Moonlight Stalkers

Moonlight Stalkers armorial with Chapter iconography.

Moonlight Stalkers Hunter (Battle-Brother).

"*We hunt in the shadows, we strike like lightning and we disappear like smoke in the wind.*"
— Alpha Wolf Björn
The **Moonlight Stalkers** are a Loyalist Successor Chapter whose lineage was derived from the wild and fearless Space Wolves. The were founded pretty early in the Ultima Founding, which means they're comprised entirely of Primaris Space Marines. They strike from the shadows, surprising and overwhelming the enemy forces. The Moonlight Stalkers don't like open battle and they prefer more dense terrain, were the enemy is forced to face them in close-combat. They stalk their enemies and are tireless in the pursuit of their prey.

As the name suggests they prefer hunting their prey at night, were they can move unseen and surround the enemy without them noticing until the last second. Like most Sons of Russ their excellent at close-combat. They don't use heavy units like Aggressors and Terminators, because they would be too slow and can't move stealthy. They are exclusively a fast moving and stealth-based Chapter.

The Moonlight Stalker stand out among the Sons of Russ for their usage in terror tactics. Wherever the Moonlight Stalkers are hunting, horrifying trophies of their preys can be found. Flayed skin and mutilated body parts, the horror that comes with the Moonlight Stalkers is often compared to that of the Night Lords.

## Chapter History

The Moonlight Stalker were founded during the Ultima Founding. They were also part of the Indomitus Crusade.

### Indomitus Crusade

#### The First Hunt (014.M42)

The First Hunt was the first big battle of the Moonlight Stalkers. A forge world had been taken over by a Khorne worshipping Chaos Warband. The Moonlight Stalker had been given the task of eliminating the most important member of the Warband. They managed to make landfall without being noticed. They moved in silence and only communicated through hand sings. Having found the perfect place for an ambush, they lured the Warlords in. After a quick and bloody battle only the leader remained. Alpha Wolf Björn duelled with him and killed him in the process. Because of that the planet could reclaimed.

#### Dawn of Destruction (090.M42)

The Dawn of Destruction was an event that led to catastrophic levels of damage on the city of Kalmark. A Chaos Warband was on it's way to destroy the city and enslave the civilians. The Moonlight Stalkers were deployed and quickly stationed themselves. No Traitor could escape them. But it came differently. The Warband thought to be Khorne-worshipping, was actually a follower of Tzeentch. This surprised the Stalkers and with no Psykers themselves a bloody battle broke out. Moonlight Stalkers falling to the ground, as their brains melted and Thousand Sons being cut down in close-combat. But the psychic power was to much and nearly the entire city lay in ruins. It seemed as if defeat was certain. But a second detachment of Moonlight Stalkers came flying over them, with Thunderhawks and bombs hit the Traitors. Killing the Warlord and most of the Warband, but destroying more of the city. The surviving enemies were hunted and killed. Victory was claimed, but at what price.

#### The Hunted Hunter (100.M42)

Another reason why the Stalkers numbers are so few, is a battle that nearly wiped them out. A Khorne Warband had taken over a Hive Planet, that was very important in terms of trading. The Moonlight Stalkers were tasked with killing and stunning the leaders of the Warband, so that the rest of the Traitors would be without a leader and become an easy prey. Making landfall they set up for several ambushes across the planet. This task was so important, that almost the entire Chapter had come to the hunt. Ambushing and killing the leaders, the Moonlight Stalkers moved in to kill the last and most important Warlord. But they walked into a trap. As soon as they saw the Warlord, hundreds of Traitors came charging at them. The Moonlight Stalkers were not prepared and were slaughtered. Only a thew, including Alpha Wolf Björn, were able to escape. They were hunted across the planet, but managed to fight of all the attackers. But nothing lasted for ever. Being out of ammo and now resorting on close-combat, it was only a matter of time until they were wiped out to. But the Moonlight Stalkers, that stayed behind came to their aid. In an final attempt for victory they set up a trap. The Warlord and his warriors were ambushed and killed in a battle for survival. After that, the rest of the Traitors were hunted down.

