Thushi are nature spirits of Cathay, but unlike those of
When the great schism broke the united bloodlines
asunder, they went their separate ways. While the five
more powerful vampires traveled north, the youngest of
them, her name lost to time, fled south. She is thought to
have been Neferata’s handmaid, the only one to survive
the eternal queen’s early predations, given the curse of
undeath along with her other trusted family and servants.
Little is known about her during the time she lived in the
deathless court, for she was not nobility, and she most
likely was still a servant to her queen. Yet, it was this
handmaid who had the closest relationship with the
hungry spirits that entered her soul and flocked to her
blood like moths to a candle. Over time she learnt to
control these spirits, to coax the dead once more into the
world of the living as ghosts and apparitions. As she
traveled south, she came upon the Silk road and traveled
it, on foot, burying herself beneath the sands during the
day and staggering on by night until even her deathless
form was bent and broken. It is told in Cathayan legend
that many moons ago a creature, bent and hobbling with a
hopping gait found its way to Cathay, and where it went
the trees closed in and the rocks and water darkened with
hate. As she entered Cathay, she found a new type of
spirit mixed with the ever circling realms of the dead. The
lands of Cathay were saturated with spirits, dark and
terrible, of trees and rocks and earth. She found that she
and these spirits shared a bond, they would come to her
and she would converse with them, learning of their hate
for the mortals that walked ‘their’ land. These spirits are
called the Thushi by Cathayans, earth-ghasts or night-
shriekers.
Over time, the handmaid earned a name among
Cathayans- Shigai, the mud-ghost. Shigai learned to use
mud and earth instead of the bones of the dead to create
her servants, animating piles of shambling dirt and stone
with the tortured spirits of the ancestors or the all too
willing Thushi. She herself changed over the centuries,
her nails growing into huge claws and her shape
becoming ever thinner and twisted. Dirt accumulated on
her, crawling with power and forming a barrier stronger
than plate against the helpless strugglings of her victims.
Shigai soon began creating servants with her kiss and they
too learned to darken the woods and hills which they
stalked. Millennia ago, however, she disappeared. Where
to, no one knows, but her legacy remains and the
Shigaion, her progeny, still stalk Cathay, accompanied by
hordes of shambling clay and dirt and the dark spirits of
the land
Athel Loren in the west they are vengeful and evil. The
influence of chaos in the jungles of Cathay is far stronger
than in the lands of the old world and so these spirits are
far more common. It is the Thushi who make the lands of
Cathay so dangerous, for it is they who bend the plants
and soil of Cathay against its people. The Shigaion have a
strong pact with these creatures, and they often serve as
the animating force behind the clay warriors of the
Shigaion, and most vampires will be accompanied by a
guard of terracotta figures, clutching the rusted swords of
the long dead and hungry for death. Both the Thushi and
the Shigaion have a twisted link to nature and can bend
inanimate materials to their will. Armies facing Shigaion
might find themselves lashed by trees, mired in sucking
mud or even pelted by whirlwinds filled with razored
stones
The Shigaion are deeply in tune with the darker side of
nature and so do not feel the need for ‘civilized’ things
such as shelter. They are just as happy to rip the throat out
of a deer and drain it as a human and the Shigaion tend to
stay away from humans until their dark plans come to
fruition. Like Shigai, the Shigaion are extremely
intelligent but their intelligence is a mad, primal cunning
evident in their wasted visages. The Shigai are not
particularly solitary, and bands of them are not
uncommon, but like all the bloodlines they hold a deep
hatred for the children of the night who are not their kin.
When the need to raise an army for battle or pillage arises,
the Shigaion will animate hordes of servants from mud
and rock, rather than corpses, animating them with the
spirits of the dead. They will also often call upon the
Thushi to aid them, a cause the spirits are most happy to
oblige. A shigaion army is a terrible sight, hordes of
shambling figures, most made from simple soil and dirt,
clutching weapons of the long dead or those they have
recently killed, or simply smashing the foe with heavy
arms. The more sophisticated creations of the Thushi are
known as Clayborn, sculpted so as to resemble perfect
humans in armor, and then magically hardened to be as
durable as stone before a vengeful Thushi enters them.
Together, with the Thushi spirits seething around them
and a dark flock of bats above, when the Shigaion march
to war even the bravest of the brave flee in terror.

