Characters / Total War: Warhammer - The Tzardom of Kislev

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"Defend the Motherland!"

"You look down on us and think we are little better than barbarians, but you should be glad we are, for without us here, the northern tribes would be dining on the flesh of your children in your burning homes. But for the courage that flows in our veins would your lands be theirs. Look down on us? You should get on your knees and thank us every day!"

The Tzardom of Kislev is the northernmost human civilization in the Old World, standing at the frontier between the civilized lands and those in the thrall of Chaos. It is a harsh and unforgiving land, known for its freezing winters, wide-open steppes and thundering rivers, where lonely villages stand isolated and only a few mighty cities rise from the landscape.

Only the strongest and most determined could survive in such a land, and fortunately the Kislevites are just that, molded by circumstance into a tough and self-reliant people. Unthanked in their endless task of acting as the first bulwark against the incursions of Chaos, it is not uncommon for the people of Kislev to look at the realms of the south with contempt, well aware that southerners wouldn't be able to huddle in their warm and safe homes if it wasn't for the countless generations of Kislevite men and women that have fought, bled and died in the snowy tundra.

A warlike nation by necessity, Kislev's stalwart forces are accustomed to always being the first to feel the wrath of the Chaos-worshippers, refusing to give ground even against horrors that would make softer southerners run in fear. A core of hybrid infantry, proficient in both melee and ranged combat, is supported by thundering charges from the famous Winged Lancers and fearsome war-bear riders, while the mysterious witches of the Ice Court invoke the power of Kislev's howling blizzards, conjuring mystical ice magic and elemental embodiments of the land itself.

The Kislevites are a deeply religious and superstitious folk, with the greatest amongst their deities being mighty Ursun, patron god of bears, winter, courage and strength. Traditionally, Kislevite religion was highly decentralized, with individual, highly secretive cults conducting primeval rituals in remote places away from prying eyes. Recently, Tzar Boris Bokha, concerned that such rituals could be subsumed by the Dark Powers, founded the Great Orthodoxy to effectively codify religion, with the cults to the separate gods of Kislev having to operate under its strict oversight.

Though only a generation old, the Great Orthodoxy has steadily grown in power, wealth and influence within Kislev. Many, however, still cling to the old ways and reject this centralisation, while others have learned how to wield the Orthodoxy's strictures to their own ends. Growing tensions between supporters of the Orthodoxy and those of the Ice Court and Tzarina Katarin, seen by many as being of ‘older’ times, divide Kislev, at a time when dark clouds gather in the north, an endless winter scours the land, and the voice of Ursun is silent. War and strife are coming, and the people of Kislev must be ready to endure them, for they know that, should they fall, all else would surely follow.

Introduced in Total War: Warhammer III (originally being a Palette Swap of the Empire in I and II), Kislev are playable in the Realm of Chaos campaign, as well as the Lost God prologue, the Something Rotten in Kislev co-operative multiplayer campaign, and the Immortal Empires combined mega-campaign for owners of I, II and III.