## Chapter Homeworld

The Chapter Home world of the Moonlight Stalkers is a huge feral planet called Minas Major. This planet is a death world, with freezing temperatures. The warmest the air ever gets is around 10 C°. This only happens in the single month of summer. All other 29 months are winter and average temperatures are around 4 to -10 C°. In the coldest months the temperatures drops to -280 C°. The planets size is around 61.42 billion km².

### Landscape

#### Land

The only landmass of the planet is a huge continent, which covers around 1% of the planet. The rest is ocean. The only island found on the planet are around the costal region of the continent. The continent itself does not have a name, but the local people call it *'Ingvar jǫrð',* which translate to *lone warrior.*

The planets flora mostly consists of fir tree forests. These forests cover most of the continent. A few grassy planes escape the trees, but they are never very large. The ground is covered in gras, which is replaced by rocks around the costal regions. The continent has a very hilly landscape, with two mountain ranges. Many rivers and laces are scattered across the continent.

#### Frozen Ocean

During the 29 months of winter almost the entire ocean of Minas Major. Around 99,98% of the ocean is covered in ice. During the one month of summer the ice retreats from the costal lines and a reveals icy and calm water. During the coldest months even more ice appears, many rivers and lakes freeze as well and the local tribes and animals can barely find water.

Only around the equatorial regions can one find open water. Not around the entire equator, but there are a few patches that reveal the dark waters. During summer the ice around the equator starts to break and ice plates are created and drift around. Here is where most of the inhabitants of this ice ocean live.

In the north and south the winds and freezing temperatures are so extreme, that entire ice mountains are created. These ice mountains can reach enormous sizes and the biggest of them easily reach the clouds. In the coldest and most stormy regions of the ice oceans, entire mountain ranges exist. Of course the mountains still follow ice berg rules, which means the main part of the mountain is underwater. These mountains can be up to 50,000 meters tall.

## Chapter Organisation

### Officer Ranks

* ***Alpha Wolf -*** Chapter Master
* ***Wolf Kings -*** Captain
* ***Moon-hunters -*** Lieutenant

### Specialist Ranks

* ***Sons of Odin -*** Librarians
* ***Shaman -*** Apothecary
* ***Lords of Iron -*** Master of the Forge

### Line Ranks

* ***Alpha -*** Sergeant

* ***Stalker -*** Battle Brother

### Special Ranks

* ***Sköll (Elder Wolf) -*** These are the oldest and wisest Hunters of the Chapter. They have left their days of the hunt behind them and now train new hunters and write new sagas, of epic and glorious hunts.
* ***Jðmar Gellir (Wolverine) -*** Considered the greatest hunters of the entire Chapter, these Stalkers have been relieved of their duties and positions to go out and hunt. What they hunt or whey they hunt it is left up to the Wolverine himself, as he is trusted to find the most dangerous, difficult and glorious hunts the galaxy has to offer. While often being among the best fighters of the Chapter, what makes these Stalkers so feared and respected is their perfection of the hunt. Their tracking skills, untouchable motivation to find the prey and their mastery of stalking said prey, disappearing even from the eyes of other Stalkers. Wolverines often travel the galaxy alone, seeking prey only for them to hunt. Sometimes however Wolverines will join a pack of Stalkers in their hunt, if the promised glory is enticing or they are asked for help, if the hunt seems too difficult. Those that have witnessed Wolverines first hand tell stories of unusually calm Sons of Russ. Not loud, arrogant or aggressive. They describe them as calm, cold and somewhat distant, ever wary of their surroundings and if one is to blink even once, they are gone. Other Astartes have compared the Wolverines' skill to disappear to that of the Raven Guard. However those that are to witness a Wolverine in combat will tell stories of unrivalled brutality and severally, of a bloodlust the followers of Khorne struggle to match. Warcries that send a shiver down even the most unbreakable spines. Wolverines rarely visit Minas Major, but when they do the festivities and the drinking skyrocket, for now is the time for the greatest and most glorious stories to be told.
* ***Haldorði*** ***(All-seeing Eyes) -*** These Stalkers are regarded to be among the best trackers of the entire Chapter. Often the Astartes that fill these rolls are former students of Wolverines that could not quite make it to be granted the honour to become one themselves. Now with skills greater than their brothers, but still bound to the pack, the Haldorði act as scouts. Moving quicker than their brother, but still unseen, they can track down the pack's prey. Being alone minimises the risk of being seen. While they stalk the prey they communicate with the rest of the pack, leading them towards the Haldorði and the prey. The Haldorði are famed for the ability to find their prey even when there smilingly is no way of tracking it down. Nothing in the surrounding environment hides from their eyes, every scent is detected and every track is seen.
* ***Deathspeakers -*** Known as the butchers and most brutal hunters among their brothers, this is no normal rank, rather a title given to those Stalkers that exceed the horrors and brutality of other Stalkers and have mastered the art of terror tactics. They flay the most skinn, hang the most head and wear the most skin. Often they have been mistaken for Night Lords, as their pelts are often replaced by flayed skin.

