike force of Sisters of Battle to attack them.
  • Kloja - An Iron Priest of Dekk-Tra during the Great Crusade.
  • Geigor Fell-Hand - Geigor Fell-Hand was one of the "Old Guard," an original member of the 13th Great Company who fought alongside Leman Russ before the coming of the Allfather to Fenris during the Great Crusade. He was a part of the initial intake of warriors from Fenris that survived the implantation process to become an Astartes despite his age, and he joined Dekk-Tra. He quickly rose through the ranks to become the Company Champion of Dekk-Tra. Known for his hatred of sorcery, he was given command of Dekk-Tra's Blooded Claws during the Burning of Prospero. Though he cautioned his Jarl, Bulveye, on the follies of following the Thousand Sons through the mystical portals they utilised to travel across Prospero, his warnings fell on deaf ears. Geigor's ultimate fate following this campaign is unknown.
  • Haraal - A Wolf Guard of Jarl Jorin Bloodfang during the Great Crusade. He was one of two Astartes that succumbed to the Curse of the Wulfen during the Ynniu Void Battle of the Dulan Campaign.
  • Lars – One of Bulveye's Wolf Guard, he was described as a fearsome warrior. He was decapitated by a Dark Eldar lord whilst fighting on the world of Antimon during the Great Crusade.
  • Bavdir - Bavdir was one of the "Old Guard," an original member of the 13th Great Company who fought alongside Leman Russ before the coming of the Allfather to Fenris during the Great Crusade. He was a part of the initial intake of warriors from Fenris that survived the implantation process to become a Legiones Astartes despite his age, and joined Dekk-Tra. Bavdir fought during the Burning of Prospero. His ultimate fate is unknown.
  • Dagmar - Dagmar was one of the "Old Guard," the initial intake of warriors of Fenris that joined Dekk-Tra during the Great Crusade. He fought during the Burning of Prospero. He later emerged ten millennia later, serving as one of Jarl Bulveye's Pack leaders in Dekk-Tra. His ultimate fate is unknown.
  • Halvdan Bale-eye - Halvdan Bale-eye was one of the "Old Guard," an original member of the 13th Great Company who fought alongside Leman Russ before the coming of the Allfather to Fenris during the Great Crusade. He was a part of the initial intake of warriors from Fenris that survived the implantation process to become a Legiones Astartes despite his age, and joined Dekk-Tra. In the early days of the Great Crusade, Halvdan was Bulveye's chief lieutenant. He was a grim, brooding figure even at the best of times. Halvdan's left eye socket was seamed and uneven, the bone broken by a sword stroke that had put out the eye as well. He survived the terrible wound and had disdained an eye-patch afterwards, using the empty socket to unnerve foes and shipmates alike during his raiding days on Fenris. When he became a Space Marine he had it replaced with the unblinking lens of an augmetic eye. Halvdan fought during the Burning of Prospero. It is not known if he lived past the days of the Horus Heresy.
  • Jorllon - Jorllon was one of the "Old Guard," the initial intake of warriors of Fenris that joined Dekk-Tra during the Great Crusade. He fought during the Burning of Prospero. His ultimate fate is unknown.
  • Jurgen - One of the "Old Guard," the initial intake of warriors of Fenris that joined Dekk-Tra during the Great Crusade, Jurgen was a lean and rangy Wolf Brother. He wore his black hair cropped short and had adopted the Terran tradition of shaving his chin, earning no small amount of jibes from his pack-mates. He fought during the Burning of Prospero. His ultimate fate is unknown.
  • Krodus - Krodus was one of the "Old Guard," the initial intake of warriors of Fenris that joined Dekk-Tra during the Great Crusade. He fought during the Burning of Prospero. His ultimate fate is unknown.
  • Vangun - Vangun was one of the "Old Guard," the initial intake of warriors of Fenris that joined Dekk-Tra during the Great Crusade. He fought during the Burning of Prospero. His ultimate fate is unknown.
  • Othgar - Commander of the Haukr, one of six sub-Warp interceptors of Grimur Red Iron's hunt.
  • Ranulf – Ranulf is a Space Wolves Stormbird pilot, and one of Bulveye's pack-mates.
  • Bjell Hook-Knife - Bjell succumbed to the Curse of the Wulfen in the Ynniu Void Battle.

Non-Astartes Personnel

  • Johann – Johann was an unaugmented Fenrisian and personal Huscarl to Wolf Lord Bulveye. He is described as a wiry, older man who wore the dark grey tunic of a Space Wolves Legion bondsman.