• All Shigaion gain magic resistance (1)
• Shigaion thralls have a 5+ armor save, counts
have a 4+ save and lords have a 3+ save. This
does not prevent them from casting magic
• Shigaion may never use magic or mundane
weapons or armor, nor may they be mounted
• Shigaion may use the lore of life instead of
necromancy, however if they swap a spell for the
basic spell they gain invocation of nehek instead
of mistress of the marsh.
• Shigaion casting invocation of nehek will
summon earthborn and mudborn instead of
skeletons and zombies respectively
Filth armor: 10pts
Some shigaion ‘wear’ an even thicker coat of dirt and grit
over their bodies, hardening it into a formidable coat of
armor
The Shigaion gains an additional +1 to its armor save
Raking talons: 25pts
The talons of the shigaion are elongated and razor sharp,
able to slash and hack even the most well armored foe to
pieces
The Shigaion gains +1 attack and the armor piercing
special rule with its claws
Earthmeld: 30pts
Shigaion can dissolve into the ground, entombing
themselves instantly in mud and stone until all danger has
passed or the time is right to emerge and strike:
At the beginning of any of your turns, you may elect for
the vampire to Earthmeld. It may not perform any actions
that turn (including movement and magic). At the end of
your turn, remove the model from the tabletop and place a
marker where it was. An Earthmelded Shigaion is
effectively removed from the game and cannot be
attacked in close combat, charged, shot or affected by
magic. At the beginning of any of your subsequent turns
you may replace the shigaion on the marker. It may not
move on the turn it emerges but may cast magic as normal
Spirit swarm: 35pts
the Shigaion attract the dark spirits of Cathay to them like
moths to a flame and are constantly surrounded by a
howling wind of darkness that whispers to opponents and
distracts them with dark urgings
Enemies attempting to attack the Shigaion in close
combat suffer a -1 to hit penalty
Master of the arcane: 40pts
Shigaion rely heavily on dark magics in battle and are
very powerful mages
The Shigaion gains +1 magic level. A thrall with this
ability may take arcane items as normal
Diabolic aura 50pts
Shigaion radiate an aura of sinister intelligence and dark
cunning that, terrifies even the stoutest of warriors
The Shigaion causes terror
Stonebind 55pts
Already gnarled and extremely tough, Shigaion can
create a layer of flexible stone over their bodies, further
protecting them from hostile blows
The Shigaion gains +1 toughness
Undead:
All models in the Shigaion army are undead, excepting
bat swarms
Earthbond
The creations of the Shigaion draw their power from the
bones of the earth, drawing power from the ground on
which they walk. They are far harder to destroy than
normal undead and are somewhat resistant to magic.
Models with the Earthbond rule have a 6+ ward save and
magic resistance (1)
Thushi
Thushi are incorporeal spirits that haunt the lands of the
east. Only the strongest can manifest physical power and
even then their forms are wispy and incorporeal. Thushi
are ethereal and have magical attacks. In addition, Thushi
have the regeneration special rule when within 6” of a
Shigaion vampire
Spiritfury
Stoneborn are implacable creations and suffer no wounds
from combat resolution. However, should the army
general be killed they will crumble instantly
Twisted nature
Thushi are spirits of nature and can possess all forms of
inanimate and animate substances. While too weak to
directly attack anyone in the physical universe, when in
large groups they can possess small creatures and even
bend inanimate objects like stones and plants to do their
bidding. A unit with the twisted nature rule will inflict d6
hits on any enemy character or unit in base to base contact
at the end of the combat phase with a strength equal to the
Thushi’s unit strength divided by 5, rounded down,
representing the whirlwind of biting creatures, sharp
stones and grasping plants that the Thushi create
 0-1 Shigaion Lord Points/model: 295
M WS BS S T W I A LD
The Shigaion are led by the most Shigaion lord 6 8 0 5 5 4 8 5 10
powerful of their kind, eons old A Shigaion Lord counts as a Lord and a Hero choice
malicious creatures who stalk the
darkest forests and deepest jungle, Weapons & Armour: talons and caked earth
twisting the world to do their
bidding. Magic: the Shigaion lord is a level 2 wizard. It may choose spells from
the lore of Life as described in the Warhammer rulebook or the lore of
There are a maximum number of Necromancy as described in Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts
lords that can be fielded and this
varies with the size of the army Options:
• May be upgraded to a level 3 wizard (+50 pts)
• May choose a mix of magic items from the Common or
he greatest of the Shigaion are Vampire Counts items lists, or powers from the Shigaion
sinister beings who shape the land bloodline with a maximum total value of 100 pts.
to their will. Where they walk the
sky darkens, clear water turns to
mire and even the earth itself
becomes hostile Shigaion Count Points/model: 215
he Shigaion stalk Cathay and M WS BS S T W I A LD
Khuresh like vengeful spirits, Shigaion lord 6 7 0 5 5 3 7 4 9
seeking to topple society where
they find it and corrupting the
paths upon which they walk. Even Weapons & Armour: talons and caked earth
the greatest beasts of Khuresh fear
the Shigaion, for to control the Magic: the Shigaion Count is a level 1 wizard. It may choose spells
jungle is to control death itself from the lore of Life as described in the Warhammer rulebook or the
lore of Necromancy as described in Warhammer Armies: Vampire
arely, a Thushi spirit of great Counts
power will emerge from the land,
generally from a place of power Options:
similar to the great ogham stones • May be upgraded to a level 2 wizard (+35 pts)
of Albion or the mighty oaks of • May choose a mix of magic items from the Common or
Loren. These creatures are spirits Vampire Counts items lists, or powers from the Shigaion
that can truly affect the material bloodline with a maximum total value of 100 pts.
world and wreak great havoc
wherever they pass
Thushi Night Shrieker Points/model: 250
M WS BS S T W I A LD
Night Shrieker 6 7 0 5 5 3 7 4 9

