Cathay (Warhammer)

Cathay is a fictional nation in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy universe. Cathay is the Warhammer equivalent of China, based upon Chinese History with an added mixture of High Fantasy and Chinese folklore. Cathay was actually the name given to northern China in the 14th century by Marco Polo. To date, no Warhammer army has been released for Cathay, and almost no official fiction has been written.

Official information on Cathay is hard to find, but in the 6th edition Warhammer Rulebook there is a text describing the fabled kingdom of Cathay and the surrounding lands. Cathay (also known as 'The Kingdom of the Dragon' and the 'Empire of the Celestial Dragon') is described as an enormous empire, ruled over by a divine Emperor. According to what lore is available, merchants from the old world occasionally travel to Cathay upon the Silk Road: a perilous journey due to the hordes of the Hobgobla-Khan who roam the steppes along the Ivory Road west of Cathay. Ogres, who also pose a threat to merchants and travellers, hail from the Mountains of Mourn to the north-west of Cathay with some even going to Cathay to find employment as mercenaries. Some minor information on Cathay can be found in the "Warhammer: Ogre Kingdoms" book, where an item called a Cathayan Longsword is given rules, and a number of magic items such as Jade Amulets are also listed. In north of Cathay is dreaded Chaos Wastes.

The Skaven Clan Eshin spent many years in Cathay and Nippon ('Nippon' being the Warhammer world's equivalent of Japan) learning the ways of Ninjitsu. The Skaven troop types Night Runners and Gutter Runners are martial art apprentices that graduate to become Skaven Assassins.

Other facts about Cathay

* Merchants who trade in Cathay often return with silks, gold, porcelain vases, and magical artifacts and items.
* There are great temples where mystics study the heavens and monks study martial arts. Although Cathay also has many gods, few are mentioned by name or description.
* The most famous such mystics are the Vimtose monks, who follow the Orange Simca.
* Strange creatures abound, from serpentine dragons and tribes of monkey warriors living in the Mountains of Heaven to gigantic, living stone dogs that guard the holy temples of the empire.
* Cathay is at constant war with the armies of the Grand Khanate of the Hobgoblins (this is heavily influenced by the real world conflict between the Mongols and China in the 13–14th century).
* The only date associated with Cathay is in the year c 1699 when 'Emperor Wu' of Cathay received the Tileans Ricco and Robbio, mirroring the journey of Marco Polo.
* In the rulebook of the 7th edition, it is revealed that the current Emperor of Cathay bears the name (or title) Xen Huong, possibly influenced by Huang Long ("Yellow Dragon"), a creature from Chinese mythology often associated with the Emperor. It is claimed that the Emperor is immortal, a claim perhaps borne out by the fact that the Emperor at the time of the creation of the Great Maw (some thousand years ago) was also called Xen Huong.
* Nippon also has an Emperor, and a Warrior caste very similar to real life Samurai. There has been a lot of economic rivalry with Cathay, and they have been at war more than once.
* Published maps of the Warhammer World show some details of Cathay, including the city of Weijin, seat of the Dragon Throne and presumably the empire's capital, the cities of Nan-Gau and Fu-Chow, and the Great Bastion, a massive wall built to protect Cathay from the barbarian Hung (this is a reference to the Great Wall of China).

Games Workshop tales about Cathay

A story entitled "The Voyage of Yin-Tuan to Lustria", presented in White Dwarf 280, relates the history of a Cathayan expedition to the Southlands and being decimated by two hurricanes sent by the Slann, conjured on the strength of an ancient prophecy (an event similar to the real world Kamikaze that destroyed a Mongol Invasion of Japan). Yin-Tuan, the narrator, speaks of Cathay being ruled by an 'Emperor Wu'. The captain also bears a tattoo of 'the Imperial Dragon' which the Lizardmen mistake to be an image of their god Sotek, saving him from ritual sacrifice. The text implies the existence of multiple Cathayan ruling dynasties, historically, explaining that at this period Cathay was ruled by the Wu dynasty.The voyage of Yin-Tuan also mentions the use by the Cathayan military of lacquered hide shields, and an elite guard of the Emperor who sport tiger pelts.

Jack Yeovil's "Beasts in Velvet" and "Silver Nails" feature the character of Dien Ch’ing, a sorcerer of Tzeentch ('Lord Tsien-Tsin') who was driven out of Cathay. In order to bring about the ruin of the Old World he masquerades as the Cathayan ambassador to the Empire. Among his talents is the ability to summon his ancestors and elementals of earth, fire, wind, water and wood. The addition of the fifth ‘wood’ elemental bemuses one of the Old World characters who is only used to four elements. Dien Ch’ing makes constant references to the grudge he has against the ‘Monkey-King’, presumably the current ruler of Cathay. He is frequently referred to, not as being 'Cathayan', but a 'Celestial'

The Estragon's Island campaign (which was published in White Dwarf 297) featured several mystical objects of Cathayan origin along with a character (Ty Chan'Cho) who was presumubly Cathayan.

According to another story (citation needed), when the vampires fled from Lahmia after their defeat, many went north, yet reference is also made to a vampire who travelled "east". A conspiracy theory of sorts has developed that the Immortal Dragon Emperor of Cathay is none other than this vampire.

References

* Stillman, N. 1997. "Warhammer Armies: Lizardmen". Nottingham: Games Workshop Ltd. ISBN 1-872372-56-2
* Stillman, N., Pirinen, T., Wigley, J. 1998. "Warhammer Armies: Dogs of War". Nottingham: Games Workshop Ltd. ISBN 1-872372-02-3
* Yeovil, J. 2005. "The Vampire Genevieve". Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 13: 978-1-84416-244-4

External links

* [http://us.games-workshop.com/games/warhammer/bretonnians/painting/wd314_davetaylor/default.htm The Grand Army of Cathay] , a converted Cathayan army by a Games Workshop employee.
* [http://www.warhammer.net/archives/view.php?id=125&target=wfrp "Cathay" WFRP sourcebook] , a fan-created sourcebook about Cathay and the inspiration for the above army.