Kossars prepare for battle in the icy lands of Kislev.

THE ENDLESS WAR
Kislev breeds hardy people, not only because of the harsh climate and generally infertile lands, but also due to the constant depredations by raiders from the Chaos Wastes. These are usually constant, small-scale affairs as individual warbands and tribes head south in search of glory and plunder. Known by the Kislevites as Kyazak, these raiding parties are an ever-present threat to settlements and caravans north of the Lynsk, and some even venture as far south as to cross the Lynsk itself.

The incursions are short-lived, lasting perhaps only for a season at a time, and either end when winter draws in, or they are driven back by the armies of the Kislevites.

These armies are drawn from the scattered stanitsas and towns of the Kislev oblast, which each provide a standing force of warriors, much like a militia. Ungol horse archers patrol the most northern reaches of the country, while settlements with a great Gospodar heritage pool their resources to create squadrons (or rotas as they are known) of the famed Winged Lancers. This tradition is continued by the cities, and the Tzarina can command a large number of Winged Lancers drawn from the richest families and their household troops.

Occasionally, a particularly powerful chieftain or warlord will rise in Norsca, or amongst the tribes of the Kurgan people. They weld together a rough confederation of several tribes and launch attacks into Kislev. At these times, the various rotas of Kislev are drawn together into larger army groups called pulks. These pulks are invariably under the command of a noble of Gospodar heritage and are the closest Kislev has to a standing army. Sometimes, a single pulk is enough to see off the threat, but other times two, three or more pulks may combine their forces to counter an ambitious Marauder warlord.

During the Great War against Chaos, when the half-daemonic warlord Asavar Kul drove his armies into Kislev, accompanied by legions of daemonic creatures and bestial warbands, every pulk in the land was gathered to oppose the threat, and yet the Kislevites were sorely pressed to hold the tide. It is a testament to their stubbornness and pride that they held as long as they did, allowing an alliance of Men, Dwarfs and Elves, led by Magnus the Pious, to break the siege of the capital and drive back the immense horde.

Every year, the Kyazak grow more daring, their attacks driving deeper and deeper across the Lynsk, until the settlements outlying Erengrad and Kislev have come under threat. Yet the Kislevites, and their ancestors, have spilt blood every year to take and protect their lands, and whilst one Kislevite draws breath, there will be one who will defend against the northern hordes.

ALLIES OF KISLEV
Although Kislevites would like the world to think otherwise, their nation does not stand alone against the perils of Chaos. Although they must endure the constant raids and attacks of the northern Marauders, in times of need when the followers of Chaos have gathered in great numbers, the Kislevites have received aid from others. Most commonly forces from the Empire, and in particular Ostland, the Ostermark and Talabecland, march north to assist against these larger incursions.

However, during the Great War against Chaos, when the hordes of the north stretched like a sea across the Taiga, the Elves and Dwarf came to the aid of the Men. In return, it has been known for Kislevites to aid the Dwarfs, sometimes to clear the mountain passes, and in particular the High Pass, of foes such as Skaven, Greenskins and Marauders. Both respect the stubbornness they see in each other, though Kislevites cannot understand how Dwarfs can spend so much time underground, while a Dwarf generally thinks that all that open sky drives the Kislevites a little bit insane.

Though the great forests of the Empire give way to the increasingly desolate oblast of Kislev, the country is not without small woods and forests, some of which are rumoured to be the homes of isolated Wood Elf communities. The Wood Elves distrust all other races, even their own kin of Ulthuan, but when ancient foes rear their heads, they have been known to make common cause with others. There are very few incidents of this in Kislev history, but they are there – battles against Beastmen when unexpected Wood Elf allies have attacked the Chaotic creatures from their hiding places, and occasions when a Kislev patrol has been drawn to the sounds of fighting to find a small Wood Elf community embattled by Orcs or Marauders.

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