### Major Packs

The Major Packs are a force of up to a 100 Hunter and about 10 Alphas. They're led by a Wolf King, who leads the hunt. The different Packs have different characteristics, but they all are excellent hunter. When new cadets come in they first have to do a physical and a characteristics test. Depending on what the results are they are put in one of the Major Packs. There they are trained by the respective Moon-hunter.

* ***Pack of the Alpha Wolf -*** The smallest of the Packs is the Pack of the Alpha Wolf Björn. It is the smallest because only the best hunters are allowed into this Pack. The ones that want to enter have to complete an almost impossible task. This Pack only hunts in the dangerous of preys. Minor things are overseen by these great Hunters. They use very little fire-weapons and if, only pistols. Unbeaten in combat, they are terrifying enemy to have. When they don't hunt, they normally meditate, train or supervise other Packs. All the Wolf Kings are a part of this Pack, but also have their own. The Alpha Wolf leads them in the hunt and is always the first one to ambush the prey.

* ***Moon Pack -*** The Moon Pack is the biggest and most numerous Pack. Being so many of them they're often tasked to hunt the biggest groups of prey. They are often tasked with infiltrating the preys stronghold and push them out of their base. Outside of their stronghold, the prey will run into the rest of the Pack and be killed one by one. Being scattered and isolated the prey doesn't stand a chance against the Hunters who lurk in the shadows.

* ***Savage Prowlers -*** The Savage Prowler are the most brutal of all Packs. They are the biggest and physically strongest Hunters. They tend to use their fists duels, rather than weapons. Being already deadly with a weapon, they like to punch their prey into the afterlife. They have the *Ritual of the Moon* in which they let the preys leader live and then surround him. Depending on who leads the hunt, the Moonlight Stalker, who led the attack will duel with the enemy leader. This is to symbolise the strength of the Packs Wolf King / Moon-hunter/ Alpha.

* ***Horizon Walkers -*** The Horizon Walkers are the most feral and wild of all Packs. They use Wolfs and other wild beasts from Minas Major to hunt their prey. Either they hunt besides them or ride them into battle. They specialise in fast and powerful attacks. They're often tasked to hunt down escaped prey, that escaped the Fangs of others Sons of Russ or other Major Packs. No one can outrun them and none can stand and fight them, after their already exhausted from the chase.

* ***Blood Champions -*** Not the most savage, but certainly the bloodiest of the Packs. After they killed their prey, they use the blood of their dead prey to make Tattoos. They perform a ritual and the Tattoos are permanent. No other Moonlight Stalker is tattooed like the Blood Champions. Because of this they tend to stay at place they killed their prey, while other Packs would disappear into the shadows. But surprisingly they're the calmest and all around nicest pack.

