Grand Cathay, often simply called Cathay and also known as Imperial Cathay, the "Silk Lands", the Empire of the Celestial Dragon, the Kingdom of the Dragon, Great Cathay, the "Eastern Empire", the Grand Empire of Cathay and the Celestial Empire, is a populous empire of Men ruled by a family of immortal Cathayan Dragons located in the Far East of the Known World, beyond the Dark Lands and the Mountains of Mourn. Grand Cathay is the largest, most populous, most powerful and most important of the nations of Men in the Far East, and possibly in the entire world. Yet despite its strength, Grand Cathay is a land under constant threat of attack from the forces of ruin and destruction.