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The tzarina
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The Tzardom of Kislev, known as the Realm of the Ice Queen, is the most northerly civilisation within the Old World, forever threatened by raiding and invasion from the Chaos Wastes. The inhabitants of Kislev are wolf-tough and self-reliant warriors, valiant and determined in the defence of their Motherland, for they are the bulwark against the horrors of the north. Since its founding, Kislev has been under constant assault by the hordes of Chaos. Countless generations of Kislevits have fought and died in the snowy tundra of those harsh northern oblasts, and it is thanks to these brave Kislevite warriors that mankind has managed to flourish in the south, huddled together in their warm, safe cities, whilst the sons and daughters of Kislev fight on to repel the horrors of the Dark Gods.
Ascending to the throne and crown in the wake of her father's bloody death fighting against the hordes of Chaos, Katarin has wasted no time cementing her grip upon Kislev. She is, in every way, a totalitarian ruler. She is stern and unflinching and will readily have rivals removed by agents of the crown if she cannot win them over with cold reason. The base of Katarin's power, beyond hereditary right, is her extraordinary magical prowess. She is the greatest Ice Witch for generations, capable of magical feats more deadly and devastating than any other wizard in Kislev.
Ascending to the throne and crown in the wake of her father's bloody death fighting against the hordes of Chaos, Katarin has wasted no time cementing her grip upon Kislev. She is, in every way, a totalitarian ruler. She is stern and unflinching and will readily have rivals removed by agents of the crown if she cannot win them over with cold reason. The base of Katarin's power, beyond hereditary right, is her extraordinary magical prowess. She is the greatest Ice Witch for generations, capable of magical feats more deadly and devastating than any other wizard in Kislev.
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Kislev
Devotion Battle against the forces of Chaos and construct religious buildings to accumulate Devotion and invoke the blessings of the Kislevite gods. The Ice Court Kislevite factions can influence the training and rise of formidible Frost Maidens and Ice Witches, aiming to ultimately gain their support. Atamans A tradition of provincial governance allows Kislevite factions to appoint Atamans to help rule their provinces. |
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Tzarina Katarin
Ice Queen of Kislev Devotion +10 from successful Frost Maiden actions. Recruit Rank +3 and training duration -2 for Frost Maidens Control +6 (Faction effects) Heir of House Bokha Upkeep -50% for Ice Guard Units (Lord's army effects) Frost Witch of the North Corruption -6 in local province Miscast chance -50% (Lord effects) |
Prologue - The Heart of the Bear
I had only been at court in Bokha palace for two weeks, when the old vagabond was hauled before the Tzarina on charges of heresy. As the court's scribe, I had been witness to the growing frustration of the nobles and the patriarchs with the Tzarina's refusal to negotiate with the Ropsmenn, and I assumed this might be the first item brought before the court that all would agree on, for obviously the heretic must be killed. Once again, however, her highness turned a deaf ear to the demands of Kislev's most powerful, and declared the man innocent; that the words he spoke were true. That Ursun lived. Though she knew she might only be followed by the Ice Guard, her late father's most loyal warriors, and her snow leopard, there in front of all she declared to not sit again on the throne of Kislev until she had found their god. Advisors and nobles alike pleaded with her to see reason, to agree to the terms of the Ropsmenn and the Church, but she silenced the clamour of disbelief and anger, and challenged all to throw aside their petty power-games and help her restore hope to Kislev. The Patriarchs did not dare charge her with heresy, but were the first to abandon the court, giving up on their attempts to bring the Tzarina to heal under their designs. They were soon followed by the chieftains, who believed they owed little to Kislev to begin with, and even less to a Tzarina who had never proven herself in war. Finally, Kislev's nobility abandoned the throne, unwilling to risk their influence on such a ludicrous adventure. Undoubtedly, all went to plot their next moves for once news arrived back in Kislev of the death of Tzarina Katarin and her loyal retainers. When the Tzarina asked me if I would not be following my priestly masters, I declared that my duty was with the Ice Court, and so she called for me to keep record of the Ice Court's preparation for war.
Army of the Ice Court
Command
Ice Queen - Tzarina Katarin (lore of ice)
Command
Ice Queen - Tzarina Katarin (lore of ice)
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Druzhina
2 Orders of Ice Guard The Tzarina's Fangs, The Daughters of Ursun 1 Banner of Winged Lancers The Banner of the Ice Court |
Kossars
3 Levies of Armoured Kossars The Shields of the Ice Crown, The Order of the Last Snow (great weapons), The Brothers of the Red Tzar (great weapons) |
Kholops
1 Snow Leopard Miska the Gentle |
Chapter 1 -
The Dolgan Incursion
Enemies: Tribe of the Dolgan
Either by negligence or foul treason, the Dolgan horde had crossed the Urskoy before Tzarina Katarin had marshalled the Ice Court's warriors into the field to meet them. However, once in battle, the Tzarina's elite soldiers proved more than a match for Kharon the Gorehunt's warband, who must have believed the ruler of Kislev to be frozen to her throne, unable to master her willful subjects. Kharon's brutes were scythed down by the disciplined servants of the Tzarina and trampled by the Ice Court's Winged Hussars, with their few survivors fleeing back to the plundered town of Gerslev. Among those freed from the clutches of the slavers was Dazhia Iltchenko, and the noble Frost Maiden quickly became one of the Tzarina's most vocal supporters at court and on the battlefield. Announcing this as the first step on the search for Ursun, the Tzarina's call was answered by the local kossars as she crossed the Urskoy to liberate Gerslev. The remainder of Kharon's Dolgans met us at the river outside the town, but the magic of Maiden Dazhia and the Tzarina froze the enemy in the shallows leaving them to be cut down by the Kislevites at ease. Kharon and his warriors were executed on the battlefield, and those inhabitants of Gerslev who had fled or been captured were allowed to return to what still stood of their town. No further sightings of Dolgan were reported and it is believed any that remained fled from the region, leaderless.
The Ropsmenn Rebellion
Enemies: Ropsmenn of Kislev
When Tzarina Katarin called for the tribal leaders to pledge fealty upon her coronation, it was unsurprising that most wdould make some request or concession in recognition for their service to Kislev, but Prince Grigor Kyriakin's extensive list of rights and privledges for the Ropsmenn clans, whose chieftains he had united behind him, was far beyond all precedent. The Tzarina chose to make an example of him and declined his demands as well as stripping the clans' already existing privileges on taxation in the Easter Oblast. Unwilling to be shamed in this way, Grigor chose to risk all on the combined might of the Ropsmenn, and chose not to swear fealty. Though none desired to fight their fellow countrymen, all the Tzarina's advisors agreed that the independence of the tribes would surely doom the authority of the Ice Court, and she found no recourse but to declare war on Grigor Kyriakin and the Ropsmenn boyars. Soon word arrived from the Easter Oblast that those who displayed loyalty to the Tzarina were being publicly flogged in the market squares of Volksgrad and Igerov, and horsemen were seizing all property and goods destined for the city of Kislev. This was followed by reports that the Dolgan had been raiding unopposed by Ropsmenn patrols, and then the fall of Gerslev to Kharon the Gorehunt and his Dolgan warbands. Meanwhile, instead of defending the borders against the Dolgan, the Ropsmenn had gathered their armies around Praag to maintain a strong grip on the prestigious city.
After the Tzarina defeated Kharon and the Dolgans, she moved directly to occupy the town of Igerov which had most recently accepted the defense of the Ropsmenn during these unsure times, but quickly bowed to the Ice Court once the Ropsmenn warriors had been chased across the Tobol. While the Ropsmenn gathered their forces to the north of the river, the Army of Kislev marched yet further east to secure Fort Jakova, whose commander was of the Ropsmenn clan but opened his gates without a fight when he saw the banner of the Ice Court outside, but still many suspected supporters of the uprising would be imprisoned and the garrison commander was replaced. While the Army of the Ice Court secured the Eastern Oblast, Lord Mikhail Guyovich, called the Frozen by his soldiers, recruited a second force in the Tzarina's name from the large numbers of displaced Kislevites that were arriving in Urskoy from the Eastern Oblast, seeking order and safety. This force was able to meet and defeat Lord Yegor Dazhev, who led a Ropsmenn army towards Kislev while the Army of the Ice Court was far east., and then raid and threaten the movement of goods and soldiers between the Ropsmenn strongholds in Praag and Volksgrad As the Tzarina marched north, crossing the rivers to meet Lord Mikhail at ..., word arrived of the fall of Fort Jakova to the cursed Baersonlings. The Tzarina decided that the fort must be secured before she could march north and turned back to catch the celebrating Baersonlings before they could prepare to defend against the vengeful Ice Witch. With the fort secured, the Army of the Ice Court started its march west again just as it recieved word that Prince Grigor had taken this opportunity to cross the River Tobol and had crossed into the forests between Gerslev and Igerov. The Army of the Ice Court moved to confront the Prince, and the Prince choose to await her at Gerslev, which he had occupied and now flew the white horse of the Ropsmenn above its towers. Prince Grigor had clearly underestimated the might of the Ice Court and Tzarina Katarin was about to retake Gerslev by force and the Prince was taken away in chains. There in Gerslev, before the army headed north, a coven of Frost Maidens arrived with the legendary sword Frost Fang, which had been prepared in support of her quest.
With Prince Grigor imprisoned, the Ropsmenn struggled to regroup and the Tzarina was able to directly confront them at Volksgrad, where they attempted to gather a new army, while the Army of the East besieged the Ropsmenn garrison at Praag. In Volksgrad the defenders could not stand against the Ice Court and fled the field. The boyars that were not killed in the battle would go on to live as wanted men, with their lands and titles now in the hands of the Ice Court, but the commoners were treated with respect and the seat of the Ropsmenn would quickly become accustomed to the snowflake banner and serve as the Tzarina's foothold in the Northern Oblast. At Praag, it was well known that the city could survive a long seige, and so Lord Mikhail sent his men over the walls to take them from the Ropsmenn. After the fight, the stalwart city welcomed the envoys of the Tzarina and its council pledged fealty to their rightful ruler, ending the last vestige of the Ropsmenn Rebellion.
The Dueling Bears
Enemies: Tribe of the Baersonlings
United under a high chieftain named Egil Trygurdsson, the clans known as the Baersonlings had pushed back Kislevite control in the Northern Oblast, riding from the mountains into the steppe to raid and pillage, and when no grand Kislevite army arrived to face them, settling down in the territory as a new regional power. The Kislevite settlements of Plensk and Yetchitch were now home to Norscan slave markets and feast halls, while all the steppe around amd between was the hunting grounds of their warbands. While Tzarina Katarin left Fort Jakova under the Ice Court's banner, a large Baersonling warband was raiding in the foothills north of the Fort and was clear threat to the region. The Army of the Ice Court was able to surprise the overconfident raiders, including Egil Trygurdsson himself and his huscarls, and it was hoped that the Norscans would retreat the Northern Oblast. However, Egil surprised the Ice Court by quickly regrouping, pushing even further into Kislevite territory, and overwhelming the meager garrison of Fort Jakova.
With the Kislevite fort in his possession, Egil moved to threaten Igersev just as an army of heretics emerged from a village south of the town led by a giant warrior in cursed armor called Kharan Morrspyg, who was rumored to be a prophet from distant lands. It was amid this fould news that the army came upon a giant skeleton of a bear, well preserved as if the scavengers and the elements had ignored it. While the soldiers spoke of this being a terrible sign regarding the fate of our patron god, but I was able to deliver a sermon about the fate of our enemy, who is also known to worship the might of the bear, and how Ursun has shown us this miracle as a sign of his favor, for this great bear's eternal heart now lives with us. Word of the sermon reached the Tzarina, who ordered the construction of a new church at the site, and honored me with an appointment as the Patriarch of Igerov, a vacant position since the previous patriarch was murdered by the Dolgan.