Company Fleet

  • Aesrumnir (Unknown Class, Battleship) - Flagship of Dekk-Tra during the Great Crusade.
  • Ironwolf - Battle Barge - The Ironwolf was Wolf Lord Bulveye's personnel starship and the flagship of the 954th Expeditionary Fleet during the early years of the Great Crusade. This mighty vessel saw hard fighting for seven years during the Great Crusade. Her honour rolls bore testament to the battles she’d fought and the wayward worlds she'd reclaimed in the name of the Emperor of Man.
  • Hel's Daughter (Unknown Class) - Lead vessel of Grimur Red Iron's hunt.
  • Blood Howl (Unknown Class) - Grimur Red Iron's hunt, destroyed at the Cadian Gate during the 13th Black Crusade.
  • Crone Hammer (Unknown Class) - Part of Grimur Red Iron's hunt.
  • Death's Laughter (Unknown Class) - Part of Grimur Red Iron's hunt.
  • Storm Wyrm (Unknown Class) - Part of Grimur Red Iron's hunt.
  • Haukr (Unknown Class) - One of six sub-Warp interceptors.

Company Appearance

The 13th Company is distinguished by maintaining the dark grey Pre-Heresy colour scheme of the Space Wolves Legion, and what little remains of their original equipment at the time of the start of the Heresy. Much of their ancient Power Armour and weaponry has been replaced with material scavenged from their fallen Chaos foes.

Not surprisingly, the 13th Great Company has almost no heavy equipment remaining, such as tanks, Terminators or Dreadnoughts. The 13th Company is also distinguished by a company badge that is distinctive from the Space Wolves' own Chapter badge, as it uses the emblem of the Wulfen. No other Space Wolves Great Company has used that imagery since the Horus Heresy.

Canon Conflict

Bulveye may not be the actual ranking Wolf Lord of the 13th Great Company, as he only appears in Lee Lightner's novels, which are not fully accepted as canon, and clash with the current depiction of the Vlka Fenryka in recent Black Library novels. The Space Wolves themselves currently believe that the Jarl of the 13th is Jorin Bloodhowl, its original commander during the Great Crusade.

It may be the case, however, that due to their extended great hunt in the Eye of Terror, the 13th Great Company became fragmented to the degree that it was forced to promote several of its remaining Wolf Guard to the position of Jarl (Wolf Lord) in order to maintain several independent task forces.

In this case, Bulveye may well be a Wolf Lord of the 13th Great Company, but perhaps not the commanding Wolf Lord.

Trivia

The 13th Company was introduced into play in the Eye of Terror world-wide campaign in 2004, which was the first version of Abaddon the Despoiler's 13th Black Crusade before its overhaul in 2017. The 13th Company cannot be used with the "normal" Space Wolves, but this is only the result of a game balance issue.

The short story "Engage the Enemy" by Lee Lightner (published in Inferno! 45 and republished on the Black Library website on March 11, 2013) shows the Space Wolves going so far as to lie to the Imperial Guard to protect the existence of the 13th Great Company.

Sources

  • Codex: Eye of Terror (3rd Edition)
  • Codex: Space Wolves (5th Edition), pp. 9, 15, 17, 21
  • Inferno! 45, "Engage the Enemy" (Short Story) by Lee Lightner
  • The Horus Heresy - Book Seven: Inferno by Alan Bligh (Forge World Series), pp. 23-24, 47, 50, 58, 65, 81, 87
  • War Zone Fenris: Curse of the Wulfen (7th Edition), Chs. 1, 3
  • White Dwarf 301 (UK), pp. 71-79
  • White Dwarf 283, (UK), "Index Astartes: Children of the Night, the 13th Great Company" by Andy Hoare, "Mark of the Wulfen" and "Night of the Wulfen" (Campaigns), pp. 58-61
  • White Dwarf 282 (US), "Mark of the Wulfen: Matt Hutson's Wulfen force"
  • White Dwarf 245, (UK), "Lone Wolves", pp. 38-39
  • The Horus Heresy: Primarchs - Leman Russ, The Great Wolf (Novel) by Chris Wraight
  • Tales of Heresy (Anthology) edited by Nick Kyme and Lindsey Priestley, "Wolf at the Door" by Mike Lee
  • Ahriman: Sorcerer (Novel) by John French, Chs. 1, 14, 21
  • Leman Russ: The Great Wolf (Novel) by Chris Wraight, Ch. 2
  • Wolf's Honor (Novel) by Lee Lightner, Ch. 15
  • Legends of the Space Marines (Anthology) edited by Christian Dunn, "Twelve Wolves" by Ben Counter
  • The Thirteenth Wolf (Audio Book) by Gav Thorpe
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