Cathay, the Jewel of the East, an Empire of men that has grown larger and spanned further than any other human nation across the millenia. And at the epicentre of all Cathayan activity stood the mighty city Wei-jin, Seat of the Dragon Throne and home to the Eastern empire. But this is an empire who stands not just because of its size or beauty, but because of the steadfast faith of its citizens who have managed to keep the armies of Tzeentch, the Skaven and the Ogres at bay for several centuries through their diligence and loyalty to the Celestial Dragon Emperor, Xen Huong, who in his divinity has watched over this Empire for some 300 years now.

Zhao Fei, Grand General of Cathay, also known as the Blue Dragon or the Lord of War by his men along the Great Bastion and Tower of Ashshair that keeps the forces of ruin at bay, has returned to the seat of power to seek audience with the Emperor’s strategists over a newly arisen issue. He entered the palace, flanked by the Emperor’s Guard and their captain, Huan Bei, as he was brought to the meet the Grand Imperial Strategist, Chu-Ye Xian, a Master of the Art of War who gained the title of Sleeping Dragon by his peers for his ability outwit them with seemingly insignificant effort. Chu-Ye Xian thanked the captain for his escort before dismissing him back to the palace perimeter at which point he proceeded to speak with the general.

Zhao Fei exchanged pleasantries with the Master Strategist for a moment only for a third dignitary to enter the room. This figure known as Tian Shi, Master of the Heavens, Sage of the Stars and Great Astromancer walked up to the room’s table and proceeded to create a projection of the territories beyond the Great Bastion upon it, thereby forming a battle map with live visuals for the strategist to look upon. The general spoke.

Zhao Fei: “Thank you both for agreeing to this consultation. I only wish it had been of better circumstances. Our guards have noticed a sharp increase in the number of traders who fail to reach our lands via the Silk Road within recent months. As such, we sent out a detachment of Qilin-riders and found this…

Zhao Fei pointed at an area of the projection and motioned for the astromancer to zoom in on its location.

Zhao Fei: “Here, in the Vale of the Titans we have uncovered a colossal ogre campsite. We believe it to be a slaving camp, as signified by the central pit wherein slaves would be forced to stay.”

Chu-ye Xian: “And you believe that our merchants have been taken as slaves there.”

Zhao Fei: “Indeed so, my Lord.”

Chu-ye Xian: “I see they have a giant too and a hitching post for stonehorns. And what is that?” The strategist pointed at a large object covered by tar-pooling on the map.

Zhao Fei: “That is their cargo….a dreadquake mortar.”

Chu-Ye Xian: “You must be mistaken. That weapon is of Dwarf design.”

Zhao Fei: “There is no error. Our scouts have confirmed that it is a dual-mounted dreadquake device. This brings us to their lord. The slavelord’s tent carries the sigil of Braugh.”

Chu-ye Xian swore loudly.

Zhao Fei: “It appears you have heard of him then…”

Chu-Ye Xian: “Indeed you could say that. Braugh the Slavelord or Ghrask Dragh (which translates as ‘corpse-slaver’) as the Dawi Zharr call him is a legend among the man eaters. Back when he was a Maneater travelling the forests of the Old World, Braugh was imprisoned by a powerful Necromancer. But Braugh was strong even for an Ogre, and eventually broke free of the Necromancer’s dungeons. He found his captor asleep in a coffin, and beat him to death with a chair, skinning the remains as a trophy. Braugh then ate half of the Necromancer’s prisoners and dragged the rest away as slaves, tying them to his gut-plate with the enchanted chains he had ripped from the dungeon wall. However, upon escaping he discovered that the chains he carried were enchanted with a curse that prevented its captors from ever truly dying. Since then he has used those chains to forge a horrid slaving network wherein slaves work until they die, only to be raised into undeath by the chains and be forced to continue working forevermore….Braugh has been an absolute nightmare to our diplomatic corps ever since, taking some of our best officers in their dozens. But if Braugh is transporting a Dreadquake….yes, this may just be our golden opportunity to put an end to his reign of terror.”

Zhao Fei: “How do you figure?”

Chu-ye Xian: “If Braugh has been paid to transport a Dreadquake device then….yes, yes….it means he has sided against his own kin in their war with the Dawi Zharr. All it would take is for us to inform theGoldtooth clan of this act of treason and Greasus would have Braugh flayed.”

Zhao Fei: “But what of the hostages? The Ogre tyrants would merely hand them into their own version of servitude.”