However, a life behind a pulpit was not in my future, as my duties at the Ice Court only increased with my appointment as I became the Tzarina's primary advisor regarding the Orthodoxy, and my blessings were expected by the soldiers of the Ice Court on the battlefield. We moved first against the corrupted village, which was burned to the ground along with its plentiful evidence of ritual murder and forbidden worship. Losses in the battle against the cultists had been minimal and the Tzarina was able to quickly turn her army to the eastern road and scatter Egil's raiders in a pitched battle. With Fort Jakova still in his possession, the Chieftain sent an offer of peace to the Tzarina, which would allow her to return and support Lord Mikhail's force against the Ropsmenn, but leaving the eastern stronghold in the possession of the marauders was unexceptable for her highness. The few Norscan's left to defend the pillaged fort fled from her advance, and the settlement's surviving population was allowed to return and rebuild.
The Ice Court's attention remained fixated on the Baersonlings even as the Tzarina fought against the Ropsmenn, and she was determined to put and end to their reign over the Northern Oblast. After the capture of Volksgrad the Tzarina brought the army to Plesk, where Chieftain Baerwyn Kalsarikannit met her in battle and fell before the might of Kislev. Plesk was in Kislevite hands again for the first time in many years, but any celebrations were cut short when the Tzarina announced that she had felt Ursun's roar tear a rift between the planes of existance. The reconquest of the Northern Oblast would have to wait, for fate seemed to have other plans for the Tzarina.
The Plaguefather's Garden
Enemies: Legion of the Gardener
I will not put to ink what I saw after following the Tzarina through the rift, but I will tell you that we found the Plaguefather's Gardener and the strange wanderer took his soul. We took immense losses at the Battle of the Garden, including the loss of the Wardens of Matyr's Grove, a unit of kossars from forests outside the city of Kislev, and every man of the Banner of the Ice Court, though the banner itself was retrieved from where they planted it in the ground at their final stand. The banner would be reused for a new honored unit of winged hussars in the future. The Tzarina also lost her constant companion, Miska the Gentle, who perished after slaying many of the dark god's monstrosities.
When we returned to Kislev, the court receieved reports that daemonic armies had emerged from rifts across the land, and the Army of East had defeated one army of daemons near Kislev and two separate armies that marched on Praag, where the famed Order of the Last Snow was lost heroically holding a forest on the flank of the army. With the daemons banished, the Ice Court would once again be able to focus on rebuilding the might of Kislev.
Enemies: Tribe of the Dolgan
Either by negligence or foul treason, the Dolgan horde had crossed the Urskoy before Tzarina Katarin had marshalled the Ice Court's warriors into the field to meet them. However, once in battle, the Tzarina's elite soldiers proved more than a match for Kharon the Gorehunt's warband, who must have believed the ruler of Kislev to be frozen to her throne, unable to master her willful subjects. Kharon's brutes were scythed down by the disciplined servants of the Tzarina and trampled by the Ice Court's Winged Hussars, with their few survivors fleeing back to the plundered town of Gerslev. Among those freed from the clutches of the slavers was Dazhia Iltchenko, and the noble Frost Maiden quickly became one of the Tzarina's most vocal supporters at court and on the battlefield. Announcing this as the first step on the search for Ursun, the Tzarina's call was answered by the local kossars as she crossed the Urskoy to liberate Gerslev. The remainder of Kharon's Dolgans met us at the river outside the town, but the magic of Maiden Dazhia and the Tzarina froze the enemy in the shallows leaving them to be cut down by the Kislevites at ease. Kharon and his warriors were executed on the battlefield, and those inhabitants of Gerslev who had fled or been captured were allowed to return to what still stood of their town. No further sightings of Dolgan were reported and it is believed any that remained fled from the region, leaderless.
The Ropsmenn Rebellion
Enemies: Ropsmenn of Kislev
When Tzarina Katarin called for the tribal leaders to pledge fealty upon her coronation, it was unsurprising that most wdould make some request or concession in recognition for their service to Kislev, but Prince Grigor Kyriakin's extensive list of rights and privledges for the Ropsmenn clans, whose chieftains he had united behind him, was far beyond all precedent. The Tzarina chose to make an example of him and declined his demands as well as stripping the clans' already existing privileges on taxation in the Easter Oblast. Unwilling to be shamed in this way, Grigor chose to risk all on the combined might of the Ropsmenn, and chose not to swear fealty. Though none desired to fight their fellow countrymen, all the Tzarina's advisors agreed that the independence of the tribes would surely doom the authority of the Ice Court, and she found no recourse but to declare war on Grigor Kyriakin and the Ropsmenn boyars. Soon word arrived from the Easter Oblast that those who displayed loyalty to the Tzarina were being publicly flogged in the market squares of Volksgrad and Igerov, and horsemen were seizing all property and goods destined for the city of Kislev. This was followed by reports that the Dolgan had been raiding unopposed by Ropsmenn patrols, and then the fall of Gerslev to Kharon the Gorehunt and his Dolgan warbands. Meanwhile, instead of defending the borders against the Dolgan, the Ropsmenn had gathered their armies around Praag to maintain a strong grip on the prestigious city.
After the Tzarina defeated Kharon and the Dolgans, she moved directly to occupy the town of Igerov which had most recently accepted the defense of the Ropsmenn during these unsure times, but quickly bowed to the Ice Court once the Ropsmenn warriors had been chased across the Tobol. While the Ropsmenn gathered their forces to the north of the river, the Army of Kislev marched yet further east to secure Fort Jakova, whose commander was of the Ropsmenn clan but opened his gates without a fight when he saw the banner of the Ice Court outside, but still many suspected supporters of the uprising would be imprisoned and the garrison commander was replaced. While the Army of the Ice Court secured the Eastern Oblast, Lord Mikhail Guyovich, called the Frozen by his soldiers, recruited a second force in the Tzarina's name from the large numbers of displaced Kislevites that were arriving in Urskoy from the Eastern Oblast, seeking order and safety. This force was able to meet and defeat Lord Yegor Dazhev, who led a Ropsmenn army towards Kislev while the Army of the Ice Court was far east., and then raid and threaten the movement of goods and soldiers between the Ropsmenn strongholds in Praag and Volksgrad As the Tzarina marched north, crossing the rivers to meet Lord Mikhail at ..., word arrived of the fall of Fort Jakova to the cursed Baersonlings. The Tzarina decided that the fort must be secured before she could march north and turned back to catch the celebrating Baersonlings before they could prepare to defend against the vengeful Ice Witch. With the fort secured, the Army of the Ice Court started its march west again just as it recieved word that Prince Grigor had taken this opportunity to cross the River Tobol and had crossed into the forests between Gerslev and Igerov. The Army of the Ice Court moved to confront the Prince, and the Prince choose to await her at Gerslev, which he had occupied and now flew the white horse of the Ropsmenn above its towers. Prince Grigor had clearly underestimated the might of the Ice Court and Tzarina Katarin was about to retake Gerslev by force and the Prince was taken away in chains. There in Gerslev, before the army headed north, a coven of Frost Maidens arrived with the legendary sword Frost Fang, which had been prepared in support of her quest.
With Prince Grigor imprisoned, the Ropsmenn struggled to regroup and the Tzarina was able to directly confront them at Volksgrad, where they attempted to gather a new army, while the Army of the East besieged the Ropsmenn garrison at Praag. In Volksgrad the defenders could not stand against the Ice Court and fled the field. The boyars that were not killed in the battle would go on to live as wanted men, with their lands and titles now in the hands of the Ice Court, but the commoners were treated with respect and the seat of the Ropsmenn would quickly become accustomed to the snowflake banner and serve as the Tzarina's foothold in the Northern Oblast. At Praag, it was well known that the city could survive a long seige, and so Lord Mikhail sent his men over the walls to take them from the Ropsmenn. After the fight, the stalwart city welcomed the envoys of the Tzarina and its council pledged fealty to their rightful ruler, ending the last vestige of the Ropsmenn Rebellion.
The Dueling Bears
Enemies: Tribe of the Baersonlings
United under a high chieftain named Egil Trygurdsson, the clans known as the Baersonlings had pushed back Kislevite control in the Northern Oblast, riding from the mountains into the steppe to raid and pillage, and when no grand Kislevite army arrived to face them, settling down in the territory as a new regional power. The Kislevite settlements of Plensk and Yetchitch were now home to Norscan slave markets and feast halls, while all the steppe around amd between was the hunting grounds of their warbands. While Tzarina Katarin left Fort Jakova under the Ice Court's banner, a large Baersonling warband was raiding in the foothills north of the Fort and was clear threat to the region. The Army of the Ice Court was able to surprise the overconfident raiders, including Egil Trygurdsson himself and his huscarls, and it was hoped that the Norscans would retreat the Northern Oblast. However, Egil surprised the Ice Court by quickly regrouping, pushing even further into Kislevite territory, and overwhelming the meager garrison of Fort Jakova.
With the Kislevite fort in his possession, Egil moved to threaten Igersev just as an army of heretics emerged from a village south of the town led by a giant warrior in cursed armor called Kharan Morrspyg, who was rumored to be a prophet from distant lands. It was amid this fould news that the army came upon a giant skeleton of a bear, well preserved as if the scavengers and the elements had ignored it. While the soldiers spoke of this being a terrible sign regarding the fate of our patron god, but I was able to deliver a sermon about the fate of our enemy, who is also known to worship the might of the bear, and how Ursun has shown us this miracle as a sign of his favor, for this great bear's eternal heart now lives with us. Word of the sermon reached the Tzarina, who ordered the construction of a new church at the site, and honored me with an appointment as the Patriarch of Igerov, a vacant position since the previous patriarch was murdered by the Dolgan.
However, a life behind a pulpit was not in my future, as my duties at the Ice Court only increased with my appointment as I became the Tzarina's primary advisor regarding the Orthodoxy, and my blessings were expected by the soldiers of the Ice Court on the battlefield. We moved first against the corrupted village, which was burned to the ground along with its plentiful evidence of ritual murder and forbidden worship. Losses in the battle against the cultists had been minimal and the Tzarina was able to quickly turn her army to the eastern road and scatter Egil's raiders in a pitched battle. With Fort Jakova still in his possession, the Chieftain sent an offer of peace to the Tzarina, which would allow her to return and support Lord Mikhail's force against the Ropsmenn, but leaving the eastern stronghold in the possession of the marauders was unexceptable for her highness. The few Norscan's left to defend the pillaged fort fled from her advance, and the settlement's surviving population was allowed to return and rebuild.
The Ice Court's attention remained fixated on the Baersonlings even as the Tzarina fought against the Ropsmenn, and she was determined to put and end to their reign over the Northern Oblast. After the capture of Volksgrad the Tzarina brought the army to Plesk, where Chieftain Baerwyn Kalsarikannit met her in battle and fell before the might of Kislev. Plesk was in Kislevite hands again for the first time in many years, but any celebrations were cut short when the Tzarina announced that she had felt Ursun's roar tear a rift between the planes of existance. The reconquest of the Northern Oblast would have to wait, for fate seemed to have other plans for the Tzarina.
The Plaguefather's Garden
Enemies: Legion of the Gardener
I will not put to ink what I saw after following the Tzarina through the rift, but I will tell you that we found the Plaguefather's Gardener and the strange wanderer took his soul. We took immense losses at the Battle of the Garden, including the loss of the Wardens of Matyr's Grove, a unit of kossars from forests outside the city of Kislev, and every man of the Banner of the Ice Court, though the banner itself was retrieved from where they planted it in the ground at their final stand. The banner would be reused for a new honored unit of winged hussars in the future. The Tzarina also lost her constant companion, Miska the Gentle, who perished after slaying many of the dark god's monstrosities.
When we returned to Kislev, the court receieved reports that daemonic armies had emerged from rifts across the land, and the Army of East had defeated one army of daemons near Kislev and two separate armies that marched on Praag, where the famed Order of the Last Snow was lost heroically holding a forest on the flank of the army. With the daemons banished, the Ice Court would once again be able to focus on rebuilding the might of Kislev.
