Krom Dragongaze

Krom Dragongaze, sometimes called the "Fierce-eye," is a Wolf Lord of the Space Wolves Space Marine Chapter, one of twelve legendary warriors who lead that unorthodox Chapter's Great Companies into battle. Krom's Great Company is known as the "Drakeslayers."

Notoriously violent and possessed of a short temper, Krom has been known to let his anger govern his reason. Thankfully for Krom, his skill in personal combat and the glory he has accrued from his service to the Chapter more than makes up for any doubts the Great Wolf Logan Grimnar might have over the warrior he and the other Space Wolves name "Fierce-eye."

Krom's presence and sheer force of will can be petrifying to a lesser man. He keeps a great many Wolf Guard in his company, for the Fierce-eye believes that valour should be rewarded wherever it is to be found. Clutching the rune-carved Frost Axe Wyrmclaw, and an ornate Bolt Pistol, Krom Dragongaze is a lord among men. Upon his back he wears a wolf-skull totem and his cloak is trimmed with furs.

Krom's fearsome visage is one of notorious rage: his lips drawn back in a howl, wolf fangs bared, he is further accentuated by his windswept cloak and outstretched arm clutching Wyrmclaw, perfectly capturing the Wolf Lord's ferocious might and his occasionally wild, unpredictable savagery. Krom's sigil is that of the Sun Wolf, a mythological entity of Fenrisian legend who makes the belly of the sun his lair, and attacks Fenris anew with every dawn.

Krom Dragongaze's saga is long and blood-drenched, featuring heroic victories and epic duel in great number. However, though his string of victories is beyond question, there are many who mutter darkly of his methods. Krom's temper is little short of volcanic -- his nickname of "Fierce-eye" stemming from the furious intensity of his rage-filled stare -- and he will suffer no impediment to his perpetual hunt for glory.

For every moment of shining heroism in Krom's past, there is an instance of bloody-mindedness or needless barbarism that overshadows it, and the Wolf Lord has been in and out of Logan Grimnar's good graces time and again. Krom is belligerent and competitive to a fault, with little humour or humility to leaven his hard-eyed aggression, and he and his fellow Wolf Lords have butted heads on many occasions.

Yet for all this, Krom Dragongaze is a deadly weapon in the Great Wolf's arsenal, for his uncompromising ferocity is as dangerous to the foe as it is wearing to his allies -- there is no corner out of which the Fierce-eye cannot fight, and no foe he cannot best.

History[]

Battle of Alaric Prime[]

KromDragongazeOrkWarlord — Krom Dragongaze faces Warlord Grukk Face-rippa during the Red WAAAGH!

When the Ork Warlord Grukk Face-rippa's Red WAAAGH! attacked the Knight World of Alaric Prime in 998.M41, it was opposed by the towering Knights of the Alarican nobility and the grim-faced Cadians of the Astra Militarum. Led by heroes such as Castellan Stein and Lord Neru Degallio, the forces of the Imperium fought tooth and nail for every volcanic island and sulphurous river.

The torn bodies of martyred troops carpeted the Sacred Isle like macabre sand dunes. Yet still the Orks came on, fighting their way to the very foot of Sacred Mountain. However, the Warlord Grukk was betrayed, the cunning Big Mek Mogrok orchestrating his leader's messy downfall and seizing the reins of power for himself.

The war ground on, with first one side then the other gaining the upper hand. In the end, however, Mogrok's ingenuity could not be denied. The tides of battle flowed back to Sacred Mountain once again, the Greenskins finally dropping a frozen asteroid on the horrified Imperial defenders to break them body and soul. However, even as all hope seemed lost, the sky lit up with the blazing contrails of Imperial Drop Pods. The Adeptus Astartes had answered Alaric Prime's desperate cry for help. The Space Wolves had come.

In Search of Glory[]

"Warriors of Fenris, there is glory to be had on the world below! Shall we stand idly by while others seize it in our stead? I say no! Instead, let us tear it raw and bloody from the fallen bodies of our foes!"

