There's some evidence in WFRP 4e that the Empire's barrow people may just
be Belthani.
Archives of the Empire 3, Cult of the Old Faith, page 56
There is not any one true Old Faith, it is a collection of beliefs and traditions that date back to the time before the gods as they are currently understood were worshipped.
Adherents of the Old Faith are organised around the family, with long lineages closely associated with Ishernos, the godand-goddess figure seen as governing nature and fertility. The most exalted are the Druidic Families, who see themselves as descendants of Belthani shamans.
Dark Druids
Ancient tribes that migrated north into the Empire practised many types of spirit-magic, including mortuary rituals that would later influence necromancy. The oldest druidic circles often consist of waystones repurposed into animal totems in the likeness of old southern gods. Mounds and dolmens housing the remains of barrow kings are sometimes guarded by these statues. Over the centuries, witch hunters and Jade Wizards have driven Old Faith druids into obscurity by claiming that their nature gods are truly Chaos daemons.
Medhe was a very important figure to the folk who settled in the ancient Vorbergland, and many barrows are decorated with his sigil.
Mheava is a Vorberglander.
Page 60, History of the Hedge Witches
When the Belthani, the early tribes, first arrived in the lands that would become the Empire, there were hedge witches among the people. Such folk practised their arts openly, brewing potions, crafting charms, and advising tribal chiefs. As the tribes settled in different regions, distinct traditions evolved. In Averland, hedge witches are thought to arise from the rites practised by Brigundian priest-kings; in Nordland and Ostland, there is evidence to suggest that the worship of a nearly forgotten goddess, Halétha the Guardian, gave rise to the customs local hedge witches follow; in nearby Middenland, a divine 'Chieftain of Cats', presumed by many to be an antecedent of Ranald, is credited as a divine progenitor; and in Wissenland, folk have come to believe that hedge witches were inspired by Verena, who blessed them with a gift of wisdom and arcane knowledge.
Page 66, Foundation of the Cult [of Rhya]
Rhya's devotees have always been simple folk who live from the land, so written histories of the cult are rare and unreliable. Oral traditions are little better, as they evolve and change to suit the listener rather than present literal truth.
The most primitive Humans that first migrated to the Old World needed to stave off hunger and to find shelter from predators and the cold. They venerated a god known as Ishernos, who represented respect and fear of nature and provided protection from the harsh world. Theologians posit that this god later split into Taal and Rhya, with the latter bestowing the blessings of spring and summer — new life and food foraged and hunted from the land.
As the tribes gave up their nomadic lives to settle, they revered her as the Earth Mother, who is said to have brought the secret of agriculture. The Belthani, as the earliest Human tribes are called, believed that Rhya gave them the gift of domesticated grain, tamed animals, and the secrets of farming. In gratitude, the Belthani venerated Rhya at the mysterious stone circles they discovered across the land. A rudimentary priesthood developed from the women who guarded the secrets given by Rhya. Some scholars think Rhya is a modern incarnation of the goddess venerated by the Old Faith. Others consider her the first civilising god, bringing settlement and order to the capriciousness of nature.
As more tribes settled, those who depended most on farming favoured Rhya over the other primal gods. The Asoborns, Bretonni, the Brigundians and the Menogoths gave the goddess special reverence. The Taleuten tribe gave Taal a dominant role, but worshipped Rhya as his divine consort.
Archives of the Empire 1, page 70
The Frugelhorn was long believed by the ancient Belthani tribes of the eastern Grey Mountains to be a place of particular spirituality — a locus of the power of nature. For a time, the mountain slopes nearest the glacier and the lake became a favoured place to build burial mounds for chiefs and priests.
Krell, who had been a Chaos Champion nearly a millennium and a half before Sigmar's birth, was slain by a Dwarf hero, Grimbul Ironhelm, and buried by his followers in a barrow tomb amid the Belthani dead.
WFRP 1e: Dwarfs - Stone and Steel says that human tribes entered the Reik Basin from the south. Mheava speaks Language (Classical). Further, there's an adventure in One Shots of the Reikland where you're dealing with an Unberogen wight called Kurgorn Three-Eyes, one of the effects of his haunting is messages in Classical manifesting on the walls.
So, weaving this all together. The Belthani migrated in from the south, speaking Classical as southerners do, and potentially carrying beliefs and mortuary practices influenced by Nehekhara. However, the Belthani were not a homogenous or static group. They had different magical traditions, hedge magic among them, and their religious practices differed across time and space between Old Faith, Ishernos, and Rhya. At least some of the Belthani were barrow builders, and it's possible some Belthani tribes were more warlike than others, so it could be their people who necromancers raise up as wights.
The Scythian practice of barrow-building was coincidental. The Scythians came up with it independently, while the Belthani got the practice from emulating Nehekhara or from also developing it independently. (WFRP 2e: Realm of the Ice Queen page 46 says that Kislev has both Belthani and Scythian ruins, so maybe they had contact with each other. How or if they influenced each other's burial practices would be a question though.)
The linguistics in this theory are troublesome. An Unberogen is speaking Classical instead of his own language, though that can be explained by conquerors adopting the tongue of a conquered people. What's trickier to explain is the Belthani speaking Classical at all. Sure they came from the south, but then why is translating their writing so difficult? Did the Tileans/Estalians and Belthani speak the language but develop different ways of writing with it? Further, Archives 3 gives Hedge Witches access to Language (Belthani), not Language (Classical); was this intentional or an oversight? Is Language (Belthani) essentially
modern Classical, changed after thousands of years?