Army of the Ice Court
Command
Ice Queen - Tzarina Katarin (lore of ice)
Patriarchs - Artha Bear-Heart
Frost Maidens - Dazhia the Huntress (lore of the tempest)
Command
Ice Queen - Tzarina Katarin (lore of ice)
Patriarchs - Artha Bear-Heart
Frost Maidens - Dazhia the Huntress (lore of the tempest)
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Druzhina
2 Orders of Ice Guard The Tzarina's Fangs, The Daughters of Ursun 1 Banner of Winged Lancers The Banner of the Ice Court |
Kossars
4 Levies of Armoured Kossars The Shields of the Ice Crown, The Kossars of Ropspordolm, The Order of the Last Snow (great weapons), The Brothers of the Red Tzar (great weapons) 4 Levies of Kossars The Whitetower Trackers, The Sons of the Urskoy, The Banner of the Tattered Hat, The Eastquarter Militia (spears) 2 Bands of Kossovite Dervishes The Outriders of Igerov, Sarov's Barbers |
Kholops
1 Snow Leopard Miska the Gentle 1 Band of Ogre Bulls Baghda's Bashers |
Army of the East
Command
Boyar - Mikhail the Frozen
Frost Maidens - Ursuka the Blue Laurel (lore of ice)
Kossars
2 Regiments of Streltsi
4 Levies of Armoured Kossars (1 with great weapons)
5 Levies of Kossars (3 with spears)
2 Bands of Kossovite Dervishes
Command
Boyar - Mikhail the Frozen
Frost Maidens - Ursuka the Blue Laurel (lore of ice)
Kossars
2 Regiments of Streltsi
4 Levies of Armoured Kossars (1 with great weapons)
5 Levies of Kossars (3 with spears)
2 Bands of Kossovite Dervishes
Chapter 2
The Reclaimed North
Enemies: Tribe of the Baersonlings
High Chieftain Egil's grip on the Northern Oblast had slipped and he could no longer conduct his raids into Kislevite territory without losing control of what few settlements he could still claim. However, the Tzarina saw the reclamation of the Nothern Oblast as key to Kislev's prosperity and prioritized the total defeat of her Norscan rival and his clan. The Army of the East joined with the Army of Kislev to together descend on his chosen seat in Yetchitch, in the forests at the feat of the Gianthome mountains. In a bloody battle there, the Baersonlings were defeated, and Egil Trygurdsson is believed to have fled in shame for his body was not found on the field. The brave sled crewmen of the Heralds of the Blizzard who led the vanguard of the attack against the Norscans were lost in the fight, and their sacrifice was honored in particular when the Tzarina raised the banner of the Ice Court over the halls of Yetchitch. With the threat of the Baersonlings erased, brave refugees and opportunists alike began to settle at the old northern towns of Yetchitch, Sepukzy, and Novchozy, under the protection of Lord Mikhail the Frozen, who which continued eastward to hunt for remaining Norscans. The Tzarina, on the other hand, led us into the Norscan mountains to find a cursed valley that housed the Crystal Maze, a trap that held an artifact of legendary power highly desired by the Tzarina. There the Army of Kislev faced an assault by the Maze's guardians, daemons of pink and blue fire that threw themselves at our blades with no care for their own existence. Those who emerged unburned were able to witness the Tzarina claim the Crystal Cloak she now prould wears on the battlefield, while those who fell were consigned to the holy fires of Dazh.
The Vampire Marches
Enemies: Vampire Counts of Drakenhof
Allies: Imperial Province of Ostermark
As the Tzarina's influence spread past the walls of Kislev, she had quickly come to respect Elector Count Wolfram Hertwig and had decided to formally ally the Ice Court with Ostermark, in hopes of ensuring peace and prosperity on her southern borders. However, as the Tzarina fought against the Ropsmenn and the Baersonlings, Kislev received troubling reports from across the border regarding the return of the Vampire Counts and chaos across Ostermark. Though many at court suggested that this internal strife among the Imperial factions should not draw our attention, urging the Tzarina to focus on the hunt for Ursun or asserting the Court's authority over the western provinces, but the Tzarina decided to join the Ostermarchers against this encroaching darkness. Striking decisively, the Tzarina brought the might of the Army of Kislev down on Fortenhof, which had recently been seized by Mannfred von Carstein, Lord of Drakenhof, after scattering the Ostermen and pushing them back to regroup a Wolfenburg. The Lord of Drakenhof, returned from the dead, was protected by countless legions of walking corpses and nightmarish monsters, but Kislevite steel cleared a path for the Tzarina and her retinue to challenge the vampire lord and force his retreat from the field. Masterless, the dead fell still, and the army occupied Fortenhof welcomed as heroes by the few surviving Ostermen found enslaved in the town and those who returned from whence they fled in the wilds. At Osterwald, the Tzarina was able to corner and fell another of Mannfred's brood, Lord Malsar von Diehl, and similarly liberate the settlement, providing another stronghold for the Ice Court yet further south into Ostermark. Here a Kislevite noblewoman named Ulrika Magdova, was brought to the Tzarina's attention on charges of practicing the dark arts, and won her favor with a combination of courtesy and skill. The mysterious woman accompanied the Tzarina's retinue for many weeks and was then sent to serve Lady Zoya the Gospodar who had been ordered by the Court to gather a new army at Kislev with which to protect the southern marches. The Tzarina explained that she hunted the vampires, and our goals aligned.
After the establishment of defenses at Fortenhof and Osterwald, the Tzarina led the Army of Kislev into the World's Teeth at the request of King Barundin of Zhufbar, and the new Army of the Marches was left to hold the region until the Count of Ostermark could muster his own forces. The Tzarina kept frequent coorespondence with Lady Zoya, and we would learn, as we climbed the mountain passes, that Fortenhof would be plagued by continued attacks from Sylvania and Osterwald was overrun by the necromancer, Rambert Stahlberg, dooming Patriarch Mikhail Novosi and his defenders to a valiant end before Lady Zoya could arrive to retake the settlement. However, when Mannfred von Carstein returned to Ostermark himself, Lady Zoya defeated the lord of the vampires in a battle that will live forever in the legends of Kislev. On the field, Ulrika Magdova and the Brotherhood of Thunder were able to draw the vampire lord into an ambush and destroy his mortal form though both Ulrika and the Brotherhood would end up trapped and surrounded among his horrors while the rest of the Kislev forces cut through the undead to reach and kill the necromancer thralls that held the army of corpses together. The Brotherhood did not survive, but I learned later that the frightening noblewoman who led them into battle was found alive among a pile of corpses.
The Frozen Coast Expedition
Enemies: Legion of the Gorequeen
With the Northern Oblast reclaimed in the service of Kislev, Lord Mikhail the Frozen was ordered to press further north in an attempt to reach the Frozen Sea. The lands approaching the coast were roamed by small nomadic warbands that each adhered to rival chieftains, but these warriors told that the region had been claimed by a herald of the Runious Powers known as the Gorequeen and her chosen ruled in her name. Indeed her warriors were first encountered along the fjords of Sjoktraken, where a settlement dedicated to trade among the Norscans and other even fouler tribes sat among the icy peaks. Here, a champion of the dark gods known simply as Fregnus led the warriors of the Gorequeen against Lord Mikhail's approaching soldiers, but was ground under the icy heal of Kislevite boots and the Army of the East claimed the icy port for the motherland. With the longships found at the port, Lord Mikhail the Frozen decided to sail along the coast to attack Frozen Landing, a notorious stronghold from which the barbarians have launched invasions of Kislev before.
Along the route from Sjoktraken to the Landing, in the rocky shoals strewn with shipwrecks of less fortunate armies and adventurers, Lord Mikhail's fleet was avoided by the Norscan raiders who preferred easier prey, but was assailed by one Admiral Lana Aldo who hailed from lands far to the south and whose ships were crewed by moving corpses. The admiral's piracy upon the Frozen Sea had apparently been a successful enterprise before her fatal mistake, because the quartermaster of the Army of the East reported seizing a signficant treasure horde from her grounded vessels before sailing on.
Lord Mikhail's stolen fleet was hardly in shape to attack a fortified city, and so he sent his men ashore to approach Frozen Landing from the land. He found strong walls manned by armed warriors, and so built towers and rams with which to breach them. In the bloody assault, the brave kossars of Milorad's Archers became isolated and trapped on the walls and none were found alive after the battle, but their efforts allowed others to break through the defenses and in turn surround the defenders, leading to the subsequent route of the heathens. While those executed after the battle promised that the Gorequeen would take vengence in their name, Lord Mikhail reported no such sighting of further enemy forces and that Frozen Landing was being supplied and fortified in the name of the Ice Court.
From the Frozen Landing, Lord Mikhail sailed the Army of the East across the narrows of the Frozen Sea, and attacked the barbarian shipyards at Dharko Wharf and setup yet a further outpost for the Ice Court. Here, the heathens proudly attested to be followers of the Plaguefather, and their iconography and foul shrines were indeed quite different from the followers of the Gorequeen, though we burned them just the same. He then returned to the Goromadny and ventured east, to the farthest extent of previous Kislevite power, and found the old site of the Temple of Heimkel inhabited by pox-ridden mutants and marauders. Those that did not flee into the wilds, were slaughtered, and the the Army of the East proudly raised the banner of the Ice Court over the ruins of the temple. This would not go entirely unanswered by the powers of the northern realms though, and this Plaguefather indeed sent an army of warriors and daemons to the shores of the Goromadny and was discovered marching towards the Temple of Heimkel. This force was met by the Army of the East and destroyed, though the survivors of the battle would suffer from a multitude of afflictions that would continue to claim lives long after the screams of the daemons had faded away.
The Shadow Dwarves
Enemies: Disciples of Hashut, Warhost of Zharr
Allies: Throng of Zhufbar
From the lands of Ostermark and Sylvania, the Army of the Ice Court marched up the slopes of the World's Teeth to Karak Kadrin. Far from home and getting farther by the day, I conveyed to the soldiers that we marched to assist the dwarves of these lands against their enemies in order to both strengthen our alliance and destroy the foul denizens of the mountains before they ever come to Kislev. However, at Karak Kadrin we found no welcome, and instead were fired upon from the hold's defenses. The soldiers were suprised when the Tzarina commanded us to attack the hold, but I had heard the rumors of trouble among the dwarf realms with evil "shadow dwarves" and we found what seemed to be strange dwarves, with horns and other mutations, who led goblin slaves into battle as we made our way into the hold. Our vanguard of scouts, the Whitetower Trackers were caught and overrun by monstrous daemons of fire that were summoned from the air, cut down to a man, but fortunately the defenders were not numerous or prepared for our arrival, and most of the hold seemed to be abandoned and undefended. After our veteran kossars killed their commander, the others seemed to disappear into the dark depths of the mountains and we were able to secure at least the surface levels of the dwarven city, and we sent word back to Kislev of the danger in the mountains. The Army of Praag, raised under the boyar Anton Ertov of the Ropsmenn as a symbol of unity and cooperation between the Ropsmenn and the Ice Court, was sent to Fort Jakova and arrived in time to repel an attack from another shadow-dwarf warlord and follow their retreat back to a stronghold near Karak Ungor. In a bloody battle, the defenders of the hold were slain and their structures and strange devices were burned and destroyed.
Soon after, our scouts warned us that an army of dwarfs, orcs, and goblins was approaching and blocked the known route eastward through Peak Pass. The Tzarina led us directly against this enemy and we clashed with them in a nameless mountain pass, drawing the disorganized orcs and goblins forward with our archers before cutting them down with bows and pistols. When their heavily armoured elite troops attacked, the Tzarina covered the slopes with ice leaving them helpless until a fatal shot found a weakness in their plate armor. Leading this army was a king of these of shadow-dwarfs, known as Ironhand, who faced the Tzarina and her Ice Guard with a retinue of mutant dwarfs and fire daemons, and disappeared into the snow and trees as his minions retreated.
