Heraldry of Kislev
The tzar (fem: tzarina) is the absolute ruler and monarch of the Tzardom of Kislev. In theory, he or she controls all the affairs of the realm as the supreme lawmaker, commander-in-chief of the Kislevite military and primary religious leader.
The tzars of Kislev descend from the line of the ancient warrior kings and khan-queens of the nomadic Gospodar people.[2b] It was these ancient, tribal rulers who first lead the Gospodars west of their homeland on the Eastern Steppes to escape the Chaos corruption of the expanding Chaos Wastes. Eventually, Khan-Queen Miska lead the Gospodars beyond the Worlds Edge Mountains to the lands of present-day Kislev, conquering most of the region before disappearing into the north.[2c]
Miska's daughter and successor, Shoika, abandoned the traditional title of khan-queen upon the completion of the Gospodar's new capital of Kislev City, declaring herself tzarina of Kislev and claiming all the lands north of the River Urskoy. Shoika would go on to finish her mother's conquest, founding a new kingdom for her people still ruled by the heirs of the khan-queens.[2c]
The current tzarina, Katarin Bokha, rules her lands with an aloof majesty that has earned her the epithet of the "Ice Queen." The daughter of the fiery and charismatic Tzar Boris Bokha, she ascended to the throne in 2517 IC, following her father's death in battle whilst leading an army north of the River Lynsk into Troll Country. She is the latest in a long line of tzarinas descended from the ancient khan-queens of the Gospodars.[2b]
The tzar resides in the Bokha Palace in the centre of the city of Kislev, the nation's largest, most developed city and the traditional seat of the tzars.[2a] The famous Gryphon Legion, a cavalry unit, and the Kreml Guard, an infantry unit, are the Tzar's bodyguards and accompany them personally to war.
Notable Tzars[]
- Shoika[2c] (1524 IC - ?) - Sholka was the last khan-queen of the Gospodars and the first tzarina of Kislev. She founded the city of Kislev, completed the conquest of the land and founded the tzardom.
- Alexandr Njevski[1c] (1602 IC - ?) - Alexandr Njevski formed an alliance with Emperor Dieter III and created the fortress of Castle Alexandronov.
- Gospodar IV[2d] (ca. 1810 IC) - Gospodar IV founded the Gryphon Legion as a bodyguard of Winged Lancers loyal to the tzar. The Gryphon Legion later gained enough noteriety to act independently of the tzar.
- Taira Pavlovna[1a] (ca. 2085 IC) - Tzarina Taira Pavlovna founded the Brotherhood of the Bear.
- Vassily Zykov (ca. 2302 IC) - Vassily Zykov was the Tzar of Kislev during the Great War Against Chaos. He fought alongside Count Bernhardt the Brave.[5a]
- Alexis Romanoff[2c] (ca. 2302 IC) - Alexis Romanoff was the Tzar of Kislev during the Great War Against Chaos. He fought and wounded Valnir the Reaper.
- Kattarin the Bloody[2c] (2315 - 2471 IC) - Tzarina Kattarin the Bloody was turned into a Lahmian Vampire late in her reign. She was killed and frozen solid by her son in a block of ice. Her corpse remains in the Bokha Palace as a warning to other Vampires.
- Pavel[2c] (2471 IC - ?) - Tzar Pavel was the only child of Kattarin the Bloody. He brought his mother's reign of terror to an end by killing the vampire and claiming the throne.
- Vladimir Bokha[2c] (? - 2492 IC) - Tzar Vladimir Bokha was killed while fighting a Goblin horde to the east of Kislev.
- Boris Bokha[2c] (2492 - 2517 IC) - Tzar Boris Bokha was the son of Vladimir Bokha. He was the first High Priest of Ursun in four centuries and brought the Cult of Ursun back fromthe brinck of exctinction. He restored Kislev's greatness after a long period of stagnation following the Great War Against Chaos.
- Katarin the Ice Queen[2c] (2517 IC - present) - Tzarina Katarin Bokha is the daughter of Boris Bokha. She is the greatest Ice Witch of her generation.
Tzars Lacking Clear Reign Dates[]
- Boris Ursa - Boris Ursa was the legendary first tzar of the Kislevites, and is known by the current people of Kislev as the "Forever Tzar." Boris led the Gospodars through the Dark Lands, defeating the Orcs and Hobgoblins who gathered armies to destroy his peoples.[6a]
- Igor the Terrible - Tzar Igor the Terrible founded the Kreml Guard, today know as the Bokha Palace Guard. He is remembered as both a mighty warrior and great military innovator as well as a cruel, paranoid and feared ruler.[1b]
- Jekaterina III - Tzarina Jekaterina III created the Kislevite relic known as Jekatarina's Ice Armour using Ice Magic.[3a]
- Alekus the Red - Tzar Alekus the Red founded the secretive military order known as the Akshina, the secret police and assassins of Kislev.[4]
Zars[]
The Kurgan of the Eastern Steppes have powerful tribal chieftains who are called "zars," similar to the rulers of Kislev. They have a shared ancestry with the Gospodars who founded the tzardom.
Canon Conflict[]
Both Vassily Zykov[5a] and Alexis Romanoff are referred to as the Tzar of Kislev during the Great War Against Chaos. Despite this, Vassily Zykov is only mentioned once, while Alexis Romanoff appears in numerous sources as the ruler of Kislev during that conflict.[2c]
Boris Ursa was a character referred to in the earliest depictions of Kislev (such as Citadel Journals 14 and 15, the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition supplement Kislev - The Claw of the Great Bear and the Dogs of War 5th Edition army book) as the leader or "Khan-King" of the Gospodars who led their migration over the Worlds Edge Mountains and founded the Tzardom of Kislev.
The Kislevite lore of later editions makes no mention of Boris Ursa during this migration. Instead, it was Khan-Queen Miska herself who led the Gospodars across the mountains to conquer the future lands of Kislev. After suffering from a terrible vision of the future granted to her by the greatest nature spirit of the Motherland known as the Ancient Widow, Miska left the emerging nation in the care of her daughter Shoika before disappearing into the Chaos Wastes. Shoika concluded the Gospodar conquest of the lands that would become Kislev and became the first tzarina, declaring the establishment of the Tzardom of Kislev.
Sources[]
- 1: Citadel Journal 15
- 2: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Realm of the Ice Queen (RPG)
- 3: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition: Kislev - The Claws of the Great Bear (RPG)
- 3a: pg. 41
- 4: Total War: Warhammer III (PC Game)
- 5: Inferno 6
- 5a: pg. 18
- 6: Citadel Journal 14
- 6a: pg. 13
- Warhammer Armies: The Empire (4th Edition)
- pg. 74
- Warhammer Armies: Kislev (6th Edition)
- pg. 4
- pg. 8
- pg. 12
- pg. 13
- pg. 14
- pg. 15
- Warhammer Armies: Warriors of Chaos (7th Edition)
- pg. 26
- pg. 29
- pg. 30
- Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition: The Enemy Within 5 - Something Rotten in Kislev (RPG)
- Warhammer Expansion: Empire at War
- pg. 64
- pg. 69
- Warmaster Armies (2006)
- pg. 36
- The Ambassador (Novel) by Graham McNeill
- Ursun's Teeth (Novel) by Graham McNeill
- Drachenfels (Novel) by Jack Yeovil