>>95840831
It's alright but I think it would be cooler if Cathay was the premier air power as it would give them more of a niche of their own and make them less redundant as far as human factions go. Something like pic related but in the style of junks that they could use to protect their tenuous overland routes along with some floating islands to rest on in between, things they already have and would make sense to expand upon. As for why it's not present in the main timeline, just say that it's another innovation they gave up on due to the emperor's disinterest in change like the Chinese dismantling their fleet irl.

Plus I always thought the zeppelins in WoW were cool and provided a sense of interconnectivity to the world which I know dwarfs have as well so maybe they could work together on this front, or better yet compete for control over the skies. You could even have air pirates ala Castle in the Sky making a living by raiding the sky caravans! In general I just see these parts of the world as such a missed opportunity, we have the technology so use it already dummies