Chu-ye Xian: “Ah…indeed you are correct. We shall need to extract the hostages before Goldtooth arrives. Let us refer back to the campsite in which case. See those tents, those are the dwellings of Braugh’s maneaters, Ogre bulls with a history of raiding foreign lands and acquiring their armour and weaponry along the way. Based on the concentration of the tents I would suggest that there cannot be more than 7…maybe 800 of them.”
Zhao Fei: “They have a Gnoblar pit as well.”
Chu-Ye Xian: “Indeed they do. Alas given that we cannot see how deep that pit may be and the fact that gnoblars all sleep on top of one another, it is seemingly impossible to know how many of them there may be; could be a few hundred, could be thousands. Fortunately, their poor living conditions should give them morale levels weaker than their own slaves.”
Zhao Fei: “All we know of the dreadquake is that a wheel was damaged, hence why the Dawi Zharr need to have it moved back to their lands via slave labour. We cannot judge how effective it may be so we must act under the assumption that the dual mortars themselves are functional.”
Chu-Ye Xian: “In that case we must prioritise neutralising that weapon. Consider the slopes of the plateau in which the Ogres have nestled their camp. Traditionally I would recommend a cavalry charge to flank the enemy army and take the artillery out of their control. However, on this occasion I fear the terrain may be too steep for cavalry manoeuvres, resulting in the horses needing to slow down to keep their riders from falling from their saddles. In which case I would recommend you bring a unit of Jin-Shan riders to stride across the terrain with greater ease.”
Zhao Fei: “With respect Master of Tactics, the toad cavalry remain untested in the field.”
Chu-Ye Xian: “They shall be tested by the time this battle has passed. Ideally we would avoid battle and dispatch with these beasts by sending our nightblades to tamper with their food supply. Unfortunately, we cannot be certain that the slaves are not being fed from the leftovers of the bulls’ meat…nor that the slaves are not the food themselves. As such battle will be inevitable. Now, inspect the giant. He appears to be malnourished for a beast of that size, a clear indicator of his status as a slavegiant as opposed to his large free kin. As such, the lack of belly fat should surely act in our favour, allowing him to more easily be taken down. As little as two regiments of ballistae armed with 1.50 metre javelins should be enough to pierce the beast’s hide. The stone horns will be rather more difficult to manage as Braugh’s prized monsters. Still, a sustained fire-based attack by Qilin riders and rocket battery crews should be enough to terrify the beasts.”
Zhao Fei: “Perhaps we should add a Phoenix to the mix just to be sure?”
Chu-ye Xian: “I would recommend against it. We have yet to fully master their handling and while they can be devastating, they may incur civilian casualties.”
Zhao Fei: “True my Lord. What of the army itself? Shall I enlist the services of the Swordsaints.”
Chu-ye Xian: “No, looking at the makeup of the standard bull or maneater, these ogres carry blunt force weaponry such as hammers, clubs and maces. As such, the heavy armour and elite training of the swordsaints would be wasted on them since whether wearing armour or not, a hammer to the head will always inflict damage. Instead, I recommend a more nimble force lightly armoured infantrymen, armed predominantly with swords and shields. They will surely perish, but better for them to die than to waste elite soldiers and they will buy you the time you need. I also recommend you enlist a contingency of hill tribesmen to help the militias navigate through the mountain passes, as well as steppe archers of course. With luck, the smaller size of this skirmish shall diminish the odds of your March being noticed by nearby clans. Finally, wherever maneaters tread Leadbelchers shall always follow. As such, I recommend you bring a large, bulky unit with you to soak up stray artillery fire. For that reason, I recommend you speak to the Wu-Jen to unleash a Brass Titan on our foes. Now you have your instructions general. By the light of the sun and the dragon which dwells within it, the Palace of the Celestial Emperor bids you success!”
Zhao Fei: “Thank you, Master of Tactics.”
Zhao Fei bowed before his lord as the great astromancer did the same, removing the projection of the map that had manifested on the table. And so Zhao Fei proceeded to form the army composition that Chu-ye Xian had recommend for the task at hand. It took almost three weeks to gather the army beyond the Great Bastion, mainly due to the Brass Titan which needed to be taken apart for transportation and then rebuilt (including magical blessings) once it had arrived but finally, Zhao Fei was ready to descend into the Vale of Titans. All in all, Zhao Fei’s army consisted of

• 1,500 Infantrymen
• 500 Hill Tribesmen
• 200 Steppe Nomads
• 2 Regiments of Qilin riders (32 in total) with fire bombs (gunpowder-based grenades)
• 1 Brass Titan
• 2 regiments of Stormhurler Ballistae drawn by horse carriage.
• 4 “Fire Arrow” Rocket Batteries drawn by horse carriage.
• 41 Jin-Shan with riders armed with guandaos led by Zhao Fei himself.

