The Pandaren

In Mists of Pandaria, players were introduced to the enigmatic Pandaren. In the past, pandaren had been known mainly through the story of the founding of Orgrimmar, when wandering pandaren brewmaster Chen Stormstout helped Thrall in establishing his people’s new homeland in Durotar.

Pandaren are unique among World of Warcraft playable races in that they start out as neutral and choose to join either the Horde or the Alliance.

Pandaren history, while long, is shrouded in a vale of mystery. Literally.

But before we get to the mists, a quick rundown of pandaren's ancient history is prudent. After the Titans defeated and imprisoned the Old Gods and ordered Azeroth, they left behind Keepers to oversee the world as well as hosts of soldiers and workers to do the tasks the Keepers saw fit. The Keeper Ra went in search of what happened to the Titans when after centuries no word had been received from them

Ra would go on to disappear, and in time, the mogu would decide to carry on with what they were designed to do, protect the Vale of Eternal Blossoms and the titanic machinery underneath it. However, without Ra’s guidance, the mogu had no direction how to do so. Eventually, the mogu would splinter into tribes warring for control. Amidst this chaos, a mogu named Lei Shen would find Ra, defeat him and consume his power, taking on the mantle of the Thunder King and uniting the mogu clans into one empire.

The mogu were designed to secure and protect the Vale, so their empire secured peace and security through tyranny. All the races around the vale were enslaved. The clever hozen (monkey people), the wise jinyu (fish people), and the peaceful pandaren. The mogu would build the massive Serpent’s Spine wall to keep out the vast hordes of mantids, servants of the old gods.

In time, the pandaren would create the first monks and lead the uprising to overthrow the mogu empire. Peace and prosperity endured under the reigns of hozen, jinyu, and pandaren emperors until the dark days brought about by the coming of the Legion.

The pandaren empire were allies of the Kaldorei empire, living in peace with one another. However, as Queen Azshara became more and more obsessed with her power, and began the series of decisions that would bring the Legion to Azeroth, the pandaren emperor Shaohao became concerned. He would eventually move to sever ties with Azshara, and offer her as a parting gift a beautiful, ornate chest that the pandaren said would contain “all the arcane power one could ever need”, the night elves, of course, being obsessed with the arcane, opened the chest and found it empty, for arcane power isn’t needed to live a good life. However, this lesson was lost on Azshara and her Highborne.

Shaohao would then conjure a great vale of mist to fall upon Pandaria, to protect his lands and subjects from the terrors of the Burning Legion. What that, Shaohao disappeared, becoming the Last Emperor of pandaren myth and legend.

Pandaria would become its own continent after the Great Sundering, isolating the pandaren, jinyu, hozen, yaungol, and mantids for 10,000 years, until the Horde and Alliance would both make landfall and embroil Pandaria in the Horde-Alliance conflict and the overthrow of Garrosh Hellscream as warchief. 

During these 10,000 years, one expedition of pandaren would leave their land. Liu Lang, rare for his people, had a desire to see the world beyond the mists. This pandaren wanted to know what had become of the outside world since the days of the Last Emperor. He befriended a sea-turtle named Shen-zin Su and together, they explored the world outside Pandaria.

Over time, Shen-zin Su, being far more long-lived than his pandaren master, outlived Liu Lang, and continued to grow, and grow. Over generations, the back of this great turtle became home to a community of pandaren, all who had wanted to follow in Liu Lang’s pawprints and explore the world. This turtle and the community living on his back, would be called the Wandering Isle, for from a distance, it looked like a large island that moved on its own across the Great Sea between Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms.

It is here the playable pandaren begin their journey, culminating in the choice to join the Tushui Order in the Alliance, focused on doing what is right, contemplation, and serenity, or the Huojin Order in the Horde, believing that action in defense of your people is always right and that hesitation and indolence are the greatest of weaknesses.

Pandaren can be warriors, death knights, hunters, shamans, rogues, monks, mages, and priests.

Pandaren racial bonuses tie into their culture, focusing on their love of good food, their striving for inner peace, and their background of martial arts and the monks who practice them.

1. Epicurean. Pandaren love their food. Stat bonus from foods increased 100%.

2. Gourmand. Cooking is an important part of life in pandaria. Chefs hold immense importance among pandaren. Cooking skill starts at 15 skill points, rather than 1.

3. Inner Peace. The meditation and calmness pandaren strive for allows them to learn more from their experiences and the world around them. They earn twice as much rested experience when at an inn.

4. Bouncy. Pandaren are big and love food, this makes them on the thicker side, or as the pandaren say, bouncy. Falling damage cut by 50%.

5. Quaking Palm. All pandaren, regardless of class, know the basic monk strike to incapacitate an opponent for 4 seconds with a stunning strike.

The pandaren bring a unique Asian-inspired theme to World of Warcraft, as well as having one of the most beautiful continents in the game, from the Jade Forest, to the Valley of the Four Winds, and the Kun-lai Mountains. The pandaren might seem lighter-hearted than many of Warcraft’s other races, but that’s what makes them special. Just remember two pieces of advice pandaren often say in World of Warcraft; slow down, and keep your eyes and heart open!