We continued on through the mountains to Karak Raziak. which we found had also been held or plundered by the shadow-dwarves but the few guards and slaves that were there fled before our arrival, but here we finally met the allies we had worried may have all been killed or corrupted. A small army from the dwaven hold of Zhufbar arrived at the hold and the Tzarina asked them to ensure their Lord sent reinforcements to hold Peak Pass and the defenses we had taken from the forces of the Ironhand, however the dwarf army had been sent to confront yet another army of their evil kin who even now marched on Karak Raziak, led by another rival king named Zhatan the Black. While the forces of Zhufbar readied the defenses of the hold, the Tzarina prepared an ambush for the invaders, but the shadow-dwarves discovered our position and attacked head-on. Once again the sons of Kislev brought the fury of Tor and Ursun to this godless land, and slaughtered dwarf and monster alike, sending the sorcerer-king fleeing back east whence he came. Afterward, the thanes of Zhufbar hosted a modest feast in appreciation of our victory at Karak Raziak, but our men longed to return to the motherland and our allies were noticably reluctant to request any further aid from the Ice Court. To the relief of all, the Tzarina commanded us to march westward, towards home, though I would end up lands far more foreign before I saw the steppes of Kislev again.
The Princess of Erengrad
Enemies: Tribe of the Black Pit, the Fecundite Cult
Allies: Druzhina Enclave
While Aleksander held the loyalty of almost all the boyars and patriarchs of western Kislev, one important exception was Lady Elena Zakarova of the Druzhina Enclave, who consolidated enough power during the succession to have herself anointed as the Princess of Erengrad. As Tzarina Katarin continue to expand her influence and prove her might, it became evident that Lady Elena would support the rule of the Tzarina, and Aleksander moved to undermine her authority to the point on having her excommunicated on grounds of apostasy, offering evidence that she placed the worship of Manaan and other foreign gods above the Orthodoxy. Excommunication gave any opportunistic boyar grounds to claim land that was held in fealty to Erengrad and there was soon open fighting between those who served Aleksander's western church and the Druzhina Enclave. As the Druzhina Enclave struggled to defend her holdings in the Western Oblast and armies of goblins and Norscans raided unopposed up to the walls of Erengrad, Lady Elena traveled to the Ice Court and swore fealty to the Tzarina with only minor conditions. This brought the fighting between the western boyars to a close, as none could claim any right to the Tzarina's realm, but the goblin and Norscans showed no such deference. The famed garrison of Erengrad was forced to earn its keep, when a horde of goblins from the Black Pit surrounded the city, built ramshackle towers, and threw themselves in a heedless bloodlust at the walls. They were rebuffed and forced back into the wilds where Lady Elena followed with a small army to hunt them down. Inland, in the Western Oblast, a roving warband of disease-worshipping barbarians and cultists plagued the forests and marshes, and finally descended upon the small garrison of Zoishenk where an Ice Witch named Ivana was able to rally enough militia to fend off the army of damned and infected. While Erengrad and western Kislev were beleaguered by many foes, now the banner of the Ice Court flew from its walls and all three of the great rival cities of Kislev at last heeded the call of Tzarina Katarin.
The Blood God's Arena
Enemies: Legion of the Gatekeeper
We were just beginning our descent into the forested foothills of the World's Teeth when the Old Wanderer warned us that Ursun would soon open another path for us to the dark realms. Veterans of the fight through the Plaguefather's realm did what they could to prepare the others, but even they were dumbstruck as we marched into a red desert filled with ironwork monoliths and flowing lava. There we fought warriors and monsters in all forms, and I know not if they were expeditions from foreign realms, like us, or illusions of the Lord of Skulls, for there was no talking or negotiation in that land, only a desperate need to kill and triumph. When we reached the gates of the Brass Citadel, we were confronted by a prince of the daemons that welcomed us with an army of red-skinned daemons wielding iron blades each as long as a man. Once again, no words were exchanged beyond roars of fury as the soldiers of Kislev gave these daemons the demise they clearly craved, and the daemon prince's fire was quenched by the Tzarina's ice. With this Gatekeeper's soul in the possession of the Old Wanderer, we escaped this bloody hell and emerged back into the forests of Sylvania, covered in steaming blood.
While we fought for Ursun against the Skull Lord's minions, the rifts had again created chaos across the world, but the gravest threat had come from a wandering warband of Ogres dedicated to a militant order called the Challenge Pact. Though their presence had been tolerated near Praag, tensions escalated during the chaos and the tyrant which led the Ogres declared Praag to be his new arena, laying siege to the city when the gates were closed to him. The cities great walls kept the ogre army at bay long enough for the boyar Oleg Temsky, known as the Old Ram, to pull together a new Army of the North in Yetchitch and march to the aid of the city. Between the Army of the North and the garrison of Praag, the Challenge Pact and its tyrant met its final challenge.
Enemies: Tribe of the Baersonlings
High Chieftain Egil's grip on the Northern Oblast had slipped and he could no longer conduct his raids into Kislevite territory without losing control of what few settlements he could still claim. However, the Tzarina saw the reclamation of the Nothern Oblast as key to Kislev's prosperity and prioritized the total defeat of her Norscan rival and his clan. The Army of the East joined with the Army of Kislev to together descend on his chosen seat in Yetchitch, in the forests at the feat of the Gianthome mountains. In a bloody battle there, the Baersonlings were defeated, and Egil Trygurdsson is believed to have fled in shame for his body was not found on the field. The brave sled crewmen of the Heralds of the Blizzard who led the vanguard of the attack against the Norscans were lost in the fight, and their sacrifice was honored in particular when the Tzarina raised the banner of the Ice Court over the halls of Yetchitch. With the threat of the Baersonlings erased, brave refugees and opportunists alike began to settle at the old northern towns of Yetchitch, Sepukzy, and Novchozy, under the protection of Lord Mikhail the Frozen, who which continued eastward to hunt for remaining Norscans. The Tzarina, on the other hand, led us into the Norscan mountains to find a cursed valley that housed the Crystal Maze, a trap that held an artifact of legendary power highly desired by the Tzarina. There the Army of Kislev faced an assault by the Maze's guardians, daemons of pink and blue fire that threw themselves at our blades with no care for their own existence. Those who emerged unburned were able to witness the Tzarina claim the Crystal Cloak she now prould wears on the battlefield, while those who fell were consigned to the holy fires of Dazh.
The Vampire Marches
Enemies: Vampire Counts of Drakenhof
Allies: Imperial Province of Ostermark
As the Tzarina's influence spread past the walls of Kislev, she had quickly come to respect Elector Count Wolfram Hertwig and had decided to formally ally the Ice Court with Ostermark, in hopes of ensuring peace and prosperity on her southern borders. However, as the Tzarina fought against the Ropsmenn and the Baersonlings, Kislev received troubling reports from across the border regarding the return of the Vampire Counts and chaos across Ostermark. Though many at court suggested that this internal strife among the Imperial factions should not draw our attention, urging the Tzarina to focus on the hunt for Ursun or asserting the Court's authority over the western provinces, but the Tzarina decided to join the Ostermarchers against this encroaching darkness. Striking decisively, the Tzarina brought the might of the Army of Kislev down on Fortenhof, which had recently been seized by Mannfred von Carstein, Lord of Drakenhof, after scattering the Ostermen and pushing them back to regroup a Wolfenburg. The Lord of Drakenhof, returned from the dead, was protected by countless legions of walking corpses and nightmarish monsters, but Kislevite steel cleared a path for the Tzarina and her retinue to challenge the vampire lord and force his retreat from the field. Masterless, the dead fell still, and the army occupied Fortenhof welcomed as heroes by the few surviving Ostermen found enslaved in the town and those who returned from whence they fled in the wilds. At Osterwald, the Tzarina was able to corner and fell another of Mannfred's brood, Lord Malsar von Diehl, and similarly liberate the settlement, providing another stronghold for the Ice Court yet further south into Ostermark. Here a Kislevite noblewoman named Ulrika Magdova, was brought to the Tzarina's attention on charges of practicing the dark arts, and won her favor with a combination of courtesy and skill. The mysterious woman accompanied the Tzarina's retinue for many weeks and was then sent to serve Lady Zoya the Gospodar who had been ordered by the Court to gather a new army at Kislev with which to protect the southern marches. The Tzarina explained that she hunted the vampires, and our goals aligned.
After the establishment of defenses at Fortenhof and Osterwald, the Tzarina led the Army of Kislev into the World's Teeth at the request of King Barundin of Zhufbar, and the new Army of the Marches was left to hold the region until the Count of Ostermark could muster his own forces. The Tzarina kept frequent coorespondence with Lady Zoya, and we would learn, as we climbed the mountain passes, that Fortenhof would be plagued by continued attacks from Sylvania and Osterwald was overrun by the necromancer, Rambert Stahlberg, dooming Patriarch Mikhail Novosi and his defenders to a valiant end before Lady Zoya could arrive to retake the settlement. However, when Mannfred von Carstein returned to Ostermark himself, Lady Zoya defeated the lord of the vampires in a battle that will live forever in the legends of Kislev. On the field, Ulrika Magdova and the Brotherhood of Thunder were able to draw the vampire lord into an ambush and destroy his mortal form though both Ulrika and the Brotherhood would end up trapped and surrounded among his horrors while the rest of the Kislev forces cut through the undead to reach and kill the necromancer thralls that held the army of corpses together. The Brotherhood did not survive, but I learned later that the frightening noblewoman who led them into battle was found alive among a pile of corpses.
The Frozen Coast Expedition
Enemies: Legion of the Gorequeen
With the Northern Oblast reclaimed in the service of Kislev, Lord Mikhail the Frozen was ordered to press further north in an attempt to reach the Frozen Sea. The lands approaching the coast were roamed by small nomadic warbands that each adhered to rival chieftains, but these warriors told that the region had been claimed by a herald of the Runious Powers known as the Gorequeen and her chosen ruled in her name. Indeed her warriors were first encountered along the fjords of Sjoktraken, where a settlement dedicated to trade among the Norscans and other even fouler tribes sat among the icy peaks. Here, a champion of the dark gods known simply as Fregnus led the warriors of the Gorequeen against Lord Mikhail's approaching soldiers, but was ground under the icy heal of Kislevite boots and the Army of the East claimed the icy port for the motherland. With the longships found at the port, Lord Mikhail the Frozen decided to sail along the coast to attack Frozen Landing, a notorious stronghold from which the barbarians have launched invasions of Kislev before.
Along the route from Sjoktraken to the Landing, in the rocky shoals strewn with shipwrecks of less fortunate armies and adventurers, Lord Mikhail's fleet was avoided by the Norscan raiders who preferred easier prey, but was assailed by one Admiral Lana Aldo who hailed from lands far to the south and whose ships were crewed by moving corpses. The admiral's piracy upon the Frozen Sea had apparently been a successful enterprise before her fatal mistake, because the quartermaster of the Army of the East reported seizing a signficant treasure horde from her grounded vessels before sailing on.
Lord Mikhail's stolen fleet was hardly in shape to attack a fortified city, and so he sent his men ashore to approach Frozen Landing from the land. He found strong walls manned by armed warriors, and so built towers and rams with which to breach them. In the bloody assault, the brave kossars of Milorad's Archers became isolated and trapped on the walls and none were found alive after the battle, but their efforts allowed others to break through the defenses and in turn surround the defenders, leading to the subsequent route of the heathens. While those executed after the battle promised that the Gorequeen would take vengence in their name, Lord Mikhail reported no such sighting of further enemy forces and that Frozen Landing was being supplied and fortified in the name of the Ice Court.
From the Frozen Landing, Lord Mikhail sailed the Army of the East across the narrows of the Frozen Sea, and attacked the barbarian shipyards at Dharko Wharf and setup yet a further outpost for the Ice Court. Here, the heathens proudly attested to be followers of the Plaguefather, and their iconography and foul shrines were indeed quite different from the followers of the Gorequeen, though we burned them just the same. He then returned to the Goromadny and ventured east, to the farthest extent of previous Kislevite power, and found the old site of the Temple of Heimkel inhabited by pox-ridden mutants and marauders. Those that did not flee into the wilds, were slaughtered, and the the Army of the East proudly raised the banner of the Ice Court over the ruins of the temple. This would not go entirely unanswered by the powers of the northern realms though, and this Plaguefather indeed sent an army of warriors and daemons to the shores of the Goromadny and was discovered marching towards the Temple of Heimkel. This force was met by the Army of the East and destroyed, though the survivors of the battle would suffer from a multitude of afflictions that would continue to claim lives long after the screams of the daemons had faded away.