— Krom Dragongaze, address to his warriors before the second wave assault upon Alaric Prime

Strike Force Stormclaw was Fenrisian vengeance made manifest, led by no fewer than three of the Chapter's greatest heroes. The Old Wolf and the Young, Logan Grimnar and Ragnar Blackmane, were at the forefront of the attack upon Sacred Isle. Meanwhile, leading the second wave of Fenrisians into the war came Krom Dragongaze. However, the fell-tempered Krom was less than delighted with his assigned duty. Krom is an ambitious individual and, whether or not a slight was intended, he perceived one in Grimnar's choice of him as the second wave commander.

Standing in an observation bay aboard the strike cruiser Ironpelt, Krom watched the thrusters of the first wave's Drop Pods dwindle into firefly sparks, slowly crushing a drinking goblet in one fist as he did so. Krom would prove to the Old Wolf that it was he, not the whelp Ragnar Blackmane, who should be fighting at the forefront of this war.

Soon after, Dragongaze stood in the cockpit of his Thunderhawk gunship, Vengeful Howl. Fangs bared, the Wolf Lord rode the juddering deck like a longship in a storm as the super-heavy attack craft bludgeoned its way through the Alarican atmosphere. As the clouds parted and Sacred Isle hove into view below, Krom was already running through the deployment protocols and initial attack strategies in his mind.

The ships of the second wave bore warriors and tanks enough to crush an army many times their size, and Krom meant to see them do just that. Soon another distress call clawed its way through the Fenrisians' banter. The distress call continued to warble from its vox speakers, a Cadian voice pleaded for help, repeating a single, ominous name, "Repeat: reinforcements requested to Blistered Isles, xenos threat level crimson. Repeat: Warlord Grukk is here..."

As the Wolf Lord listened intently, his mouth curled into a feral grin. He immediately ordered his remaining forces to deploy in support of Logan Grimnar's attack, and Krom turned his Thunderhawk south.

Pride Before the Fall[]

Intent on adding another glorious verse to his already mighty saga, Krom's chosen quarry proved dangerous game indeed. Rushing to battle with their blood singing and their voices raised in warriors' boasts, Krom's warband soon discovered that to underestimate the Greenskin menace was to charge headlong into the deadliest danger. As Krom's Thunderhawk gunship swept in over the coast of Blistered Isle, the Vengeful Howl was brought down by an unknown Ork energy weapon.

When the Wolf Lord finally awoke from unconsciousness, Krom's face darkened when he took in his surroundings. A long trail of devastation cut through the acid-bogs and close-packed woodland, a deep and blackened trench sizzled with acidic ground-water that led to the battered form of the Vengeful Howl. Krom's Wolf Guard pack leader, Beoric Winterfang, explained that they had been shot down by some kind of strange Greenskin field artillery. As the Iron Priest pilot and his servitors worked to restore their craft to function, the Wolf Lord was informed that their work might take solar hours, or even days to complete.

Cursing bitterly, Krom Dragongaze knew he could not call for help, for to do so, he and his Great Company would both be mocked and censured for going off-mission. Resolving to fight his way to glory, the Wolf Lord marshalled his warriors into two forces. He departed the crash site with his loyal Wolf Guard and hot-headed Blood Claws. They would march overnight to reach their objective at Fortress 26 on foot, to fall upon Grukk's warband from the east.

Meanwhile, the Great Company's Grey Hunters would remain at the crash site until the repairs could be completed. The two forces would reunite once the craft was repaired and they would put an end to Grukk once and for all.

Blood in the Mists[]

In the wake of Krom's departure, his loyal Grey Hunters settled in to stand watch. Suddenly, they were beset on all sides by a vicious Ork assault made possible by the use of a Greenskin tellyporta. Despite the inability to see their targets through the acid-bog's impenetrable fog, the Space Wolves' superhuman senses strained to penetrate the muffling murk, allowing the Astartes to draw a bead on their foes. The Grey Hunters blazed away, their weapons' roar muffled by the cloying fog.

Grots squealed and died in droves, their ruined corpses littering the boggy ground beneath the trees. The Grey Hunters adopted the best firing discipline for their numerous foe. Then amid a second blazing flare of energy, Grukk Face-rippa himself, and a handpicked mob of his biggest, meanest Skull-Nobz, joined the fight.

