"To be the hammer or the anvil. Destiny affords only these choices."
- —Khureshi proverb[11a]
The Hinterlands of Khuresh, also known simply as Khuresh, are located south of Grand Cathay, east of the Kingdoms of Ind and west of Nippon and the Lost Isles of Elithis. They are separated from the Southern Chaos Wastes by the straits of the Gates of Calith.[3a][5a][7a]
There are many night-haunted legends emanating from the fetid jungles and deadly wastes of the far Hinterlands of Khuresh. Stories abound of the dread Snakemen and the foul and nightmarish Blood Naga Queens who rule there, and it is a realm where Men are no more than hunted prey, and blood and souls are the only coin in trade.[8b] The lives of the frightful serpent-Naga of dim Khuresh are said to be counted as the ages of the world, and their appetite for blood shames even the ancient Vampire queens of thrice-cursed Lahmia.[8a]
Nightmarish tales involving the fabled Blood Naga Queens say that the serpentine creature known as Dread Maw were created to prevent easy travel from the west. Such tales could be entirely dismissed as irrelevant hearsay, if not for the fact that a cult dedicated to these horrors was uncovered in Sylvania just a few years ago.[12a]
Rarely do artefacts of this fell civilisation reach the Old World and all are steeped in blood and misunderstood power. One such artefact is the White Sistrum, a strange ivory-graven rattle-drum shaped like an hourglass, whose discordant music brings madness and death, and evokes the terrible rites of the Naga - invoking their power and the slaughter of forgotten ages when the cold-blooded serpents of Chaos held the world in a stranglehold of terror.[8b]
It is unclear whether these Snakemen correspond to the three big concentrations of Beastmen located to the north, center and south of the Khuresh peninsula.[1a]
Though the High Elves are no longer the dominant colonial power that they once were across the Known World, they still maintain two outposts on each end of the Gates of Calith.[2a][4a][7a] No Asur trade routes go to the Hinterlands of Khuresh.[4a]
Notable Locations[]
- Lost City of the Old Ones - This settlement that lies in the centre of the jungles of Khuresh was one of the temple-cities created by the Old Ones to accomplish their Great Plan with the help of their foremost servants, the Lizardmen.[5a][13a]
Canon Conflict[]
In the 6th and 7th Edition Warhammer Armies: High Elves [2a][4a], the Hinterlands of Khuresh are located south of the Eastern Steppes, east of the Mountains of Mourn and north of the Kingdoms of Ind, Grand Cathay and Nippon. In Warhammer Armies: Beasts of Chaos (6th Edition)[1a] they are not named on the Beastmen concentration map, but the southeastern peninsula is considered part of Cathay as well. In the 7th Edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle: Rulebook, however, Khuresh was placed south of Cathay.[5a]
In Warhammer Armies: High Elves (7th Edition), there is a map of trade routes -- one of them reaches the western coast of "Cathay," and none go to the "Hinterlands of Khuresh," which on this map has switched places with where Cathay should be on all other maps.[4a] For this reason, it can be assumed that the designers wanted to show the silk and spices trade between Ulthuan and Cathay, and that the aforementioned route doesn't actually go to Khuresh, but to the Cathayan empire itself.
Miniatures[]
.jpg "S'Sirron Fangthrane (2).jpg (66 KB)")
.jpg "Slararet Slintered Fang (3).jpg (76 KB)")
Trivia[]
Khuresh is geographically analogous in the Known World to the real world geography and cultures of Southeast Asia.
In the non-canon Blood Bowl series, there is at least one Snakemen team - the Kureshi Kobras.[9a]
Khuresh is a traditional fighting style in Tuva, Russia. It is also the name of several towns and villages in Western Asia, particularly Iran.
A range of Snakemen miniatures were released in the mid 1980's, during the 3rd Edition of Warhammer. However, they never received any rules or official background. They were not mentioned again in the lore until the 6th Edition, almost 20 years later.[10]
In real world religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, the Nāga or Nagi, are a semi-divine race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld of Patala. They are principally depicted in three forms: wholly human with snakes on the heads and necks, common serpents, or as half-human, half-snake beings.
In Southeast Asia, the real word region upon which Khuresh is based, the Naga are commonly depicted as great serpents with a horn on their heads.
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Armies: Beasts of Chaos (6th Edition)
- 1a: pg. 17
- 2: Warhammer Armies: High Elves (6th Edition)
- 2a: pg. 49
- 3: Warhammer: Rulebook (7th Edition)
- 3a: pp. 140-141
- 4: Warhammer Armies: High Elves (7th Edition)
- 4a: pg. 13
- 5: Warhammer: Rulebook (8th Edition)
- 5a: pp. 160-161
- 6: Warhammer Armies: High Elves (8th Edition)
- 6a: pg. 8
- 7: Warhammer: Uniforms & Heraldry of the High Elves
- 7a: pg. 70
- 8: Monstrous Arcanum (8th Edition)
- 9: Blood Bowl: Death Zone - Season One! (2016)
- 9a: pg. 36
- 10: Warhammer Armies: The Lost and the Damned (3rd Edition)
- 11: Archaon: Everchosen (Novel) by Rob Sanders
- 11a: Ch. 14
- 12: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: The Imperial Zoo (RPG)
- 12a: pg. 22
- 13: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Lustria (RPG)
- 13a: pg. 114
Gallery[]
![Concentrations of Beastmen in the Known World[1a]](/wiki/File:800px-Beastmen_Map.jpg "800px-Beastmen Map.jpg (1.27 MB)")
![Overseas domains of the High Elves at the height of their expansion.[2a]](/wiki/File:High_Elf_Domains_World_Map_6th_Edition_illustration.jpg "High Elf Domains World Map 6th Edition illustration.jpg (1.65 MB)")
![High Elf seafaring trade routes[4a]](/wiki/File:High_Elf_Invasions_and_Trade_Routes_7th_Edition_illustration.jpg "High Elf Invasions and Trade Routes 7th Edition illustration.jpg (250 KB)")
.jpg){kind=link}
!['The Landes and Seas of the Worlde'[5a]](/wiki/File:Warhammer_olde_world_map.jpg "Warhammer olde world map.jpg (1.03 MB)")