Of all the reunions, Fenris makes me smile still — because Fenris is the one where the son needed nothing rescuing.
The King of the Russ
When the fleet found him, Leman Russ was already a king, ruling from a fire-lit mead-hall on the death world Fenris. To Horus, at their first meeting, he announced himself with a grin full of fangs: I am named Leman, the King of the Russ. We are both wolf. And then, by way of apology for his accent: Sorry — I learned your language only five days ago. Five days. The sagas of Fenris tell of contests between the king and the Emperor, of meat and mead and wrestling; the records I keep say only that Russ accepted his father because it was written in his wyrd. Believe the version you like. He would.
The Rout
His Sixth Legion — the Rout, the Vlka Fenryka to their own tongue — began as a mongrel marriage of Terran veterans and Fenrisian wildmen, and the Crusade nicknamed them the Wolves that Stalk the Stars. Whatever they were called, their purpose was never in doubt: they were the Emperor’s executioners, fiercely loyal, unleashed when the sanction was final. He fought in rain-grey runic plate hung with wolf pelts and clanking totems of bone, a runic chainsword near the length of a man in his fist.
Every empire keeps a wolf, child. Pray you never learn why.
Questions from the Archive
Where was Leman Russ found?
On the death world Fenris, where he was already ruling as a king when the Emperor’s fleet arrived.
What legion did Leman Russ command?
The Sixth Legion — the Space Wolves, who called themselves the Rout or the Vlka Fenryka, wearing rain-grey runic plate hung with pelts and totems.
What was Russ’s role in the Great Crusade?
The Legion earned its reputation as the Emperor’s loyal executioners — the sanction sent when a judgement was final.