From the moment the warlord's bestial roars echoed between the trees, the Grey Hunters' pack leader, Hengist Ironaxe, knew his warriors were in trouble. Hengist had not become a pack leader by squandering the lives of his warriors and, as more Nobz surged from the darkness to join the melee, he realised the Grey Hunters could not win this engagement.

Swiftly and brutally, the Grey Hunters blasted and hacked their way to freedom, retreating west into the darkened woodland on the trail of their Wolf Lord. Bloodcurdling roars and agonised howls chased them like vengeful ghosts, fading to muffled silence as the Space Wolves melted into the sulphurous gloom, forced to bear the shame of leaving their fallen behind.

The Wolf Lord and the Warlord[]

Warlord Grukk Face-rippa's tellyporta attack against the crashed Space Wolf Thunderhawk left the craft crippled and its defenders mostly dead. However, amid the turgid tangle of atmospheric distortion created by the meteor impact on Sacred Isle, long range vox was all but useless.

Thus, Krom Dragongaze pressed on with his hunt for the Greenskin foe, unaware of his slain pack-mates who now lay fallen in his wake.

The Wolf Lord ultimately fell upon Grukk rearuard of ramshackle war engines before he finally confonted the immense Ork in an epic duel. Sparks flew from clashing weapons an blood flowed, brutal roars were met in turn by fercoious howls. Though each scored devastating blows, final victory was snatched from both as their forces were flung apart in a violent blaze of energies from a malfunctioning Ork tellyporta.

Badly wounded, Krom's disoriented warriors found themselves transported back near the heart of the Space Wolves' lines. Krom's pride and ego would take longer to heal than his cracked skull, however.

He had left the other Wolf Lords unsupported and lost many battle-brothers, with not even Grukk's head to show for it. In later battles, some of Krom's warriors wore masks of contrition, seeking to wash away the bitter taste of failure with the mead of new victories, but none fought harder for redemption than the Fierce-eye.

Krom's rising maturity has even seen him forgo some opportunities for glory, for both himself and his Great Company, in favour of oath-sworn duties of guardianship. Logan Grimnar knows there may come other times when Krom seeks his own path, but his loyalty and brutal efficiency in combat remained without question even in the wake of the disaster on Alaric Prime.

House Hawkshroud Becomes Oathsworn[]

Krom is known to have saved a Knight from House Hawkshroud during a later campaign, causing that Knight house to become oathsworn to the Space Wolves.

Hunt for the Wulfen and the Siege of the Fenris System[]

During the campaign known as the Hunt for the Wulfen in the final years of the 41st Millennium Krom remained on Fenris to watch over the Space Wolves' fortress-monastery, The Fang during his battle-brothers' absence.

After the start of the Siege of the Fenris System in 999.M41, Krom joined battle on the world of Valdrmani where with the Grey Knights' 3rd Brotherhood and its captain Arvahn Stern, the Drakeslayers fought off the infestation of Daemons.

Krom returned to Fenris and when the conflict with the forces of Tzeentch and the Thousand Sons began there, he defended The Fang against the enemy within.

War of Beasts[]

After the birth of the Great Rift and the start of the Era Indomitus, Krom Dragongaze was the first Wolf Lord to encounter the new Primaris Space Marines. He enthusiastically supported integrating them into the Space Wolves because of the substantial increase in combat effectiveness they would bring to the Chapter, as opposed to the more cautious and distrustful welcome to the new Astartes provided by the Great Wolf Logan Grimnar.

During the War of Beasts, Krom's Great Company was deployed to the strategically vital world of Vigilus after its invasion by a wide variety of Chaos and xenos foes. He led a Space Wolves fleet assault on the Ork cruiser Worldsmasha as soon as the Space Wolves translated from the Warp into the Vigilus System, and succeeded in sending the ramshackle Greenskin vessel plummeting into the Ork settlements that had been established on the world below.

Krom considered it a fitting spectacle to herald his arrival at the world, but soon found himself locked in a tense relationship with Chapter Master Marneus Calgar of the Ultramarines, the leader of the Imperial defence of the planet, and his war council. Before an almost violent conflict between the two Astartes leaders could erupt, Krom learned of a renewed Ork assault on the temple districts of Hyperia and left to deal with the threat.

