Kreml Guard

The Kreml Guard are the personal household warriors of the ruler of Kislev, sworn to defend the Tzar or Tzarina and the great citadel, the Kreml, at the heart of the capital. Chosen from the finest and most loyal fighters of the realm, they are veterans all, hard men who have proven themselves a dozen times over before they take the oath. Armoured in heavy plate and mail beneath thick furs, they wield great two-handed axes that can cleave a marauder from crown to breastbone, and they stand in the front rank wherever the fighting is bloodiest. Their loyalty is absolute; a Kreml Guardsman dies before he yields a single step of ground his ruler stands upon, and the order's history is a long roll of last stands made against impossible odds. When the walls of the capital are breached and the north pours in, it is the Kreml Guard who form the final ring of steel around the throne.