The Gospodars

The Gospodars are the folk who made Kislev a nation. Centuries ago they rode westward out of the far eastern steppes, a warrior-people led by warrior-queens, and conquered the scattered Ungol tribes to forge a single realm beneath a single crown. From them come the Tzars and Tzarinas, the ice-magic of the ruling line, and the very name of the country — for it was a Gospodar queen who first was named Tzarina of all the land. They are taller and fairer than the Ungols, prouder and more warlike, and they hold the heartland and the cities while the older folk keep the wild north.

Gospodar power rests on its cities and its cavalry. Kislev the city is their fortress-capital, a grim citadel of ice and stone about the Tzarina's palace, while Erengrad guards the western river-mouth and the vital sea-road to the Empire. From these strongholds the Gospodars field the realm's proudest soldiers: the Winged Lancers whose feathered frames shriek as they charge, the axe-and-bow Kossars who hold the walls, and the household warriors of the Tzar. It is the Gospodars who answer for Kislev before the other kingdoms of men, and the Gospodars who have most often died to keep the realm's crown from the snow.