| abstract
| - Bran Redmaw is one of the twelve Wolf Lords that lead the Great Companies of the Space Wolves Chapter under the Great Wolf Logan Grimnar. Leading a Great Company of up to 200 Space Wolves Astartes, the character of each Great Company's lord to a greater or lesser extent influences its warriors, and Bran Redmaw's company is renowned for being a savage pack of cunning and ruthless killers, for an enemy force trapped by Redmaw's Great Company will quite literally be torn to pieces. As a result, Bran's Great Company is looked upon with some suspicion by the other eleven Wolf Lords. They all respect the company's fighting prowess, but those that serve under the banner of the Bloodied Hunter are regarded as tainted and draw the eyes of those of the Imperium outside the Space Wolves Chapter more than they wish. The Inquisition has within its records pertaining to Astartes deviation many accounts of terrifying feral creatures shadowing the deployment of the Great Company. These have yet to be proven and the Space Wolves Chapter ignores all demands to account for these allegations. The Bloodied Hunter is the sign associated with those of the Mark of the Wulfen, and indeed there are many in Bran's Great Company who bear that particular curse. Amongst the upper echelons of the Space Wolves there is an unspoken truth as to the reason why: Redmaw himself has been afflicted by the curse. Bran does little to dispel the rumours, and that he has begun to take to the battlefield alone rather than leading his Battle-Brothers only serves to court the growing attention the Inquisition and the Ecclesiarchy pay to his Great Company. No one has yet dared to question their loyalty to the Imperium, and its proven record combating Mankind's enemies has forced the Inquisition to so far stay its hand. After the death of Wolf Lord Andhrimnir during the Mordrak Campaign, Bran Redmaw was promoted by Andhrimnir's retinue to replace him as leader of his Great Company, as is the Space Wolves' tradition regarding rites of succession. This was not a popular decision. Other Space Wolves Wolf Lords stepped forth, in private, to voice their concerns. Amongst them was the venerable Wolf Priest, Ulrik the Slayer. They worried that Bran could not be trusted with such a position of power, for there was the possibility that he would allow his darker, feral nature to take control of his mind and soul. The Great Wolf quashed all complaints, for he could see that Bran was an extraordinary warrior and, through sheer force of will, had subdued the beast within. Logan Grimnar looked to the advice of his eldest councillor, Bjorn the Fell-Handed, in this matter. Only the ancient Dreadnought was old enough to recall that Bran would not be the first afflicted Space Wolf to reach such high office within the Chapter with the Curse of the Wulfen upon him. The Great Wolf fully supported Bran's promotion to Wolf Lord, but not without caution as he ordered Ulrik the Slayer and his Wolf Priests to keep a vigilant watch over Bran and his Great Company, so that they did not stray too far and risk repeating the mistakes of the past. Knowing that the beast lurks within, Bran eschews the close company of his warriors, even on the battlefield (or perhaps especially upon the battlefield). Bran issues his orders before deployment, preferring to hunt alone or in the company of a pack of Fenrisian Wolves, leaving his trusted Wolf Guard battle leaders in direct tactical control. When the Curse of the Wulfen takes him, Bran is transformed into a huge ravenous wolf-beast; fully twelve feet tall, powerful, fast, and with claws that can rend Plasteel and fangs like Adamantium daggers. Consumed by a frenzied bloodlust, this Wulfen, the Redmaw, tears its foes apart in an orgy of blood. But despite the creature's bestial appearance, Redmaw is no mindless killer. The beast still retains a hunter's cunning, using stealth and patience to close with its prey before pouncing upon them in an explosion of bloody violence.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)