The Shadow Dwarves
Enemies: Disciples of Hashut, Warhost of Zharr
Allies: Throng of Zhufbar
From the lands of Ostermark and Sylvania, the Army of the Ice Court marched up the slopes of the World's Teeth to Karak Kadrin. Far from home and getting farther by the day, I conveyed to the soldiers that we marched to assist the dwarves of these lands against their enemies in order to both strengthen our alliance and destroy the foul denizens of the mountains before they ever come to Kislev. However, at Karak Kadrin we found no welcome, and instead were fired upon from the hold's defenses. The soldiers were suprised when the Tzarina commanded us to attack the hold, but I had heard the rumors of trouble among the dwarf realms with evil "shadow dwarves" and we found what seemed to be strange dwarves, with horns and other mutations, who led goblin slaves into battle as we made our way into the hold. Our vanguard of scouts, the Whitetower Trackers were caught and overrun by monstrous daemons of fire that were summoned from the air, cut down to a man, but fortunately the defenders were not numerous or prepared for our arrival, and most of the hold seemed to be abandoned and undefended. After our veteran kossars killed their commander, the others seemed to disappear into the dark depths of the mountains and we were able to secure at least the surface levels of the dwarven city, and we sent word back to Kislev of the danger in the mountains. The Army of Praag, raised under the boyar Anton Ertov of the Ropsmenn as a symbol of unity and cooperation between the Ropsmenn and the Ice Court, was sent to Fort Jakova and arrived in time to repel an attack from another shadow-dwarf warlord and follow their retreat back to a stronghold near Karak Ungor. In a bloody battle, the defenders of the hold were slain and their structures and strange devices were burned and destroyed.
Soon after, our scouts warned us that an army of dwarfs, orcs, and goblins was approaching and blocked the known route eastward through Peak Pass. The Tzarina led us directly against this enemy and we clashed with them in a nameless mountain pass, drawing the disorganized orcs and goblins forward with our archers before cutting them down with bows and pistols. When their heavily armoured elite troops attacked, the Tzarina covered the slopes with ice leaving them helpless until a fatal shot found a weakness in their plate armor. Leading this army was a king of these of shadow-dwarfs, known as Ironhand, who faced the Tzarina and her Ice Guard with a retinue of mutant dwarfs and fire daemons, and disappeared into the snow and trees as his minions retreated.
We continued on through the mountains to Karak Raziak. which we found had also been held or plundered by the shadow-dwarves but the few guards and slaves that were there fled before our arrival, but here we finally met the allies we had worried may have all been killed or corrupted. A small army from the dwaven hold of Zhufbar arrived at the hold and the Tzarina asked them to ensure their Lord sent reinforcements to hold Peak Pass and the defenses we had taken from the forces of the Ironhand, however the dwarf army had been sent to confront yet another army of their evil kin who even now marched on Karak Raziak, led by another rival king named Zhatan the Black. While the forces of Zhufbar readied the defenses of the hold, the Tzarina prepared an ambush for the invaders, but the shadow-dwarves discovered our position and attacked head-on. Once again the sons of Kislev brought the fury of Tor and Ursun to this godless land, and slaughtered dwarf and monster alike, sending the sorcerer-king fleeing back east whence he came. Afterward, the thanes of Zhufbar hosted a modest feast in appreciation of our victory at Karak Raziak, but our men longed to return to the motherland and our allies were noticably reluctant to request any further aid from the Ice Court. To the relief of all, the Tzarina commanded us to march westward, towards home, though I would end up lands far more foreign before I saw the steppes of Kislev again.
The Princess of Erengrad
Enemies: Tribe of the Black Pit, the Fecundite Cult
Allies: Druzhina Enclave
While Aleksander held the loyalty of almost all the boyars and patriarchs of western Kislev, one important exception was Lady Elena Zakarova of the Druzhina Enclave, who consolidated enough power during the succession to have herself anointed as the Princess of Erengrad. As Tzarina Katarin continue to expand her influence and prove her might, it became evident that Lady Elena would support the rule of the Tzarina, and Aleksander moved to undermine her authority to the point on having her excommunicated on grounds of apostasy, offering evidence that she placed the worship of Manaan and other foreign gods above the Orthodoxy. Excommunication gave any opportunistic boyar grounds to claim land that was held in fealty to Erengrad and there was soon open fighting between those who served Aleksander's western church and the Druzhina Enclave. As the Druzhina Enclave struggled to defend her holdings in the Western Oblast and armies of goblins and Norscans raided unopposed up to the walls of Erengrad, Lady Elena traveled to the Ice Court and swore fealty to the Tzarina with only minor conditions. This brought the fighting between the western boyars to a close, as none could claim any right to the Tzarina's realm, but the goblin and Norscans showed no such deference. The famed garrison of Erengrad was forced to earn its keep, when a horde of goblins from the Black Pit surrounded the city, built ramshackle towers, and threw themselves in a heedless bloodlust at the walls. They were rebuffed and forced back into the wilds where Lady Elena followed with a small army to hunt them down. Inland, in the Western Oblast, a roving warband of disease-worshipping barbarians and cultists plagued the forests and marshes, and finally descended upon the small garrison of Zoishenk where an Ice Witch named Ivana was able to rally enough militia to fend off the army of damned and infected. While Erengrad and western Kislev were beleaguered by many foes, now the banner of the Ice Court flew from its walls and all three of the great rival cities of Kislev at last heeded the call of Tzarina Katarin.
The Blood God's Arena
Enemies: Legion of the Gatekeeper
We were just beginning our descent into the forested foothills of the World's Teeth when the Old Wanderer warned us that Ursun would soon open another path for us to the dark realms. Veterans of the fight through the Plaguefather's realm did what they could to prepare the others, but even they were dumbstruck as we marched into a red desert filled with ironwork monoliths and flowing lava. There we fought warriors and monsters in all forms, and I know not if they were expeditions from foreign realms, like us, or illusions of the Lord of Skulls, for there was no talking or negotiation in that land, only a desperate need to kill and triumph. When we reached the gates of the Brass Citadel, we were confronted by a prince of the daemons that welcomed us with an army of red-skinned daemons wielding iron blades each as long as a man. Once again, no words were exchanged beyond roars of fury as the soldiers of Kislev gave these daemons the demise they clearly craved, and the daemon prince's fire was quenched by the Tzarina's ice. With this Gatekeeper's soul in the possession of the Old Wanderer, we escaped this bloody hell and emerged back into the forests of Sylvania, covered in steaming blood.
While we fought for Ursun against the Skull Lord's minions, the rifts had again created chaos across the world, but the gravest threat had come from a wandering warband of Ogres dedicated to a militant order called the Challenge Pact. Though their presence had been tolerated near Praag, tensions escalated during the chaos and the tyrant which led the Ogres declared Praag to be his new arena, laying siege to the city when the gates were closed to him. The cities great walls kept the ogre army at bay long enough for the boyar Oleg Temsky, known as the Old Ram, to pull together a new Army of the North in Yetchitch and march to the aid of the city. Between the Army of the North and the garrison of Praag, the Challenge Pact and its tyrant met its final challenge.
Army of the Ice Court
Command
Ice Queen - Tzarina Katarin (lore of ice)
Frost Maidens - Dazhia the Huntress (lore of the tempest)
Patriarchs - Artha Bear-Heart
Command
Ice Queen - Tzarina Katarin (lore of ice)
Frost Maidens - Dazhia the Huntress (lore of the tempest)
Patriarchs - Artha Bear-Heart
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Druzhina
2 Orders of Ice Guard The Tzarina's Fangs, The Daughters of Ursun 2 Banners of Winged Lancers The Banner of the Ice Court, Volksgrad Skyhelms 2 Teams of War Sleds The Teeth of Jakova, The Stormriders |
Kossars
3 Levies of Armoured Kossars The Shields of the Ice Crown, the Brothers of the Red Tzar (great weapons), the Zanyak Templeguard (great weapons) 4 Levies of Kossars The Sons of the Urskoy, the Banner of the Tattered Hat, the Eastquarter Militia (spears), the Clansmen of Gargoi's Peak (spears) 1 Band of Kossovite Dervishes The Outriders of Igerov |
Kholops
1 Snow Leopard Borscha the Wanderer 1 Band of Ogre Bulls Baghda's Bashers |
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Army of the East
Command Boyar - Mikhail the Frozen Frost Maidens - Ursuka the Blue Laurel (lore of ice) Patriarchs - Boroda the Brave Druzhina 1 Order of Tzar Guard (with great weapons) 1 Team of War Sleds Kossars 2 Regiments of Streltsi 5 Levies of Armoured Kossars (2 with great weapons) 4 Levies of Kossars (3 with spears) 2 Bands of Kossovite Dervishes Army of Praag Command Boyar - Anton of the Roppsmenn Patriarchs - Spartak the Crow Druzhina 2 Banners of Winged Lancers 1 Team of War Sleds Kossars 2 Regiments of Streltsi 2 Levies of Armoured Kossars (2 with great weapons) 3 Levies of Kossars (with spears) 3 Bands of Horse Archers Kholops 1 Snow Leopard Army of the Enclave Command Ice Witch - Elena Zakarova (lore of ice) Frost Maidens - Tamara the Scholar (lore of ice) Druzhina 1 Order of Ice Guard Kossars 1 Regiment of Streltsi 2 Levies of Armoured Kossars (with great weapons) 3 Levies of Kossars 1 Band of Horse Archers |
Army of the March
Command Ice Witch - Zoya the Gospodar (lore of the tempest) Frost Maidens - Ivana the Swordmaiden (lore of ice) Bloodforged - Ulrika Magdova Druzhina 1 Order of Tzar Guard 1 Order of War Bear Riders Kossars 4 Levies of Armoured Kossars (1 with great weapons) 3 Levies of Kossars (with spears) Kholops 1 Regiment of Dwarf Longbeards 1 Regiment of Dwarf Quarrellers Army of the North Command Boyar - Oleg the Old Ram Druzhina 1 Order of Tzar Guard (with great weapons) 1 Order of War Bear Riders Kossars 2 Regiments of Streltsi 2 Levies of Kossars (with spears) 1 Band of Horse Archers Kholops 1 Snow Leopard |
Chapter 3
The Sealing of Drakenhof
Enemies: Vampire Counts of Drakenhof
Allies: Imperial Province of Stirland
After Osterwald was cleansed of the horrors of Sylvania, the Army of the March was reinforced with new recruits in order to pursue the vampire counts back to their strongholds. In coordination with armies from Stirland that had also been sent to resist the threat of Sylvania, Lady Zoya out maneuvered the Vlad von Carstein as he moved once again to strike against the poorly defended settlements of the marches. Catching him with her now superior forces, Lord Carstein's army was destroyed and Lady Zoya decided it was now an opportune time to besiege Castle Drakenhof. With only a few weeks delay in order to prepare, the Army of the March battered down the castle gates and scoured the vast holding as best they could of all its hidden evils. Lady Zoya then brought many of the Ice Courts most powerful priests to Drakenhof, where they created a powerful seal on the von Carstein crypts, before beginning to rebuild among the vast castles accursed ruins. Drakenhof would serve its new masters as Kislev's southernmost stronghold.
