Lore
Faction:
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During an especially vicious storm, ships carrying multitudes of Cathayans beached upon the shores of the Eastern Colonies. The elven colonists made haste to approach the marooned strangers but exercised caution as it became apparent that the Cathayans were stricken by some sort of disease. Out of generosity and perhaps a rare cause of high elven compassion, the refugees were taken to one of the islands and given basic treatment. The mages and apothecaries were befuddled as to what sort of disease were plaguing the Cathayans for they had never seen anything like it; severely stricken patients would enter a dream-like trance, convulsing violently for a moment, then crumple unto the ground, seemingly sleeping until movement altogether ceased. Post-mortem investigations then revealed that the victim's brains have rotten from the inside; reduced to sloughed clumps of gray matter.

A hospital was later built upon the island to cater to the Cathayans, and hopefully the colonists thought, contain them before the plague spread unto other settlements like Tor Elasor.

Months eventually pass, but progress on a cure slowed to a grinding halt as dozens of patients wasted away every week. Both the colonists and the still-healthy Cathayans resorted to burning bodies of the deceased, while those that suffered the most violent of deaths from the plague were purged by arcane fire.

Eventually, an Arch-Mage and a Loremaster of Hoeth had visited the Eastern Colonies, apparently to announce the Everqueen's pilgrimage to the Tower of the Sun, where it was customary for Everqueens of old to conduct rituals that would hold the great chaos moon, Morrslieb, at bay. Loremaster Alturiel soon heard that refugees were on the colony and personally inquired about their situation at the hospital. However, his fascination quickly turned to horror as a foul aura fell upon him as he stepped foot into the building. There was something gravely wrong he thought, something that even the mages on the island apparently were oblivious to. It was when Alturiel had entered the ward area that kept some of the patients for further inspection when he felt his insides churn. It wasn't the sight of those in pain or the dying, but it was the all-too familiar shadow of the ruinous powers that hang upon the victims like a voracious parasite. After all, Alturiel was uncannily gifted in his sensitivity to such presences. When the Loremaster felt stomach bile drip from his lips and blood trickle down his nostrils, he hastily shouted orders for all colonial staff to vacate the premises.

The All-Father of Rot, he thought, as he boarded a boat back to Tor Elasor.

The hospital was then closed and condemned, leaving the Cathayans to their own devices while the High Elves pondered on what to do with them, as the latter had far more pressing matters: the arrival of the Everqueen and the perilous trek to the Tower of the Sun at the heart of the main island.

Desperate that their apparent benefactors had now suddenly abandoned them to their fate, the Cathayans turned to one of the last surviving officers of their ship, Master Alchemist Xu Yaoji. Yaoji had spent night and day concocting a cure for their malady long before the hospital had been built, even as her own mind began to erode and rot. However, it was during the eve of the high elven ritual that Yaoji had succumbed to her insanity. She took the rest of the Cathayans on a cliffside for the purpose of conducting their own ritual; a ritual dedicated to the Moon Empress Quai Yin. However, mad and delirious, the alchemist had instead drawn upon the chaos powers of Morrslieb as the moon was in full ascendancy, mistaking it for Mannslieb that the Moon Empress was rumored to have came from. The resulting clash of Yin and eldritch energies was fatal for the Cathayans; all frenzied on the spot, brutally killing each other before their own minds melted from the overload of magic being pumped into their very beings.

Days later the high elven colonists returned to the island only to find it completely devoid of life. Alturiel himself tried to sense the environment for any traces of chaos but he could no longer feel the faint, corrupting touch of the Rotfather. However, something else had taken its place. He could taste the anguish and hate that permeated in the dry, hot air. The Loremaster ordered the hospital burned and whatever corpses they could find before finally leaving the island for good; declaring it cursed ground thereafter.

Since then, at particularly stormy nights, colonists would report of strange wispy lights emanating from where a hospital once stood in the island to this day.

