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Cathayan Dragons

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"I will give you one piece of advice when dealing with a Cathayan. Never -- whether it be a threat or tavern banter -- mock the Dragons or their empire. I've seen a foreigner do just this in a tea house. His life was measured in moments. And not a drop of tea was spilt -- they're a very tidy people."

—Ezzelin Cocci, Tilean trade cartel[10]
Zhao Ming Iron Dragon Cathay Total War Warhammer 3

Zhao Ming in his true form as the Iron Dragon, a member of the family of Cathayan Dragons who rule over the Human empire of Grand Cathay in the Far East.

The Cathayan Dragons are a family of immortal Dragons who existed in the mortal world before the Old Ones arrived, and have ruled the great Human empire of Grand Cathay in the Far East ever since.[1]

History[]

Dragon-concept-art-1366x768

Concept art for the Cathayan Dragon Miao Ying, the Storm Dragon and ruler of the Northern Provinces, created for Total War: Warhammer III.

Dragons once ruled a large region in the Far Eastern region of the Known World, as they were the dominant intelligent species when the planet was still covered in ice. This rule was cut short when the alien beings known as the Old Ones arrived. They wished to recreate the world in accordance with their own designs, for they had seen that this world would play an important role in the wider destiny of the cosmos, and so they moved it closer to its sun using their vast, arcane knowledge. The warmer climate that resulted was not pleasing to the Dragons, and so most of them entered hibernation. However, a mated pair of Eastern Dragons, Xen Yang and Quai Yin, were powerful enough to avoid having to enter an endless sleep.[6]

With time, the Old Ones began to populate the world with their own creations, among them Mankind, whose primitive tribes eventually spread throughout much of the world. The two Eastern Dragons found a way to magically shapeshift into the form of Humans so that they might influence this new race of beings who entered their domain. The duo eventually came to rule over the tribes of Men that inhabited the lands the Eastern Dragons once roamed. Over the centuries, their rule was formalised as the surrounding civilisation of Men advanced under their leadership. Xen Yang became known to their subjects as the "Dragon Emperor" and his wife Quai Yin as the "Moon Empress," and together the pair ruled the newly founded Celestial Empire of Grand Cathay. As such, the Eastern Dragons and their children became known as "Cathayan Dragons."[6]

When Chaos first entered the world following the destruction of the Old Ones' Polar Gates and the resulting onset of the Great Catastrophe, the Old Ones were either destroyed or abandoned the planet whose destiny they had changed forever. But the Dragon Emperor chose to defend his burgeoning mortal empire. To this end, he created the Great Bastion, a great, magical wall that has stood for millennia against the ever-present threat of Chaos and its mortal and Daemonic servants in the Northern Wastes. Since that time, Chaos has remained the most serious threat to the people of Grand Cathay.[3]

Miao Ying Storm Dragon Cathay Total War Warhammer III

Concept art for the Cathayan Dragon Miao Ying, the Storm Dragon and ruler of the Northern Provinces, created for Total War: Warhammer III.


Once, the Dragon Emperor and the Moon Empress took an active role in ruling Grand Cathay, dealing with matters of state and diplomacy between the Celestial Empire and the outside world. However, in the present time, the Celestial Dragon Emperor prefers to spend his time in the Celestial City that magically floats above the imperial capital city of Wei-Jin, contemplating the destiny of the empire with his wife, the equally revered Moon Empress. The pair are older than most of the gods of the Old World Pantheon, for they existed when the planet was colder, before even the Old Ones came and pulled it closer to the sun and most of the major mortal races even existed.[1] Yet the Dragon Emperor and the Moon Empress are not gods, nor do they wish to be worshipped as such, but they are nevertheless so spectacularly powerful that they are quite detached from the day-to-day running of their empire, which falls to their children to manage.[2]

Harmony is the driving force behind Cathayan society. The teachings of the Dragon Emperor are such that everyone must work in concert with themselves and the land for the betterment of all and to find their natural place. This quest for harmony drives everything in Cathay, from their magic lores of Yin and Yang to how the Cathayan Dragons govern their people. Far from tyrants or aloof aristocrats, the Cathayan Dragons act as teachers and wardens for the Human populace. They see little point in creating an imbalance between mortals and themselves when the ever-present threat of Chaos will happily destroy them all.[3]