## Chapter Combat Doctrine

"*The hunt has begun! The Traitors cannot escape, for they don't know what is hunting them!*"
—Alpha to his Pack

The Moonlight Stalkers don't do open field battle, but instead they stalk their prey and ambush it. They use shadows in their advantage and are at their best at night. The denser the terrain the better. Thick forests or rocky terrain, they can use everything as cover. Moving in smaller packs of up to 7 Hunters. How many of these packs are hunting depends on the size of the prey. Stalking their prey for hours without end, they never tire and are fully indulged in the thrill of the hunt. After the prey has moved to an optimal spot the different packs take their positions and surround the enemy. At first the bolters. Out of nothing bullets fly killing and stunning some of the prey. In the cover of those bullets the other Stalker run in and engage in a deadly and savage fight. After that is happened the Moonlight Stalker disappear into the shadows once more.

The Moonlight Stalker despise technology. They track their prey though experience and instinct. The only resources of the Mechanicum they use, is the armour. Other Sons of Russ may use bikes and speeders, but the Stalkers prefer to keep a low profile, making no sound and moving on foot. Some Marines use giant wolves as transportation. Their way of fighting exclusively in Kill-Teams, makes it hard to see them coming and tracking them.

The Stalkers are often deployed when a smaller force of enemies escapes the fangs of other Sons of Russ. As their tracking skills are almost unparalleled, they are the perfect for such scenarios. The Stalkers rarely partake in the actual battle, only cleaning up the scraps and last survivors. These hunts also do not have to necessarily take place directly after a battle. If a wounded Chaos Warband flees to another planet, it can takes weeks or months for the Stalkers to arrive. To put it simply, the Stalkers are sent after the animals that escaped.

### Psychological Warfare

A more twisted aspect of the Moonlight Stalkers is revealed in their horror tactics. The Stalkers believe that death is not a sufficient punishment for the enemies of the Aldaföðr. For the Stalkers a hunt is only successful if their prey shivers in fear before death, if they are unable to fight because of their terror. Unlike other Chapters that use horror tactics to make their enemies surrender, that is not what the Stalkers want to achieve. The death of their prey is a necessity, but how they die is also important. It often happens that the Stalkers catch up to their prey rather quickly, but instead of attacking immediately, they start to play with them. During the hunt the Stalkers will often pick out singular opposing warriors and kill them silently. Then they tear apart the corpse of this warrior, creating dozens of horrifying trophies. While their prey keeps running away, they will find these trophies in the surroundings, a sort of warning of what is to come. These trophies are surprisingly brutal, resembling those of the feared Night Lords.

Most commonly the Stalkers chop off the heads of their dead prey, before hanging the now headless bodies from trees. Often the Stalkers hang multiple bodies at once, creating a sort of twisted graveyard. The bodies often attract scavenging birds, like crows, that quickly start to feed on the dead warriors. Often they also flay the skin of the head, displaying it on nearby trees or stones. So, while the prey is on the run, they'll see the faces of their comrades stretched out on stones and tree-trunks, forever screaming in agony. Occasionally the Stalker's pray will stumble across piles of bodies that once belonged to their comrades.

## Chapter Recruitment

All recruits of the Moonlight Stalkers come from their home world Minas Major. When both moons of Minas Major are at their fullest the Chapter selects new neophytes. This event happens every five years. During this night, the two moons light up the night, providing perfect hunting conditions. Ten chaplains go out and visit ten different tribes, all across the planet. Each chaplain chooses the tribe they will recruit from. The chaplain appears and will choose ten young men of his choice. These he will bring back to the 'Wolfs Höhle'.

### The Gate to Frozen Hell

The morning after being brought the Fortress Monastery, the neophytes are put half-way up the tallest mountain of Minas Major, Matterhorn. Their task is to climb up to the peak, which is an almost suicidal thing to do. The deadly cold, terrain and predators are all perils, while climbing the mountain. The neophytes are given only light clothing, which means they have to climb the mountain fast or they freeze to death. The only weapon to defend themselves against predators is a hunting knife. If they make it to the top, they will meet a chaplain. He will give them clothing and a heat source and they are brought to the 'Wolfs Höhle'. After a week of waiting the chaplain leaves the top of the mountain and the first trail is finished.