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General Tropes

Kislev from Warhammer I and II

The Ice Court

The Great Orthodoxy

The Ursun Revivalists

The Daughters of the Forest

• Achilles' Heel: Artillery and Anti Large. Since Kislev doesn't have too many great artillery options, they can rather easily get torn apart from incoming cannons or rockets. It can also proc the "By our Blood" passive before the unit is even in a position for it to be useful. You would think that with cavalry this wouldn't be a problem, but if the artillery is also being protected by cheap anti large units (which most factions have) it can be hard for the horsemen to shut them down.
• Action Girl: There's no shortage of these in the land of Frost and Ice, ranging from the Ice-Queen herself to humble Ungol warriors who ride alongside their male comrades to fight for home and hearth. Kislev in both the lore and the game fields the most female soldiers seen in a faction. Some Kislev units even have mixed-gender units!
  • One loading screen text also mentions the Golden Knight, an honorary role charged with being the Tzar/Tzarina’s champion. The current Knight is Naryska Leysa, daughter of a previous champion who is noted to be an even better fighter than her father.
• Adaptational Wimp: Hags as a group are weaker than in the tabletop, as they have no generic Lord version due to Ostankya being the sole Hag Mother in the game. Word of God confirmed this is because Games Workshop is removing Hag Mothers from The Old World due to changing plans for Kislev.
• Adapted Out: Kislev is composed of two major ethnic groups in the tabletop - Ungols and Gospodars - who can have a rather vicious rivalry at times. This aspect is removed in the game, which Creative Assembly confirmed to be because the conflict will be taking a backseat for when [[Tabletop Game/Warhammer The Old World]] tabletop launches, per Games Workshop's words.
• Amazon Brigade: The Ice Court is entirely composed of women, as a matter of prophecy — it is believed that a man who masters the Lore of Ice will one day destroy the source of all ice magic, and so it is forbidden for men to practice magic in Kislev. This trope also extends to the Ice Guard, the elite protectors of the Ice Court.
• An Ice Person: The Ice Court is a sisterhood of spellcasters who wield the unique Lore of Ice, firmly separate from the neighboring Empire's Colleges of Magic. Ice Maidens are available as heroes, while fully-fledged Ice Witches can lead armies as spellcasting lords.
• Animalistic Abomination: The Incarnate Elemental of Beasts, added in Shadows of Change, is an Anthropomorphic Personification of the Amber Wind that resembles a giant-sized bestial humanoid with a fleshless bear-deer Skull for a Head.
• Animal Motif: Bears are a very obvious one.
• Army of Thieves and Whores: The Kossar levy is a Downplayed example; whilst there are many morally upstanding recruits who join simply to defend hearth and home, there's an equal amount of shady individuals who clearly joined because new Kossars are granted full pardons from the crown for any crimes they may have been wanted for. In theory this is meant to invoke That Man Is Dead, but in reality, many would-be Kossars just use it as a quick way to get a pardon. As a result, the Kossar levies are filled with wanted murderers and even rapists who were just running from the law. It's a common saying in Kislev, "To be very grateful at the arrival of a Kossar battalion, and equally so when they leave,” as, at their worst, they have a reputation for Rape, Pillage, and Burn.
• Army Scout: The Ungols often act as this for the rest of the Kislev army, their horse archers leading as the vanguard to scout out enemy positions and fortifications. They even independently patrol the frozen north and spy for Norscan war parties, a thankless task that makes them highly respected.
• Ascended Extra: In the first game, Kislev was a placeholder faction with units and characters copy-pasted from the Empire, with only the faction leader's diplomacy lines setting it apart from the other human factions in the game that largely were also copy-pastes of the Empire (Bretonnia being the one exception). This persisted throughout the second game. The third game finally elevates them into a distinct faction with their own army list, characters and mechanics.
• Badass Army: Being a frontline of war against Chaos, Kislev is home to a martial and courageous people of both genders. Their armies consist of light infantry proficient in both melee and range combat, female warriors wielding ice weapons, winged shock cavalry that causes fear in the hearts of enemies and, most of all, elite cavalry riding giant bears.
• Badass Bureaucrat: Boyars are the ranking nobles that compose most of Kislev's court, and have the trapping of most aristorocracy, managing the various fiefdoms admirably. But unlike many within the Empire, all Boyars are raised to be both leaders of men and warriors who go into battle with thick armor, shields, and swords alongside their men, offering both strong stats and buffs to friendly forces.
• Badass Family: The Bokhas. Tzar Boris Bokha was the greatest ruler Kislev ever had, a formidable warrior in his own right and the blessed champion of Ursun. His daughter, the current Tzarina Katarin, is the most powerful Ice Witch alive.
• Badass Normal: Even moreso than the Empire; Kislev doesn't have their fancy steam technology or foundry cities, but get by at the very doorstep of Chaos with a mix of courage, tactics, and angry bears.
• Balkanize Me: In the aftermath of Tzar Boris' death, Kislev has been split into numerous competing territories, with the most powerful being the Ice Court under Tzarina Katarin to the east, and the Great Orthodoxy under Supreme Patriarch Kostaltin to the west. Two of the three famous city-states of Kislev are under the control of minor factions, who are each at war with one of the two playable factions at the game's beginning.
• Bears Are Bad News: Kislev is a mix of this and Beary Friendly. Kislev's coat of arms is a bear and the livery its warriors use when they charge into battle, they revere a powerful deity known as Ursun the Great Bear, even utilize tamed war-bears; however, Kislevites themselves are a staunch, fiercely loyal ally of the Empire. When it comes to the symbol itself, bears are considered to be sacred creatures and are a great component of Kislevite culture, resulting in a gruff, yet noble people. To the servants of Chaos, on the other hand... more to the point, some of their units involve actual bears appearing as mounts, pulling a chariot or as a large monster unit.
  • War Bear Riders are the most experienced knights who trade their usual war-steeds for these monstrous animals, the giant bears that make the tundras of Kislev their home. In a clear case where the mount is more dangerous than the skilled rider, war-bears are a hulking mass of muscle, thick fur and razor-sharp claws. Fittingly for a bear-themed Monstrous Cavalry, they have massive health, armor, leadership, and can deal sickening damage, but are slow by cavalry standards.
  • Little Grom is a mortar mounted on a platform surrounded by ice and dragged by two bears, which make it more mobile and capable in melee combat than traditional Empire and Bretonnian artillery, while being no less deadly in terms of firepower. In some respects it's an "only moreso" version of the Empire's War Wagon with a Mortar.
  • Kislev has access to a proper War Wagon equivalent being a sledge-mounted cart pulled by bears and filled with Streltsi.
  • The Elemental Bear is a Kaiju-sized beast that's just slightly smaller than the Dread Saurian, said to be powerful enough to take on a Greater Daemon and win. It is said to embody Ursun's love for his people, and forms from glaciers and uprooted trees. In terms of combat, it's capable of slaughtering everything in its path, with an impressive statline for close quarters combat and even its own special breath ability.
• Beef Gate: Kislev is this in the first game's Warriors of Chaos campaign; they can't quickly reach the Empire (and thus the rest of the world) without getting past Kislev first, which is intentionally made stronger at the start of the campaign (controlling three whole provinces) to prevent them from getting past it too early.
• BFG: As part of his reforms Tzar Boris, to much public outcry, commissioned a dozen massive cannons to enhance Kislev's lagging military, made from church bells, under the order "their roar would drown out the hordes of Chaos like the thunder of gods", nicknaming them "Thunderers". Only several Thunderers survived, but they proved greatly invaluable in defense of the motherland, and as such, more where commissioned, this time with massive trained bears attached to their frames for protection. "Little Grom" serves as an extremely powerful single-unit cannon, that can also afford to get into melee.
• BFS: Tzar Guards can be equipped with massive blades.
• Born in the Saddle: The Ungols and the Gospodars both have long traditions of horsemanship, and originate from two different groups of steppe nomads that eventually settled into agricultural life. Although they're not quite as formidable as the Gospodars' Kurgan cousins, they still produce formidable horse archers (in the Ungols' case) and heavy knights (in the Gospodars'). Case in point: Kislev mounted warriors are universally faster and harder-hitting than those of the Empire, but with less armor and melee defense they go down much faster.
• Breath Weapon: Elemental Bears can exhale blasts of freezing wind; besides inflicting the frost special effect, it does a truck load of damage.
• Church Militant: The Great Orthodoxy. It’s a massive polytheistic state-religion that was formed by the many cults of Kislev, though in its current form it's heavily dominated by the Cult of Ursun. It fields a group of Warrior-Priests called Patriarchs that act as battlefield buffers and healers.
• Clap Your Hands If You Believe: Kislev is probably the greatest mortal example of this trope across every Warhammer franchise in existence — when they find that Be'lakor has already drained Ursun to the point of death in their campaign, they bring their god back to life through faith and prayer. Not even the Lizardmen or the Aeldari are shown to have achieved a feat remotely in this range of power.
• A Commander Is You: A Brute/Ranger/Unit Specialist faction. The Kislevite roster has two specialties: Hybrid melee/missile infantry and powerful cavalry. Almost all of their infantry (excluding the elite Tzar Guard) possess both melee and ranged weapons, allowing them to whittle their opponents down with missiles before charging into close combat; as a result, their missile units tend to have much more armor and are thus more survivable than those of most factions (barring the High Elves and Cathayans). Their cavalry roster is also diverse, ranging from Horse Archers to powerful bear cavalry and sleds. Kislevite cavalry excel upon the charge and cause fear, but as a trade-off, they tend to be less armored than their Imperial and Bretonnian counterparts. Several of their units also have the Frostbite ability, allowing them to slow down enemy units in combat. Unlike their fellow human factions, they have no flying units to speak of.
• Cool Helmet: Many are on display, ranging from the ceremonial great-helms of Kievan Rus to more practical Polish-Lithuanian full masked helmets.
• Conscription: The bulk of Kislev's armies are made up of levied Kossars—grizzled trappers and hunters who make the icy expanses of the Motherland their home. Unlike many examples, Kossars are treated like badasses, they are seasoned warriors and experts at survival. While lacking in armor more than a coat of fur, they are hardy units, and for cheap Tier 1 infantry, they are not to be underestimated. They can act as a hybrid unit adept at using their bows and spear to great effect, peppering their foes with arrow fire before charging into melee.
• Court Mage: The Ice Court forms its own wing of the Kislev government, and wield enormous power through their connection to the Tzarina. It's even there as a mechanic: Ice Witches cannot be recruited normally, they must be brought up and trained in a series of terms, in which the player is able to mold them with special traits and hero abilities other spellcasters do not have.
• Crystal Dragon Jesus: The Great Orthodoxy is basically a polytheistic version of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Its priests are called Patriarchs, and the in-game flavor text will occasionally refer to sacred relics left behind by certain “Saints.”
• Culture Clash: Kislev, instead of being a unified nation, is best described as being the home of two vastly different culture groups, the Ungols and Gospodars. The former are Steppe Nomads and the original inhabitants of Kislev, and the latter are invaders who conquered the Ungols and became the dominant culture group that at their worst have lorded over the Ungols as the upper class. The Ungols live in the northern part of the country and many are still nomadic, while the Gospodars dominate the south and the larger cities, barring Praag, which is the center of Ungol culture. Being former enemies, bitter tension remains between the groups, but they are very good at putting aside their differences due to their mutual hatred towards the Norscans. Interestingly, codified Gospodar text law and traditional Ungol law are both accepted depending on which part of Kislev you live in. In his reforms, Boris recognized Ungol rights, and granted them many concessions that had been previously denied to them (while tacitly increasing Gospodar dominance in the major cities) granting him the loyalty of countless Ungol Warriors.
• Denser and Wackier: Kislev's Total War incarnation is somewhat more fantastical than its 6th Edition tabletop counterpart: while the core of its army is still masses of infantry and light cavalry with spears, swords, and bows (backed by a musket-wielding elite), the faction also has entire regiments of bear cavalry, magically-towed and impractically huge bombards, giant ice golems, and all-female magical archer regiments.
• Downer Beginning: Of all the playable factions in game three, Kislev has the grimmest starting scenario. On top of a Succession Crisis and Civil War, their patron god has been mortally wounded by one of their own, plunging them into an Endless Winter. Katarin’s specific campaign intro even shows that the entire nation is in mourning because they (mistakenly) believe that Ursun is already dead. Fortunately, all of these scenarios can be solved by the end of Kislev’s campaign.
• Dragon Rider: With the "Shadows of Change" DLC's 4.2 Update, Katarin and generic Ice Witches can take Frost Wyrms as mounts.
• The Dreaded: One Kislev-specific event sees an elderly retired Ice Witch named Madame Valentina get upset with the training standards at the Ice Court and barge right in to set them straight. She is so terrifying that nobody in the Ice Court dares to stop her — including, presumably, the Ice Court's leader Tzarina Katarin.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Kislev's roster serves as this to how the faction is depicted in Warhammer: The Old World, which only released two years after the launch of Total War: Warhammer III.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Kislev and its heroes have probably the harshest start among the Order factions across all three of the games - their nation is being torn apart by a Civil War, Chaos and other powers are invading their lands, and their main god is dying. By the end of the campaign, not only has Kislev been reunited and Ursun saved (especially notable because he does die in all of the other campaigns, even the ones for Cathay), Tzar Boris also has been brought Back from the Dead and gives his blessing to the current generation of rulers, fully ending the ongoing Sucession Crisis.
• Elemental Embodiment:
  • The Kislevite roster includes Elemental Bears, animated masses of ice and trees in the shape of colossal bears. They are said to embody Ursun's desire to protect and defend his people.
  • The Incarnate Elemental of Beasts, introduced in "Shadows of Change", is a living avatar of the Wind of Ghur taking the form of a massive monstrosity resembling a deer-like Wendigo.