Weapons & Armour: ethereal claws and talons

Options:
• May be upgraded to up to a level 2 wizard for +40 pts per
level. If upgraded, the Night Shrieker will always use the Lore
of Life

Special rules: Fly, Cause Terror, Thushi

 1+ Shigaion Thrall Points/model: 90
Heroes are less powerful than
M WS BS S T W I A LD lords but are still deadly
fighters and great leaders,
Shigaion Thrall 6 6 0 5 4 2 6 3 essential building blocks for
an army. Heroes perform
Weapons & Armour: talons and caked earth diverse roles, from leaders to
warriors to generals and are
Options: important to the success of
• May choose a mix of magic items from the Common or your force
Vampire Counts items lists, or powers from the Shigaion
bloodline with a maximum total value of 50 pts.
There are a maximum
number of Heroes that can be
fielded and this varies with
the size of the army

he Shigaion rarely create

Thushi Earthghast Points/model: 110 thrall. When they do, they
M WS BS S T W I A LD choose individuals who are
already insane and wild,
Earthghast 6 4 0 4 4 2 6 4 8 banished lowborn and other
outcasts who have somehow
Weapons & Armour: ethereal claws and talons survived the perils of the east
long enough to encounter a
Options: hungry vampire
• May be upgraded to up to a level 1 wizard for +40 pts per
level. If upgraded, the Night Shrieker will always use the Lore arthghasts are powerful
of Life spirits linked deeply with the
land. While their icy touch can
Special rules: Cause Terror, Thushi chill the soul and the objects
they manipulate can rend the
flesh , it is the unearthly terror
they create that is their
greatest weapon

Clayborn Warrior Points/model: 70 layborn warriors are the

masterworks of the Shigaion,
M WS BS S T W I A LD
lovingly created with insane
Clayborn 4 4 3 4 4 2 4 3 9 diligence to guard the resting
sites of the shigaion during the
day.
Weapons & Armour: hand weapon

Options:
• May purchase light armor (+2 pts)
• May purchase a halberd (+4 pts), an additional hand weapon
(+4 pts) or a Cathayan longsword (+8 pts)
• May choose a mix of magic items from the Common or
Vampire Counts items lists, with a maximum total value of 50
pts.

Special rules: Earthbond, Wight weapons

Core units are the most common Mudborn Points/model: 7
and prolific troops in a Forsaken
army, forming the bulk of its M WS BS S T W I A LD
fighting force and numerical
strength Mudborn 4 2 0 3 3 1 - 1 2

There are a minimum number of Unit size: 10-30

Core units that can be fielded and
this varies with the size of the army Weapons & Armour: slimy claws and thorns

Special Rules: Braindead, earthbond

udborn are the lowest creations
of the Shigaion, shambling masses
of slopping muck and decaying leaf
matter. They are little more than
rotting walls that simply overwhelm
the foe, suffocating them beneath Earthborn Points/model: 9
the shear weight of debris
M WS BS S T W I A LD
arthborn are simple figures of
Earthborn 4 2 2 3 3 1 2 1 3
soft clay and soil. Less incapable
than the Mudborn, Earthborn are Shambler 4 2 2 3 3 1 2 2 3
none the less slow and fairly weak,
carrying only sharpened stakes of
Unit size: 10-30
bamboo or even simple thorny
branches
Weapons & Armour: hand weapon

Options
• May be equipped with spears (+1 pt/model)
• Upgrade one Earthborn to a shambler (+9pts)
• Upgrade one Earthborn to a musician (+6pts)

