Armanda de Pantaleon (1768 – 1831 IC) was a Tilean trader and devotee of the god of commerce Mercopio who, inspired by stories from the famed Tilean explorer Marco Colombo, introduced paper money to the western realms of the Old World. However, there has been some interactions of great note between the Far East and the Old World beyond the stories, myths and fables. Most of these tales are highly fanciful, but certainly the Empire of the Celestial Dragon must be a wondrous and rich place, but until the trade routes to the east are safe it will remain largely a realm of legend to the peoples of the Old World. Records of travellers tell of the thousand, thousand foot soldiers of the Dragon Emperor, the mystic brotherhoods of monks who can kill with a touch of their hand, and the strange monkey warriors living high in the Mountains of Heaven. Many strange creatures are said to live in the land of Cathay, from serpentine Cathayan Dragons to gigantic, living stone dogs which guard the temples of the multitudinous gods of Cathay. They also bring tales of jade cities and high temples where mystics probe the movements of the heavenly bodies and the positions of the stars, of the scholars who inscribe every word ever uttered by their divine Dragon Emperor. The northwestern provinces of Grand Cathay, including the Imperial Provinces, the Northern Provinces and the Western Provinces. They bring exotic spices and finest silks, gleaming gold, luxurious porcelain vases and all manner of strange and wonderful items from the Kingdom of the Dragon, glimpses of the mysterious glory of the distant and rich Far East. The travellers that return from Cathay tell tales of great golden pagodas and the inexhaustible armies of the eastern despots. Only one caravan out of ten makes the trip safely. But the road is far from safe: roving bandits, steppe nomads, and the vast Hobgoblin hordes of Hobgobla-Khan who rule the steppes are an ever-present threat, and one that cannot be taken too lightly. The lure of the Silk Road is great to the merchant houses of Tilea and the burgomeisters of the Empire, as well as the traders of Araby. It runs through the untamed steppes until its destination, the fabled land of Grand Cathay. Only a single path travels to the east from the Old World, known as the Silk Road in the west and the Ivory Road in the east. Past the Worlds Edge Mountains and across the Great Skull Land, on the other side of the Mountains of Mourn and the vast Eastern Steppes, begin the lands uncharted by the inhabitants of the Old World. Note the Dragon is wearing a breastplate and has pauldrons, and holds a globe in its hands.
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