• Elemental Weapon: The Ice Guard wield weapons with blades made out of unmelting ice. Tzar Boris’ signature weapon, the Shard Blade, is also tipped with a specially-crafted and enchanted blade of ice.
• Elite Mooks:
  • Tzar Guard operate as Kislev's finest infantry battalion, being very powerful line infantry, armed with massive swords and heavy armor.
  • There's also the Gryphon Legion, the finest regiment of Winged Lancers in the entire kingdom. Only accepting veterans with decades of experience fighting against the foes of the Motherland, the Gryphon Legion is a knightly order of the upmost prestige, rivaling Grail Knights as some of the finest heavy shock cavalry in the setting. They wear thick plate-mail of bronze, have lances tipped with ice-metal, and wear thick bear cloaks into battle. Curiously, during times of peace, they act as mercenaries to the other forces of Order and hire themselves out to Kislev’s allies. However, during times of crisis, they are obligated to return home to answer the call of Kislev's monarch. Statistically, they are similar to Reiksguard or Empire Knights in that they are heavily upgraded Winged Lancers, but retain their lesser units' blistering speed.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Kislev is an amalgam of big Eastern European kingdoms like the Tsardom of Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Their name, and their being the first line of defense against the hordes of Chaos, also brings to mind the Kievan Rus', who bore the brunt of the Golden Horde's invasion of Europe, with the presence of a god of thunder named Tor in their pantheon a reference to the fact that the early Norse nobility of the Kievan Rus worshipped the Norse Pantheon. Interestingly, the northernmost parts of Kislev are inhabited by nomadic Ungols, who are essentially the Warhammer equivalent to the real world Kazan Tatars and Bashkir Turks. They serve as defenders of the Tzardom against their Chaos-worshiping Kurgan cousins, who are in turn an equivalent culture to other Turkic groups who would constantly raid Russia, like the Crimean Tatars and Nogais.
• Fantasy Gun Control: Kislev is a heavily Downplayed example of this, so much it's borderline an outright Subversion. Kislev's people have, for the longest time, been very distrustful of gunpowder, especially when it comes from their allies to the South, due to their superstition (more ignorant peasants think it's powered by Black Magic). At various points in time, Boyars fielding regiments of gunners and cannons have been outright banned and made illegal. Under Boris, however, gunpowder has (very) slowly been more and more accepted by Kislev culture; Boris finally equipped his army with a company of heavy cannons, outfitted some of his soldiery with pistols, and a company of Kislevite Gunners, the Streltsi, have begun to gain more and more prestige. That being said, Kislev firearms are a good deal more primitive than Empire ones, are rarer, much more in the case of cannons, and are regarded with distrust.
• Fantasy Pantheon: Apart from the universal gods of the setting, four gods are predominantly worshipped in Kislev. Ursun, god of bears and strength, who is also something of an Ethnic God to the Kislevite people; Dazh, god of fire and the sun, whom they believe first brought the gift of fire to the tribes of Kislev; Salyak, goddess of healing and comfort, who is a Kislevite counterpart to the goddess Shallya worshipped in other parts of the Warhammer world; and Tor, warrior god of thunder and lightning who wields a massive axe as his weapon. Katarin and Kostaltyn can both invoke all four of the gods in order to receive their boons on the campaign and to gain favour with the people of Kislev by choosing actions that honour them.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Potentially with the Empire. They're neighbours after all, and fighting off the hordes of Chaos together is a solid way to build up diplomatic relations. That and certain technologies grant bonuses to relations with Imperial provinces to make diplomacy easier with them.
• Fragile Speedster: The Ungol doctrine of mounted warfare. Ungol Horse-Archers and Kossovite Dervishes fight on horseback with insane speed and guile, the former peppering foes from afar, and the later landing stealthy rear-charges with stunning velocity...but little in the way of defense, which means if they are ever caught, you might as well be saying goodbye to that unit.
• Glass Cannon: In contrast to the above Gospodar Knights are this. Forming regiments of Winged Lancers, Gospodar mounted warriors trade a little bit of their speed (though Winged Lancers still have a speed of 92, which makes them frightfully quick especially when compared to Bretonnia and the Empire's Knights) for some medium armor, which increases their durability, but are around just as damaging on the charge with their heavy lances, being some of the finest shock calvary in the Old World. Nevertheless, they are much more vulnerable to mass arrow-fire than their Imperial counterparts.
• Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: Katarin favours female Ice Guard archers who are much cheaper in her army, whereas Boris and Kostaltyn favour close combat, reducing the cost of War Bear Rider shock cavalry and boosting most melee stats of all units in his army, respectively.
• Good Is Not Soft: Kislev's people, just like their allies to the south, have developed a harsh culture of warriors who fight ceaselessly and die in droves in constant battle, as a result of being constantly threatened with world-ending invasions from the Daemons of Chaos and their mortal servants. This makes them seem very cold, figuratively and literally, despite otherwise being a functioning society.
• Grim Up North: The frigid, harsh and barren land of the Oblast is this to the other nations of men, although compared to Norsca and the Chaos Wastes it's downright pleasant.
• Had to Be Sharp: What defines Kislev in comparison to their southern cousins. Kislev borders Norsca, Troll Country, the World's Edge Mountains and the Chaos Wastes, so they're always under attack by something. As a result, they're made up of hard-fighting, heavy drinkin', boorish guys in furs, with wild beards and pet bears. It is said everyone in Kislev is taught to fight from an early age, even its women (female Kislevite warriors are far more common than in other human nations, and are in many units as mixed gender formations.) Hell, their special rule By Our Blood, which grants them a free Heroic Second Wind is said to come from the fact the ice and hordes of Chaos Warriors has made every Kislevite Martial Skill, inherent.
• Heavily Armored Mook: The aptly named Armored Kossars: hardened Kossars who show promise are plucked out of the citizen levies and given real training, a set of armor, well-crafted weapons, and most importantly, payed by the crown regularly. They are full-time soldiers and are the fists of the local Boyar, given much more staying power and damage than their unprofessional brethren. They come in two variants, axe and board, as well as great mauls. Both versions carry flintlock pistols, which they can use to pepper enemies with before charging into melee.
• Heroic Second Wind: All Kislev units have the trait By Our Blood which makes them unbreakable for a short time if they start to waver.
• Horse Archer: Kislev, especially the nomadic Ungols, have a long tradition of horse-archery, for the bleak expanses of Oblast are better travelled ontop a noble horse, and Ungol hunters prefer hunting on horseback. Ungol tribes often travel alongside Kislev's armies and form separate units of mounted archers that acts as scouts and skirmishers. While kept under close eye by their Gospodar leaders, Ungol Horse archers are prized for their blistering speed, stamina, and firepower. In contrast to most mounted Skirmishers, Kislev Horse Archers are actually decent once thrown into melee.
• Horse of a Different Color: About a quarter of Kislevite units can use bears as beasts of burden/mounts.
• Human Sacrifice: After defeating a Chaos-aligned army, Kislevite players can choose to execute captured Chaos warriors and monsters as sacrifices to the gods of Kislev. Doing so adds additional Devotion to that gained after every victory over Chaos armies, allowing the player to either buff their armies, prevent more Chaos invasions, or become influential enough to make the dominant rival to join forces in a confederation.
• Husky Russkie: Most of the male units from this Fantasy Counterpart Culture of Russia are large, muscular and tough, as befitting their centuries of fighting against Chaos hordes. Tzar Boris Ursus, one of the greatest Kislevite rulers, is probably the huskiest Russkie of them all, having famously wrestled a giant bear to be his mount.
• Kill the God: Inverted. They're trying to find the Forge of Souls to save Ursun's life.
• Knight in Shining Armor: The Winged Lancers are Gospodar Knights world-famous for their unmatched charges and bravery. A rota of Kislevite Winged Lancers, a cavalry squadron of hardy, well-trained warriors who form the offensive heart of almost every Kislev army. Despite technically being Knights they act more like a professional company of soldiers, and are suitably grim and grizzled, being Kislev's elite soldiery. Wearing expensive steel-mailed coats and helmets, the Lancers are named after for the ceremonial eagle wings they wear on their backs. They make terrifyingly skilled shock-calvary.
• Manly Facial Hair: In a faction where all the male units are Husky Russkies who fight evil Horny Vikings, Hordes from the East and The Legions of Hell, this is pretty much the norm.
• Mix-and-Match Weapon: Streltsi use gun-axes, modeled on a Real Life Russian weapon used by their inspiration, the Streltsy.
• Mother Russia Makes You Strong: Kislev is a Fantasy Counterpart Culture of Russia, and its Hat is that they're the toughest uncorrupted humans in the setting. This is visually represented in the game with their male warriors, who are just as burly and muscular as their Norscan enemies.
• The Musketeer: Most foot units in Kislev’s roster are some form of this, using gun-axes, or bows with spears. Streltsi have been shown firing from the back ranks while the front ranks swing their axes (a feature carried over from Total War: Three Kingdoms).
  • The already-mentioned Streltsi are the foremost practitioners of this; a semi-professional unit of Kossars founded in Erengrad by an gunpowder obsessed nobleman. Aspiring Kossars travel to the city to earn a gunpowder badge, and join the Streltsi full-time. In times past they wielded Bardiche's, but have adapted to wielding gun-axes with heavy armor which they wield with enormous skill. Both armor piercing and armored, they are some of the strongest troops available to Kislev.
• No Body Left Behind: A defeated Elemental Bear dissolves into nothingness instead of leaving behind a corpse.
• Non-Action Guy: In the form of the Atamans. Atamans are special Lords that are placed in the seats of settlements as governors and statesmen and super-charge their current province with a large variety of huge campaign buffs (such as increases to growth, production, money and so forth), which can further be increased with special skill trees. They level up passively, but if the need is dire enough, they can take to the field during siege battles if the province they are governing is under attack.
• Non-Player Character: In the first two games, Kislev was a minor faction controlled by the AI.
• Our Dragons Are Different: The 4.2 Update for the "Shadows of Change" DLC introduces Frost Wyrms, wingless, ice covered dragons, that can serve as both independent units, and mounts. They are implied to be the uncorrupted version of the Norscan Frost Dragons.
• Palette Swap: They use a reduced version of the Empire's unit roster in the first two games. Warhammer III saw them made into an Ascended Extra.
• Panthera Awesome: The terrifying Snow Leopard. Giant cats of all kinds make the dark forests and tundras of Kislev their home, but none are more revered (and feared) than the Snow Leopard. Intermingled with icy features, and the appearance of a massive Lynx, they are almost sacred animals, and during invasions Norscans are terrified of being stalked by them under the cover of night. They can be trained as Beasts Of Battle, and are usually accompanied by Ice-Witches. In battle, they excel at hunting other monsters, and are notable for their blistering speed, being able to attack and isolate units lagging behind the main line, such as artillery and archers.
• Praetorian Guard: There's actually two separate units that represent this.
  • The Ice Guard serve as this to the all-female Ice Court (and specifically are sworn to serve its leader, Katarin Bokha), a sisterhood of all female warriors. They are sent to Bohka Palace as girls, and those who are considered to have potential as warrior-women are given Training from Hell that has them learn to live solely as soldiers. Clad in armored furs made from magical ice-steel, they wield glowing weapons wrought from solid ice, and act as powerful Hybrid units, coming in variants with Glaives or dual blades. Their weapons, both their bows and melee weapons, slow enemies with the Frostbite special rule.
  • The second are the Tzar Guard, who instead act as the private army of the Kislevite monarchy and serve the royal family, though companies of them can be lent to powerful Boyars as well. Composed of lesser nobles and veteran Kossars, the Tzar Guard are stalwart warriors, equipped with the finest weapons and armor, and are goaded into battle as powerful elite infantry. Most notably they are Kislev's only "true" melee infantry unit, armed with either swords and shields, or great weapons.
• Rapid Aging: The reason why all of the Hag Witches are old is because the spirits of Kislev's wilderness trades great power to the magician in exchange for their youth. And since many Hag Witches are Ungol women who feel that they have lost everything else in life, they see this as a small price to get back at those who have wronged them.
• Religious Bruiser: Beside the various warrior cults, the people of Kislev themselves are very religious. It even forms the basis of the currency: Devotion. It is gained by defeating Chaos-aligned armies, and reflects how your people are viewing your rule as respecting the various Gods of the land. It can be used to buy powerful upgrades from the tech tree, as well as to call upon the power of Kislev's pantheon to directly aid you in battle with various invocations. If it drops to a certain level, Chaos armies will spawn and invade your territory.
• Rescue Arc: In their campaign, the Kislevites are racing against time to save their main god, Ursun, from imprisonment and death in the Forge of Souls.
• Russian Bear: Being based chiefly on medieval and pre-medieval Russia, Kislev is heavily associated with bears. It has a bear for its sigil, it worships the god of bears and strength, and its units include bear cavalry and bear-shaped ice elementals. As Kislev is on the doorstep of Norsca and the Chaos Wastes, they embody the bear as a symbol of endurance, especially in the Chaos-infested Grim Up North.
• Russian Guy Suffers Most: Given their closeness to Norsca, Kislev is often the first target for Chaos raids, and is typically used as a Throwaway Country whenever particularly massive invasions occur. It has become institutionally quite good at surviving them as a result, giving rise to the saying "The ice of Kislev does not easily crack." In Warhammer III, though, they are in especially dire straits: their campaign is kicked off when they discover their god is dying, and they are further embroiled in civil war between the Great Orthodoxy and the Ice Court.
• Save Your Deity: Kislev's campaign is about saving their main god, Ursun.
• We ARE Struggling Together: The tension between Katarin and Kostaltyn and their followers is pushed to an almost insane degree, with both parties being extremely distrustful of each other, resulting in a -40 penalty to relations in-game. One of Kislev's gameplay mechanics is pushing your Legendary Lord and their faction to win the hearts and minds of the more minor factions until you can eventually force confederation with the other major faction and move your focus onto fighting other powers.