Similarly, the Cathayan Dragons are not treated as gods by their people, nor do they demand worship. They are immensely powerful beings, rulers by magical and physical right rather than mysterious divinity. The iconography of the Cathayan Dragons is common-place and ever-present throughout Cathayan society, but only because they are very real, very present, and very powerful rulers. They are treated by their people with the reverence such powerful and wise beings deserve and speaking ill of them, especially if one is not native to Grand Cathay, is a quick way to get oneself killed.[3]

The Cathayan Dragons often move among the people in Human form. While still evidently far beyond a commoner, they only transform into their true Draconic selves when there is need, embracing their heritage to lay waste to a battlefield and fly far above their military forces. In war, the harmony of the Cathayan way of life is ever-present, their forces acting in concert to lay waste to enemies with devastating precision and calm.[3]

Relations With Other Dragons[]

While they are distant kin of the so-called "Western Dragons", Cathayan Dragons are an off-shoot from the rest of the Draconic race as evidenced by their serpentine, wingless bodies. Like their kin they are incredibly old, ruling over a vast region of the Far Eastern region of the Known World when the planet was still covered in ice. When the world warmed to its current state after being moved closer to its sun by the great works of the Old Ones, Dragons of both lineages struggled to deal with the changing temperature, and many were forced into hibernation.[6]

Those Dragons who found the mystical island-continent of Ulthuan after it was shaped by the Old Ones came into contact with another of the Old One's creations, the Elves. The Dragons of Ulthuan befriended the younger race, even letting some Elves learn to ride them. This partnership allowed the Elves and Dragons alike to survive the coming of Chaos into the world in the Great Catastrophe, and it is an alliance that remains in existence to this day.[6]

However, the Cathayan Dragons, who have chosen to rule over the Human creations of the Old Ones, look down on this Dragon-mortal partnership and their distant kin. They see the Western Dragons allowing themselves to be ridden by mortals as an outrage, an insult. This attitude has extended to Grand Cathay's attitude towards the Elves, who view Dragon riders with disdain.[6]

Notable Cathayan Dragons[]

Genitors[]

Offspring[]

Five Cathayan Dragon children of the Dragon Emperor and the Moon Empress rule over one of the five main administrative areas of Grand Cathay.

There are four other Draconic children of the Dragon Emperor and the Moon Empress of which little is known, but who are listed below.[6]

  • Shen-Zoo - A younger daughter of the Dragon Emperor and Moon Empress, Shen-Zoo is described by her older sister Miao Ying as a bringer of light and hope. She was lost after venturing beyond the mountains of Norsca, and according to Zhao Ming, the bear god Ursun of Kislev witnessed her fate.
  • Shiyama, the Spirit Dragon - Shiyama, the Spirit Dragon of the Underworld, was the first child of the Dragon Emperor and Moon Empress. She was slain before any of her siblings were born. It is said that she sleeps beneath the Dragon River, guiding the souls of the dead to the Ten Courts of Shyish under the stewardship of her Ancestral Monks.[9]
  • Unknown Dragon Child - Nothing of this child is yet known.
  • Unknown Dragon Child - Nothing of this child is yet known.

Dragon-blooded[]

  • Dragon-blooded - The Cathayan Dragons who rule Grand Cathay also have a larger number of more distant, part-Human descendants born from the mortal lovers the Cathayan Dragons have taken over their long lives, called the Dragon-blooded Shugengan, who often serve as important political leaders and powerful spellcasters in Cathay.

Possible Cathayan Dragons[]

Archaon, the thirteenth Everchosen of Chaos Undivided, is said to have battled an Eastern Dragon at some point during his travels to claim his mantle as the champion of the Dark Gods. This might have been the Cathayan Dragon referred to as Yien-Ya-Long ("Flamefang" in Reikspiel), and could be one of the Cathayan Dragon children of Xen Yang and Quai Yin.[6][7a]

Another Cathayan legend tells that the Skaven were vomited out from the gigantic maw of the Great Black Dragon that lives coiled inside the earth.[8a]

Sources[]

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