Hrímgardian Ice-Bear

A veteran *Vaerangi* warrior of the Dusk Howlers elite Ursine Cavalry.

The massive **Hrímgardian Ice-Bear** (*Ursus glacies hrímgardii*) is a fearsome semi-sentient, carnivorous predator and an enduring symbol of the Dusk Howlers Space Marine Chapter's frozen homeworld of Hrímgard. Dusk Howlers warriors, in the ancient tradition of their Primarch Leman Russ, often befriend and train the feral and dangerous animals of their world, but in this case, they train giant ice-bears rather than wolves (in so much as such a feral creature can truly be trained). Hrímgardian Ice-Bears will fight ferociously beside their master against his foes and certain breeds of these beasts can even be ridden as a form of cavalry into combat.

## History

Following the destruction of the Fortress World of Cadia during the 13th Black Crusade and the formation of the Great Rift, a small contingent of loyalist Imperial forces managed to escape the destruction of the doomed Imperial world and made their way to the Realm of Ultramar. Through the genius of Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl, combined with the power of Ynnead, the Aeldari god of the dead, they were able to resurrect the long-dead Ultramarines Primarch Roboute Guilliman from his millennia-long, deathless slumber. Guilliman had anticipated the need for a new breed of hero for this, the darkest age in the Imperium's history. He knew that the galaxy would need warriors resilient enough to stand against the Forces of Chaos as the Imperium found itself poised on the brink of annihilation. To that end, for 10,000 standard years, Archmagos Cawl had been working upon improving the Adeptus Astartes themselves. The result were the Primaris Space Marines, a more powerful corps of transhuman warriors, more potent than even the original Astartes. New armies were raised in breathtaking numbers and new and terrible weapons were developed whose fury even the worshippers of the Dark Gods would be unable to withstand.

With Roboute Guilliman re-instilled as the Lord Commander of the Imperium, the resurrected Primarch wasted no time in enacting his plans to take the fight to the Forces of Chaos. Guilliman called for action, and ordered the mustering of a mighty armada. Guilliman called for action, and ordered the mustering of a mighty armada. With elements from the Adeptus Custodes, a contingent of the Silent Sisterhood as well as several Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes as well as newly created Chapters of the Ultima Founding, Guilliman launched his Indomitus Crusade. One of these newly formed Primaris Chapters were named the 'Dusk Howlers', proud inheritors of the legacy of the feral and powerful Leman Russ, led by its first Great Wolf, Bjorn Grimjac Ragnarsson.

Once deployed, the new Chapters made their way towards their designated sectors and immediately took the fight to the enemy. Following their victories in the Kaeriolis System, the Dusk Howlers sought to consolidate their gains and established their fortress-monastery upon the newly discovered death world of Hrímgard, a planet of ice and fire. Hrímgard was a comparable world to their genetic forebears, mirroring the Space Wolves own deadly world of Fenris. Located on the outskirts of the galactic west of the Segmentum Pacificus, Hrímgard is also dominated by extremes of climate, and is a deadly and turbulent world inhabited by mankind. The extreme geography of Hrímgard had resulted in the human population of this world in becoming one composed largely of primitive, nomadic, pre-industrial barbarian tribes. The tribes constantly sought to secure territory, and as a result skirmishes and feuds over land between rival tribes were common. The Hrímgardian people were hardened to the changes in temperature and environmental extremes, and so was the fauna.

When the newly created Dusk Howlers Chapter was stood up during the Ultima Founding and finally discovered a potential Chapter homeworld, they imported all matter of Fenrisian fauna, including - drakes, elk, and great white bears to their new Legion homeworld. Like all fauna on this notorious death world, the great white bears of Fenris are some of its most vicious predators. Accounts tell of how these massive creatures are known to attack villages and are capable of destroying buildings. Very few know the sheer diversity of the Ice-Bear species that exist upon Fenris, but they range from the common but nonetheless deadly *Jǫkull Bjǫrn* ('Glacier Bears'), to the hulking *Blóðbjǫrn* ('Bloodbear'), all the way up to the infamous great white bears that prowled the northernmost ice caps. Legends tell of creatures larger still, whose jaws are capable of crushing steel and whose teeth are as large as tree trunks.