Legendary Lords

Tzarina Katarin

Tzarina Katarin Bokha, the Ice-Queen of Kislev

"For Ursun, for Kislev!"

Voiced by: Devora Wilde

"You all know I bore no heirs. But I have all my sons and daughters here with me today. On this rain-soaked hill, we are all one people, one land. Today we fight for Kislev! Today we fight for her lost sons and daughters, for her proud mothers and fathers! Kislev is people, and people are Kislev!"

Tzarina Katarin Bokha, the Ice Queen of Kislev, is the current ruler of the Kingdom of Kislev and is known as one of the most powerful Ice Witches to have ever lived. From the icy fastness of her capital city of Kislev, the Ice Queen Katarin rules her land with an aloof majesty. The daughter of the fiery and charismatic Tzar Boris Bokha, she ascended to the throne in 2517 IC. She is the latest in a long line of Tzarinas descended from the ancient Khan-queens of the Gospodars, the powerful tribal group that migrated west centuries ago, and became the dominant peoples of what was to grow into the great nation that is Kislev.

A great wizard in her own right, her power is said to come from the land of Kislev itself, its icy soul and bleak tundra giving her command of the elements and mastery of that form of wizardry known as Ice Magic. Indeed, some whisper that she is in fact the living reincarnation of the very first Khan-queen, Miska, so complete is her grasp of this dangerous branch of magic. Upon her ascension to the throne of Kislev, it is said that the Bokha Palaces have grown a new wing, half a mile long, made entirely from glittering ice. This wondrous creation would be beyond all but the most powerful Ice Mages, and it is here that Katarin remains for most of the time, granting audiences in an immense chamber of magically woven hoarfrost. Some believe that she simply prefers the chill of these frozen corridors, while others say that it is a display of her power to overawe would-be enemies and foreign ambassadors.

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 Ice Witch in Kislev.

The leader of the Ice Court, Katarin is more adept at training and maintaining the Frost Maidens who call it home and the Ice Guard who protect them. As the most powerful Ice Witch of her age she is unlikely to miscast, and as the ruler of Kislev she crushes rebellion and corruption wherever she goes.

She leads the subfaction called "The Ice Court".

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• Action Girl: The premier example in Warhammer, being a stoic Lady of War who kicks Chaos ass, as well as being one of the most powerful mortal mages in the setting. The Warhammer III trailer shows her dueling a Bloodthirster of Khorne without any fear.
• Ancestral Weapon: Her sword, Frost Fang, has been passed down among Kislevite queens since the time of the nation's founding. Forged by the ancient Khan-queen Miska of the Gospodars, this blade has passed from Tzarina to Tzarina through the ages. Only a Tzarina can wield the blade, and were a man to lift the blade, he would find himself frozen to death within a heartbeat.
• The Archmage: Easily the most powerful human mage in the setting in terms of raw power, being feared by the Norscans for her Person of Mass Destruction status.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: She's the High-Queen of Kislev for a reason; she can back her authority with her insanely powerful ice magic, and commands respect from nearly everyone.
• Badass Cape: Her Crystal Cloak, a heavy-furred cape that grants her a powerful ward save and also buffs her melee defense.
• Bling of War: She wears heavy, gem-encrusted dress, covered in expensive furs, jewelry and other trinkets.
• Cool Crown: One that's made from solid ice.
• Cool Sword: Quite literally, with her sword Frost Fang. In-game, the sword gives Katarin sizable melee buffs for a wizard-type lord and it also has a bound ability that allows her to cast a powerful ice explosion in a small area.
• Dragon Rider: She can take a flightless Frost Wyrm as a mount choice, should the player own the "Shadows of Change" DLC.
• The Dreaded: Her ice magic is so powerful that only the biggest Chaos invasions dare to go through Kislev to attack the Empire. Turned on its head if Katarin is defeated in battle, however — the victorious lord gains a trait that gives them Terror when fighting Kislev armies.
• Elemental Hair Colors: In books, at least. Can also be Mystical White Hair, described as fierce white, the colour of a winter's morning.
• Enemy Mine: Katarin and Kostaltyn, the Leader of the Great Orthodoxy, are firm rivals. Katarin, for her part, is seen by Kostaltyn's enemies within Kislev as a symbol of the old times, before the Orthodoxy took over the state religion, which has earned her his hatred. Nonetheless, both are on the same side in Kislev's permanent struggle against the forces of Chaos.
• Expy: Of the Snow-Queen from the Danish Fairy Tale of the same name, a character that Queen Elsa was also based on.
  • Her name and status as a beloved and very successful empress of a Russia stand-in also makes her one to Catherine the Great.
• Fantastic Racism: Katarin has serious issues with Ungol state rights. While respecting them as noble warriors, she detests her father’s decision to allow Ungol law to take precedent over Gospodar law in certain regions, and views it as a threat to the stability of the Tzardom. Ironically, her former love interest Yuri Barkov was an Ungol prince.
• Frontline General: She leads Kislev's expedition into Khorne's realm personally, and in the cinematic trailer she gives a Death Glare to one of her generals who tries to stop her from leading the Kislevite charge.
• The Ghost: Katarin does not appear in game 1 or 2 personally, but her name is occasionally mentioned by then-faction leader Dmitry Tzaryov when engaging in diplomacy with Kislev.
• Gender-Blender Name: In Russian (and Slavic languages in general), it is exceedingly rare for female names to not end in "-a" and any name that doesn't tends to be a masculine one. Fittingly enough, her name is translated as "Katarina" in many versions of the game.
• Good Is Not Nice: In the Realm of Chaos campaign, she is one of three characters (alongside the Daemon Prince and Greasus) to attempt to kill the Advisor instead of simply threatening him, imprisoning and slowly suffocating the old man in ice while the court brays for his blood.
• Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Seems to be the color of choice in most of her gowns, though it varies with some blue.
• The High Queen: Katarin is the Tzarina of Kislev and embodies this trope, being a highly competent, level-headed ruler who isn't afraid to unleash her power to protect her people. She commands much respect from her allies, as well as her enemies, so much that even people like Kostaltyn, who hate her, will still defer to her authority.
• An Ice Person: She wields The Lore of Ice, Kislev's trademark lore of magic, allowing her to do things like send barrages of icy shards at her foes. She also appears to move via an enchanted snowbank when not mounted. She's such a powerful mage she's created entire wings in her palace made from frozen ice to dwell in.
• Ice Queen: Aside from that literally being her title she also fits it metaphorically, being an aloof and generally unemotional person.
• Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Wears a very fancy, furred dress, while going into battle. In books she wore a long, glittering gown of ivory, layered with ice-flecked silk and strings of pearls.
• Lady of War: She holds herself with confidence, elegance and grace equally, be it during royal audience or fierce battle. Her combat animations in Warhammer III also look very graceful.
• Lovable Alpha Bitch: Written as one in the Total Was Access short story The Ambassador Chronicles.
• Magic Knight: Not to the extent of people like Mannfred or Malekith, but she has very decent melee stats for a mage, and can wade into battle with little babysitting from her troops. The 4.2 Update of the Shadows of Change DLC also gives her two new mount options, the Frost Wyrm and the Ice Court Sled, that make her even more formidable in melee.
• Not So Stoic: Katarin is infamous for being extremely cold in terms of personality, yet the first cinematic trailer for Warhammer III shows that she had to force herself not to cry when reading her late father's letter. A short story released before the game came out also shows that she had a paramour, the Ungol prince Yuri Barkov.
• Occult Blue Eyes: Her deep blue eyes symbolize her stoic personality and magic abilities.
• Our Witches Are Different: Ice Witches draw their powers from the mystical god-spirit of Kislev, also known as the Ancient Widow. The lore of Ice is known to be one of the most deadliest kind of magics and Katarin is the strongest wielder to the date.
• Personality Powers: She's a cold sort of person in general and has ice powers.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Some of the concept art features her with long, black hair, and her skin is known to be very pale.
• Red Baron: She's typically referred to as the Ice Queen, or more fully the Ice Queen of Kislev.
• Real Witch Queens Love Jesus: She's no less faithful to Ursun and the other gods of Kislev than Kostaltyn, she's just capable of holding conversations on different topics as well.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Katarin has dedicated her life to protecting the people of Kislev like her father before her, and will not hesitate to throw herself into a battle to do so.
• The Stoic: Famous for her ability to cloud her emotions with a wall of icey coldness that unnerves even hardened warriors. In the announcement trailer, she's depicted as a staid figure who takes on ill news and giant daemons without flinching or otherwise emoting beyond an angry frown.
• Stalactite Spite: Her unique bound spell, which has her summon an eruption of giant icicles that impale her enemies.
• Tranquil Fury: Katarin is completely unfazed when standing face-to-face with a Bloodthirster. Her only answer to its challenging roars is to send a blizzard to its face.
  • In the intro to her campaign, Katarin attempts to execute the Advisor on the spot when he first comes to her, and her voice never rises above a whisper until she realizes he's telling the truth.
• Winter Royal Lady: In The Ambassador Chronicles, Katarin was described to be graceful and majestic young woman of primal beauty, with regal and piercing features as though carved from the coldest glacier. In the Warhammer III game she wears furred blue dresses, ice crown, and cloaks, and has been compared to a Russian Saint. One of her titles is even the Ice Queen.