The Nordland War
Enemies: The Black Pit Tribe, the Fecundite Cult, and the Legion of the Gorequeen
Allies: Order of Ursun
Reinforcement and resources from Kislev prevented the fall of Erengrad and the Fecundite Cult retreated into the Middle Mountains while the Black Pit Tribe was limited to raiding the roads and coastlines, but neither could Lady Elena mount any successful offense against these enemies. This stalemate changed after the Tzarina discovered her father was alive and launched a successful mission to rescue him from his threatened sanctuary. Though Tzar Boris immediately renounced his claim to the throne of Kislev in favor of his daughter, claiming to no longer be Boris Bokha, but now reborn as Boris Ursus, Tzarina Katarin knew that divided loyalties would continue to spur division in her court and asked her father to lead the war to liberate the beleaguered realms of the West as Grand Prince of Erengrad. The Tzarina encouraged all those who felt strong loyalty to the old Tzar, to go with him and continue in his service, though both leaders were unanimous in their will to revive the Bear God. Lady Elena, continued to serve Tzarina Katarin directly, defending Erengrad while the Order of Ursun struggled to secure the region. Working in concert, Lady Elena and Boris Ursus liberated Norden and thereby established a reliable foothold in Nordland's dark forests. Months later, the Order of Ursun succeeded in liberating the remnants of the great city of Salzenmund, but struggled to hold its broken walls against resurgent hordes of heathen warriors and mutated monsters pledged to the Lord of Decay. After a series of costly victories, the arrival of the Gorequeen threw a final insurmountable challenge at the city's defenders. Though almost nothing of her army of hulking champions survived the assault on Salzenmund, the Gorequeen herself proved unstoppable, slaying Lord Spartak Goltisyn, a Maiden of the Frost Court known as Tamara the Scholar, and all who dared to rally to the city's defense. The few survivors who escaped say she claimed the city's corpse for her foul patron atop a mountain of skulls.
The Changer's Maze
Enemies: The Legion of the Librarian
When the great rift opened on Kislev's road to the Eastern Oblast, Tzarina Katarin stood ready at the head of the Army of Kislev, forewarned weeks in advance by the seers of the Ice Court who could hear the roars of Ursun from his hidden prison. On the other side the army swept aside the vicious creatures of teeth, slime, and fire that awaited us, but quickly discovered ourselves in a strange maze. As I tried to help the Tzarina decipher what clues we could find, we spent weeks and then months unwinding the obtuse methods with which one could approach the Impossible Fortress, whose crenelated towers were always in sight but receded as you pursued them. I will not attempt to detail the mad logic required, lest it taint my soul further, but we eventually found the fortress's gates and were greeted by a daemonprince that called itself the Librarian. After a tortuous battle against the many daemons that the Librarian commanded, its heads were claimed by the Tzarina and its soul was claimed by the wicked book of the Vagabond.
Enemies: Vampire Counts of Drakenhof
Allies: Imperial Province of Stirland
After Osterwald was cleansed of the horrors of Sylvania, the Army of the March was reinforced with new recruits in order to pursue the vampire counts back to their strongholds. In coordination with armies from Stirland that had also been sent to resist the threat of Sylvania, Lady Zoya out maneuvered the Vlad von Carstein as he moved once again to strike against the poorly defended settlements of the marches. Catching him with her now superior forces, Lord Carstein's army was destroyed and Lady Zoya decided it was now an opportune time to besiege Castle Drakenhof. With only a few weeks delay in order to prepare, the Army of the March battered down the castle gates and scoured the vast holding as best they could of all its hidden evils. Lady Zoya then brought many of the Ice Courts most powerful priests to Drakenhof, where they created a powerful seal on the von Carstein crypts, before beginning to rebuild among the vast castles accursed ruins. Drakenhof would serve its new masters as Kislev's southernmost stronghold.
The Nordland War
Enemies: The Black Pit Tribe, the Fecundite Cult, and the Legion of the Gorequeen
Allies: Order of Ursun
Reinforcement and resources from Kislev prevented the fall of Erengrad and the Fecundite Cult retreated into the Middle Mountains while the Black Pit Tribe was limited to raiding the roads and coastlines, but neither could Lady Elena mount any successful offense against these enemies. This stalemate changed after the Tzarina discovered her father was alive and launched a successful mission to rescue him from his threatened sanctuary. Though Tzar Boris immediately renounced his claim to the throne of Kislev in favor of his daughter, claiming to no longer be Boris Bokha, but now reborn as Boris Ursus, Tzarina Katarin knew that divided loyalties would continue to spur division in her court and asked her father to lead the war to liberate the beleaguered realms of the West as Grand Prince of Erengrad. The Tzarina encouraged all those who felt strong loyalty to the old Tzar, to go with him and continue in his service, though both leaders were unanimous in their will to revive the Bear God. Lady Elena, continued to serve Tzarina Katarin directly, defending Erengrad while the Order of Ursun struggled to secure the region. Working in concert, Lady Elena and Boris Ursus liberated Norden and thereby established a reliable foothold in Nordland's dark forests. Months later, the Order of Ursun succeeded in liberating the remnants of the great city of Salzenmund, but struggled to hold its broken walls against resurgent hordes of heathen warriors and mutated monsters pledged to the Lord of Decay. After a series of costly victories, the arrival of the Gorequeen threw a final insurmountable challenge at the city's defenders. Though almost nothing of her army of hulking champions survived the assault on Salzenmund, the Gorequeen herself proved unstoppable, slaying Lord Spartak Goltisyn, a Maiden of the Frost Court known as Tamara the Scholar, and all who dared to rally to the city's defense. The few survivors who escaped say she claimed the city's corpse for her foul patron atop a mountain of skulls.
The Changer's Maze
Enemies: The Legion of the Librarian
When the great rift opened on Kislev's road to the Eastern Oblast, Tzarina Katarin stood ready at the head of the Army of Kislev, forewarned weeks in advance by the seers of the Ice Court who could hear the roars of Ursun from his hidden prison. On the other side the army swept aside the vicious creatures of teeth, slime, and fire that awaited us, but quickly discovered ourselves in a strange maze. As I tried to help the Tzarina decipher what clues we could find, we spent weeks and then months unwinding the obtuse methods with which one could approach the Impossible Fortress, whose crenelated towers were always in sight but receded as you pursued them. I will not attempt to detail the mad logic required, lest it taint my soul further, but we eventually found the fortress's gates and were greeted by a daemonprince that called itself the Librarian. After a tortuous battle against the many daemons that the Librarian commanded, its heads were claimed by the Tzarina and its soul was claimed by the wicked book of the Vagabond.
Army of Kislev
Command
Ice Queen - Tzarina Katarin
Patriarchs - Artha Bear-heart
Frost Maidens - Dazhia the Huntress (tempest)
Druzhina
Tzar Guard - Lions of the White Tower
Ice Guard - The Tzarina's Fangs, The Daughters of Ursun, The Sisterhood of the Star (glaives)
Winged Lancers - The Banner of the Ice Court, Volksgrad Skyhelms
War Bear Riders - Order of Ursun's Heart
War Sleds - The Stormriders
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - The Shields of the Ice Crown, the Brothers of the Red Tzar (great weapons), the Zanyak Templeguard (great weapons)
Kossars - The Eastquarter Militia (spears), the Clansmen of Gargoi's Peak (spears)
Kosovite Dervishes - The Outriders of Igerov
Kholops
Elemental Bears - The Frozen Heart of Winter
Snow Leopards - Borscha the Wanderer
Ogre Bulls - Baghda's Bashers
Army of the East
Command
Boyar - Mikhail the Frozen
Patriarchs - Darius the Implaccable
Druzhina
Tzar Guard - Dazh's Hearth-Blades (great weapons)
Akshina Ambushers - Vanguard of Samnail
War Sleds - Teeth of Jakova, Heimkel's Envoys
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - The Kossars of Frosthearth, The Kossars of Gorska's Watch, Ironguard of Plesk (great weapons)
Streltsi - Blacktooth's Brigade, the Banner of Giantfall
Kossars - The Sons of the Urskoy, the Band of the Tattered Hat
Horse Archers - Clansmen of Jatuska, Riders of Crowhill
Kosovite Dervishes - The Grey Riders, the Clansmen of Jatuska
Kholops
Dwarf Longbeards - Stonebearers of Ungor
Army of the March
Command
Ice Witch - Zoya the Gospodar (tempest)
Frost Maidens - Ivana the Swordmaiden (ice)
Bloodforged - Ulrika Magdova (shadow)
Druzhina
Tzar Guard - Order of the Crowned Bear
War Bear Riders - Order of the Pale Sun
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - Polva's Guardians, the Band of the Red Salmon, the Firstborn of Doynova, the Orc-breakers of Mirinsk (great weapons)
Kossars - Vartov's Forresters, The Longlake Militia (spears), the Kossars of Boyar's Rest (spears), Tratarov's Goats (spears)
Kholops
Knights of the Empire - The Order of the Silver Rose
Dwarf Longbeards - Tholin's Grumblers
Dwarf Quarrellers - The Bronzehorns
Army of Praag
Command
Boyar - Anton of the Ropsmenn
Patriarch - Grigory the Judicator
Druzhina
Winged Lancers - Silverwings of Volksgrad, Thunder of the Banra
War Sleds - Champions of Whiterun
Kossars
Streltsi - Blackwatch of Praag, Shoemakers of Loviv
Armoured Kossars - Blackbear's Warband, the Kossars of Smersk
Kossars - The Longlake Militia (spears), the Kossars of Boyar's Rest (spears)
Horse Archers - The Band of the Eagle, the Huntsband of Vota Pass, Prossaly's Outriders
Kholops
Snow Leopards - The Bloody Countess
Army of the North
Command
Boyar - Oleg the Old Ram
Druzhina
Tzar Guard - The Dawnguard of Praag (great weapons)
War Bear Riders - The Order of the Frozen Falls
Kossars
Streltsi - The Bluebeards of Yetchitch, Igor's Icehearts
Kossars - The Kossars of Tagoritz (spears), the Greywood Militia (spears)
Horse Archers - The First-bows of the Lentra
Army of the Enclave
Command
Ice Witch - Elena Zakarova
Druzhina
Ice Guard - The Silver Sisterhood
Kossars
Streltsi - The Banner of the Cannon
Armoured Kossars - Sablemanes of Novigrad (great weapons), the Warriors of Ratin's Hold (great weapons)
Kossars - The Kossars of Kevla Wharf, Orbryn's Rogues. the Kossars of Tor's Coast, the Remizov Militia
Horse Archers - The First-bows of the Lentra
Army of the Frozen Coast
Command
Ice Witch - Ivana Lebdyenko (tempest)
Druzhina
War Sleds - Heralds of the Bleak Pass
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - Banner of the Landing, Seawatch of Dazh's Tower
Kossars - Rorvik's Whalers, Spearmen of Bloohy Henge (spears), Kossars of Stonecoast (spears)
Agents of the Court
Patriarchs - Spartak the Crow
Frost Maiden - Ursuka the Blue Laurel (ice)
Command
Ice Queen - Tzarina Katarin
