Wordless, at its core, is just a big set of helper methods, plus a way to compile SASS/Coffeescript without the need to open a terminal, plus the embedded Phamp

Wordless, at its core, is just a big set of helper methods, plus a way to compile SASS/Coffeescript without the need to open a terminal, plus the embedded Phampl library to write views. So yes, the theme depends on the plugin, just like any other Wordpress plugin.