Kostaltyn

Kostaltyn, Supreme Patriarch of the Cult of Ursun and Leader of the Great Orthodoxy

"The Motherland endures, whatever the cost."

“You might call him a mad old man... and maybe he is. But I saw him lead the charge at the Oblynsk Citadel to drive out the Beastmen. He took a sword to the guts and another to the thigh. It just made him more dangerous, his mace crushing skulls with every swipe. And his followers? By Dazh’s fire, they surged behind him in a howling wave, desperate to fight beside him, desperate for a mere hint of his approval. That fervour, that devotion? That’s real power right there.”

Kostaltyn is the Supreme Patriarch of the Cult of Ursun and Leader of the Great Orthodoxy, Kislev's state religion. Before the Orthodoxy, Kislev had a number of independent cults, whose rituals were often conducted by hags, witches and other undesirables, in remote places away from prying eyes. Tzar Boris Bokha, father to the current Tzarina Katarin, had the valid fear that this secrecy and the decentralized nature of Kislev's religion could only aid the Dark Gods, so he founded the Great Orthodoxy to codify the different cults into one religion. Though still only one generation old, the Orthodoxy has gained a respectable following over the years and is considered one of the richest organisations in the Old World, though it faces opposition by many who still cling to the old, decentralized ways.

Described as a force of nature and a demagogue, Kostaltyn knows without a shadow of doubt that faith alone stands between his people and certain annihilation at the hands of Kislev's many enemies. His faith also places him in opposition to Tzarina Katarin, whose powerful ice magic makes her a heretic in Kostaltyn's eyes. Nonetheless, he remains firmly on Kislev's side and begrudgingly aids the Tzarina in the Tzardom's constant struggle against the Forces of Chaos. Though to an outsider he may seem wild and near-unhinged, his devoted followers see him as an invulnerable battle-priest, capable of recovering from any wound and felling any foe with his mighty mace. Where others wear magnificent armour to protect themselves, or lead from the safety of the backlines, Kostaltyn charges into battle dressed as a humble priest, side by side with his most faithful, shrugging off blows that would kill lesser men through nothing but his stubbornness and faith alone.

He is a howling, angry firebrand, screaming furious rhetoric at the enemy and urging the warriors around him to fight on with a fearful mixture of encouragement and threat. For he is himself fearless, able to recover from any wound quickly and thus inspire his flock to run pell-mell at foes that any sane person would flee!

With complete control of the faith that binds Kislev together, Kostaltyn whips his followers into a holy fervor. He despises the machinations of the Tzarina and her Ice Court and considers them usurpers and magic-wielding heretics.

He leads the subfaction called "The Great Orthodoxy".

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• Affluent Ascetic: The Great Orthodoxy is one of the richest organizations in the Old World, yet Kostaltyn, as its leader, dresses modestly and wears his hair wild and unkempt.
• As Long as It Sounds Foreign: "Konstantin" is a classic and often-used name in Slavic countries. "Kostaltyn" isn't, and would be strange to pronounce due to the odd syllable. That said, kost is a root word for "bone", and the name as a whole is probably an allusion to Koschei the Immortal, another difficult-to-kill sorcerer from Slavic Mythology.
• Carry a Big Stick: Kostaltyn's weapon of choice is a huge, burning mace, called the Brazier Mace of Ursun that he wields alongside his magic banner. It buffs his weapon strength when his health drops under 50%.
• Canon Foreigner: Like Cylostra Direfin, he is an original character created for the game.
• Enemy Mine: Kostaltyn, as the Leader of the Great Orthodoxy, really doesn't get along with his queen, Katarin, due to his growing power within Kislev and her status as one of the most powerful Ice Witches in the setting, which makes her a heretic in his eyes. He also despises her because he believes that she is too obsessed with politics to save Ursun and Kislev. Both are still firmly opposed to the forces of Chaos and therefore nominally on the same side.
• Frontline General: Apparently, Kostaltyn has a habit of personally leading a charge and he is mentioned as being the most effective when in the heat of battle, surrounded by his loyal followers.
• The Fundamentalist: He’s the Supreme Patriarch of the Orthodoxy and all, but even though he is confident in his faith, this does not stop him from being rational. It is one of the main reasons he does not like Katarin, for not only does she deal with sinful courtly intrigue, but also practices Ice Magic. However, it should be noted that while he despises the Advisor for being a former servant to Chaos and considers the sacrifice of Ursun's blood to be heresy, he is smart enough to relent knowing he would need the Advisor's wisdom.
• Heroic BSoD: Understandably he isn't in a great mood when his campaign begins, knowing that his god is dying and all. He all but lunges at the Advisor's promise to help him save Ursun, despite knowing that the Advisor is a Tzeentch cultist and obviously not being comfortable with the price involved.
  • In the opening cinematic to Boris Ursus’ unlockable campaign, Kostaltyn is noticeably more despondent. He laments the fact that Boris cannot save Kislev in its darkest hour and seems resigned to waiting for the end. The Advisor even states that Kostaltyn’s blind faith has made him unable to recognize the stirring of his Tzar’s soul.
• High Priest: He's the Supreme Patriarch of the Cult of Ursun and Leader of the Great Orthodoxy, meaning he's the setting's version of the leader of the Orthodox Church.
• Made of Iron: An account from a Kislevite Kossar mentions that he took a sword to the gut and another to the thigh and simply shrugged it off to keep fighting. In-game, his Ursun’s Ward ability will trigger when he has less than 25% of his health to give him regeneration. In essence, he becomes even more dangerous and effective when he’s almost dead.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: His looks, his status as a religious figure and his unusual durability make it clear that he was inspired by Rasputin the Mad Monk.
• Playing with Fire: He starts out dealing flame damage in melee and can later learn to cast Fireballs. His Blaze of Devotion passive ability will also trigger when he’s in combat, allowing him to give flaming attacks to nearby units.
• Save Your Deity: As the High Priest to Ursun, Kostaltyn is more aware of his god’s predicament than most and is willing to rescue him at any cost. He thinks that Katarin is too distracted by politics and magic to do what is necessary, and accepts the offer of the Advisor even though he knows that the old man is tied to Chaos.

Boris Ursus

Tzar Boris Bokha, the Red Tzar of Kislev

"Ursun shall be saved!"

"Come, my glorious sons, Mother Kislev needs you now. Rally, rally! Risen up and fight... I know you're tired. I know you're afraid... but victory is within our grasp. One last, great struggle and we will drive these dogs from our lands. Breathe the winter air, let it fortify your souls. Ready? We charge now, and we will be back at the Gospoda for beer and kvas before nightfall, yes?!"

Tzar Boris Bokha, also known as Radii Bokha, Boris Ursus, Boris the Beloved, the Red Bokha and the Red Tzar, was a great Tzar of Kislev in the late 25th century IC, and the father of the current reigning Tzarina Katarin. Boris was a fiery, passionate warrior, and it was said he was born with the sound of the Bloodheart howling on the wind above him — a good omen for a warrior — and the hags predicted he would fight hard and die well. Rising to the throne in 968 (2492 in the Imperial calendar) after his father, Vladimir Bokha, died fighting Goblins east of Kislev, Boris inherited a nation that had done little to recover from the devastation caused during the Great War against Chaos of 2302. In a move resented by the old guard of the Kislev court.

Tzar Boris was also instrumental in a revival of the Cult of Ursun, which had slowly been overtaken by worship of Ulric, Taal, and other foreign Gods. To do so, he undertook the trial of initiation that priests of Ursun must overcome and went into the forests to tame a bear, before being declared Boris Ursus, High Priest of Ursus.

We speak in the past tense, because Boris met his end in battle in 2517 IC whilst leading a pulk north of the Lynsk into the Troll Country, being surrounded and torn apart by Kurgans... but in the alternate continuity of Total War, Boris has been revealed to be Not Quite Dead, having been encased in ice by the Motherland itself.

Leading the Ursun Revivalists, Boris must be unlocked. It requires the player to hold the three major cultural cities of Kislev for ten turns, in which the player is given a quest battle to rescue the Great Tzar. After which the player not only gets Boris to field in the current campaign, his faction can now be played at the start of the campaign and can be selected in the Race Selection Menu.

