The Zandalari

Thousands of years ago, when the Zandalari and the Mogu boasted the most powerful empires in Azeroth, the Zandalari were actually allied with the Mogu. So when the Pandaren revolted against the Mogu, of course the Zandalari displayed their allegiance to their Mogu friends by attacking the embryonic Pandaren empire. Overcoming this threat was to be one of the Pandaren empire's first tests of strength.

After the passing of so many thousands of years, after the mists had covered Pandaria for so long — keeping ancient threats like the Zandalari at bay — Pandaren children have now come to see the mythological Zandalari somewhat like our children see bogeymen. Scary enough to ensure compliance with the instructions and requests of parents, but at the end of the day, not the kind of threat you ever really see with your own eyes and in your own backyard... right?

24/03/2012 20:13Posted by Krenak

If the Mogu and Zandalari trolls ruled Pandaria before the Pandaren wouldnt the whole island be named after them?

The place I come from is called New Zealand, and that is how it is known around the entire world. I also call myself a New Zealander, much like the Pandarens of Pandaria. However, the original inhabitants of the place I call New Zealand called (and still call) the exact same place Aotearoa. A place does not necessarily have just one name, and often the name to which a place is referred is a matter of perspective. :)

The misty shrouds that the last Pandaren Emperor used to protect Pandaria from the demonic jeopardy that threatened Azeroth have done a particularly good job, for no troll has been seen in Pandaria for over 10,000 years. No wonder the Zandalari seem like nothing more than freakish figures of fiction to many Pandaren.

Imagine the Pandaren's surprise when the mists collapse and Pandaria's lush forests and cloud-ringed mountains are once more threatened by the ancient Zandalari menace that they had come to see as nothing more than scary savages in some superstitious stories.

24/03/2012 22:36Posted by Berioh

So why would the Pandaren accept trolls as allies, with the Horde.

When you play a Pandaren, that choice is yours to make and for your own reasons.

After the mists collapse, of course after 10,000 years the Zandalari are intensely curious about Pandaria, even more so perhaps than the Horde and Alliance are. But is there more to their interest than pure curiosity?

So, just like the Alliance and Horde, they send out their forces to Pandaria. But it would appear they have it in mind to re-connect with their ancient allies, the Mogu. It seems they want to help them retake the land away from the Pandaren and once again bring it under Mogu rule. How very kind of them!

But is their mission to re-establish Mogu rule really so altruistic as that? They seem so desperate to acquire Pandaren territory. What exactly could be their motive, if it isn't just to help out their ancient Mogu allies?

To find out more, we will need to wait a little while longer so we can head towards Kun-Lai Summit and unravel the secrets that are there to be discovered. :)

25/03/2012 00:46Posted by Salamitorden

On a different note: Why are you still up Wryx, isn't it like.. late? :)

Yes but we're about to have our time change to summer time at 2am, and it'll be like the last hour never happened! *gasp*

Oh, hang on, it goes forward... *cry* *runs off to his watery bed*

25/03/2012 03:33Posted by Archaos

Um... after 10,000 years and hundreds of generations how do the living Zandalari even have any knowledge of Mogu or Pandaria?

Very good record keeping, perhaps? :)

26/03/2012 11:51Posted by Serenais

And, also, if Pandaria was not shrouded before then, shouldn't some Kaldorei records include some mentions of a now missing continent?

Oh, you haven't found those records yet...? :P There's so many books in WoW that you can't interact with. Maybe it's in one of those? :P

26/03/2012 11:58Posted by Serenais

Alright, alright, got me there... I just meant, "we" haven't heard/seen a single thing. And I guess no expeditions were sent over there in the meantime either? ;) Or maybe they have, and everything that was (or wasn't) found out about is in one of those unreadable books... *starts to get entangled in own thought threads*

Well I guess that could be explained by, if it had been relevant for characters in the "story so far" to reveal this information to us, it would have been done already. :)