Trials of the Wolf...



"May we stalks between the stars... May we endure and thrives on all inhospitable lands... May our eyes miss nothing of the guidance of the runed wolf footprints... May we companion of Russ let the wolf blood howl in our veins and within our spirits... For we are the unseen and silent wolf which cunning wound doubly deep... For we are the deviant and frenzied wolf which sleep inside you...May mother Fenris protect you all for we are the Wulfen legacy of your ancestors..."

Haegr Skard Wulfen, Wolf Lord of the Wolfbrothers, 544.M32

They were all old men by the standards of the Astartes, having been reavers and sword-brothers to Leman, King of the Russ, for many years before the Allfather had come to Fenris. When the truth of Leman's heritage was finally revealed, every warrior in the king's mead-hall had drawn their iron blades and clamoured to fight at his side, as sword-brothers ought. But they were all too old... Not a man among them was younger than twenty years. The Allfather told them; The trials they would have to endure 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 disuaded by thoughts of suffering 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 Allfather's word, the vast majority of them died. Out of hundreds, almost two score survived, a number that amazed even the Allfather himself. In honour of their courage, Leman - no longer king now, but Primarch of the VI Legion - formed a new company around the survivors.

Ever since, the other warriors of the Legion refferred to the Thirteenth as the Greybeards. The members of the company, however, called themselves... The Wolf Brothers.

Extract from 'Wolf at the Door' by Mike lee
Tale of Heresy edited by Nick Kyme & Lindsey Priestley