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• Action Dad: He is Katarin's father, and is himself an accomplished warrior and campaigner.
• Abdicate the Throne: Despite being reoffered the crown, Boris chooses to become a simple Boyar of Kislev after being freed from his ice prison. Firstly, he loves his daughter and is genuinely proud of the woman and queen she has become, not wanting to challenge her authority with his own. Secondly, he believes he can best serve his country on the frontlines in their war against Chaos. And he prefers it.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: He backs up his authority as Tzar not only by being a ferocious warrior, but also by fighting and taming even the largest of bears to gain Ursun's favor.
• Back from the Dead: This version of Boris has returned from his canonical death in tabletop lore, re-awoken by the roar of his dying god Ursun.
• Badass Cape: A big red one that’s slightly tattered.
• Bears Are Bad News: His specialty. He was single-handedly responsible for the revival of Ursun's cult in Kislev, having undertaken a ritual quest to wrestle and tame the giant bear Urskin (who now serves as his loyal mount). In terms of mechanics, he can cheaply recruit and lead great numbers of War Bear Riders. Most of his unique skill tree is also centered on super-charging his bear-themed units.
  • He also grants Regeneration to Elemental Bears in his army, further buffing their already impressive staying power.
• The Berserker: His special ability, Fury of Ursun, activates a rage inside him with the power of the Bear-God, turning him into a bloodthirsty monster on the battlefield.
• Big Fun: Boris is one of the heavier human characters but he also has a big heart, preaching about spreading Ursun's love and truly treating his men like a kind father would treat his beloved children. Boris is also one of the few characters who isn't hostile or mistrusting towards the Advisor.
• Bling of War: He wears a ceremonial piece of battle armor with Hussar wings attached called the Armor of Ursun, whose ability activates when he's at fifty percent health, granting him a massive increase to his durability.
• Blood Knight: Said to relish in battle, the Red Tzar was only ever alive in the thick of war. It's one of the reasons why he refused to take back his throne from his daughter, he much prefers to be on the field.
  • His Red Tzar moniker is actually related to this. Once when a pretty big Waaagh!!! army attacked Kislev’s borders, he personally slaughtered so many Greenskins that the River Urskoy ran red with their blood. He himself was also fully covered in blood after the battle.
• The Champion: He's Ursun's most favored warrior and follower, with even Kostaltyn being second in his devotion to the Bear-God. In fact, Tzar Boris single-handedly restored Ursun’s relevance in modern Kislevite society, became his high priest and personally tamed a giant polar bear to ride into battle.
• Defeat Means Friendship: To bring back the cult of Ursun, he undertook an incredibly dangerous ritual to personally beat and tame one of the Bear-God's children. He was successful, and the bear he fought, Urskin, now shares a bond with him that is similar to the one between Deathclaw and Karl Franz.
• Determinator: If chosen as your starting Legendary Lord once he's permanently unlocked, he breaks out of the ice trapping him through willpower alone!
• Elemental Weapon: He wields the Shard Blade, a polearm which is said to have been forged with magically-infused Norscan ice that never melts. As an active ability, the weapon significantly slows down anyone in Boris's melee range, reflecting how the Blade's icy aura chills the opponent's blood.
• Frontline General: During his reign he routinely fought on the frontlines with his men, and after he re-awakens and returns to Kislev he opts to become a Boyar of Kislev. Unlike Kislev's other heroes putting him in the front lines is a very good idea due to his immense melee and dueling skills as well as the huge morale bonuses he gives to Kislev armies.
• The Good King: There’s a reason why he’s also known as “Boris the Beloved.” He helped bring Kislev into a new age of prosperity and might after the Great War against Chaos by fixing Kislev's economy from his own pocket and nearly bankrupting himself (it paid off a lot in the long run), restoring the cult of Ursun, organizing the Great Orthodoxy (to prevent Chaos from easily seeping in), introducing the larger-scale use of gunpowder in the military and reforming the laws of Kislev to grant more equality and recognition to the Ungols. When the Kislev campaign starts in Total War: Warhammer III, both his daughter Katarin and the leader of the Great Orthodoxy Kostaltyn are living in the shadow of his legacy.
• Harmless Freezing: Played With. The opening cinematic for his unlockable campaign reveals that Boris had been encased in ice by the Motherland itself after his actual death. Katarin and Kostaltyn can revive him in a quest battle after they claim all three of Kislev’s main cities (Kislev, Praag and Erengrad) and control them for 10 turns. In Boris’ own campaign, however, he is roused by Ursun’s roar and bursts out of the ice himself when he hears that his god can be saved.
• Hero Killer: He's a giant of a man who in the lore regularly goes toe to toe with everything from enormous bears to Champions of Chaos to Greater Daemons - and wins. In-game this manifests as him being the best duelist of the Kislev faction and among the best in the game. His anti-large, armored and armor-piercing traits make him a master at taking down lords and heroes on mounts and even monstrous lords.
• Husky Russkie: A hard-fighting bear of a man who ruled a Fantasy Counterpart Culture of Russia and managed to befriend an even larger actual bear by wrestling with it for days, making it his loyal battle companion. He’s probably the huskiest Russkie to exist in the Warhammer setting (and he gets bonus points for being named Boris too).
• Large and in Charge: As the greatest Tzar of Kislev, he stands a head taller than the rank and file of his army. He even manages to match Orc Warbosses in height!
• Manly Facial Hair: As perhaps the manliest bear-wrestling badass in Kislev, he has a large, bushy silver beard.
• Mighty Glacier: In comparison to most mounted Lords, Boris is rather slow, but has massive stats when it comes to defense and attack, especially when mounted on Urskin.
• Nerves of Steel: The lore emphasizes what an incredibly disciplined and brave fighter he is, facing down Chaos Warriors and powerful daemons with ease. One of his unlockable talents, Fearless Fighter, grants him the Immune to Psychology attribute that outright makes him immune to fear and terror on top of his already towering leadership.
• Real Men Love Jesus: His love for Ursun and his country is so great that, in his own unlockable campaign, the Tzar dosen't need any help breaking out of his frozen tomb. He smashes through the ice with sheer will-power that comes from his desire to save Ursun and protect his people.
• Red Baron: The Red Tzar.
• Rightful King Returns: Subverted. Though his return is celebrated and he has a claim to the throne, he declines due to being proud of the queen that his daughter Katarin has become and not wanting to undermine her, choosing to instead fight on the frontlines in service to Kislev.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Boris is both a visionary leader who is willing to overhaul the laws and institutions of Kislev and a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. If it comes to it, he will gladly go down fighting for his kingdom: he did so in the canon tabletop lore, and in the promotional material for Warhammer III he is heavily implied to have made a Heroic Sacrifice to thwart Chaos.
• Save Your Deity: In his own campaign, the roars of Ursun and the Advisor’s offer to help save him are enough to stir Boris from his resting place. Like the other Kislevite Legendary Lords, he knows full well that the Advisor is tied to Chaos but puts it aside for the sake of rescuing his god.
• Secret Character: Boris only becomes playable after Kislev players maintain control over the cities of Erengrad, Praag and Kislev for ten consecutive turns and complete the resulting quest battle to save him. Afterwards, he can either be given his own city and faction to lead or become a part of the player’s faction. This also unlocks his own campaign in the game’s faction selection menu.
• Spared by the Adaptation: According to Warhammer 6th Edition, Boris died fighting off a Kurgan invasion in Troll Country in 2517 IC. In Total War: Warhammer III, he can be returned to life, either with the help of Katarin and Kostaltyn or through his own determination to save Ursun and Kislev.
• Stout Strength: As befitting a formidable warrior-ruler devoted to Ursun, he is built like a bear. In fact, he can be a threat to even Exalted Greater Daemons due to his good anti-large damage.
• Universally Beloved Leader: While his rule certainly didn't start as this due to all his reformations, by the time he disappeared he had become the one person everyone in the disparate Tzardom could acknowledge as liking. This is reflected in gameplay by him being able to send supporters to aid either Kostaltyn or Kataryn with absolutely no downside, as well as having perks that improve relations with all Kislev factions in general.
• Wings Do Nothing: He has a large pair of ornamental wings mounted on his back, similar to other Kislevite cavalry units.

Mother Ostankya

Mother Ostankya, Daughter of the Forest

"My people must fear me so I can better protect them."

"Mother Ostankya will get you! That's what my old babushka would say when we were making too much noise or getting our fingers in the honey jar. For years we thought she was a child's tale to frighten us into behaving. Then one day, in my twentieth winter, I got too close to the woods. And when I was told Mother Ostankya would get you... I knew if I took one step closer to the trees it would be true."

As sworn by the common folk across the oblasts, the horrifying legend of Mother Ostankya is real. While some consider her an apostate, others regard her as a guardian of Kislev who metes out her wrath against any with ill intention against the land. She is rumored to have once been a powerful ice witch who long ago fell foul of the Ice Court; or are such legends a mockery manifested by her hatred of the covenant's strictures? Yet in times of war, still the hag comes to Kislev's aid, appearing beside the Motherland's ranks — especially those left unsupported by the most rabid of Ursunite faith — commanding her cauldron's potent shadow spirits to hex foes in unspeakable ways.

Introduced in the Shadows of Change DLC for Total War: Warhammer III, Mother Ostankya leads the subfaction "Daughters of the Forest".