## Chapter Traditions and Beliefs

"*Look there, the Aldaföðr.
There, he shows the enemy fear.
There, our fallen brothers besides him.
There, the traitor is slain.
 There, the false gods quail.
There, we stand beside the Aldaföðr.
And there, we will hunt down those that oppose him.*"
—Moonlight Stalker poem, used after a successful hunt.
On Minas Major the Emperor has many names but the most commonly used is Aldaföðr, which means "father of men". The resident population of the planet and the Moonlight Stalker share the same believes and to some extend the same rituals.

An important part of the Moonlight Stalkers traditions are runes. They tattoo them onto their bodies and crave or paint them into their armour. While these runes cannot be translated directly into other languages, they can be interpreted. Often the runes tell the story of the Stalker that adorns them. Thrilling hunts and bloody fights. The ink of the tattoo stems from poisonous kraken native to Minas Major. The tattoos have a very simple function, next to being spiritual. When a Stalker falls in combat, his story is engraved into his body. If his story is glorious enough, the Sköll will write it into the Poetic Frami. That way the Stalker will never be forgotten, his story forever told.

The Stalkers also have a strong sense of honour and respect among them. Those that have accumulated the most glory deserve the most respect from their brothers. This also creates a sort of tension between the Stalkers when a lower ranking Stalker feels their glory is greater than that of a higher ranking one. Sometimes the lower ranking Stalker refuses to follow orders and fights among the brother break out. This respect towards glorious warriors also somewhat applies to how the Stalkers see their prey. If a prey has had a particularly glorious life, they'll be given the possibility of a last honourable duel. If the prey is not glorious at all, they'll be simply killed.

The life goal of each and every Moonlight Stalker is to have his name and saga inscribed into the Poetic Frami. Only then the glory of their name and the bloodshed that covers its path is immortalised. To achieve this a Stalker will seek out the most glorious hunt and this hunt will become their sole goal, the only thought in their mind. If they succeed they'll be showered in respect and admiration, but if they fail it will be extremely hard for the Stalker to swallow. While their brothers will not shame or disrespect them for failure, there have been instances where Stalkers have gone mad, because of their own failure. Funnily enough failure is not seen as a bad thing among the Moonlight Stalkers, as hunting is an ever-evolving art-from and only by failing can one learn and improve.

Because of their way of hunting their prey, their glory is often gone unrecognised by other Chapters, but the Stalkers care little for that. Important is only that their glory and their saga are told to new pups, so they can marvel at their stories.

## Chapter Poems, Rites and Songs

The Moonlight Stalker have a book, called the *Poetic Fram*i, frami meaning courage. The be more specific, it originally was only one book, but the *Sköll* have written so many new sagas that the Poetic is now more like a book series, The first and oldest book manly contains poems and songs, while the new ones contain real stories.

Here are some passages taken out of the first *Poetic Frami.*

"*There, oh there
where the Aldaföðr stands
there, oh there
we will kill the traitor.
There, oh there
where the Aldaföðr stands
there, oh there
we will hunt our prey.*"
—Moonlight Stalker poem, carved on the door of the their monastery
"*I will take my place amongst the stars.
I will make my father proud.
And I will not let those that oppose the Aldaföðr stay alive.
I will hunt them down and make them pay.*"
—First poem of the Poetic Frami

