Background[]
Childhood in Kislev[]
Beginning in the frozen land of Kislev, Peter Tsarovich was born in the city of Ptorsk, near the border between the Empire and Kislev. Born to a family of little wealth, it was up to him as the only son to work from a young age in order for the rest of his siblings to eat. After the death of his father from an early age, he became the sole provider for his family, until the Cult of Sigmar took it upon themselves to take in a family in need.
Ptorsk is near the southern border of Kislev.
Peter would spend years in the temple dedicated to Sigmar in Ptorsk, in the Empire section of the city. While Kislev had a strong alliance with the Empire, religious feelings were hostile between the Cult of Sigmar and the Cult of Urson. After watching the Cult of Urson vandalize the church that took him in, he quickly converted to a Sigmarite and began studying the religion under Vicar Oslo the Pious.
Sacking of Ptorsk[]
After finishing his training, and becoming a pledged Warrior-Priest of Sigmar, he was sent to local towns and villages to conduct sermons over small parishes. During one trip around the nearby countryside, a rough blizzard had him stuck in a small town in the middle of the Shirokij Forest. His stay there was interrupted when Beastmen were heard charging through the storm, but because of the conditions, were not seen until it was too late. Peter took it upon himself to defend the nearby inn where most of the denizens resided. Calling upon Sigmar, light came down and cleared the storm around the small town. Filled with zealous rage, he quickly slaughtered as many Beastmen as he could, before they fled the small town. Afterwards, he waited out the rest of the storm and returned home to Ptorsk a few weeks later.
Upon approaching the gates of Ptorsk, he saw that the old wooden gates and palisades were knocked down and broken. Rushing into the city, he found that the Beastmen attack in the small village was not just a raid, but part of a combined assault on many of the cities in the Shirokij Forest. Rushing to the church, he opened the doors to find the carcasses of his mother and sisters, along with the corpses of priests and members strewn about. Vicar Oslo was not found, but his hammer was left behind. Feeling nothing but pure rage, Peter headed towards the Empire.
Peter with Oslo's war hammer.
Search for Vicar Oslo[]
Years were spent by Peter searching for his mentor, Vicar Oslo the Pious, but he was never to be found. Searching from Kislev to the Empire to Estalia to Tilea, until he hung up his hammer and found a small parish to begin giving sermons at. There, he would become a respected figure as both the local priest and as a trainer for those who wanted to join the local militia. He lived out a few years of his life there, until receiving a mysterious message.
One day, while he walked up the stairs of his church to the bells, he found a letter tied to the bell. Upon reading it, he was surprised to see that the author was none other than Vicar Oslo, or so it claimed to be. The letter said that Oslo did the best he could, defending the church for as long as he could, but when he saw that there were hundreds of Beastmen waiting outside the church, he fled into a secret room in the church, listening to the screams of humans and bugling of Beastmen. He said that day he lost his faith in Sigmar, and that he lived a beggar's life, traveling from city to city, until chancing upon the small town which Peter had saved. Listening to that story made Oslo strive to find Peter, which he eventually did, culminating in the letter.
Enraged that Oslo would abandon his people and faith when they needed him most, Peter immediately went to each household, asking if they had seen an old weathered man around his church. None in the town had seen him, driving Peter to the point of insanity. Relinquishing him from this insanity was the call to Nuln by the Emperor. Picking up his war hammer, he would march off to Nuln to defend it from the horde of Tamurkhan.