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• Ambiguously Human: While she looks like an old crone, her immense age and superhuman powers leads many to believe she either isn't human anymore, or was never one to begin with. Some legends believe her to be more akin to a spirit or Anthropomorphic Representation of Kislev's woodlands.
• Anti-Hero: She's a protector of Kislev and enemy of Chaos, but she is also a grim hag who has no qualms about razing villages to the ground due to Guilt by Association or because its denizens have wronged her. The short story "Things in the Woods" shows the extent of her cruelty when she allows an entire village to be wiped out by marauding Chaos forces because its Druzhina refused to make a deal with her.
• The Beastmaster: Draws half her spell list from the Lore of Beasts, namely the Curse of Anraheir, the Amber Spear and Flock of Doom. Much of her hag magic involves summoning ethereal animal spirits, which form her attack animations. And much like Drycha from the Wood Elves, she has the ability to recruit forest beast units for her military.
• Canon Foreigner: Ostankya was created for Warhammer: The Old World, making her first appearance in the franchise in Total War: Warhammer III.
• Casting a Shadow: Can pick up Occam's Mindrazor, Enfeebling Foe and The Withering from the Lore of Shadows.
• Chariot Pulled by Cats: Rides a sled pulled by the monstrous Things in the Woods.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Despite being rather frightening in demeanor and powerset, and with a well-deserved reputation as a Wicked Witch, she's ultimately a defender of Kislev.
• Don't Go in the Woods: Besides the many monsters and dangerous animals that roam the forests of Kislev, she is the main reason why it is strongly adviced to never enter the deeper woods of Ungol lands. And when she wins in either Immortal Empires or Realm of Chaos, she more or less turns the woods into an instantly lethal place for anyone who is dumb enough to go beyond the borders of the woodlands.
• Early-Bird Cameo: First mentioned in the tie-in short story Son of Kislev, where it is mentioned that Kostaltyn and the Great Orthodoxy have been hunting hag witches like herself.
• Expy: Of Baba Yaga. Notably, a direct transplant of Baba Yaga already existed in older Warhammer lore, but besides the lore in question being severely outdated, lead writer Andy Hall felt literally using Baba Yaga was too on-the-nose.invoked
• Good Is Not Nice: Ostankya is devoted to the protection of Kislev and its children from Chaos. She is also a harsh and cruel mistress of the woods who bends dark creatures to her will, and exacts a steep price from those she protects.
• Insistent Terminology: Although the other Hag Witches are happy to refer to themselves as such, Ostankya does not like to be called either word. She is MOTHER Ostankya.
• Magic Cauldron: Has one mounted on her sled, which she occasionally stirs or adds grotesque ingredients to, such as living rats that she vomits.
• Mechanically Unusual Class: The Daughters of the Forest, Ostankya's faction, start the game unable to build any military or infrastructure building the other Kislev factions can, restricting her to only field animals, Akshina Ambushers, Kislevite Warriors or Hag Witches from two specific building chains (one of which is wholly unique to her faction). Taking one of Kislev's three major cities (Eregrad, Kislev or Pragg) or allying with a Kislev faction holding one of them lifts that restriction, however.
• Misplaced Retribution: The Ungols operate on a clan-based form of justice as opposed to a more individual-focused one, meaning that if they can't punish a specific person who commited a crime against them, they will instead punish any random member of that person's specific clan. For outsiders from other nations or ethnic groups, this can be taken to a greater extreme, as they then tend to punish any random person from that specific nationality or ethnicity as they see non-Ungols as all being part of a different tribe. And yes, the punishment towards non-Ungols tend to be more severe than towards Ungols. This means they can, if taking people from The Empire of Man as an example, punish a random guy from Nordland over a theft that a random guy from Soland commited. And they will likley cut the guy's hand off instead of simply branding it with a hot iron. It is this mentality that is the reason why she had her people burn a random Gospodar city to the ground when the Changeling desecrated one of the holy Ungol shrines wile he was disguised as a Kislevite Ice Witch.
• Nature Hero: A fairly grim example, as she's a frightful witch of the forests who uses magic to summon beasts and conjure Animalistic Abominations. But, she's a protector of Kislev and an enemy of Chaos, and represents very ancient tribal traditions of her people.
• Never Mess with Granny: Some say she is older than Kislev itself wile others say that she is just a bit younger than the Ice Witch Court. Regardless, she is still one of the most powerful magicians in the world.
• Teleportation Rescue: Her 'death' animation sees Ostankya fall from her chariot, but be quickly lifted out of reach by a massive spirit-bat, giving her time to summon more spirits to herself and vanish.
• Wicked Witch: A powerful and hunchbacked hag-witch who summons animal spirits and stirs a Magic Cauldron. Much of Kislev knows her as a bogeyman used to frighten unruly children, and she has no compunctions about razing innocent towns based on Guilt by Association.

Legendary Heroes

Naryska Leysa

Naryska Leysa, the Golden Knight

"Champion of the Motherland!"

Voiced by: Avital Lvova

The daughter of the previous Golden Knight who died in Tzar Boris's service, Naryska Leysa is the personal bodyguard and current champion of the reigning Tzarina of Kislev. Naryska herself is touted as an exceptionally gifted swordswoman, even greater than her father, whose skill and determination in battle make her more than a match to other Kislevite warriors. As befitting her title, Naryska wears a suit of golden armor blessed by both the Cult of Ursun and the Ice Court - a very rare honor that, in a way, also makes her a symbol of unity between these two belligerent factions.

Introduced in the 4.2 Update for the "Shadows of Change" DLC for Total War: Warhammer III, Naryska Leysa is a Legendary Hero recruitable by all Kislevite factions after finishing a short quest chain.

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• Action Girl: Naryska is another addition to the handful of female characters who exclusively fight in melee. It's also worth noting that unlike other such characters in the game, Naryska looks quite stocky thanks to her armor and physique; it would be easy to mistake her as a man until she speaks.
• Ambadassador: Aside from her combat duties, Naryska also serves as one of Katarin's chief envoys at home and in the Empire. In-game, she has a skill that grants her faction a diplomacy bonus with other Kislevite factions, plus a boost in allegiance points for alliances.
• Anti-Magic: As she is consecrated by the Ursunite Cult, Naryska bears the Totem of Ursus: an incredibly powerful artifact that negates all magical weapons within her vicinty, as well as inflicts the "Silenced" debuff on nearby enemy magic users, completely shutting down their ability to cast spells. This makes her extremely useful against any of the Chaos Daemon factions whose daemon units have magical attacks and magic heavy factions and races (especially Tzeentch).
• Baritone of Strength: She is one of Kislev's strongest warriors and has a deep voice to match.
• Bling of War: Every Golden Knight wears enchanted golden armor once they take on their new title and Naryska is no different. Her armor consists of a golden breastplate, snow boots, arm guards, and a pair of ornamental pauldrons, plus a gold helmet and aventail that completely hides her face. Her warhorse is also armored up in a similar fashion.
• The Champion: Of Katarin. Only the best warrior of Kislev can become the Golden Knight, who is meant to serve the reigning Tzar(ina) as their bodyguard and representant.
• Cool Sword: Naryska wields Ursun's Claw, an enchanted ice saber that grants her powerful melee buffs and the ability to temporarily freeze enemy combatants on the spot when engaged in melee, thus preventing them from attacking or moving.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: The eyeslits on Naryska's helmet have an icy, pale blue glow to them, which not only give her quite an intimidating visage but also further highlight her armor's enchanted nature.
• Legacy Character: The title of "Golden Knight" is passed down from the previous champion of the leader of Kislev to the next. Naryska inherited the title from her father who died serving Tzar Boris, though it is noted that her grit and combat skills played a larger part in selecting her for the role, more so than her blood ties to her predecessor.
• Master Swordsman: Naryska's skill with the sword is said to be unmatched in nearly all of Kislev. In-game, she's a Duelist hero who can go toe-to-toe with most other lords and heroes in melee, especially magic users.

Other

Ursun

Ursun, Father of Bears

"I'll devour you, little daemon..."

The Great Bear, the god of Bears and Strength and the patron god of Kislev. He is the central figure of both the prologue and the Realm of Chaos campaigns of Total War: Warhammer III.

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• Bears Are Bad News: He is a benevolent god to the Kislevites, but to Chaos he is a great enemy.
• Beyond the Impossible: In the Kislev ending, after being killed by Be'lakor and drained of his life force, Ursun comes Back from the Dead on his own willpower due to being moved by the devotion of his saviors.
• Cool Crown: In earlier editions of the lore, Ursun was described as possessing a golden crown on his head. Here, he instead have many icy protrusions on his head that takes a similar shape to a crown.
• Curse Escape Clause: Ursun's divine blood is capable of breaking curses and supernatural bonds. The Advisor wants a drop of it to be free from his bond to the Tome of Fates, while Be'lakor uses the blood to restore his physical body from its Living Shadow state imposed by the Chaos Gods.
• Defiant Captive: Of Be'lakor, who is feeding on his life-force to restore himself to full power; Ursun informs him that this is actually a good thing for the Bear God, as that means he can tear Be'lakor apart after he gets free. Unfortunately, in most of the third game's campaigns, Be'lakor or another daemon kills Ursun before he gets the chance for payback.
• Endless Winter: Ursun unleashes a Mighty Roar each year to signal the end of the harsh oblast winter, banishing the ice and snow. The problem is that with Ursun kidnapped, Kislev is suffering under an unusually long and dangerous winter, further motivating them to rescue their god.
• God Is Good: Ursun is extremely benevolent to his people, to the point of begging Be'lakor to spare the land with his dying breath. Notably, Ursun actually comes Back from the Dead on his own power because he is moved by the devotion shown by Katarin/Kotalstyn/Boris when they came to rescue him.
  • He's even benevolent to those beyond Kislev, seen in the Cathay campaign where he remains dead, but his summoned spirit still directs the dragons to the location of their missing sibling, despite having nothing to gain by doing so.
• Kill the God: While still a mortal, the God-slayer almost killed him and is now seeking to finish the job. Numerous other factions are pursuing Ursun to finish him off as well — The various daemons desire certain parts of his body for their own purposes, while the Ogres just want to eat him. Notably, every campaign ends with Ursun outright dying — it's just that in Kislev's campaign, it doesn't stick.
• Living MacGuffin: The plot of Total War: Warhammer III is driven by the plight of Ursun: The Kislevites naturally want to save their god for its own sake, while the Cathayan dragons wish to interrogate him for the location of their missing sibling. Everyone else is plotting to kill him — Skarbrand wants his skull as an offering to Khorne, Kairos wants his eyes to see the present, Ku'gath wants to use him as a guinea pig for a god-slaying plague, N'kari wants to savor the anguish of his death, the God-slayer wants to finish the job he started out of pride, and the Ogres simply want to eat him. Be'lakor, the villain holding Ursun captive, wants to drain the bear of its power to become a new God of Chaos, and the Advisor believes a drop of Ursun's blood will free him from his bond to the Tome of Fate.
• Mighty Roar: When he took a bullet to the heart from the then-mortal God-slayer, he let loose a roar so powerful that it whipped up a maelstrom of magic across the entire world, stranding Daemons who happened to be outside the Realms of Chaos. As the campaign progresses, his pained howls tear rifts in the fabric of reality that can be used to travel between the mortal and Chaos realms.
• Russian Bear: Is depicted as an ethereal bear and is the patron god of the Kislevites.
• Sealed Good in a Can: Is kept prisoner by Be'lakor in the Forge of Souls.

