Kislev

Since Randy's made Kislev his surrogate home (and it'd be a fun place to adventure one day in the future), here's a little more info on this wild land to the north...

Roughly analogous to real-world medieval Russia/Poland, Kislev is the most northerly nation in the Old World to be considered civilized. Or at least somewhat civilized. A land of snow, ice, and fierce winds, it's bordered by the Empire to the south, the Sea of Claws to the west, the Troll Country to the north, and the World's Edge Mountains to the northeast and east. Its people are famously hardy and fierce, as is necessary given the troll lands they border and their position as a critical buffer between the Empire and the brutal Chaos tribes that make camp farther north. The Kislevites know the Empire owes them a debt for staving off the hordes of Chaos time and again, and enjoy reminding Imperial citizens of this fact quite often. They call their fierce way of life "living in the wind" and tend to think their Imperial neighbors to the south have gone soft.

Many Kislevites live a nomadic existence, as the land is poor for farming save in the southernmost regions, and migrate from one grazing ground to the next. Limited materials for building leave Imperial citizens looking at the Kislevite homes as backwards and uncivilized, though the southern cities show a level of civilation. The most prominent religion is the cult of the bear god, Ursun, whose cult sometimes comes into friction with the cult of Ulric. Ursun is depicted as a massive cave bear, with a crown, teeth, and claws of glistening gold. It is said he can also appear as a man - burly, bearded, heavily built, and wearing only a loincloth. Other gods include Dazh, the god of fire and the sun, Tor, the god of thunder and lightning, and Taal, the god of nature that is also familiar in the Empire. Nature and household spirits are also worshipped as servants and messengers of the gods, and many Kislevites unconsciously follow small rituals to appease them.

The capital of the nation is the city that shares its name - Kislev - and it home to the land's present ruler, the Tzarina Katerin (also called the Ice Queen). The city of Kislev is the nation's closest city to the Empire and shows some cross-cultural pollination with it. And while it's been besieged many times, it's never fallen to invaders. Other major cities include Erengrad and Praag.

While Kislevites like to think of themselves as wholly independent, they have allied with men and elves against the forces of Chaos in the past, and in particular share a kinship with the dwarves (though they can't understand how dwarves can bear to spend so much time underground). In fact, they've been known to help dwarves clear mountain passes of goblins and other creatures. Kislevites have also allied with the Imperial provinces of Ostermark, Ostland, and Talabecland.

Further reading:

*Warhammer Core Book, pp. 225-226
*Wikipedia Article
*Games Workshop PDF (lotsa good stuff here)