Patriarchs - Artha Bear-heart
Frost Maidens - Dazhia the Huntress (tempest)
Druzhina
Tzar Guard - Lions of the White Tower
Ice Guard - The Tzarina's Fangs, The Daughters of Ursun, The Sisterhood of the Star (glaives)
Winged Lancers - The Banner of the Ice Court, Volksgrad Skyhelms
War Bear Riders - Order of Ursun's Heart
War Sleds - The Stormriders
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - The Shields of the Ice Crown, the Brothers of the Red Tzar (great weapons), the Zanyak Templeguard (great weapons)
Kossars - The Eastquarter Militia (spears), the Clansmen of Gargoi's Peak (spears)
Kosovite Dervishes - The Outriders of Igerov
Kholops
Elemental Bears - The Frozen Heart of Winter
Snow Leopards - Borscha the Wanderer
Ogre Bulls - Baghda's Bashers
Army of the East
Command
Boyar - Mikhail the Frozen
Patriarchs - Darius the Implaccable
Druzhina
Tzar Guard - Dazh's Hearth-Blades (great weapons)
Akshina Ambushers - Vanguard of Samnail
War Sleds - Teeth of Jakova, Heimkel's Envoys
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - The Kossars of Frosthearth, The Kossars of Gorska's Watch, Ironguard of Plesk (great weapons)
Streltsi - Blacktooth's Brigade, the Banner of Giantfall
Kossars - The Sons of the Urskoy, the Band of the Tattered Hat
Horse Archers - Clansmen of Jatuska, Riders of Crowhill
Kosovite Dervishes - The Grey Riders, the Clansmen of Jatuska
Kholops
Dwarf Longbeards - Stonebearers of Ungor
Army of the March
Command
Ice Witch - Zoya the Gospodar (tempest)
Frost Maidens - Ivana the Swordmaiden (ice)
Bloodforged - Ulrika Magdova (shadow)
Druzhina
Tzar Guard - Order of the Crowned Bear
War Bear Riders - Order of the Pale Sun
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - Polva's Guardians, the Band of the Red Salmon, the Firstborn of Doynova, the Orc-breakers of Mirinsk (great weapons)
Kossars - Vartov's Forresters, The Longlake Militia (spears), the Kossars of Boyar's Rest (spears), Tratarov's Goats (spears)
Kholops
Knights of the Empire - The Order of the Silver Rose
Dwarf Longbeards - Tholin's Grumblers
Dwarf Quarrellers - The Bronzehorns
Army of Praag
Command
Boyar - Anton of the Ropsmenn
Patriarch - Grigory the Judicator
Druzhina
Winged Lancers - Silverwings of Volksgrad, Thunder of the Banra
War Sleds - Champions of Whiterun
Kossars
Streltsi - Blackwatch of Praag, Shoemakers of Loviv
Armoured Kossars - Blackbear's Warband, the Kossars of Smersk
Kossars - The Longlake Militia (spears), the Kossars of Boyar's Rest (spears)
Horse Archers - The Band of the Eagle, the Huntsband of Vota Pass, Prossaly's Outriders
Kholops
Snow Leopards - The Bloody Countess
Army of the North
Command
Boyar - Oleg the Old Ram
Druzhina
Tzar Guard - The Dawnguard of Praag (great weapons)
War Bear Riders - The Order of the Frozen Falls
Kossars
Streltsi - The Bluebeards of Yetchitch, Igor's Icehearts
Kossars - The Kossars of Tagoritz (spears), the Greywood Militia (spears)
Horse Archers - The First-bows of the Lentra
Army of the Enclave
Command
Ice Witch - Elena Zakarova
Druzhina
Ice Guard - The Silver Sisterhood
Kossars
Streltsi - The Banner of the Cannon
Armoured Kossars - Sablemanes of Novigrad (great weapons), the Warriors of Ratin's Hold (great weapons)
Kossars - The Kossars of Kevla Wharf, Orbryn's Rogues. the Kossars of Tor's Coast, the Remizov Militia
Horse Archers - The First-bows of the Lentra
Army of the Frozen Coast
Command
Ice Witch - Ivana Lebdyenko (tempest)
Druzhina
War Sleds - Heralds of the Bleak Pass
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - Banner of the Landing, Seawatch of Dazh's Tower
Kossars - Rorvik's Whalers, Spearmen of Bloohy Henge (spears), Kossars of Stonecoast (spears)
Agents of the Court
Patriarchs - Spartak the Crow
Frost Maiden - Ursuka the Blue Laurel (ice)
Chapter 4
The Embers of an Empire
Enemies: The Fecundite Cult, the Legion of the Gorequeen, the Vanaheimling Tribe, da Skullsmasherz Tribe, and the Disciples of the Maw
Allies: The Imperial Armies of Stirland, Wissenland, and Hochland
Middenland
Boris takes Dietherschafen
Reikland
Lady Zoya liberates Ubersriek, Altdorf and Eilhart from Skrag the Slaughterer and the Disciples of the Maw
Lady Zoya razes Gristle Valley
The High Pass Campaign
Enemies: The Disciples of Hashut, and the Warhost of Zharr
Allies: The Throng of Zhufbar
According to the luckless diplomats that traversed the mountain passes for the Tzarina, the dwarf holds of the Worlds Edge Mountains continued to be under dire threat from their many enemies, and when the slave armies of their shadow-cursed cousins descended from the mountains of Goromadny to attack Heimkel, Tzarina Katarin led a campaign to invade the High Pass. Supported by the Army of the North, Tzarina Katarin and the Army of Kislev confronted the Ironhand himself and many of his captains at multiple chokepoints and holds in the High Pass, burning down their supply holds and collapsing their tunnels wherever they could, including the destruction of Kraz Und and Kurak Peak. With the High Pass cleared, the Tzarina pressed into the heartland of the enemy, a bleak black waste that was home only to god-forsaken nomads of the vilest races. Following the soot that rose to the sky, we descended on a massive city of step-pyramids and flaming smokestacks that we would later discover was Ironhand's seat of power. The Army of Kislev ripped into the city's greenskin and steel-covered defenders alike with swords, claws, and ice. After a bloody fight, the soldiers of Kislev froze the fires of the dwarfs and destroyed all we could of their vast manufactories before we marched back between the Goromadny Mountains and the Frozen Sea to return to Kislev.
Meanwhile, the Army of the East supported King Barudin in the Peak Pass with some success, but we were very disheartened to learn that disagreements and misunderstandings between the King and Lord Mikhail resulted in the Army of the East pushing out on their own and being surrounded by the Warhost of Zharr. The Army of the East was destroyed and Lord Mikhail returned to Kislev with grievous wounds.
War on the Frozen Sea
Enemies: The Poxmakers of Nurgle, the Seducers of Slannesh, the Varg Tribe
Anton of the Ropsmenn defeats Videmar Knight-Bane of the Kurgan Warband
Ivana of Lebedyenko takes Dharko Wharf and falls at Stormwrack Mount. Kostaltyn is sent to lead the northern push.
Kostaltyn defends Dharko Wharf from Nurgle army at sea
Anton of the Ropsmenn defeats Ingr the Big One's assault on Sjoktraken
The Embers of an Empire
Enemies: The Fecundite Cult, the Legion of the Gorequeen, the Vanaheimling Tribe, da Skullsmasherz Tribe, and the Disciples of the Maw
Allies: The Imperial Armies of Stirland, Wissenland, and Hochland
Middenland
Boris takes Dietherschafen
Reikland
Lady Zoya liberates Ubersriek, Altdorf and Eilhart from Skrag the Slaughterer and the Disciples of the Maw
Lady Zoya razes Gristle Valley
The High Pass Campaign
Enemies: The Disciples of Hashut, and the Warhost of Zharr
Allies: The Throng of Zhufbar
According to the luckless diplomats that traversed the mountain passes for the Tzarina, the dwarf holds of the Worlds Edge Mountains continued to be under dire threat from their many enemies, and when the slave armies of their shadow-cursed cousins descended from the mountains of Goromadny to attack Heimkel, Tzarina Katarin led a campaign to invade the High Pass. Supported by the Army of the North, Tzarina Katarin and the Army of Kislev confronted the Ironhand himself and many of his captains at multiple chokepoints and holds in the High Pass, burning down their supply holds and collapsing their tunnels wherever they could, including the destruction of Kraz Und and Kurak Peak. With the High Pass cleared, the Tzarina pressed into the heartland of the enemy, a bleak black waste that was home only to god-forsaken nomads of the vilest races. Following the soot that rose to the sky, we descended on a massive city of step-pyramids and flaming smokestacks that we would later discover was Ironhand's seat of power. The Army of Kislev ripped into the city's greenskin and steel-covered defenders alike with swords, claws, and ice. After a bloody fight, the soldiers of Kislev froze the fires of the dwarfs and destroyed all we could of their vast manufactories before we marched back between the Goromadny Mountains and the Frozen Sea to return to Kislev.
Meanwhile, the Army of the East supported King Barudin in the Peak Pass with some success, but we were very disheartened to learn that disagreements and misunderstandings between the King and Lord Mikhail resulted in the Army of the East pushing out on their own and being surrounded by the Warhost of Zharr. The Army of the East was destroyed and Lord Mikhail returned to Kislev with grievous wounds.
War on the Frozen Sea
Enemies: The Poxmakers of Nurgle, the Seducers of Slannesh, the Varg Tribe
Anton of the Ropsmenn defeats Videmar Knight-Bane of the Kurgan Warband
Ivana of Lebedyenko takes Dharko Wharf and falls at Stormwrack Mount. Kostaltyn is sent to lead the northern push.
Kostaltyn defends Dharko Wharf from Nurgle army at sea
Anton of the Ropsmenn defeats Ingr the Big One's assault on Sjoktraken
Army of Kislev
Command
Ice Queen - Tzarina Katarin (ice)
Patriarchs - Artha Bear-heart
Frost Maidens - Dazhia the Huntress (tempest)
Druzhina
Tzar Guard - The Dawnguard of Praag
Ice Guard - The Tzarina's Fangs, The Daughters of Ursun, The Sisterhood of the Star (glaives)
Winged Lancers - The Banner of the Ice Court, Volksgrad Skyhelms
War Bear Riders - Order of Ursun's Heart, Oath-Brothers of Tor
War Sleds - The Stormriders
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - The Shields of the Ice Crown, the Brothers of the Red Tzar (great weapons), the Zanyak Templeguard (great weapons)
Kossars - The Eastquarter Militia (spears), the Clansmen of Gargoi's Peak (spears)
Horse Archers - The Outriders of Igerov
Kholops
Elemental Bears - The Frozen Heart of Winter
Snow Leopards - Borscha the Wanderer
Army of the East
Command
Boyar - Mikhail the Frozen
Patriarchs - Ursuni Twice-Martyred
Druzhina
Akshina Ambushers - Vanguard of Samnail
Winged Lancers - Banner of the Red Bolt
Light War Sleds - Teeth of Jakova
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - The Kossars of Frosthearth, The Kossars of Gorska's Watch, Masons of Otraska, Ironguard of Plesk (great weapons), Kossars of the Orc's Tusk (great weapons)
Streltsi - Blacktooth's Brigade, the Banner of Giantfall
Kossars - The Sons of the Urskoy (spears), the Band of the Tattered Hat (spears), Kossars of Old Gerslev (spears)
Horse Archers - Riders of Jatuska, Riders of Crowhill
Kosovite Dervishes - The Grey Riders, the Clansmen of Jatuska
Kholops
Snow Leopards - The Ogre-Eater of the Dukhlys, Quiet Karolin
Dwarf Longbeards - Stonebearers of Ungor
Army of the March
Command
Ice Witch - Zoya the Gospodar (tempest)
Patriarchs - Spartak the Crow
Frost Maidens - Ivana the Swordmaiden (ice)
Bloodforged - Ulrika Magdova (shadow)
Druzhina
Tzar Guard - Order of the Crowned Bear
War Bear Riders - Order of the Pale Sun
Winged Lancers - The Greyshields
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - Polva's Guardians, the Band of the Red Salmon, the Firstborn of Doynova, the Orc-breakers of Mirinsk (great weapons)
Kossars - Vartov's Forresters, The Longlake Militia (spears), the Kossars of Boyar's Rest (spears), Tratarov's Goats (spears)
Kholops
Spearmen of the Empire - Travitz's Stalwarts
