Lady of the Commandery Yabo Chao
Weijin’s Venerable Ambassador
As any proud Altdorfer can tell you, the Empire is the greatest nation in the Old World with a history stretching back more than 2500 years. Citizens of Altdorf find it hard to imagine the existence of a civilisation more storied and stable then their own, but far to the east is a nation many times larger than the Empire, which had developed sophisticated government and military might before the Unberogens so much as set foot in the Reikland: Celestial and Imperial Grand Cathay.
There is a great geographical and cultural gulf between the two nations, and they do not have a great deal to do with one another. Between the Empire and Cathay lie the volcanic Dark Lands, home to the Chaos Dwarfs, and the Mountains of Mourne, within which the Ogres carve out their many bellicose kingdoms. Nevertheless there are links between the Empire and Cathay. They trade luxury goods and raw materials with each other, and share information that might be of use in the development of magical techniques and monitoring Chaos incursions. Diplomatic envoys from Cathay often reside at the Imperial Palace in Altdorf, whilst Karl-Franz’s ambassadors are invited to lodge in the golden pagodas of Weijin.
In the wake of the Great Fog Riots the presiding Cathayan Ambassador (Dien Ch'ing) was unmasked as a follower of Tzeentch, and fled from the waiting pyres of the Witch Hunters of the Order of the Silver Hammer. Outraged missives from Altdorf were met by cutting recriminations from Weijin. Sigmarites slated Cathayan efforts to root out Chaos as lacking zeal, whilst the Dragon Emperor’s mandarins retorted that their occidental counterparts must be grossly myopic not to have spotted such an obvious imposter.
The current ambassador to Altdorf is working hard to smooth over these differences. She is Lady of the Commandery Yabo Chao, venerated envoy of the Dragon Emperor. Chao is a skilled and accomplished diplomat with detailed knowledge of the history and culture of Weijin and Altdorf. She is a patient and coolheaded communicator, and is gaining a reputation for withstanding the most furious tirades a Sigmarite zealot can muster, before calmly tearing his argument to shreds. Negotiating trade deals with her has become a pleasant form of humiliation for Altdorf ’s merchants: her logic is ruthless and her contracts waterproof, but her manners are so impeccable that to be bamboozled by her is somehow rather charming. Her honour guard, a regiment of Celestial Dragon Monks, have also won renown, campaigning against the Beastmen and Forest Goblins who infest the Reikwald with the same devastating effect as squadrons drawn from Altdorf ’s knightly orders.
Behind her back a number of lurid conspiracies are being spread about Chao. Folk say that she is partially immortal, having feasted in her youth on the flesh of divine peaches and tuning into the wind of Ghyran so as to age only one day every year.
They say she is a prodigal seer, that she wears the skulls of three accursed langurs whose heads she pinched off with her fingers, that the dragons embroidered into her silks shift about when no one is watching, and that she achieved her position as Lady of the Commandery through the pitiless elimination of all who might rival her. Chao dismisses such talk as slander, but is also the originator of these rumours, believing that it never hurts to cultivate a reputation as being a little more than merely human.
Chao has a long-term goal, an ulterior motive to which she is quietly but utterly committed. The Dragon Emperor would dearly love to turn a campaign of defence against Marauder tribes into a conquest of lands beyond Cathay’s northern border. However, he must also station troops along his western frontier to guard against raids from the Mountains of Mourne.
Many of his mandarins are of the opinion that the only way to do this is to subjugate the Ogre Kingdoms. This is a controversial proposition, for whilst Ogres do pillage unprotected settlements, they also trade with Cathay and provide a service as bodyguards and mercenaries.
There is a great geographical and cultural gulf between the two nations, and they do not have a great deal to do with one another. Between the Empire and Cathay lie the volcanic Dark Lands, home to the Chaos Dwarfs, and the Mountains of Mourne, within which the Ogres carve out their many bellicose kingdoms. Nevertheless there are links between the Empire and Cathay. They trade luxury goods and raw materials with each other, and share information that might be of use in the development of magical techniques and monitoring Chaos incursions. Diplomatic envoys from Cathay often reside at the Imperial Palace in Altdorf, whilst Karl-Franz’s ambassadors are invited to lodge in the golden pagodas of Weijin.
In the wake of the Great Fog Riots the presiding Cathayan Ambassador (Dien Ch'ing) was unmasked as a follower of Tzeentch, and fled from the waiting pyres of the Witch Hunters of the Order of the Silver Hammer. Outraged missives from Altdorf were met by cutting recriminations from Weijin. Sigmarites slated Cathayan efforts to root out Chaos as lacking zeal, whilst the Dragon Emperor’s mandarins retorted that their occidental counterparts must be grossly myopic not to have spotted such an obvious imposter.
The current ambassador to Altdorf is working hard to smooth over these differences. She is Lady of the Commandery Yabo Chao, venerated envoy of the Dragon Emperor. Chao is a skilled and accomplished diplomat with detailed knowledge of the history and culture of Weijin and Altdorf. She is a patient and coolheaded communicator, and is gaining a reputation for withstanding the most furious tirades a Sigmarite zealot can muster, before calmly tearing his argument to shreds. Negotiating trade deals with her has become a pleasant form of humiliation for Altdorf ’s merchants: her logic is ruthless and her contracts waterproof, but her manners are so impeccable that to be bamboozled by her is somehow rather charming. Her honour guard, a regiment of Celestial Dragon Monks, have also won renown, campaigning against the Beastmen and Forest Goblins who infest the Reikwald with the same devastating effect as squadrons drawn from Altdorf ’s knightly orders.
Behind her back a number of lurid conspiracies are being spread about Chao. Folk say that she is partially immortal, having feasted in her youth on the flesh of divine peaches and tuning into the wind of Ghyran so as to age only one day every year.
They say she is a prodigal seer, that she wears the skulls of three accursed langurs whose heads she pinched off with her fingers, that the dragons embroidered into her silks shift about when no one is watching, and that she achieved her position as Lady of the Commandery through the pitiless elimination of all who might rival her. Chao dismisses such talk as slander, but is also the originator of these rumours, believing that it never hurts to cultivate a reputation as being a little more than merely human.
Chao has a long-term goal, an ulterior motive to which she is quietly but utterly committed. The Dragon Emperor would dearly love to turn a campaign of defence against Marauder tribes into a conquest of lands beyond Cathay’s northern border. However, he must also station troops along his western frontier to guard against raids from the Mountains of Mourne.
Many of his mandarins are of the opinion that the only way to do this is to subjugate the Ogre Kingdoms. This is a controversial proposition, for whilst Ogres do pillage unprotected settlements, they also trade with Cathay and provide a service as bodyguards and mercenaries.
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