Upon their arrival, the great white bears were released back into the wild. These fearsome creatures took to their new surroundings surprisingly well, and within a few generation of interbreeding with the formidable *Brúnn Bjǫrn* ('Brown Bear'), their population swelled. The Hrímgardian ice-bears primarily roam within the vast tracts of Niflheim, the inhospitable tundras and hinterlands that surrounded the foot of the mountains of Helgard, upon whose peaks the Dusk Howlers' built their mighty fortress-monastery of Útgarðar. Like their Fenrisian ursine forebears, the Hrímgardian Ice-Bears vary in colouration from the common white to dark brown or even rarer, black. They have wild, coarse fur and possess powerful shoulders and overdeveloped, iron-hard teeth.

Hrímgardian Ice-Bears are usually solitary creatures, but have been known to group into a sleuth, obeying the natural order of certain mammalian predators, hunting in groups and instinctively obeying the largest and most ferocious of their kind who functions as the sleuth's alpha male. It is these alpha males that lead the Kaeriolian Ice-Bear sleuths; making decisions, facing down external threats and challenges to his position and enjoying the benefit of getting first pickings of the sleuth's kill and primary mating rights with the female sleuth members. The savage menfolk of the Kaeriolian human tribes respect the position of the alpha male, striving to emulate these creatures in their own social groupings.

Hunting down a sleuth of these supernaturally ferocious beasts and slaying one of these legendary creatures armed with nothing but their wits, is considered a great feat by the Battle-Brothers of the Dusk Howlers Chapter. This ritual is known as a Lone Hunt. Should the Battle-Brother somehow kill the alpha male of a sleuth, the rest of the ice-bears will instinctively treat the Astartes as their new alpha male. When this Battle-Brother returns to Útgarðar, it will be in the company of a sleuth of Hrímgardian Ice-Bears. Many of these sleuthmates form a lasting bond, and from that moment on they will fight at their master's side until one or both of them die in battle. Such is the bond between Astartes and Hrímgardian Ice-Bear, that should the beast be critically injured in battle the Chapter's Priests of Iron will cybernetically augment it with bionics so that it may live to fight another day.

### Ursine Cavalry

Hrímgardian Ice-Bears are simple, brutal beasts, loyal only to their master and remorseless against their enemies. As a follower, ice-bears will trail behind the Battle-Brother wherever he goes, growling if forced to stay behind, and attack his enemies with a gesture or a word. Hrímgardian Ice-Bears aid Dusk Howlers in numerous ways during battle. Their speed makes them a great flanking unit with which to harry the Wolf Brothers' enemies and pick off smaller units. Despite their formidable size, they are also used as a fast moving distraction to the main battle line, leaving the Dusk Howlers' opponents guessing at their next move. They will also stay by the side of the Battle-Brother if he falls, protecting his body and maybe even pulling him to safety. Hrímgardian Ice-Bears are also quintessentially linked to the Dusk Howlers Chapter and will often be a point of contention and friction with Battle-Brothers of other Chapters, especially if they are the ones which have to squeeze into a rhino with it or suffer it growling through a tactical briefing.

Ursine Cavalry units are a sub-group of the elite Wolf Guard of the Dusk Howlers Chapter. According to official Imperial records, the Ursine Cavalry doesn't exist and the Wolf Brothers keep them as a closely guarded secret. Hrímgardian Ice-Bears stand about the height of over fifteen feet, and are used as mounts by the most elite members of the Hearth Guard. These ice-bears are often augmented with adamantium jaws, Imperial bionics, and back-jointed metal limbs that end in razor-sharp blades. The havoc that these creatures are capable of wreaking is said to be startling to even a hardened Veteran Dusk Howler. The taming of an Ice-Bear is often used as a ritual trial for a Dusk Howlers Astartes who wishes to rise into the ranks of the Hearth Guards.