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Yelena Volshka - Novel Project Memo

3 min read

Core Concept

An existentialist salvation story set in a reimagined Kislev (Warhammer Fantasy), following an orphaned hag witch apprentice who loses everything in a Chaos invasion and must find her spiritual belonging to become the embodiment of Kislev’s national spirit.

Worldbuilding Foundation

The Bear God Mythology

  • After Ursun’s death, the stalwart faith of Kislev people and their kinship to nature births a new deity: the God of Bear and Homeland
  • All living beings in Kislev feel an instinctive divine call that death defending their homeland is the noblest mortal end
  • Souls are collected by the Bear God and return to the “oneness of Kislev”
  • Central tension: Animalistic desire for life vs. divine call of holy selflessness creates eternal dichotomy across all society

Military-Social Structure

Kislev’s Defense Strategy: Finnish-inspired model rather than Russian geographical depth

  • Three major cities: Economic and population hubs
  • Rural areas: Sacrificial buffer zones cultivated by farmer-soldiers
  • Core military unit: Kossars (farmer-soldiers who purchase own weapons/armor, partially government-sponsored)

Layered Defense System:

  1. Border Kossars: Purchase horses, flee initial invasion, become guerrilla scouts/light cavalry
    • Blessed by Bear God for bravery and wilderness relationship
    • Partner with bears/leopards, some learn beast magic and become druids/shapeshifters
    • Hunt, gather herbs, fish, work timber
  2. Interior Kossars: Better access to armor/firearms, become heavy infantry
    • Farm closer to cities, more stable, serve as logistic hubs
  3. Hag Witch Glades: Mini-kingdoms in deep forests, conduct attrition warfare
  4. Mobile Divisions: Sledges, Streltsi, ice/storm mages, sledge-mounted Grom artillery
  5. Counter-attack Force: Tzar Guards, Ice Guards, heavy cavalry (bear riders)

Hag Witches

  • View themselves as embodiment and guardians of their glade at birth
  • Their fighters and beast-kin share this spiritual connection
  • Operate as autonomous leaders during resistance campaigns
  • Represent the deepest connection to the Bear God and Kislev’s natural spirit

Protagonist: Yelena Volshka

Background

  • Orphan raised to be a hag witch
  • Mentor and glade destroyed in Chaos invasion
  • Companion: Leo cub that fled with her, later dies
  • Current status: Marginalized member of mage conclave where her beast magic and shapeshifting are dismissed as “rural mud-leg trickeries”

Character Arc

Act I: Loss and displacement - everything with emotional attachment stripped away Act II: Spiritual crisis and alienation in the mage conclave Act III: Voluntary return to destroyed glade during final counter-attack Climax: Becomes the next hag witch atop the ruined, burnt wood

Symbolic Role

  • Personal journey: Existentialist salvation through finding spiritual belonging
  • National symbol: Embodies Kislev’s resilient spirit and authentic cultural identity
  • Thematic representation: Resurrection of true Kislevite values over foreign magical traditions

Literary Approach

  • Genre: Existentialist fantasy in the tradition of Russian realism
  • Themes:
    • Spiritual belonging vs. alienation
    • Authentic cultural identity vs. foreign influence
    • Individual salvation through embracing collective destiny
    • Death and rebirth (personal and national)
  • Tone: Contemplative, melancholic, ultimately redemptive
  • Style: Rich psychological interiority combined with vivid natural/magical imagery

Story Structure Notes

  • Opening: Yelena’s life before the invasion (establish what she loses)
  • Inciting incident: Chaos invasion destroys her glade and mentor
  • Rising action: Journey with leo cub, its death, joining the mage conclave
  • Midpoint: Recognition of her alienation and the dismissal of her true talents
  • Climax: Return to the glade during counter-attack
  • Resolution: Spiritual transformation into the new hag witch

Potential Themes to Explore

  • The tension between survival instinct and noble sacrifice
  • How trauma can lead to spiritual awakening
  • The relationship between individual identity and collective belonging
  • Nature magic vs. formal magical education
  • The cyclical nature of destruction and renewal
  • Finding meaning in loss

Research/Reference Points

  • Russian literary realism (character depth, moral complexity)
  • Finnish Winter War tactics and mindset
  • Slavic folklore and nature spiritualism
  • Existentialist philosophy (Kierkegaard, Sartre, Camus)
  • Warhammer Fantasy Kislev lore as baseline

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