The Moon Empress, whose personal name is Quai Yin, the Moon Dragon, and is also called "Empress of Grand Cathay", the "Mistress of the Ancestral Realms," "Commander of the Imperial Agents" and "Master of the Moon Winds," is an immortal Cathayan Dragon and the co-ruler and empress of the Far Eastern empire of Grand Cathay with her husband, the Dragon Emperor, Xen Yang. With her consort, the Moon Empiress directly rules her empire's Imperial Provinces.[2]
Along with her husband, the Moon Empress spends most of her time in the Celestial City above the Cathayan capital of Wei-Jin, contemplating the destiny of the empire. Like the other Dragons of Cathay, she can shapeshift into Human form to communicate with her subjects.[1]
In Grand Cathay, archery, and the use of missile weapons, is traditionally the domain of women. Though men can, and do, make up some of the empire’s missile troops – most notably those who wield the gunpowder weapons of the Great Bastion – the majority of archers and crossbow troops are female. This is the work of the Moon Dragon Quai Yin, herself an exceptional archer, who has for centuries encouraged girls across Cathay to master the art of bow and crossbow, as well as blessing their efforts with her magic.[4a]
The Moon Empress is aligned with the Yin energies of celestial harmony, and is thus more associated with night and subtlety, but is not herself in any way evil or tainted by Chaos despite the association of Yin with the energies of Dark Magic. Instead, she embodies Yin in its aspect as one-half of the needed balance that brings harmony to creation. Quai Yin has Crow-men agents who go out across Cathay to root out Chaos Cults and other insidious forces that threaten the stability of the empire.[2]
History[]
The Moon Empress and her husband have existed for long ages, and were alive even before the Old Ones arrived and used their arcane might and herculean engineering skill to push the Known World closer to its sun to make it more amenable to new forms of life. The Moon Empress, like the Celestial Dragon Emperor, has little love for the Old Ones' grand feats of global engineering.[1]
Cathayans know the white moon, known as Mannslieb in the Old World, as Yueyin and it is closely associated with the Moon Empress. Some stories say Quai Yin was born on Yueyin and is the last of a race to once dwell upon its cold, white continents -- and that she took on the form of a Cathayan Dragon so she could descend to the mortal world. There she met with the Celestial Dragon, who she taught the secrets of shapeshifting. She then passed such power on to her children. If these tales are to be believed, then Quai Yin is not a true Dragon like those of the Known World, but something else entirely.[4]
The oldest records of the Cathayans tell of a man and a woman who travelled together among the ancient tribes of Men in the Far East uniting people. Of the man, they speak of his handsomeness and strength; of the woman, they tell of of her compassion and wisdom. Today, as then, the Moon Dragon Empress is a counter-balance to the blazing strength and fire of the Celestial Dragon. Where he represents the elemental Yang of the light magicks, she is the elemental Yin of the dark sorceries.[4]
Family[]
The Moon Empress and Dragon Emperor have 9 children, who are also immortal, shapeshifting Cathayan Dragons. Five are known to rule various provinces of Grand Cathay in their parents' name.[2]
Canon Conflict[]
In the novel Guardians of the Forest by Graham McNeill, Leofric Carrard, a knight of Bretonnia, set off on a Grail Quest. He travelled far and wide, journeying to lost lands and encountering many strange and wonderful things. In distant Grand Cathay he slew the Jade Dragon of the Emerald River and saved the wives of the Dragon Emperor Zhang-Jimou from decapitation by the Executioner Cult of the Jade Pearl.[3]
Trivia[]
In Mandarin Chinese, the Moon Empress' personal name, Quai Yin (桂阴) is written with the characters 桂 (guì - "the laurel tree; the Osmanthus flower") and 阴 (yīn - "darkness; the Yin element; the moon"), which can be translated as "Shadow of the Laurel" or "Osmanthus Moon." The word guì 桂 or "Osmanthus" was frequently used in medieval Chinese poetry to refer to the moon.[5]
Sources[]
- 1: Total War Blog Grand Cathay FAQ
- 2: Full Interview With Warhammer 3's Lead Writer Andy Hall - Total War Warhammer 3 - Lorebeards Podcast October 12, 2021
- 3: Additional Cathay Lore Revealed!
- 3: Guardians of the Forest (Novel) by Graham McNeill
- 4: Total War: Warhammer III (PC Game)
- 4a: The Grace of Quai Yin Unit Description
- 5: Reddit - Chinese name translations for all confirmed Cathayan Dragons