The Ancient Widow

Then a great spirit—called “The Ancient Widow,” “Kislev,” or simply “The Land”—whispered to a Gospodar shaman-priestess. It promised her great power if she swore to seize a distant, frozen realm where the spirit was trapped by the Daemon Gods.

Summary

Said to be the spirit of Kislev itself, the Ancient Widow is believed to have whispered to a Gospodar shaman-priestess, long ago, promising her great power if she swore to lead her people West, towards a distant, frozen realm where the spirit was trapped by the will of the Dark Gods.
The shaman, desperate to aid her people, readily agreed and was granted the ancient and mystical power of Winter itself. With the Ancient Widow's guidance, the shaman quickly mastered her new and god-like powers and used them to gather what she needed to fulfil her promise. With her will-power and powerful magic, she bound the disparate Gospodar Clans into a single unified people and placed herself above them as their first Khan-Queen.

Historical Basis

"Long ago, the Gospodar clans lived upon the Endless Steppe. It was a vast open wilderness lashed with the terrible energies of Chaos, and the Gospodars were beset by all manner of foul foes.
The Daemon Gods offered to cease their attacks and aid the Gospodars, but only if they would bow their heads and worship them in return. But the Gospodars were stubborn. Unlike the neighbouring tribes of Kurgan, Hung, and Norse they would not be coerced into worshipping the dark gods; Instead, they clung to their traditional beliefs and sought their support against the threat from the northern taint.
The most important among these was Ursun the God of Bears, who taught his worshippers how to survive the freezing winters, how to fight with strength and nobility, and how to respect the spirits of the land. But, even with Ursun’s help, the Gospodars’ plight was desperate.
Then a great spirit—called “The Ancient Widow,” “Kislev,” or simply “The Land”—whispered to a Gospodar shaman-priestess. It promised her great power if she swore to seize a distant, frozen realm where the spirit was trapped by the Daemon Gods. The shaman was desperate to aid her people and did not question the offer of support. She readily agreed to the Ancient Widows terms and was granted the power of winter in return. With the Ancient Widow’s guidance, the shaman quickly mastered her new powers and used them to gather what she needed to fulfil her promise. Soon, she had bound the disparate Gospodar clans into a single people and placed herself above them as their first Khan-Queen. This done, she took her people and began her search for the Ancient Widow’s land.
After generations of bloodshed on the Endless Steppe, a descendant of the Khan-Queen led the Gospodars across the Worlds Edge Mountains. There, wide-eyed, she encountered a vast snow-covered plain pulsing with icy power. She immediately collapsed to the ground and wept frozen tears, for she knew her search had finally ended.
By this time, there were many women wielding the Khan-Queen’s cold magic, so when the Gospodars blew their horns of war, the native Ungols, Ropsmenn, Ostermarkers, and Ostlanders had little chance against them. The Gospodars swept down from the mountains and founded a new nation in the lands of those they conquered, and their Khan-Queen, Shoika, became the first Tzarina of Kislev.
Now, many centuries later, those who practice the old, cold magics of the legendary Khan-Queens are known as ice witches, and our power has not been diminished by time.”

—Militsa Lushadoch Gmelin, Ice Witch Extract from The Tome of Salvation

Spread

Belief in the Ancient Widow is limited to the people of the frozen north, predominantly Kislev, and then many to those who can trace their ancestry back to their original 'Gospodar' heritage. These beliefs have been diluted and even challenged by the accepted beliefs of immigrants from the southern lands who worship their own gods such as Sigmar and Ulric, but the Cult of the Ancient Widow persists and every year those female children born with the gift are gathered to receive the guidance and mentorship of its members.
Even the Tzarina Princess Katarina Bokha, is a believer and has been trained in the practice of Ice Magic.

Cultural Reception

The origin and nature of the Ancient Widow is a subject shrouded in mystery and the source of considerable academic and theological debate. The Ice Hags of Kislev claim that she is the very embodiment of the land itself suggesting that she is some sort of nature spirit able to command the elements of winter and impart their power to her followers.
But Ulric is the God of Winter and so many academic's argue that this cannot be true, whilst others claim that she may be related to similar spiritual beings like The Lady of the Lake, and Rhya. Those academic's and theologians of a more conspiratorial nature even suggest that the Ancient Widow may be yet another elven spirit sent to influence the non-eleven races to fulfil some overarching elven mission.
Nor is it certain what how the original Ancient Widow appeared to looked like The hag witches themselves try to mimic what they believe the Ancient Widow looks like by dressing is long flowing dark robes, dressing their hair with white to imitate snow and ice and the wearing of fearsome masks.

Date of First Recording

The Shaman Miska reported her first vision of the Ancient Widow some time before the year 1494 on the Imperial Calendar. By 1494 Miska had gathered and unified the Gospodars clans and was leading them west towards the World Edge Mountains.

Date of Setting

Sometime before the year 1494 on the Imperial Calendar.