Overview

One of the Russian Principalities. It has been rebuilt almost completely after being sacked 35 years ago by the invading Mongol army.

Recent History & Description

excerpted from the campaign sourcebook

And Kiev is indeed rebuilding. Last month marked the fifth anniversary of the official formation of Kiev’s City Council, a group of land-owning boyars, influential merchants, and other power players in the Principality. Of course, the reconstruction and resettling of the city had started many years before; but only in 1270, over three decades after the city’s destruction, had the loose business alliances and agreements crystallized into a plan for Kiev’s future. The rulers of the neighboring regions had been far too occupied with their own mounting concerns to make any real effort to annex what was now seen as a strategically unimportant piece of land. With all but two of Vsevolod III’s heirs dead, nobody had stepped forward to claim Kiev’s throne. The men whose money had been flowing into Kiev’s restoration decided now that they liked it this way. Why should Kiev need a prince? After all, the last one hadn’t exactly done much for the city. Thus the City Council was born.

Since then, enormous sums of gold have been invested into rebuilding the once-great capital and seat of the House of Rurik. A visitor to Kiev today would not likely discern that this was the city on which the Mongol horde, accompanied by immense, demonic giants, had descended three decades ago, reducing most of its major structures to smoking rubble. There is one notable exception; the Church of Our Lady lies in ruins to this day. The Council never deemed it necessary to restore it, and few even approach the crumbled structure; there are many stories of adventure-seekers who entered the church’s ruins and never left. It is said that dark forces dwell beneath the collapsed dome.

Thanks to the efforts of the City Council, Kiev has regained much of its former greatness. The surrounding farmland has recovered from the damage suffered in the wars of past decades, and is rich and productive once more. Merchant vessels once more ply the River Dnieper, carrying goods to Black Sea and the lands beyond. The village – no, now bustling port town – of Oleshie has prospered, becoming critical to Kiev’s economic success; though negotiations between the City Council and Oleshie’s elders, to annex the town into Kiev’s holdings, goes slowly.

Mindful of Prince Yuri’s blunders, the Council has taken great pains to build up Kiev’s military strength in a systematic and rigorous manner. General Sergei Zeleniy, an ambitious and driven man, heads the Kievan Guard, responsible for both internal order and the defense of the Principality’s borders. Though most acknowledge Zeleniy is a competent leader, there are whispers that his appointment by the Council was due largely to the General’s relation to his uncle, a valiant hero of the war against Poland and the doomed defense effort against the Mongol invasion. In any case, General Zeleniy has taken steps to prepare Kiev for any form of threat; one of his first acts as Commander of the Kievan Guard was to establish a policy of attaching at least one spellcaster to each company in the Guard. These have mostly been clerics in the service of Svarog; attempts to import Novgorod’s famed wizards have thus far been unsuccessful.

The Kievan Guard has done much to help the city get back on its feet. Its warriors, drawn mostly from the ranks of farmers and laborers, have supplied Kiev with much-needed protection against the mounting external threats; the alarming expansion of the goblin population in the southern forests, and the even more troubling stirrings to the north, from the massively expanded Pripet Marshes. Yet many say that in at least one respect, the Guard was formed too late. By the time the City Council came together, the city’s criminal element, always present to some degree, had risen again and become prosperous. Kiev had become a haven for thieves, black-market traders, and worse. Today, even a Councilor dares not venture out after dark without a heavy contingent of the Kievan Guard. Though General Zeleniy fights against the prevalent corruption and crime relentlessly, there seems to be little he can do. It’s a losing battle, especially with half the City Council on the take – or so the gossips in Kiev’s seedier taverns will have you believe.

One event, however, gives great hope for Kiev’s future. Two years ago, the Council sent a heavily guarded group of emissaries to the far southeast – to the near-legendary land of Cherkessia. Prior to then, there had been no contact between Kiev and the Cherkess for over three decades, since Kiev’s fall. To the jubilation of the Council and the city at large, the emissaries returned from their journey triumphant; they announced that the wise and benevolent King Amir of Cherkessia was eager to reopen trade and diplomatic relations with Kiev. He had been waiting, he said, for the time when the great city was back on its feet, and did not wish to interfere; but now, Cherkessia welcomed renewed contact with their old friends and allies. The first token of Amir’s good will came back with the Kievan emissaries: the enigmatic Ambassador Said, a sorcerer of great experience and power. He was sent to Kiev to help with the rebuilding effort, to train in spellcasting anyone who wished it, and to use his magical expertise for Kiev’s aid in any other ways necessary. The ambassador’s presence has lent a great measure of prestige and influence to the Council, helping to strengthen its hold over the city; crime, at least visible crime, has dropped noticeably since his arrival.

The Birth of Sorcerers

Said has discovered that the reason for the sudden boom in Sorcerer birth rate in Kiev is due to the way Kiev was bombarded by desert fire magic by Zmei Gromovoi's offspring.

 Obormót/Gaia:  Since Said concluded that this "background radiation" is the result of Zmei Gromovoi's kids bombarding Kiev with desert fire infused attacks
 Obormót/Gaia:  That gives him an additional reason to look for the JOurnal
 Obormót/Gaia:  TO try to duplicate the effect!
 Obormót/Gaia:  Generate sorcerers, as it were