The Spirit Dragon is restless. The river of the underworld lashes out otherworldly howls. Transient shapes dance with the fog rolling over from the eastern mountains.

As of late, more and more of Cathay's ancestors, thought to be long at peace, enact disturbing visitations upon the mortal coil. Elsewhere near the Great Bastion, entire battlefields have awakened; foe and friend alike claw out of their earthen graves en masse.

Several generations of the dead have suddenly returned to Grand Cathay.
An omen of doom, or perhaps an unseeming aid against Cathay's enemies?

***

Dead of the Orient adds three new undead-themed units for Grand Cathay. This mod is still a Work in Progress so things may change or get added along the way.

Units

Unearthed Laborers

These shambling cadavers are the poor peasants who perished constructing and repairing the Great Bastion. Although weak in a melee, they can hurl chunks of the very stones used to build the eponymous structure, dealing great damage from afar.

The Returned

Nameless, forgotten soldiers whose families either forgot or simply refused to collect their bodies, thereby denied proper burial and funeral rites. They know only the painful final moments of their lives, and as such when on the brink of destruction, they can burst into a rampage. They also excel in close quarters combat against enemy infantry, especially poorly armored units.

Nü Gui

Either hapless courtesans, witches, or simply ladies who went on the wrong side of politics, these scornful women linger upon the realm of men as vengeful, soul sucking ghosts and act as a harbinger of ill omen upon any one unfortunate to cross their haunts, especially at night. Nü Gui are best used as assassins but can also grant debilitating debuffs on enemy armies.

She also has access to two unique skills.

Starved Marquis

In the constant power struggles of Cathayan court intrigue, there are none more daring and more cutthroat than those at the bottom who, like rats, brutally contest amongst themselves just for a taste of power, and power that they do greedily brandish with mad abandon. It is no surprise therefore, that in death, these corrupt souls are even more horrifying in form. Cursed with an unslakable hunger, these ravenous ghosts tear through the battlefields in search of prey lest they eat themselves from within.

The starved marquises are a rather unique unit in that when out of combat, they will suffer constant damage from their unique skill "Eternal Hunger" which also lowers vigor per second. However, once engaged in melee, they gain a hefty melee attack and AP damage boost as well as health and vigor recovery. To compensate, they have rather low melee defense and even lower health, so magic damage and spells can deal with them quickly. But if such options are unavailable, it would be best to bait them out with a fast unit and hope they die of hunger.

Incorruptible Sage NEW

The legendary Celestial Dragon Monks are a reclusive brotherhood said to reside within sacred monasteries dotting the Mountains of Heaven. The wisest and most persevering would become great masters of the way; people who completed the path to enlightenment and transcended above all mortal and spiritual imperfections. Upon leaving this world for a higher plane of existence, their "husks" are interred within the inner most sanctums of their monasteries to be preserved, although sometimes they are brought out to the public for ceremonial purposes. Their very venerable presence it seems bestow many with an almost divine aura.

The Incorruptible Sage is a sacred relict that although is no longer alive in the strictest sense, still harbors immense power stored within its body. It can act as a short ranged artillery that blasts foes with magic but also provide morale boost to nearby units. However, its most unique trait is being able to enable either yin or yang harmony to cathayan units.

These special undead units can be recruited from the Occult Department building chain*, found under the advanced military building tab.

*Many thanks to Vandy for helping me out on this

These units, unlike normal Cathay units, also have very low recruitment costs. But the efforts to maintain their undead bodies is reflected in their high upkeep, meaning that they can be really handy in an emergency but can prove too impractical to maintain on longer campaigns or periods of peace.