…..While the Cathayan forced marched through the mountainous wastes to liberate their kin, the slaves continued to labour under the weight of Ogre brutality. The slaves trudged through the dirt, desperately pulling the Dreadquake mortar station by their long chains which were connected to Braugh’s stonehorn on the other end, the same chains which would automatically raise them as zombies should their bodies fail them. Those who still stood living be they imperials, Cathayan, Dwarf or elf in origin who numbered at somewhere around the 300 mark, desperately pulled on the chains connected to the immense weapon of chaotic engineering as they all sang a common refrain:Slave 1: “Look round, look round! Don’t look Braugh in the eye!”

• In unison: “Look round, look round! You’ll be here after you die!”

Slave 2: “No gods above! Nor even hell below!”

• In unison: “Look round, look round! Braugh brings hell to you!”

Slave 3: “I’ve done no wrong. Great Sigmar hear my prayer!”

• In unison: “Look round, look round! Great Sigmar doesn’t care!”

Slave 4: “I know they will come, they will save me soon!”

• In unison: “Look round, look round! All saviours will join by noon!”

Slave 5: “I know she’ll wait. I know our love is true!”

• In unison: “Look round, look round! They’ve all forgotten you!”

Slave 6: “How long? How long? I’ve been here twenty years!”

• In unison: “Look round, look round! You’ll be here for all your years!”

Slave 7: “When I get free, you won’t see me. I’ll be gone hurrah!”

• In unison: “Look round, look round! You’ll always be a slave. Look round, look round, you’ll stand without a grave!”

As the nightblades reported back to their general over the treatment of their kin, Zhao Fei knew tonight would be the time to do away with this ogre menace once and for all. The only question is will they be able to defeat its camp of 800 Maneaters & Bulls, 3 Stonehorns of which one is ridden by Braugh the Slavelord, 1 Slavegiant and 40 Leadbelchers, 1 damaged but potentially operational dreadquake mortar and an unknown number of gnoblars without killing the hostages in the crossfire?
….

• Love React: Having seen the atrocities committed to their enslaved kin, Zhao Fei ordered his army to attack. First, while the enemy still largely slept, he ordered the fire arrow crews to aim straight at the tent, burning ogres in their dozens as they woke up. While the batteries fired, the Cathayan army commenced with their general advance. Braugh woke from his tent and immediately set off to mount his stonehorn only to see them being massacred by the Qilin riders who were lobbing fire bombs at them while they were still tied to their hitching posts. The slavegiant rose to its feet and began to ramble towards the oncoming Cathayan army and its mighty brass titan with its massive club. However, after only taking a handful of steps the giant was suddenly grounded by two consecutive ballista bolts, one to the gut and the other to the collarbone.

With the giant and stonehorns dealt with, the Cathayan army advanced towards the newly woken maneaters and bull monstrous infantry with the mighty Brass Titan leading the charge, carving large swaths through the enemy ranks. As expected, the leadbelchers targeted the brass titan but its dense armour enabled it to withstand those volleys while acting as a target to reduce fire against the infantry while they battled the ogre infantry. Having lost his stonehorn, Braugh opened the gate for the gnoblars to escape their hovel and join the fight, though it turned out there were only a few hundred of them in there as he then made his way to the slave pit to threaten their lives. The gnoblars who numbered at around 500 in the end charged into battle only to flee after taking as little as 6 casualties. The steppe nomads pursued the goblin-offshoots on horseback, making sure that many more of these creatures would die this day.
The Imperial infantry and hill tribesmen fought valiantly against the massive maneaters, with both sides taking large casualties. Still, the long poleaxe-style weapons of the hill tribesmen proved invaluable in dispatching the large brutes with relative ease while the infantry desperately protected each other with thei shields. As all this happened, General Zhao Fei was leading the Jin-Shan toad riders around the slopes of the valley, moving with sufficient speed and dexterity to avoid damage from any leadbelchers who changed their angle of fire until finally the Jin-Shan riders circled behind the camp, killed any ogres in the vicinity of the Dreadquake mortar and neutralised the device.
As his clan disintegrated, Braugh entered the slave pit and proceeded to clobber dozens of them with his hammer. However, just as he thought he had the upper hand, fate’s wheel changed for the slaves realised they were not truly unarmed, they had their chains! Zombie slaves jumped on Braugh from all sides and gave all they could to keep him down as he tore them limb from limb while the living slaves did their best to wrap their chains around him and pull. Just as they had been forced to pull the chaotic weapon before, the slaves whether living or dead now rallied together and heaved on the chains as hard as they could until finally, the chains constricted around the Slavelord’s throat and caused him to asphyxiate. With their master destroyed, the zombie slaves no longer had a magical binding and began to crumble. They would finally be able to rest. Zhao Fei and the Jin-Shan rode over to escort the living slaves out of the battlefield as his army proceeded to finish the ogres off, now able to use their rocket batteries, grenade-throwing Qilin riders, Steppe archers and ballistae to full effect without worrying over civilian casualties. ….