Yuri Barkov

Prince Yuri Barkov

"This is our darkest night...help us"

Yuri Barkov was a Kislevite prince sent to the far north by Tzarina Katarin in search for their god, Ursun. In a time of a great woe, Kislev was assailed by endless winter. The call of Ursun hadn't been heard for seven months, seven months in which a never-ending tide of blizzards has nearly buried the Kingdom of Ice under an eternal blanket of snow. Trusting no one else, Tzarina Katarin sent for her "Ungol Prince, Yuri Barkov", a military-commander, young, but tested, before raising an expedition that would head to the far North of the world, and putting Prince Barkov in charge of it.

Taking a detachment of Tzar Guard, his older, and more experienced brother, Gerik Barkov, Yuri rode north, never in his wildest dreams imagining the destiny that lay before him.

He is the central character and a playable lord in Total War: Warhammer III's prologue campaign.

For tropes relating to him as the Daemon Prince, click here

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• And Then John Was a Zombie: After venturing into the Chaos Wastes on his quest to save Ursun, battling minions of Chaos and daemons from beyond, Yuri ends up corrupted by Chaos himself, attempts to murder Ursun, and finally sells his soul to become a daemon.
• Anti-Hero: Yuri starts as an Ideal Hero and dashing prince, before being broken by the far North. Inch by inch through the campaign, as he begins to engage in more extreme actions to advance the expedition forward, he slips further and further down the scale, till he becomes a bloodthirsty Nominal Hero, and falls further after committing the ultimate sin and ends up as an outright Villain Protagonist.
• Ax-Crazy: By the end of the campaign, he becomes a cackling Berserker.
• Badass Cape: He wears a tattered blue one, which is often flying under the wind of a blizzard.
• Blue Is Heroic: His faction colors are a deep shade of blue. As he falls to darkness, his colors desaturate and his body and armor become coated in glowing red daemon runes.
• Childhood Friend: He and Katarin have been friends since they were children (and implied to be even more).
• Crisis of Faith: Has one after wandering the frozen wastes of Norsca for so long. He barely manages to hold on, once Ursun himself appears to him. But he has another...and he falls hard.
• Dual Wielding: He fights with his axe and Wolfbane in unison.
• Evil Weapon: Doubling as a Cool Sword, but his unique item is Wolfbane, a black, fiery Hellblade forged in the Realm of Khorne. He takes the sword from Skollden at Ursun's urging, in the belief that a noble heart can resist its influence.
• Expy: Of Prince Arthas Menethil. His role in the tutorial storyline is basically the same as Arthas, being a Warrior Prince with an implied romantic relationship with an elemental mage, who slowly becomes a Fallen Hero as he attempts to help his people. Like Arthas, he becomes the very thing he hated after relying on an Evil Weapon that causes him to fall to evil, kill his past loved ones, and pledge himself to a dark power. The only difference is swapping out Undead for Demons. Given the setting of the story being the Grim Up North, this makes it obvious where the inspiration comes from.
• Face–Heel Turn: He starts his journey searching for his god, Ursun, and tries to save him with whatever means necessary when he learns that Ursun has been imprisoned. Along the way, he is slowly corrupted by the powers of Chaos. When he finally reaches Ursun's prison, he denounces the Bear-God, calling him a weak deity unworthy of his worship and blaming him for allowing Kislev to suffer an endless winter.
• Fallen Hero: One of Kislev's mightest Boyars... and now its most hated betrayer.
• Fatal Flaw: Despair. While understandable, his search for Ursun made him a bit too much willing to take any help, resulting in him getting Wolfbane, and getting corrupted by Chaos.
• History Repeats: Supplementary material reveals that he is a descendant of Yuri Kovalenko, as a result of an intermarriage between the Barkov and Kovalenko families. And like his disgraced ancestor, he too falls to Chaos.
• Implied Love Interest: Given the vague language used in the letter Katarin wrote to him, which can be seen on her table on the original announcement trailer of the game, this seems to be the case between him and the Tzarina. A tie-in short story, available through Total War Access a couple of days before the game release, confirmed it.
• Manly Facial Hair: Has a magnificent Russian-style moustache.
• Nice Guy: Yuri is kind, compassionate, and always looking to protect his fellow Kislevite from harm. It begins to fade away as the campaign progresses, until he's a snarling megalomaniac by the time he reaches the Howling Citadel.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: As he gets more and more corrupted by the power of Wolfbane, Yuri gets increasingly bloodthirsty and merciless, justifying his extreme methods in the name of Ursun. Be'lakor correctly points out that all he did, he did for his own desires.
• Save Your Deity: His mission. But after being corrupted by Chaos and tempted by Be'lakor, he shoots a bullet into Ursun's heart, gravely wounding him.
• Sibling Murder: He kills his brother, Gerik, and offers his skull to a Bloodthirster known as the Bridge-Maker so that he can cross a chasm leading to the Howling Citadel.
• Walking Spoiler: The amount of hidden entries should show you there's far more to Yuri than initial appearances suggest.
• Warrior Prince: Specifically an Ungol Prince from Praag. Yuri is a very capable warrior, and a leader.

Gerik Barkov

Gerik Barkov

"We must not abandon the people of Kislev!"

Gerik Barkov was a seasoned Kislev soldier who accompanied his brother, Yuri, on his expedition to the frozen North, serving as his second in command.

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• Big Brother Instinct: He's the eldest sibling in their family, and looking out for Yuri's wellbeing is his number one priority. Which makes what happens all the more tragic.
• The Consigliere: He serves as a military advisor to his brother during their expedition. He also gives gameplay advice to the player during the prologue's battle tutorial.
• Morality Chain: During the height of Prince Yuri's corruption, Gerik can convince the former to show mercy during an event where he intends to punish Kislevite soldiers who tried to assassinate him.
• Old Soldier: His hair has gone gray, and he looks a lot older than his brother.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: In the prologue, he calls for continuing north to Dervingard and safeguarding it. Yet it compels Yuri to keep going north and pick up Wolfsbane, which begins his Start of Darkness.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Gerik is the one to call out Yuri when he makes morally bankrupt decisions. He's practically fuming when Yuri brings back Wolfbane, declaring him to be "wielding sin in his hand''. After visiting the Brazen Altar, the walk towards the Screaming Chasm is accompanied by Gerik angrily chewing out Yuri for the path they've been walking, and pleading with him to return to his senses.

Slavin Kurnz

Slavin Kurnz the Betrayer

"Is it just? To be the bulwark the world relies on?"

"Kislev. The motherland has turned her back on us. Exiled to a wasted land, brothers and sisters betrayed, whilst the meek cling to power. Is it just? To be the bulwark the world relies on? Does it make us weak, to witness endless loss? Do we falter? No. We are molded by it. Forged hot against an anvil of ice. Rage consumes us; but from the fire, we rise again."

Slavin Kurnz the Betrayer was a fallen Boyar turned Chaos Warlord. After being exiled to the far north for losing favor in the court, he was assigned the dangerous and thankless job of guarding Fort Dervingard, Kislev's most distant Fortress, and its first defense against the Hordes of Chaos. Slowly corrupted by despair, Kurnz abandoned his duty to Kislev and swore himself to the ruinous powers. He serves as the prologue campaign's Big Bad and Yuri's final obstacle.

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• Colonel Kurtz Copy: A bald military commander with a name one letter off from "Kurtz" driven to madness by his thankless assignment in a harsh frontier, becoming a bloodthirsty cult leader? Where have I heard that before? His role in Prince Yuri's story practically makes it a Whole-Plot Reference.
• Early-Bird Cameo: He was the Kislev-turned Chaos Lord in the "Trial by Fire" trailer before being named in the campaign.
• Fallen Hero: His diary, at least, paints him as a noble man driven to despair by his perceived realization of the hopelessness of Kislev's stand against Chaos.
• Final Boss: He's the final commander Yuri must defeat in The Lost God prologue campaign.
• Handguns: Originally a gift from Tzar Boris, the Damned Pistol is a flintlock saturated by the same energies that have corrupted Kurnz. During the final showdown in the prologue, it gives him a two-use magic missile ability. Yuri takes it from his corpse, and uses it to mortally wound Ursun.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: He got assigned to Dervingard after he lost favor in court.
• Trailers Always Lie: The "Trial by Fire" trailer had Kurnz donning chaos armor after falling to Chaos. Yet in-game, whilst his face does show evidence of corruption as in the trailer, he still wears the same Kislevite armor that he wore before his betrayal.
• War Elephants: He rides atop a massive Chaos War Mammoth, which allows him to plow through entire formations of soldiers and crush everything underfoot.

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