Basic Background of the 24th Cathayan Expeditionaries

Commander Taizu was for many years a regular officer in the Cathayan Army. He was the commander of a small contingent set to guard the eastern coast of Cathay from raiders, both human and otherwise.
After having guarded the coast for many years, that which Taizu long had dreaded one day happened: a large force of Dark Elves landed on the shores of his territory, and with ruthless savagery they destroyd several villages and slew all who came in their path, children and elderly alike.

Taizu gathered his host and attacked the elven raiders, but was swiftly driwen back into the woods on the borders of the province. There he rallied his men, gathered a sizeable force of the local peasantry which had also been driven into the woods from their homes, and attacked the Dark Elves with renewed strenght. He managed to beat them and drive them back to the sea, where he and his force utterly annihilated the elves to the last man, and set their whole fleet alight and sent it back over the seas as a warning sign to all other would be invaders not to come near the shores guarded by Taizu again.

When word of Taizus great victory reached the court, he was immediately summoned to the capital and appointed General Commander. He was granted command over a vast warhost and was sent on a mission to expand the borders of Cathay westwards and on the way set up trading posts, outposts, found villages and trade with the foreign peoples of those far away lands.

On his journey westwards he has brought a small community of merchants, soldiers-families, bearers, animal handlers, cooks and all manner of other camp followers, not to mention the whole herds of chickens, cows, sheep and all manner of other creatures needed to supply the force on its great mission.