## Notable Members

* ***Björn, the Alpha Wolf -*** Known to his brothers simply as Björn, he is the first and current Alpha Wolf of the Moonlight Stalkers. Said to have fought beside the oldest son of Russ, The Fellhanded himself, during his time as a Space Wolf, Björn is not the, but among the oldest members of the Chapter. However, while most other Stalkers his age have become Sköll, Björn refuses, as his hunting and fighting skills are still among the best of the Chapter. With unmatched experience and an almost failsafe instinct, Björn has hunted and killed almost every prey he has hunted. The glory his saga has accumulated over the years of hunting is unparalleled among his brothers. Many Stalkers believe that during his physical prime Björn was among the best fighters of the galaxy and that he could have wrestled Logan Grimnar to a standstill. If that is true will sadly never be seen.
* ***Sigeræd Thidriksson, the Kveðja -*** Considered by many currently the greatest hunter and deadliest fighter of the Chapter, Sigeræd is the Wolf King of the Horizon Walkers. His name is the second most mentioned in the Poetic Frima, after Björn himself, as his story underwent a path of glory and blood unlike any other. Already as a pup Sigeræd caught the attention of the older Stalkers, as his instincts and understanding of hunting seemed to be a gift from the Aldaföðr himself. He quickly rose through the ranks, as each and every hunt the glory that cam with each kill was immense. It did not take him long to build the reputation of a lone wolf, often deserting the pack to hunt bigger and more dangerous prey by himself. Once his hunting skills were undeniably some of the best within the Chapter, the Sköll convinced Björn to grant Sigeræd the position of Wolverine. Once Sigeræd was granted a place among these most respected of hunters, he wasted no time to keep writing his saga. Hunt after hunt, kill after kill, his reputation and the fear and respect that came with it, were undeniable. Sigeræd often disappeared for years, without anybody knowing if he was even alive. During the few meeting he had with other Stalkers he proved himself to be the best fighter among them, claiming he could kill any of them if he wanted to without any difficulty. Those that hunted beside him, say they often do not realise he was with them, until the actual fight began. Then he would charge out of the shadows, chanting poems of the Poetic Frami while butchering his prey. His greatest hunt was when Sigeræd managed to kill a Demon Prince of Slaneesh. The Prince had already been beaten in combat, his warband scattered, but he himself was still alive and dangerous. While he escaped the eyes of other Chapters, Sigeræd managed to track down his prey and observe him. For a week Sigeræd remained in the shadows, unseen, studying his victim. He knew he could not successfully fight him, so he set a trap. Using chains gifted to him by the most powerful of Sons of Odin, Sigeræd managed to practically immobilise the Demon Prince, before landing the killing blow. However, after the death of the previous Wolf King of the Horizon Walkers Sigeræd returned to the Chapter, laying down his title of Wolverine and becoming the new Wolf King of Company. Once Sigeræd returned, there was no doubt he would become Wolf King, as there was no one that could even come close to matching his claim to the position. Kveðja means ghost in the native tongue of Minas Major. It is a nickname given to him by his brothers, as even as as Wolf King he often deserts his pack during a hunt, only for him to kill his prey before his brothers.

## Chapter Appearance

### Chapter Colours

The Moonlight Stalkers primarily wear slate grey coloured power armour, the darkness of the grey varies. Often, theses Astartes wear wolf fur capes and have bones all over their armour. Most notably some of them have a wolf skull on their shoulder.

### Chapter Badge

The Mooonlight Stalkers chapter badge takes the form of a red coloured stylised wolf head, it's massive maw open wide to devour their foes. This central symbol is centered within an open-faced circlet, representing a lunar moon.

## Relations

### Allies

The Moonlight Stalkers are allies with most of the Sons of Russ, but there are a few they are especially close to.

* **Fangs of Fenrir**

* **Knights of Russ** - The Knights and the Stalkers work well together. While the Knights of Russ push the enemy backwards, the smaller Kill-Teams of the Moonlight Stalker can pick off important targets. After that the two Chapters go in for a joined kill.

## Notable Quotes

### By the Moonlight Stalkers

"*The wind is in our favour, brothers! Tonight we will hunt well!*"
— Alpha to his Pack
"*We don't fight the Traitors, we hunt them! That's a big difference, Pup!*"
—Wolf King to newly introduced cadet
### About the Moonlight Stalkers

Feel free to add your own.

"*They came out of no were! The Traitors almost got to me, but they stopped them! They slaughtered them!*"
—Unknown person talking about a Moonlight Stalker ambush

[Source]

 Renegades

[Source]

 White Scars Successors
 Space Wolves Successors
 Imperial Fists Successors
 Blood Angels Successors
 Iron Hands Successors
 Ultramarines Successors
 Salamanders Successors
 Raven Guard Successors
 Unknown Lineage

[Source]