Special Rules: Scaly skin (6+), earthbond

Fenborn* Points/model: 11 There are a minimum number of
Core units that can be fielded and
M WS BS S T W I A LD this varies with the size of the army
Fenborn 4 2 0 3 4 1 2 2 3
*: Fenborn and Thushi hosts do
Slimebeast 4 2 0 3 4 1 2 3 3 not count towards minimum core
unit requirements in the army.
Unit size: 10-20
enborn are creatures spawned of
Weapons & Armour: vines and thorny branches (hand weapon) the stinking mires of the jungles,
fetid creations that drip toxic water
Options and are bound together with
• Upgrade one Fenborn to a Slimebeast (+11pts) poisonous vines. Vile and
startlingly quick for undead
Special Rules: Earthbond, Skirmish, poisoned attacks creatures, they have ended many
an ill-fated expedition into Khuresh

ats follow the shigaion like a

0-1 Bat swarm Points/model: 60 cloud, darkening the moon and
descending on any nearby warm
M WS BS S T W I A LD blooded creatures, biting and
sucking at blood
Bat swarm 1 3 0 2 2 5 1 5 10
!hen Thushi gather in great
Unit size: 1-5 swarms they can easily influence
the world, though they are still
Weapons & Armour: teeth and claws physically too weak to cause any
direct damage, the ground around
Special Rules: Unbreakable, swarm, cause fear, alive!, fly 10” their writhing forms erupts with
sharp stones, biting insects and
strangling vines, snagging and
ripping at their enemies.

Thushi host* Points/model: 8

M WS BS S T W I A LD
Thushi spirits 6 2 0 2 2 1 2 0 1
Unit size: 10-30

Weapons & Armour: none

Special rules: Thushi, Twisted Nature (20mm base)

Special units are more suited to Thushi swarm Points/model: 80
specific roles on the battlefield and
as such are not found in every M WS BS S T W I A LD
force. They are rarer than core Thushi spirits 6 2 0 3 3 4 2 4 3
troops as the skills they possess are
much more difficult to find Unit size: 2-5

There are a minimum number of Weapons & Armour: none

Special units that can be fielded
and this varies with the size of the Special rules: Thushi, Twisted Nature
army

hushi are generally too weak to

directly affect the material world,
when bonded together by the
shigaion they can reach out and
grasp at the spirits and bodies of Clayborn Points/model: 14
the foe, sucking them dry of
moisture and killing any flesh M WS BS S T W I A LD
through which they pass
Clayborn 4 3 2 4 4 1 3 1 3
Terracotta 4 3 2 4 4 1 3 2 3
layborn are the finest creations of warrior
the shigaion, perfect
representations of warriors in Unit size: 10-30
armor as supple as leather and as
hard as stone. They form the Weapons & Armour: hand weapon
bodyguards of the shigaion as they
stalk the jungle and are their most Options
deadly warriors in battle • May be equipped with spears (+1 pt/model), halberds
(+1pt/model) or Cathayan Longswords (+2 pts/model)
• Upgrade one Clayborn to a Terracotta Warrior (+14pts)
toneborn are mighty creations • Upgrade one Clayborn to a musician (+7pts)
forged from the very bedrock of the
earth. As implacable as the Special Rules: Scaly skin (5+), earthbond, Wight blades
materials from which they are
created, they stand eternal watch
over gathering places of the Thushi Stoneborn Points/model: 110
and sites of magical power used by
the shigaion, ready to crush any M WS BS S T W I A LD
intruder
Stoneborn 4 3 0 5 5 4 1 2 10

Unit size: 1

Weapons & Armour: Stony fists and crushing bulk

Special Rules: Scaly skin (3+), Earthbond, Spiritfury

Fell bats Points/model: 20
Rare units are the most uncommon
M WS BS S T W I A LD and powerful units in the Shigaion
army, insidious spirits and
Fell bat 1 3 0 3 3 2 3 2 6 monsters not often seen on the
battlefield
Unit size: 3-10
There are a maximum number of
Weapons & Armour: claws and blood sucking fangs Rare units that can be fielded and
this varies with the size of the army
Special Rules: Fly

ell bats are common wherever

vampires stalk, great undead
beasts that suck the carrion that
the lords of the night leave behind.
The shigaion are no exception and
great numbers of the eerie
monsters follow in their wake
Nai-Thushi Points/model: 120
M WS BS S T W I A LD reated by fell magics and
unearthly rituals, Nai-Thushi are
Nai-Thushi 6 3 0 3 3 2 4 2 8 great, pulsing masses of spirit that
Unit size: 1 drift through the night, wailing and
screeching with barely contained
Weapons & Armour: spirit emanations power. Thousands of individual
Thushi are concentrated into an
Special rules: Thushi, Banshee howl, Twisted Nature (count as unit eerily glowing ball that drifts
strength 20 for purposes of this attack) across the battlefield, lashing out
and ripping at the souls of any who
draw near it.