In ages past the tribes of fierce warrior horsemen rode from the east, crossed the World's Edge Mountains and conquered the area around the River Urskoy. There were many such tribes, but the largest one was called the Gospodars. Many other tribes like Tartars, Cossacks and Dolgans, to name but a few, followed them, but the leaders of this horde were always Gospodars.[1a]
While they might have been barbarous and uncivilised in the standard of other human inhabitants of the Old World, Gospodars were powerful warriors, and were led by a mighty Khan-King called Boris Ursa. He conquered the native people, drove out the Goblins that plagued the land, and started building towns that would later become the Cities of Kislev.[1a]
The Khan-Kings were often magicians of great power, or otherwise worshipped by the gods Gospodars worshipped. Their magic was a different kind than the Battle Magic of the southern Wizards who learned their craft from the Elves. Gospodar Magicians drew their power from an older, more elemental source rooted deep in the world itself. This power, called the Ice Magic, is a violent, mighty force of nature itself. It is manipulation of chill, frost, biting winds and the sudden snow storms of the northern atmosphere.[1a]
Over the years the Khan-Kings and Khan-Queens became the Tzars and Tzarinas and their power grew, especially in the female line. While not all the Overlords of the North were mages, ones like Miska the Slaughterer and the Taira Pavlovna (also known as the Queen of Blooded Peaks) were the most potent sorcerers of their age and shaped the history of Kislev, and indeed the whole world.[1a]