Bjorn the Fell-Handed - Last of the Company of Russ: No one knows what happened to Leman Russ. Some say he disappeared in the Eye of Terror whilst searching for his old friend and rival, the Dark Angels Primarch Lion El'Jonson. Others say that, to this day, he walks disguised among Mankind, watching over the people of his Emperor and guarding them from the powers of Chaos. All that is known for sure is that Leman Russ vanished in 211.M31, nearly two standard centuries after the Emperor was entombed upon the Golden Throne. At that time, all of the Space Wolves warriors and their Wolf Lords, including the Great Wolf himself, were gathered for a feast on Fenris.The holiday, known by the devotees of the cults of Emperor-worship as the "Feast of the Emperor's Ascension," commemorated the day the Emperor defeated Horus and "ascended" back into the Immaterium after being entombed upon the Golden Throne. On this occasion, Leman Russ quieted the great hall of his warriors to speak, but then froze in place as his eyes glazed over as if seeing a vision. The assembled Space Wolves looked on in horror as their primarch fell to his knees and called for his Wolf Guard and closest retainers to attend him, all save the youngest, Bjorn the Fell-Handed. Giving his closest companions his instructions, Russ turned and left the Great Hall with his honour guard in tow, leaving only Bjorn behind.The tale of Russ' disappearance is retold every thousand standard years by Bjorn the Fell-Handed, now the oldest Astartes Dreadnought still in service in the entire Imperium. It is believed by some Astartes amongst the Space Wolves that Russ left Fenris and journeyed into the Eye of Terror to find the fabled Tree of Life, a font of uncorrupted Warp energy hidden somewhere within the Immaterium that bears fruits said to be able to heal the Emperor and restore Him to full life.It was no mere coincidence that Russ chose young Bjorn to lead the Chapter in his stead. During the aftermath of the Horus Heresy called the Great Scouring, Bjorn proved both his tenacity and mettle a hundred times over. This, combined with the fact that he had already lived through and come out of the ordeal of losing his packmates stronger than he was before, led Russ to see in Bjorn the future leader of the Space Wolves in the reformed Imperium as forged by Roboute Guilliman. He was the only member of Leman Russ' personal Wolf Guard who could and would endure being left behind when Russ departed for the Eye of Terror; and so he was.This deed left Bjorn harbouring intense feelings of rejection and bitterness to this very day, for the taciturn primarch did not explain his decision to the young warrior, and what was meant to be high praise and honour left Bjorn instead feeling that he had been punished by his primarch for some flaw of which he was unaware. Bjorn has never explained why he was left behind in this manner; it is not certain if he even knows himself, but the primarch was never one to act idly.Every standard year after his disappearance, Russ' place was laid at the same feast. Every year his drinking horn was filled should he return. For seven long, painful Terran years the Space Wolves waited patiently for their lost Wolf-King to return to them. After seven years, the surviving Wolf Lords gathered and elected Bjorn their leader, becoming the Chapter's first warden in the primarch's name. So it was that, when it became clear that Russ was not to return, Bjorn reluctantly took his primarch's place as master of the Chapter, becoming the first Great Wolf.Bjorn gathered all his warriors together in the Great Hall of The Fang, and announced the first Great Hunt. Russ' people would seek out their master if it took the rest of time to do it. So did the twelve Great Companies take to their voidships and sail forth in separate directions across the Sea of Stars. From the day of Russ' disappearance, Bjorn has given his all to prove himself worthy in his missing primarch's stead, first as Great Wolf, then as a Dreadnought, and finally to this day as the spiritual and moral compass for the entire Chapter. Only the ancient Wolf Priest Ulrik knows Bjorn well enough to suspect that he still craves the benediction of Russ, and that Bjorn will know no peace until he fights alongside his primarch once more.Bjorn's heroic career as the first Great Wolf of the Space Wolves was tragically cut short during the Proxima Rebellion in 934.M31. Bjorn led a successful raid to free those of his battle-brothers trapped within the notorious Dreadsun Fortress, but his body sustained such terrible injuries that, to preserve his life, what was left of his shattered body was interred in a Dreadnought. Acutely aware that, as a Dreadnought, he could no longer fulfil his duties as master of the Chapter, Bjorn abdicated his position as Great Wolf.Even being confined within a cold robotic shell did nothing to dampen Bjorn's burning conviction. Over the following five hundred standard years, he remained at the forefront of every battle, leading by example, and counselling his successors as the Chapter's Great Wolf. Eventually, the long years took their toll on the ancient warrior, and he began spending longer and longer periods dormant in stasis sleep. Now he is only awakened when the Chapter has the greatest need of his potent skills and ancient wisdom, as during the Battle of The Fang in the 32nd Millennium, where Bjorn faced off against and severely wounded the Space Wolves' arch-nemesis, the Daemon Primarch Magnus the Red; or the so-called "Months of Shame" in the aftermath of the First War for Armageddon in 451.M41 where he negotiated a truce between the Space Wolves, the Grey Knights and the Inquisition.Bjorn is also awakened by his Chapter at the dawn of each new standard millennium to hold court at the Great Feast. The Great Feast commemorates the disappearance of Leman Russ; it is a boisterous celebration that all Space Wolves attend, where Fenrisian Ale flows freely, the ancient sagas are told to the younglings, and new oaths taken and old oaths reaffirmed. Invariably, at some point during the Great Feast, a delegation of Iron Priests will arrive, escorting a massive figure. In seconds, the Great Hall of The Fang will fall utterly silent as the Great Wolf rises and cedes his place to the new arriver.When the ancient Venerable Dreadnought speaks, the boisterous mirth of his battle-brothers is replaced by the hushed silence of utmost respect. Entire generations of Space Wolves can fight and die without ever witnessing Bjorn in person, so to be in the majestic presence of this revered hero is a rare privilege. In the utter silence of profound respect, Bjorn will speak of the time of the Great Crusade, where he recounts elements from his own saga and anecdotes about their long-gone primarch to his battle-brothers.To the youngest Blood Claws, Bjorn's stories sound more like a skjald's outlandish legend than a recollection of facts, yet Bjorn's memory is clear and he speaks with the authority and certitude of one who has seen it all and lived to remember it. The only moment where his voice falters is when he recounts Leman Russ' decision to leave for the Eye of Terror and his own appointment as the first warden of the Space Wolves Chapter until Russ returns.Even after ten millennia, Bjorn still feels the pain of rejection by his primarch as keenly as he did on that fateful day. Those who are the eldest amongst the Space Wolves believe that the only thing that could grant "The Revered One" his peace of mind again is the return of Leman Russ, and the occasion to fight alongside his primarch one last time in defence of Humanity.To the Space Wolves, Bjorn represents the Chapter's greatest link to the past. He is revered as a hero almost as great as Leman Russ, and his words are to his living brethren akin to law, for he is the only one amongst them who can still judge a situation by their primarch's own standards. In this, Bjorn also functions as the Space Wolves' moral compass, and even the stubbornness incarnate that is Logan Grimnar, the current Great Wolf, listens and defers to Bjorn's ancient wisdom when "The Eldest" speaks against him.On those dire occasions where the Ancient is roused to take the field, the Space Wolves will fight with a tenacity and stubbornness remarkable even for the Space Wolves, for they believe that faltering in the eyes of Bjorn is akin to faltering in the eyes of Leman Russ himself. Woe to the being skillful yet unlucky enough to dare to damage the mighty Venerable Dreadnought, for it only spurs the Space Wolves into a fanatical, homicidal rage, and the whole of them will charge forward madly in order to prevent "The Eldest" from being defiled by the foe.