Clan Wolf

Clan Wolf of the fictional universe of BattleTech is one of the most important Clans.

History

Clan Wolf was founded by Jerome Winson, brother-in-law of the Founder of all clans, Nicholas Kerensky in 2810, who also became a member of this clan. The chosen Clan of Kerensky, the Wolves had been a dominant force in the Clans since their beginning. Kerensky named the clan after the Strana Mechty wolf, the creature he saw as the ultimate warrior. This was not the last of the blessings the Founder gave to this clan - he became their leader, and gave the Kerensky bloodname and genetic lineage to them. This greatly shocked the Clan Jade Falcon, and ever since that day there's been tension, rivalry and even occasional wars between the two clans.

Clan Wolf have proved themselves expert warriors: they annihilated the Clan Wolverine and absorbed the Clan Widowmaker, long before their successes in the invasion of the Inner Sphere. They also perfected the Elemental body armor. They led the Wardens in the Grand Council and were the only Invading Clan to oppose the Clan Invasion in 3050. Clan Wolf proposed sending a reconnaissance force to gather intelligence before the Invasion, a force that eventually became known as the Wolf's Dragoons, arguably the best mercenary unit in the Inner Sphere, and crucial in stopping the Clan's invasion.

Invasion

Although they lost a Trial of Refusal against the motion to invade the Inner Sphere and were selected for the invasion force as punishment for voting against the pro-invasion majority, the Wolves decided to beat the Crusaders at their own game. They participated in it nonetheless and soon outdid all other Clans in seizing more worlds and at a faster pace than any other Clan. Their holdings were mostly taken from the Free Rasalhague Republic and the Lyran half of the Federated Commonwealth. Their capture of Rasalhague cemented their leadership in the Invasion and the Wolf Khan, Ulric Kerensky, became the leader of the Clans, an ilKhan, after their successes (and the death in battle of the previous ilKhan, Leo Showers). Ulric negotiated with ComStar and some of the Inner Sphere leaders, negotiations which resulted in the proxy battle for Terra (Clan's goal) on Tukayyid in 3052. During the battle of Tukayyid the Clan Wolf was one of only two Clans to prevail against the defending ComStar forces, the other victor being Clan Ghost Bear who were awarded a "marginal" victory. Nevertheless, the Wolves were the ones who helped convince the other clans to adhere to the terms when the Trial was lost, leading to the treaty that halted the invasion with a 15-year truce.

Post-Tukayyid

In 3057, the Clan Jade Falcon sought to remove Ulric and continue the invasion. When the Council tried Ulric for treason and voted him out of office Clan Wolf all but destroyed itself in preventing the Jade Falcons from breaking the truce by instigating a Trial of Refusal on a scale never before seen outside of a Trial of Annihilation against an entire Clan. This particular Trial of Refusal would be forever referred to as the "Refusal War" against the Jade Falcons.

To ensure the Clan's survival, Ulric ordered Wolf saKhan Phelan Ward (also known as Phelan Kell) to take a contingent of warriors and a cross-section of the other castes to the Inner Sphere while he and Natasha Kerensky sought to break the Falcons (knowing that if Clan Wolf lost the Trial of Refusal, Phelan would be stripped of rank and bloodname). Ulric thus used his power as ilKhan to create the bloodname of Kell and bestowed it onto Phelan before his exodus from Clan space. Eventually the Falcon were victorious, but they could not touch the part of the clan that left Clan controlled space and went into self-imposed exile to the Inner Shere. Phelan's Warden Wolves settled on planet Arc-Royal in the Lyran Alliance and created the Arc-Royal Defense Cordon to defend against any Clan incursions, mainly the Jade Falcons.

Absorption and Rebirth

An initially successful Jade Falcon attempt to absorb the remaining Wolves that was effectively made moot with the creation of the Clan Jade Wolf by Vladimir Ward, an offshoot of Clan Jade Falcon made up of captured Wolf warriors who were "absorbed" into the Jade Falcons. The Jade Wolves later changed their name by dropping the "Jade" part and simply going by "Wolf", effectively usurping the name of the original or pre-Refusal War Clan Wolf. These Wolves (also known as Crusader Wolves) rebuilt their strength and have declared themselves the only Crusader Clan not bound by the Crusader's defeat during the Great Refusal, due to their abstaining vote to participate in the Refusal and the resulting battle against the St. Ives' Lancers, led by Kai Allard-Liao, which resulted in a draw.

Ever since then, the two halves of what was once a single Wolf Clan have lived separate lives. The Crusader Wolves sought to regain their strength, raiding the Clan Smoke Jaguar. Vlad Ward entered into a short-term alliance with Falcon Khan Marthe Pryde to ensure the survival of both Clans.

As with the original incarnation of Clan Wolf, the Crusader Wolves consider the planet Tamar as their capital. It was the scouring of Tamar that made the Clans realize that they too would come under attack by the Word of Blake fanatics and had to fight back. During the Word of Blake Jihad the Wolves leapt across Jade Falcon borders to assist worlds under attack.

Society

While Clan Wolf values the typical goals and values of the Clans, individual members of the Clan place much less value on conformance to the Clan mindset. As with other Clans, the Warrior caste is in control, a military chain of command is in place, and everyone is expected to do their part for the further good of the Clan; however, the society allows a great degree of personal freedom of opinion, religion and self-expression than it is typical with other clans. Since the founding of the Crusader Wolf clan, the Warrior caste has grown further in prominence, however. [cite web |url=http://www.classicbattletech.com/index.php?action=text&page=Wolf |title= Clan Wolf |accessdate=2008-03-25 |work= Classic BattleTech website ]

Clan Wolf emblem is a red wolf head, on top of a red plaque with six golden stars. The five stars symbolize the clans (number five is a recurring motif in all Clan artwork and many things in Clans are in multiples of fives), and the sixth star symbolizes their founder, Kerensky.

Quotes

* "Here, with the Strana Mechty wolf, we see what may be the epitome of a warrior, cunning matched with instinct and stealth, joined with a final, terrifying attack. For this mighty creature, I name you. You are Clan Wolf." Nicholas Kerensky, 2810 [http://www.classicbattletech.com/index.php?action=text&page=Wolf]

References

* [http://www.classicbattletech.com/index.php?action=text&page=Wolf Clan Wolf] official entry on ClassicBatteTech page

External links

* [http://web.archive.org/web/20051224185608/http://www.kerensky.tierranet.com/btech/clans/cw.html Clan Wolf] - history, insignia, roster
* [http://www.hakujin.net/Games/BTech/clanwolf.html Clan Wolf Council Hall]
* [http://www.camospecs.com/Unit.asp?FactionID=47 Camo Specs Online] , Wolf Clan gallery
* [http://www.clanhall.de/clans_show.php?lang=com&id=9 Clanhall: Clan Wolf] includes a map
* [http://www.btencyclopedia.com/entry/clan_wolf ComStar Historical Archives entry on Clan Wolf]

Further reading

* Jr. Boy F. Peterson, Blaine Pardoe, Sam Lewis, "Wolf Clan Sourcebook", FASA, 1991, ISBN 1-55560-136-7