The Road to the East
There are those in the Old World who are insane enough to travel through the lands of the Ogres on the Ivory Road to Great Cathay, where huge profits are to be had.

As Phil says, once travelers have overcome or avoided the Worlds Edge Mountains, the Dark Lands, the industrial hell of the Chaos Dwarfs, the roving tribes of Goblins, Hobgoblins, Orcs, and Gnoblars, intrepid explorers reach the Mountains of Mourn where the troubles really start. It’s amazing that anyone would even bother, as the odds of becoming lunch for something are rather high.

"Ah," says Phil, in a way that suggests he has a devastating riposte to this reasoning. He does. "There is a historical precedent there. In the Middle Ages, there was a route between Europe and China called the Silk Road. Traveling the real Silk Road was incredibly dangerous, but the rewards were great."

Yeah, fair enough, we all know about Marco Polo. Despite the savage hordes of nomads, wolves, and tyrannical potentates, the medieval merchants in our world didn’t have to put up with large and scary monsters.

"Ah," says Phil again. "It’s the Ogres. Though the Ogres are very dangerous, they are our saving grace. They allow the great caravans to pass between the Old World and Cathay. Ogres will fight for pay. If your caravan is guarded by 10' killing machines, it gives you a chance. In this way, Ogres are like real-world mountain guides, like the Sherpas or Ghurkas, ferocious local warriors who will protect you. Also, an Empire great caravan is a huge armoured mobile town on wheels, full of men armed to the teeth with blackpowder weapons and with Helblaster Volley Guns mounted on the roofs of the carts!" With the Ogres protecting them, he maintains, the worst thing that can happen to these caravans is that they get infested with Gnoblars, who nick everything. "I think we’re going to have fun developing the land trains idea in the future," says Phil mysteriously.