Rune Priest
Rune Priest are fucking Librarians of the Space Corgis and their existence is one of the most infuriating for those who despise the fucking yiffers. Part of the reason why is because of the notion that the closet furries have a particular hate boner for psykers, especially the Thousand Sons, and are known to treat psykers with suspicion and mistrust. As you can imagine, during the burning of Prospero, Magnus pretty much went, "What the absolute Fuck on Tizca's Tip, Russ! You hate our people for who we are and yet you yourself use psykers in your ranks!?", to which Leman promptly rebutted, "You betrayed the Emprah! FUCK YOU!""
Thing is, the Rune Priests use shamanic rituals to avoid being sucked into the Warp. Totems and runes allow the Rune Priests to exercise caution and precision with their powers, but they know damn well to watch out for psychic predators and know their fucking limits. The Thousand Sons are reckless and self-indulgent with their powers. They consorted with daemons even before Magnus singlehandedly shattered the Emperor's design to utilize the (much safer) Webway. The Wolves don't hate the Thousand Sons because they're psykers; they hate them because the Vlka Fenryka had been fighting monsters and uncontrolled psykers since Russ was found, possibly including the two missing Legions, and the Thousand Sons gleefully charged down the path to damnation while treating the Space Wolves everyone like idiotic barbarians, and then acted like victims when their hubris and Tzeentch conspired to bite them in the ass. None of which changes the fact the Space Wolves are either deluded or lying about where their own psychic powers come from, making them either idiots or hypocrites respectively.
Anyways, like the Librarians of Codex Chapters, Rune Priests are combatant psykers, using their psychic abilities to aid their brothers on the battlefield; off the battlefield, they are the keepers of the chapter's librarium and store of knowledge. The major difference is that Rune Priests do not believe their psychic abilities are derived from the Warp, but rather from the animistic spirits of their homeworld, Fenris, channeled through totems and runes on their armour, which as you can imagine, is fucking bullshit and is just more excuses for the Wolves to say, "Nuh-uh! Erh Meh Gerd! Des Tertelley Nert Psykers At All!". These traditions are descended from the shamanistic rituals of Fenris's native tribes, and have remained unchanged for countless centuries.
Rune Priests preserve their Chapter's entire history not in written form, but memorize it in great sagas. A Rune Priest who begins his training as a Skald is usually assigned to a single Great Company where he is taught its tales. With every new Great Year he joins another Company until he has learned the Chapter's full history and can be sent to whichever Rune Priest needs an apprentice.
The basic weapons of the Rune Priests are their psychically charged Runic Weapons. A common power among Rune Priests is the ability to summon storms across the battlefield which can cover the army's advance. Furthermore, they can cast runes which predict the ebb and flow of future events. These runes are usually carved from the bones or teeth of totem animals.
Many Rune Priests are psyber-linked to cyber-ravens, which are known as "Choosers of the Slain" to the Space Wolves. Their link enables them to see through the ravens, eyes and control them, thus allowing them to use them as scouts and messengers.
Forces of the Space Wolves | |
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Command: | Wolf Lord - Wolf Guard |
Priesthood: | Iron Priest - Rune Priest - Wolf Priest |
Troops: | Blood Claw - Fenrisian Wolf - Long Fang - Skyclaw Swiftclaw - Thunderwolf Cavalry - Wulfen - Grey Hunter |
Great Crusade-era: | Consul-Opsequiari - Deathsworn Grey Slayer - Jorlund Hunter Pack |
Walkers: | Dreadnought - Eldthursar - Hrimthursar Space Wolves Dreadnought - Wulfen Dreadnought |
Vehicles: | Bike Squad - Rhino - Razorback Land Speeder - Predator - Vindicator Whirlwind - Land Raider (Land Raider Crusader Land Raider Redeemer - Wrath of Mjalnar) |
Special Vehicles: | Stormrider |
Flyers: | Stormfang - Stormwolf |
Spacecraft: | Boarding Torpedo - Drop Pod Space Marine Landing Craft |
Allies: | Space Marines - Primaris Marines |