• Angry React: The Cathayan army approached Braugh’s campsite only for everything to go horribly wrong for while they marched under the cover of darkness, they were unaware of the fact their brass titan had been seen by Braugh’s lookout posts. Zhao Fei continued to march alongside his troops only to be caught off guard when a loud explosion was heard from the camp, followed by a hurtling ball of fire which flew through the air only to explode in the brass titans face. The immense chunks of copper and zinc which made up its brass texture shattered and fell apart, thereby allowing its core of molten lava to seep out and burn the soldiers below while the metal shell fell and crushed hundreds of men.

Without wasting a second, Zhao Fei gave the order to scramble the troops and attack as he mounted his Jin-Shan to circumnavigate the campsite and shut down the chaotic weapon of war. The army charged but had lost all sense of surprise as they ran straight into the oncoming tide of maneaters, bulls, the slavegiant and what transpired to be a massive force of almost 7000 gnoblars. The qilin attempted to fly overhead only to be blasted out of the sky by the leadbelchers while the Jin-Shan riders came into trouble of their own as the three Stonehorn mounts ran straight into them while Braugh used his necromantic chains to compel the zombie slaves to surround the toad riders, thereby placing them in a proverbial tar pit. Zhao Fei wasted his last breaths surrounded by the very people he came to save until finally, Braugh’s stonehorn knocked him off his mount with its horns and proceeded to crush the general under its hooves.
Meanwhile the Cathayan artillery had been attempting to set their equipment up but it was too late, far too late. The Dreadquake Mortar fired another blast, landing in the centre of the artillery staging ground before exploding in an eruption that incinerated over half of the Cathayan infantry and killed every single artillery member. The infantry and hillsmen continued to fight to the end as the stonehorns came over to aid the maneaters and slavegiant but it became very clear that there was no way for the Cathayans to win this battle. As such, a retreat was sounded and the Cathayans fled for the hills as only 2 Qilin riders, the Steppe Nomads and around a hundred infantry men managed to escape the field……even the gnoblars managed to get a few kills in as they pursued their routing enemies!….

• Laugh React: The Cathayan army approached Braugh’s campsite only for them to be seen by Braugh’s lookout posts. As such, while the ogres all emerged from their tents and began to unhook their giant and stonehorns from their hitching posts, the Cathayans hunkered down where they stood and began to set their artillery up while their infantry closed ranks and the steppe nomads, Qilin riders and Jin-Shan advanced. The steppe nomads acted in a skirmishing capacity, firing arrows at the lightly armoured maneaters while always staying mobile enough to keep away from the ogres thanks to their steeds. The Jin-Shan circled around the battlefield while the brass titan made contact with the enemy front lines and the Qilin flew over everyone. However, as Zhao Fei rode around the campsite, it became clear that the Qilin stood a better chance of shutting the Dreadquake mortar down than they did so long as the Qilin would not be blasted from the heavens by the leadbelchers first. As such, Zhao Fei called for the toad riders to charge into the camp and attack any ogre that so much as lifted a sling. The toads sprung around, dodging maneater blades as they jumped over entire battlelines before finally getting close enough for their riders to make quick work of the cannon-wielding ogres with their guandao poleweapons. The Qilin flew overhead and finally made it into range of the dreadquake mortar which had yet to be fired and proceeded to destroy it using their fire bombs.