Personality[]

Krom Dragongaze Battle — Krom Dragongaze leads the warriors of his Drakeslayers Great Company into battle.

Krom Dragongaze is competitive to a fault. He seeks always to set himself against his peers, hungering after glorious victory in every form of test and trial. His force of will and piercing glare is so genuinely frightening that they have earned him the nickname the "Fierce-eye" among his brothers.

Furthermore, Krom's temper is notoriously volcanic, having led him on several occasions to beat senseless lesser men who questioned his decisions. Such behaviour has earned Great Wolf Logan Grimnar's censure and has left no love lost between the two Space Wolf lords, yet for all Krom's unrepentant ferocity none could question that he is a true Fenrisian hero.

Krom rarely turns down a direct challenge and regularly pits himself against his fellow Wolf Lords in all kinds of contests, be it eating, drinking, duelling, hunting or the Trial of the Bladed Eye. After Lukas the Trickster bet Krom he could not outstare Fenris' fierce star, the Wolf Lord endured an agonising ordeal that saw him grudgingly squint with one eye and go blind in the other -- though in the evening the Wolf's Eye went down, so Krom declared it a draw.

None can deny that Krom's unrepentant ferocity and willingness to do whatever it takes to secure glorious victory make the Wolf Lord a true Fenrisian hero, his will as fiery as his flame-red hair. Krom openly condones his warriors' fierce rivalries -- rivalries that sometimes see them ill thought-of by other Space Wolves -- viewing such aggression as an essential means of honing their power. Krom's never-ending search for greater feats of glory will be ever be undertaken through the blood and ruination of their foes.

Grom has led his Drakeslayers Great Company to one saga-worthy victory after another against the mightiest of foes, from the blood-drenched defeat of the Iron Warriors on Haegral V to the boarding and capture of the space hulk Prometheus Rising during the Balros Incursion.

Just as he punishes failure, Krom believes in rewarding greatness wherever he sees it, and so his Great Company contains a complement of Wolf Guard second only in size and renown to the Great Wolf's own.

Wargear[]

Wolf Lord Dragongaze — Wolf Lord Krom Dragongaze arrayed in his full panoply of war.

Artificer Armour - Krom's power armour is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece with gilt edging. The vents on his backpack are a pair of stylised wolf heads.
Terminator Armour (Optional)
Belt of Russ - Each Great Company of the Space Wolves has in its Armoury a single Belt of Russ. A mighty ward against enemy attacks, these powerful girdles incorporate potent gravitic force fields that protect the wearer. Forged by the master Iron Priest Stef Blacksoul after the disappearance of Russ, these belts are important relics of the Chapter.
Bolt Pistol
Frag Grenades and Krak Grenades
Wyrmclaw - Krom's mighty Frost Axe is a revered relic of The Fang. Krom's masterwork frost axe is a perfectly balanced weapon made doubly deadly by the skill of its heroic wielder. Its blade was dusted with a bonemeal glaze made from the ground down talons of the great ice wyrm Witherwing, lending it a razor-sharp cutting edge that can never be dulled. In the hands of Krom Dragongaze, Wyrmclaw becomes a veritable avalanche of destruction, its every blow perfectly placed and impossible to stay.
Fierce-eye (Cybernetic Occular Implant)

Drakeslayers Great Company[]

Dragongaze Sigil 2 — The Sun Wolf, sigil of Krom Dragongaze and his Great Company, the Drakeslayers

Krom Dragongaze has a presence of will so strong that his fiercely loyal Wolf Guard say only the mythical Fenrisian Sun Wolf, his sigil, has a hope of staring him down. Krom loves taking part in all kinds of contests, from the Trial of the Bladed Eye to the rivalries he fosters within his Great Company and without. The Fierce-eye commands the fiercely loyal Space Wolves Great Company known as the "Drakeslayers."

Like their fierce Wolf Lord, the Drakeslayers are savagely competitive. Rivalries between warriors and packs, and even with other Great Companies, are ignited and relished. By such contests do they demonstrate their strength and identify ways to dominate every battle. Krom is a harsh commander, as demanding of his warriors as he is of himself, yet he is swift to reward valour.