Archers of the Empire - The Red Cap Trackers
Dwarf Longbeards - Tholin's Grumblers
Dwarf Quarrellers - The Bronzehorns
Army of Praag
Command
Boyar - Anton of the Ropsmenn
Patriarch - Grigory the Judicator
Druzhina
Gryphon Legion - Black Prince's Banshees
Winged Lancers - Silverwings of Volksgrad, Thunder of the Banra, the Banner of the Crossings
Kossars
Streltsi - Blackwatch of Praag, Shoemakers of Loviv, Regiment of the Rose
Armoured Kossars - Blackbear's Warband, the Kossars of Smersk
Kossars - Yallic's Bowmen, Little Igor's Bowmen, Kossars of Puya's Vale, Levy of Remolov (spears)
Horse Archers - The Band of the Eagle, the Huntsband of Vota Pass, Prossaly's Outriders
Kholops
Snow Leopards - The Bloody Countess
Little Groms - Silver Son's Bane
Army of the North
Command
Boyar - Oleg the Old Ram
Patriarchs - Maksim of the Vasin
Druzhina
Tzar Guard - Lions of the White Tower
Winged Lancers - Lapis Lancers
Kossars
Streltsi - The Bluebeards of Yetchitch, Igor's Icehearts
Armoured Kossars - Banner of Crooked Keep
Kossars - The Kossars of Tagoritz, The Kossars of Falko's Pass, the Greywood Militia (spears)
Kossovite Dervishes - Boris's Lowlanders, Blackriver Scouts
Kholops
Ogre Bulls - Baghda's Bashers
Army of the Enclave
Command
Ice Witch - Elena Zakarova (ice)
Patriarchs - Vitali Koshka
Frost Maidens - Ivana the Swordmaiden (ice)
Druzhina
Tzar Guard - Guardians of the Lynsk
Ice Guard - The Silver Sisterhood, Salyak's Exiles
Akshina Ambushers - Knives of Frostholmwa
Kossars
Kossars - The Kossars of Kevla Wharf (spears), the Remizov Militia (spears)
Horse Archers - The First-bows of the Lentra, Rokin's Riders
Kholops
Knights of the Empire - Order of the Silver Rose
Spearmen of the Empire - Spearmen of Roriburg
Army of the Frozen Coast
Command
Supreme Patriarch - Kostaltyn
Frost Maiden - Ursuka the Blue Laurel (ice)
Druzhina
War Sleds - Heralds of the Bleakpass, Saint Feodyr's Fist (heavy), Saint Vincent's Scythe (heavy)
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - Banner of the Landing, Seawatch of Dazh's Tower
Stretlsi - Ferdi's Chainbreakers, the Bear Isle Regiment
Kossars - Rorvik's Whalers, Spearmen of Bloohy Henge (spears), Kossars of Stonecoast (spears)
Horse Archers - The Bloody Messengers
Army of the Forest
Command
Boyar - Beledni the Black Cat
Patriarch - Pavel Denikin
Druzhina
Tzar Guard - Seekers of the Lost Flame
Ice Guard - Disciples of Prinzyn
War Sleds - Tor's Embrace, Sons of Heimkel
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - Kossars of the Reach, Warriors of Lastchurch (great weapons)
Stretlsi - Petorya's Penitent
Kossars - Kossars of Rasky's Calm, Kossars of Salmonport
Horse Archers - The Cat's Teeth, The Cat's Claws
Kholops
Little Groms - Alexandranov's Hammer
Army of the Ursunite Order
Command
Tzar - Boris Ursus
Frost Maidens - Mishka Novosi (ice)
Druzhina
Tzar Guard - Crimson Brotherhood, Banner of the Red Bear, Banner of the White Bear
Gryphon Legion - The Golden Gryphons, The Banner of the Grey Tower
War Bear Riders - Order of the Frozen Falls
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - Oath-brothers of the Stag, Sablemanes of Novigrad (great weapons), the Warriors of Ratin's Hold (great weapons)
Streltsi - The Banner of the Cannon
Kossars - Orbryn's Rogues. the Kossars of Tor's Coast, the Frostfoots of the Rustwharf
Kossovite Dervishes - Longbraids of the Urosi
Horse Archers - Sons of the White Wind, Wolf-Flayers of Ro Vasha
Kholops
Elemental Bear - The Fury of Ursun
Army of Troll Country
Command
Boyar - Boroda of the Oblast
Druzhina
War Sleds - Elena's Vengeance
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - Trollhides of Kamaransk, Kossars of Fort Grima, Kossars of Flinthold (great weapons)
Kossars - Kossars of the Snailmarsh, Levy of Martyr's Walk, Kossars of Symon's Watch
Kossovite Dervishes - Fat Ivan's Trolleaters, Riders of the Beacon
Horse Archers - The First Falcons of Bolgrad
Army of Nordland
Command
Ice Witch - Devora the White (ice)
Druzhina
Tzar Guard - The Lightbearer Order
Akshina Ambushers - Orsa's Shadow-Stalkers
Winged Lancers - Lebdyian Hussars
War Sleds - Claws of the Red Mother, Old One-Ear's Bane
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - Warriors of the Wolfskin (great weapons), Warriors of the Knot (great weapons), Kossars of Velingrad (great weapons)
Streltsi - Headsmen of Velin, the Banner of the Jester
Kossars - Levy of Riverside (spears), Levy of Pavel's Gate (spears)
Kossovite Dervishes - Riders of the Owl
Kholops
Halberdiers of the Empire - The Dorsden First and Only
Agents of the Court
Patriarchs -
Frost Maidens -
Command
Ice Queen - Tzarina Katarin (ice)
Patriarchs - Artha Bear-heart
Frost Maidens - Dazhia the Huntress (tempest)
Druzhina
Tzar Guard - The Dawnguard of Praag
Ice Guard - The Tzarina's Fangs, The Daughters of Ursun, The Sisterhood of the Star (glaives)
Winged Lancers - The Banner of the Ice Court, Volksgrad Skyhelms
War Bear Riders - Order of Ursun's Heart, Oath-Brothers of Tor
War Sleds - The Stormriders
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - The Shields of the Ice Crown, the Brothers of the Red Tzar (great weapons), the Zanyak Templeguard (great weapons)
Kossars - The Eastquarter Militia (spears), the Clansmen of Gargoi's Peak (spears)
Horse Archers - The Outriders of Igerov
Kholops
Elemental Bears - The Frozen Heart of Winter
Snow Leopards - Borscha the Wanderer
Army of the East
Command
Boyar - Mikhail the Frozen
Patriarchs - Ursuni Twice-Martyred
Druzhina
Akshina Ambushers - Vanguard of Samnail
Winged Lancers - Banner of the Red Bolt
Light War Sleds - Teeth of Jakova
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - The Kossars of Frosthearth, The Kossars of Gorska's Watch, Masons of Otraska, Ironguard of Plesk (great weapons), Kossars of the Orc's Tusk (great weapons)
Streltsi - Blacktooth's Brigade, the Banner of Giantfall
Kossars - The Sons of the Urskoy (spears), the Band of the Tattered Hat (spears), Kossars of Old Gerslev (spears)
Horse Archers - Riders of Jatuska, Riders of Crowhill
Kosovite Dervishes - The Grey Riders, the Clansmen of Jatuska
Kholops
Snow Leopards - The Ogre-Eater of the Dukhlys, Quiet Karolin
Dwarf Longbeards - Stonebearers of Ungor
Army of the March
Command
Ice Witch - Zoya the Gospodar (tempest)
Patriarchs - Spartak the Crow
Frost Maidens - Ivana the Swordmaiden (ice)
Bloodforged - Ulrika Magdova (shadow)
Druzhina
Tzar Guard - Order of the Crowned Bear
War Bear Riders - Order of the Pale Sun
Winged Lancers - The Greyshields
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - Polva's Guardians, the Band of the Red Salmon, the Firstborn of Doynova, the Orc-breakers of Mirinsk (great weapons)
Kossars - Vartov's Forresters, The Longlake Militia (spears), the Kossars of Boyar's Rest (spears), Tratarov's Goats (spears)
Kholops
Spearmen of the Empire - Travitz's Stalwarts
Archers of the Empire - The Red Cap Trackers
Dwarf Longbeards - Tholin's Grumblers
Dwarf Quarrellers - The Bronzehorns
Army of Praag
Command
Boyar - Anton of the Ropsmenn
Patriarch - Grigory the Judicator
Druzhina
Gryphon Legion - Black Prince's Banshees
Winged Lancers - Silverwings of Volksgrad, Thunder of the Banra, the Banner of the Crossings
Kossars
Streltsi - Blackwatch of Praag, Shoemakers of Loviv, Regiment of the Rose
Armoured Kossars - Blackbear's Warband, the Kossars of Smersk
Kossars - Yallic's Bowmen, Little Igor's Bowmen, Kossars of Puya's Vale, Levy of Remolov (spears)
Horse Archers - The Band of the Eagle, the Huntsband of Vota Pass, Prossaly's Outriders
Kholops
Snow Leopards - The Bloody Countess
Little Groms - Silver Son's Bane
Army of the North
Command
Boyar - Oleg the Old Ram
Patriarchs - Maksim of the Vasin
Druzhina
Tzar Guard - Lions of the White Tower
Winged Lancers - Lapis Lancers
Kossars
Streltsi - The Bluebeards of Yetchitch, Igor's Icehearts
Armoured Kossars - Banner of Crooked Keep
Kossars - The Kossars of Tagoritz, The Kossars of Falko's Pass, the Greywood Militia (spears)
Kossovite Dervishes - Boris's Lowlanders, Blackriver Scouts
Kholops
Ogre Bulls - Baghda's Bashers
Army of the Enclave
Command
Ice Witch - Elena Zakarova (ice)
Patriarchs - Vitali Koshka
Frost Maidens - Ivana the Swordmaiden (ice)
Druzhina
Tzar Guard - Guardians of the Lynsk
Ice Guard - The Silver Sisterhood, Salyak's Exiles
Akshina Ambushers - Knives of Frostholmwa
Kossars
Kossars - The Kossars of Kevla Wharf (spears), the Remizov Militia (spears)
Horse Archers - The First-bows of the Lentra, Rokin's Riders
Kholops
Knights of the Empire - Order of the Silver Rose
Spearmen of the Empire - Spearmen of Roriburg
Army of the Frozen Coast
Command
Supreme Patriarch - Kostaltyn
Frost Maiden - Ursuka the Blue Laurel (ice)
Druzhina
War Sleds - Heralds of the Bleakpass, Saint Feodyr's Fist (heavy), Saint Vincent's Scythe (heavy)
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - Banner of the Landing, Seawatch of Dazh's Tower
Stretlsi - Ferdi's Chainbreakers, the Bear Isle Regiment
Kossars - Rorvik's Whalers, Spearmen of Bloohy Henge (spears), Kossars of Stonecoast (spears)
Horse Archers - The Bloody Messengers
Army of the Forest
Command
Boyar - Beledni the Black Cat
Patriarch - Pavel Denikin
Druzhina
Tzar Guard - Seekers of the Lost Flame
Ice Guard - Disciples of Prinzyn
War Sleds - Tor's Embrace, Sons of Heimkel
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - Kossars of the Reach, Warriors of Lastchurch (great weapons)
Stretlsi - Petorya's Penitent
Kossars - Kossars of Rasky's Calm, Kossars of Salmonport
Horse Archers - The Cat's Teeth, The Cat's Claws
Kholops
Little Groms - Alexandranov's Hammer
Army of the Ursunite Order
Command
Tzar - Boris Ursus
Frost Maidens - Mishka Novosi (ice)
Druzhina
Tzar Guard - Crimson Brotherhood, Banner of the Red Bear, Banner of the White Bear
Gryphon Legion - The Golden Gryphons, The Banner of the Grey Tower
War Bear Riders - Order of the Frozen Falls
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - Oath-brothers of the Stag, Sablemanes of Novigrad (great weapons), the Warriors of Ratin's Hold (great weapons)
Streltsi - The Banner of the Cannon
Kossars - Orbryn's Rogues. the Kossars of Tor's Coast, the Frostfoots of the Rustwharf
Kossovite Dervishes - Longbraids of the Urosi
Horse Archers - Sons of the White Wind, Wolf-Flayers of Ro Vasha
Kholops
Elemental Bear - The Fury of Ursun
Army of Troll Country
Command
Boyar - Boroda of the Oblast
Druzhina
War Sleds - Elena's Vengeance
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - Trollhides of Kamaransk, Kossars of Fort Grima, Kossars of Flinthold (great weapons)
Kossars - Kossars of the Snailmarsh, Levy of Martyr's Walk, Kossars of Symon's Watch
Kossovite Dervishes - Fat Ivan's Trolleaters, Riders of the Beacon
Horse Archers - The First Falcons of Bolgrad
Army of Nordland
Command
Ice Witch - Devora the White (ice)
Druzhina
Tzar Guard - The Lightbearer Order
Akshina Ambushers - Orsa's Shadow-Stalkers
Winged Lancers - Lebdyian Hussars
War Sleds - Claws of the Red Mother, Old One-Ear's Bane
Kossars
Armoured Kossars - Warriors of the Wolfskin (great weapons), Warriors of the Knot (great weapons), Kossars of Velingrad (great weapons)
Streltsi - Headsmen of Velin, the Banner of the Jester
Kossars - Levy of Riverside (spears), Levy of Pavel's Gate (spears)
Kossovite Dervishes - Riders of the Owl
Kholops
Halberdiers of the Empire - The Dorsden First and Only
Agents of the Court
Patriarchs -
Frost Maidens -