Back at the frontline a great brawl had emerged between the slavegiant and the brass titan who wrestled and threw each other across the field, crushing both Cathayan and Ogre infantry alike. The ogre knocked the titan flat on its back with a blow to the face from its club only for the titan to get back up and stab the giant in the chest with its pole-weapon before lifting the giant up and slamming its body down on the maneaters, bulls and gnoblars. Meanwhile, the Cathayan artillery was finally ready to fire after heavy casualties had been taken on both sides and proceeded to fire, burning hundreds of remaining ogres with its rocket batteries and immobilising the stonehorns with the javelins of their stormhurler ballistae.
However, as all this commotion went on one final battle remained. Despite defeating the leadbelchers, the Jin-Shan riders had now put themselves in a compromising spot as gnoblars and slave zombies surrounded them and weighed the toads down so they could not jump away. As such, Zhao Fei dismounted and lifted his guandao as he proceeded to cut dozens of opponents with his bladed staff as he used his prowess in martial arts to both outwit and outmanoeuvre any who attempted to slay him. This was interrupted when Braugh’s stonehorn charged straight at him to knock him out under its massive force. However, just as the stonehorn was about to smash into the general he suddenly leapt up and grabbed the beast’s right horn which he then lifted himself onto as the beast wildy swung its head to knock him off. Seeing that this puny man dared climb atop his mount, Braugh reached for his warhammer only to be cut short of time when Zhao Fei plunged his polearm so deep into the Slavelord’s chest that he could not retrieve it. As Braugh sat there tied to his saddle, bleeding out, Zhao Fei took his warhammer and proceeded to swing it down onto the stonehorn’s skull, killing it instantly. As the stonehorn collapsed and its rider died, Zhao Fei descended to the ground to face off against a few more gnoblars with his bare fists alone before finally being stabbed and torn apart by the goblin-like creatures.
The day was won and the slaves had been saved but not without terrible cost, as over 1,000 human soldiers died that day including Cathay’s very own Grand General. The Blue Dragon will fight no more. ….

• Sad React: As Braugh’s warband fought Zhao Fei’s army in the valley below, a new opponent arrived upon the horizon. The Cathayan passage into ogre territory had been noticed by the Bonebreaker tribe, led by the mighty Drulg Kineater or Drulg Twoguts as he was otherwise known.

The Bonebreaker’s warband, consisting of over 4000 ogre bulls and a hobgoblin wolf riders came to the aid of the Slavelord. Together they advanced toward and crushed the Cathayan army, leaving very few humans left able to route after as the bulls swung at the Cathayans’ kneecaps with their hammers. Zhao Fei was captured and brought to Braugh who made a deal with Drulg Twoguts to keep his treason secret from the greater tribes in return for handing over all living slaves and prisoners taken in this battle to the Bonebreaker tribe. As the bloodied and beaten Zhao Fei was dragged away in chains, for neither he nor his kin could stand after having their knees broken, he hoped he would get the chance to avenge this day….even if he knew he would soon be Drulg Kineater’s dinner. ….

• Wow React: As Braugh’s warband fought Zhao Fei’s army in the valley below, a new opponent arrived upon the horizon as an immense horde of ogre cavalry approached from the distance army numbering in over 10,000 ogres. However, the Cathayans felt far less fear than Braugh’s maneaters at this sight for it was the Goldtooth Tribe that approached, hell bent on slaying Braugh for doing business with the Chaos Dwarfs while their lord, the mighty Overtyrant Greasus Goldtooth, was himself at war with the Dawi Zharr. The maneaters scarcely knew what to do as almost 3000 Mournfang Cavalry came towards them with both Ironblaster chariots (massive cannons pulled by Rhinox) and Scraplaunchers (catapults pulled by younger Rhinox) offering them cover fire. Sensing that death was coming for him, Braugh abandoned his stonehorn to load up the Dreadquake Mortar for only it had a chance of killing so many. However, just as Braugh proceeded to load the crude Dwarf ammunition into the weapon the station was suddenly blown up by Ironblaster fire.

The mournfang cavalry arrived and smashed into the maneater backlines as they proceeded to kill tear Braugh’s warband apart. Braugh tragically crawled away from the burning wreckage of the dreadquake mortar, his back and legs still on fire, only to suddenly scream in anguish as a sharp object pierced his shoulder. Braugh looked over his shoulder to see the hooked blade of the Great Gutgouger, the weapon infamously wielded by the executioner Bragg the Gutsman. However, Bragg was not here to kill Braugh but rather to tie him to his mournfang and return him to the Overtyrant who intended to devour the traitorous slaver wholesale.
The mournfang cavalry wiped the rest of Braugh’s army out and, as gratitude for being alerted about the Slavelord’s treason, agreed to let Zhao Fei and his army return home with the remaining living slaves. Interestingly, they were very clear that Braugh’s chains should remain in their custody….