Though much of their aggression and hunt for glory stem from Krom Dragongaze's own intense competitive streak, all the Drakeslayers are equally as eager to earn honour and a place amongst the greatest heroes in the Space Wolves Chapter. They seek ever to improve themselves and prove to all their courage, strength and determination. Within the Fang, they disdain the use of Combat Servitors for combat practice and instead engage in increasingly violent sparring matches amongst themselves, goaded on by derisive taunts and accusations until blood is drawn. Even then, many such "tests" have been taken too far and required the urgent action of the unimpressed Wolf Priests.

On the battlefield, wagers are freely made by the Drakeslayers and loud boasts broadcast. Some will seek the head of the enemy garrison commander, to wade through a sea of deadly enemies and emerge leaving naught but butchered meat or to lead others in a glorious charge towards a slavering monstrosity. The Drakeslayers are a fluid and gifted brotherhood, capable of incredible feats of daring and masters of a dizzying array of strategies both complex and direct. They seek nothing less than to be recognised as the greatest fighting force of the Chapter: to win and be seen to win, striving to outdo the other companies even in their own areas of speciality.

Their Wolf Lord indulges his warriors' eager reach for glory. He relentlessly drives them on to ever greater heights of achievement with his intolerance of failure. Krom's Great Company are highly proud of both his and their deeds. If they occasionally overreach themselves, there are perhaps none but the Drakeslayers who can batter through the direst of situations and emerge triumphant and bloody, their fangs glinting among grins of defiance.

Notable Campaigns[]

Red WAAAGH! (998.M41)
- Battle of Alaric Prime - The Drakeslayers fought the Orks of the Red WAAAGH! on the Knight World of Alaric Prime, where they suffered a painful defeat.
Alliance with House Hawkshroud (Unknown Date.M41) - Krom Dragongaze and the Drakeslayers saved the life of a Knight from House Hawkshroud, causing that Knight house to become oathsworn to the Space Wolves Chapter.
Hunt for the Wulfen and the Siege of the Fenris System (ca. 999.M41)
War of Beasts (ca. 000.M41 - 015.M42) - During the War of Beasts, Krom Dragongaze's Great Company was deployed to the strategically vital world of Vigilus after its invasion by a wide variety of Chaos and xenos foes. He led a Space Wolves fleet assault on the Ork cruiser Worldsmasha as soon as the Space Wolves translated from the Warp into the Vigilus System, and succeeded in sending the ramshackle Greenskin vessel plummeting into the Ork settlements that had been established on the world below. Krom considered it a fitting spectacle to herald his arrival at the world, but soon found himself locked in a tense relationship with Chapter Master Marneus Calgar of the Ultramarines, the leader of the Imperial defence of the planet, and his war council. Before an almost violent conflict between the two Astartes leaders could erupt, Krom learned of a renewed Ork assault on the temple districts of Hyperia and left to deal with the threat.
Purging of Gaivos (Unknown Date.M42) - The Drakeslayers participated in the assault on the Great WAAAGH! of Ghazghkull Thraka on the Forest World of Gaivos.
Battle of Qorannis (Unknown Date.M42) - On the Ice World of Qorannis, Krom Dragongaze's Drakeslayers have become locked in battle with the Greenskins of the Warboss Gorblitz.

Notable Drakeslayers[]

Krom Dragongaze - Dragongaze is the aggressive Wolf Lord of the Drakeslayers.
Beoric Winterfang - Winterfang was the Fierce-eye's Wolf Guard Champion.
Hengist Ironaxe - Ironaxe was a Grey Hunter pack leader.
Egil Redfist - Redfist was the Drakeslayers' Blood Claws pack leader.
Molric Fireblood - Fireblood was a Grey Hunter of the Longstalkers Pack.
Dvordin Ironblood - Ironblood was a member of the Fierce-eye's Wolf Guard.
Erik Darksmane - Darksmane was a member of the Fierce-eye's Wolf Guard.
Movir the Brash - Movir was a Blood Claw of Egil Redfist's pack.
Brodd Winterstride - Winterstride was a Wolf Scout of the Drakeslayers.

The Fierce-eye's Finest[]

Krom Dragongaze habitually enters battle surrounded by a hand-picked warband of warriors. The packs that comprise this retinue are drawn from the various strata of Krom's Great Company, usually comprising a pack each of Blood Claws, Grey Hunters, and Wolf Guard.

