From the publisher: "Once upon a time, east of the sun and west of the moon, there was a different place, but not too different..." So begin many of the oldest folktales of Russia. A land of icy winters and fiery passions, where the warrior who was trying to split you in half with his axe an hour ago may be swearing eternal friendship in an hour’s time (a jug or two of vodka might help). A land just now throwing off Mongol rule and yet still not a country in its own right, in which princes scheme and bicker as they seek to make themselves tsar. A land torn between the new teachings of Christianity and the old, pagan ways of the wilds and the household spirit. A land where saints walk the day and mighty spirits of the forest walk the night, where the fish you catch may offer you three wishes for its life and the twinkle of light in the night might be the Firebird himself, leading lost children back home, or a stray moonbeam shining off the iron teeth of Baba Yaga, the man-eating witch. A land of deep, dark woods, in which humanity has still made few inroads, huddled in towns and around campfires in clearings and along rivers. A land of legend and folktale, history and myth, of triumph and tragedy. A land ready for adventure. Mythic Russia is a game of roleplaying with the HeroQuest game system in the ancient Russia of legend and folktale, a land of glittering onion-domed churches and dark, dangerous forests, home to heroes, fiends -- and the flame-feathered firebird. Mythic Russia is written by Mark Galeotti. As well as being an academic specialist in Russian history, he has a long association with gaming and a particular understanding of the HeroQuest system, having been one of its developers and also Acquisitions Editor for Issaries, Inc. In his words, "this is unapologetically a labour of love: I have always wanted to see the magic, whimsy and horror of Russian history and folklore brought to life, and I think in HeroQuest we finally have the game system able to do it justice." Mythic Russia uses the core game engine [from HeroQuest], adapted for play in this setting. However, it is entirely compatible with HeroQuest.