Faction Leader:
Xu Yaoji
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Xu Yaoji was the master alchemist on-board the ship, the Sparrow of Qin, which was part of an armada sponsored by Yin-Yin, the Sea Dragon, in an effort to expand Cathay's global power unto the Southlands. However, a terrible storm scattered the fleet, and the Sparrow of Qin, along with several other ships, were blown off course. These ships would eventually reach the Dragon Isles where they would unfortunately contract the mysterious disease that would later be dubbed the Plague of Sleep by the High Elves. What remained of these ships would ultimately land upon the Eastern Colonies, where Xu Yaoji would painstakingly continue her research and experiments for a cure albeit her deteriorating mind.

When the High Elves eventually abandoned them after suspecting the source of the plague was that of Nurgle, Xu Yaoji's descent into madness worsened as she felt nothing but bitter hatred for the colonists for leaving them to die and cursing the world for their dire and despicable situation. Feeling lost, Yaoji turned to the guidance of her Empress who was far away in Grand Cathay. She rallied the surviving Cathayans unto a cliffside where they would enact a rite of deliverance in the hopes that the moon empress would provide them a peaceful end, but the catastrophic incident spelled horrific deaths for everyone involved instead.

When Xu Yaoji's corpse was later discovered by the High Elves, they tried to cremate her using magic but to no avail. Fearing that the body was cursed, they had chained her deep into the recesses of the hospital that would later be torn down and burned.

Their fears would later be confirmed as Xu Yaoji indeed returned as a vengeful wraith, amassing a host of the dead that still haunts the island.

For now the colonists have managed to keep the ghosts at bay, but only time will tell should the horrors encroach beyond their final resting place.

Gameplay
Faction:

In battle, the Islanders of the Moon play differently from the Curse of Nongchang in that they suffer the Plague of Sleep even in death, which slows them down, saps away their vigor and slowly drains their hp. However, the faction also has the Moon Curse army abilities which accumulates charges the more damage your units take and has three tiers of Severity: Sleeping, Dreaming, and Awakening.

• 'Sleeping' heals your troops and increases melee defense.
  
• 'Dreaming' increases melee attack, weapon damage and speed.
  
• 'Awakening' does the former to an even greater extent while also enraging you and the enemy's units and dealing massive damage to both of you. Preview[webm.red]

All three abilities invigorates your units which momentarily stops the Plague of Sleep. The playstyle of the faction thus starts with your units being slowed and weak but as the enemy tries to batter you down and inflict your army with heavy losses or damage, you can bounce back using your army abilities that provide strong buffs in order to turn the tide or you can decide to engage in mutual destruction with the 'Awakening' ability, which does far more damage to the enemy while sacrificing your own units in the process.

All units under this faction also have poison attacks by default similar to Helman Ghorst.

In the campaign, the faction is designed to spread plagues similar to Skaven and Nurgle and has hostile diplomatic relations with High Elves, but no real work has been started as of yet. I will add more to this section as I progress with this faction.

Faction Leader:

Xu Yaoji is a melee specialist that especially excels in dueling other lords or heroes but also performs well against waves of fodder units. However, being an ethereal unit she is also very fragile and weak to single-target damaging spells. She has the Unholy Hatred ability buff that boosts her offense, especially against infantry, and the Chains of the Ephemeral, which is a very strong AoE bombardment that shoots hooked chains from the sky and pins down targets in place.

In the Campaign, Xu Yaoji spreads vampire corruption and increases replenishment and buffs weapon damage for ethereal units in her army. She also increases the recruit rank for her unique faction unit, Plague Wraiths.

Roster:

The roster is largely the same as the Curse of Nongchang, however this faction won't have access to chanters as they will be relying more on their army abilities as well as spells in order to recover health. The faction will also have more types of Hungry Ghost units to enforce the faction's ethereal unit focus theme. On top of that, other stranger beasts native to the island have also joined the ranks of the dead, such as risen Elephant behemoths called Ganesha Goliaths and decaying Tiger Warriors called Rakshasa.

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If you have suggestions and other thoughts, feel free to contribute to this thread.