So accompanied, Krom is able to keep an eye on his most promising followers, while ensuring that the strength and skills of his packs best complement one another. Led from the front by their ferocious Wolf Lord, the Fierce-eye's Finest fight with single-minded determination, mirroring the skill and aggression of Krom himself. It is a great honour to be chosen to be part of this formation, and those given the chance to prove themselves to Krom will do so with furious determination, fighting like the saga-worthy heroes their lord knows them to be.

The Fierce-eye's Wolf Guard[]

For all his faults, Krom Dragongaze inspires a fierce loyalty in his followers. Success in his Great Company brings rich reward, and an act of heroism can lead to a swift promotion to the Fierce-eye's sizeable host of Wolf Guard. These warriors are by turns tolerant of their Wolf Lord's fiery outbursts and intensely proud of his -- and their -- many heroic achievements.

The pack of Wolf Guard that accompanied Krom to Blistered Isle on Alaric Prime were led by the redoubtable Beoric Whitefang. This venerable warrior has fought for his Chapter for over two standard centuries and his glacial calm complements well the fiery wrath of his Wolf Lord. The rest of Beoric's pack are similarly Veteran Astartes heroes, each one a courageous campaigner clad in the finest armour and armed with the most potent weapons their Chapter Armoury can provide.

Hengist Ironaxe's Grey Hunters[]

Hengist Ironaxe's pack are as brave and capable a squad of Grey Hunters as any Wolf Lord could wish for. Ironaxe, in particular, is renowned for his level head and calm determination in the face of any odds.

It was his unwavering restraint that saw Ironaxe and his pack-mates hold the western gate during the siege of Angel's Folly -- faced by an onrushing tide of Tyranid weapon-beasts and with the gate's controls burned out through sabotage, the Grey Hunters stood alone against terrible odds.

Ironaxe's pack held their position and applied careful, methodical fire-patterns to slow the foe's advance. So successful was the Grey Hunters' determined defiance that they bought time for an orbital bombardment to fall upon the Tyranids, scattering the swarm and ensuring the western gate remained in Imperial hands.

Egil Redfist's Blood Claws[]

Many newly recruited Space Wolves clamour to join Krom Dragongaze's Great Company. The Wolf Lord's glory-seeking reputation is well-known, and proves a strong draw to freshly-inducted Blood Claws hungry to begin writing sagas of their own.

Egil Redfist's pack were typical of this trend, having flocked to the Fierce-eye's banner prior to the attack upon Alaric Prime. Redfist himself had seen some combat during Krom's last campaign, his Power Fist felling a bile-bloated Chaos Champion of the Death Guard, and so his pack-mates looked to him for leadership.

Conscious of his lord's eyes upon him and the other Blood Claws following his lead, Redfist was doubly determined to act the hero during the battles for Blistered Isle, ensuring his squad fought furiously to impress both his pack-mates and liege lord alike.

Notable Vehicles[]

Vengeful Howl (Thunderhawk) - This Thunderhawk gunship carrying Wolf Lord Krom Dragongaze was unexpectedly shot down by fire from a previously unknown Ork energy weapon during the Drakeslayers' campaign on the Knight World of Alaric Prime during the Red WAAAGH! in 998.M41.

Sources[]

Codex: Space Wolves (5th Edition), pp. 15-17
Codex: Space Wolves (8th Edition), pp. 15, 43
Codex Supplement: Space Wolves (9th Edition) pp. 26-27, 33
Imperium Nihilus: Vigilus Ablaze, pg. 65
Psychic Awakening: Saga of the Beast (8th Edition), pp. 12-13
he Wolftime (Novel) by Gav Thorpe, Dramatis Personae
Warhammer: Visions 26, pg. 22
War Zone Fenris - Curse of the Wulfen (7th Edition), pp. 18, 77, 94-98
War Zone Fenris - Wrath of Magnus (7th Edition), pp. 72-74
White Dwarf 24 (12 June 2014), pp. 10-11, 14-15
White Dwarf 26 (26 July 2014), "The Great Companies," pp. 28, 30-31
Curse of the Wulfen (Novella) by David Annandale