The Ivory Road

The Ivory Road screen, showing various caravan routes in Immortal Empires.

For the province with a similar name, see Ivory Road. Caravans links here, for the Kislev building, see Caravans (building).

The Ivory Road is an campaign mechanic for Grand Cathay which boosts their economy. It is separate from the Trade mechanic.

Details

Grand Cathay factions dispatch Caravans in order to earn money from the Cargo investment it carries; the value of the Cargo can be raised or lowered depending on the amount of money invested. A destination settlement with which to trade is selected and the Caravan dispatched, with the number of turns required depending on the distance.

The further the distance and more valuable the Cargo, the higher the profit earned if it reaches its destination. Once the Caravan returns to their capital city, it can be replenished and available to dispatch again. Only one Caravan can be dispatched and active at a time, though another can be dispatched when the other is returning to the capital. Diplomatic relations will increase with the settlement's faction and the Caravan Master will be gifted a unique item, depending on the faction who owns the trade node, on the first completion of the route with that faction.

The route will be more dangerous the longer it is, the higher the value of the Cargo, and if hostile factions occupy the regions along the route. Ogre Camps will always extort Caravans for Cargo or Units, regardless on the player's diplomatic relations with that Ogre faction.

Hostile armies in the area can attack the Caravan independent of dilemmas. The Caravan cannot retreat from any battle, and will be permanently lost if they lose.

Caravans cannot be manually controlled on the campaign map, though they can be instructed to alter their course towards a new trade settlement while en route. Caravan units are fully controllable in battle. Caravan Masters rank up to acquire skills and can be equipped with Items. The army's starting composition is determined by the Caravan Master's specific trait, with additional units only obtainable via the dilemmas as noted above.

Caravan dilemmas

Caravans can face dilemmas along the way, which lead to battles, lost units or cargo, buffs, or new units to be recruited. These dilemmas are marked with a colored icon indicating their threat level along the Caravans' route on the campaign map.

• Caravan Encounter! A Gift from Ind
• Caravan Encounter! A Quicker Way
• Caravan Encounter! Daemonic Incursion
• Caravan Encounter! Found Cargo
• Caravan Encounter! Hungry Ogres
• Caravan Encounter! Hungry, Hungry Ogres
• Caravan Encounter! Inn-counter
• Caravan Encounter! Lost Patrol
• Caravan Encounter! The Shortcut
• Caravan Encounter! The Stranger
• Caravan Encounter! The Toll
• Caravan Encounter! Warriors Return

Caravan units

These units can be recruited by choosing some options in dilemmas.

• Celestial Dragon Guard (x3)
• Jade Warrior Crossbowmen (x2)
• Jade Warrior Crossbowmen (Shields) (x2)
• Peasant Archers (x3)
• Peasant Long Spearmen (x2-3)
• Empire Captain (x1)
• Ogre Hunter (x1)
• Noble (x1)

In addition, Maneaters and Maneaters (Ironfists) can appear in a Caravan when it spawns, to represent the Caravan hiring Ogre mercenaries. Some non-Cathay units may also be gained depending on what factions the player is allied to. For example, if allied with a Kislev faction, the player may gain Streltsi (x2) when choosing the "Lost Ranger" option during Lost Patrol dilemma.

2x Streltsi unit in a Caravan belonging to The Northern Province

Strategy

If possible, your Caravans don't need to be prey for the Ogres' raids. You can turn the tables against the Ogres by building your Caravans into big and strong armies to raid the Ogres. Defeat Ogre Lords to earn more loot and fund your campaigns - or even use your loot to raise more armies to defeat the Ogre Kingdoms!

On the other hand, if you don't want war against the Ogres, you could kill off your own units to appease the Ogres. Alternatively, you could cause closer relations with the Ogres to stop the raids against your Caravans and their units.

Caravans can catch and spread plagues - something to note for Nurgle and Fecundites factions.

Rewards

There are unique rewards available when you send a Caravan to certain destination for the first time. Each item can only be gained once.

There are four items which aren't bound to a specific location. When you revisit a location, there is a 10% chance to randomly gain one of the four items.

Item name	Type	Rarity	Requirement	Notes
Bejewelled Dagger	Arcane Item	Unique	Randomly gained when revisiting a location.
Frost Wyrm Skull	Armour	Unique	Send a Caravan to Frozen Landing
Frozen Pendant	Talisman	Unique	Realm of Chaos: Send a Caravan to Novchozy Immortal Empires: Randomly gained when revisiting a location.
Grant of Land	Follower	Unique	Realm of Chaos: Randomly gained when revisiting a location. Immortal Empires: Send a Caravan to Myrmidens
Gryphon Legion Lance	Weapon	Unique	Send a Caravan to Erengrad
Luminark Lens	Enchanted Item	Unique	Send a Caravan to Altdorf
Sky Titan Relic	Arcane Item	Unique	Realm of Chaos: Send a Caravan to Shattered Stone Bay Immortal Empires: Randomly gained when revisiting a location.
Spy in Court	Follower	Unique	Randomly gained when revisiting a location.
Statue of Zharr	Enchanted Item	Unique	Realm of Chaos: Send a Caravan to Zharr-Naggrund Immortal Empires: Randomly gained when revisiting a location.
Von Carstein Blade	Weapon	Unique	Send a Caravan to Castle Drakenhof
Warrant of Trade	Follower	Unique	Send a Caravan to Marienburg

See also

• Military Convoys, the Chaos Dwarfs equivalent.