The resulting centuries of Chaos influence eventually led to wide-spread mutation and social stagnation. Those that remained eventually grew ever more warlike, forsaking the benefits of civilization to instead transform themselves into the ultimate warriors. Those that did not bend to the Dark Gods had since fled southward, such as the people of the Gospodar and Ungol, who themselves were once tribes living within the eastern steppes. Being in such close proximity to the Northern Warp Gates, it was inevitable that in time the Dark Gods began to slowly corrupt and enslave the minds of the Northern Human Tribes. Whilst the more 'civilized' tribes colonized the lands of Tilea, Estalia and the Border Princes, some of these tribes continued northward until they had reached the frozen tundras that separates the rolling plains of the Eastern Steppes from the frozen wastelands of the Chaos Waste. In the very distant past, most if not all of the Northmen's ancestors were descended from Humans who ventured northward during Humanity's earlier migration. History ' It is better to take your own life than to fall into the hands of the Kurgan.' - Karl Althaus, Imperial Pikeman. As such, they form the greatest part of the Armies of the Ruinous Powers, and have at times contributed many of their mightiest champions and most enduring leaders. Savage-hearted, inured to violence and horror, and touched by Chaos, the Kurgan are among the most formidable peoples of the North, as well as the most numerous. Since the body is the physical expression of divine will, the Kurgan place special emphasis on strength and mastery of the physical form. To hasten these changes, many Kurgan bind the heads of their children so they grow oddly, being elongated and malformed. When a mortal gains some change in his form, he is said to be favoured by the tribal god and is accorded a place of special status. Therefore, to the Kurgan, Chaos is no corruptive, maleficient entity, and mutation is no malady of the flesh, but rather the manifestation of their gods' Divine Will in their own mortal flesh. For the Kurgan, as much as they are warriors, are herdsmen and nomads of the great Endless Steppes, who worship the primeval forces of Chaos as embodiments of the world itself, who serve to keep all in a state of Change and Becoming. Such a reputation, though not unfounded, is false, for the Kurgan are indeed Men, and though they may far outstrip the peoples of the South in might and savagery, the differences between them and Old Worlders are miniscule in comparison to those between Humanity and the Elder Races. Those who have survived the brutality of their raids describe them as a race of daemons clothed in the flesh of men, or as mutants more akin to the raging Beastkin than humans, due to their barbarity and vast physical strength.

The Kurgan are a people steeped in mystery, and much as the Norscans, many are the myths and legends that have arisen among Old Worlders regarding them. Regardless of this, however, much like the Norscans, the common term they are known by is an external labelling, for a unified Kurgan nation has not existed since the misty ages before the rise of Sigmar. The Kurgan have thus come to be known by the name, for it is said that they desire to bury the peoples of the south under such similar hills. Their exonym is derived from the burial mounds raised by the Scythian horse-warriors of old, from whom they are said to descend. Kurgan are a race of mighty, nomadic, copper-skinned horse-warriors who dwell under the shadow of Chaos, in the vast Eastern Steppes that border the Chaos Wastes. And we do not create new, seemly gods to conform with our hopes for the world.' - Alakreiz, Kurgan Marauder. ' You may call us heathens, savages or even brutes, but we are closest to the gods.

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