Conquest of the Horde

The island itself is in all actuality the great Shen-zin Su's own shell. If one were to look over the edge of the great cliffs that rest upon his back, they would see the ancient turtle's head.

The first image is of the Temple of Five Dawns, taken from a balcony at the Shang-Xi Training Ground



This is an image of the shrine atop the highest point of the Temple.

Training Pandaren Monks



An image of the Training Ground and the island's edge.

A group of swans in the Singing Pools.



A shrine at the edge of the pools, presumably the Pandaren's version of a graveyard, as far as the resurrection spot is concerned.

What's a Pandaren settlement without a brewery!

My Pandaren Musha, taking a rest in the inn at the Dai-Lo Farmstead.

Alcohol supplied by the Ki-Han Brewery and it's affiliates, barley and hops courtesy of the Farmers at the Dai-Lo Farmstead.

Interestingly enough, the main crop that's grown there seems to be... Pumpkins and carrots. Who knows!

The Hozu are a race of mischievous monkey men, hell bent on causing trouble wherever they may be. Seemingly, their sole purpose is to act as a nuisance to the Pandaren and whatever people they may encounter... Much like actual monkeys, who love to grief people however they can.

The verming are thieves to the bitter end. They dig tunnels (drawing parallels to kobolds) under the farms of the Pandaren, leeching off of the creations of others, (Another parallel to kobolds, who tend to steal mines) as well as being diminutive, stupid, and having an obsession over a trivial item. In the case of the verming, they love carrots. It's also been noted they will be the new equivalent of the murlocs, so get used to seeing their grimy little faces literally everywhere.

Unfortunately, I was unable to take a photo of the tigers; They were six levels higher than me, and I kept getting mauled before I could snap a good one. This is a pretty self explanatory one, and there isn't much special about them.

Once again, self-explanatory

For this... I am eternally sorry. I feel like I just shot myself in the foot, because the Sha are THE iconic enemy in Mists of Pandaria, and I didn't get a single photo. They are to the Pandaren what the Legion is to the Draenei, what the Shadow is to the Light, the Nightmare to the Druids. In essence, these are the 'big bads'. Blizzard is trying to focus on the factional in-fighting in this expansion, and not have some sort of prime evil, but these guys still seem to be at the core of what's going on.

Except, you're the reason they're there.

The Pandaren lands have been, for ten thousand years, nearly devoid of war. They're a generally peaceful people, but in those rare times where battle breaks out on their sacred land, the evil Sha begin to surface. They are the physical manifestation of the negative energy that comes from war, a manifestation that the Shado-Pan Clan have been dealing with for millennia on Pandaria itself. The Sha however, have surfaced on the Wandering Isle, with the advent of the Horde and Alliance coming aboard.

The more you fight, the stronger they get, the more numerous there are. It's possible that they are isolated only to Pandaren areas, and that's why they've taken the peaceful approach that they have in the past. Because there are legitimate ramifications of violence on Pandaria and the Wandering Isle. Only time will tell as more lore gets leaked out, but the Sha will be an interesting group to keep tabs on.

I was only able to go through about half of the Pandaren starting zone before I got booted off the computer for the next wave of Blizzconians to take my place. I wasn't happy that I didn't get to take all the photos I wanted, nor that I didn't even get to go through the entire zone, but alas, you can't always get what you want.