War Bear Riders

War Bear Riders ride to war upon the great bears of the northern forests, huge and shaggy beasts sacred to Ursun the Bear-God whom all Kislev reveres. To raise and ride such a creature is a holy calling, undertaken by warriors of the deep woods who live alongside the bears from cubhood and earn their trust over long years. In battle the bears are a force few enemies can withstand: they shrug off blows that would fell a horse, tear apart armoured foes with claw and jaw, and their very reek and roar send lesser mounts into blind panic. The riders atop them fight with axe and lance, but it is the bears that do the real killing, wading into the thickest press and scattering ranks like snow before the wind. To the Kislevites they are a blessing made flesh, the strength of Ursun himself lent to the realm; to the enemies of the north they are a nightmare of tooth and claw that no shield-wall can hold.