A Shanker’s Tale: Mountaineering

Did I mention Pandaria is really pretty? Even the giant outdoor raid bosses make a good addition to a scenic screenshot!

So, Kun Lai Summit. This is a bit of a fractured zone, with nothing really to tie it all together. Personally I think it suffers from it a bit, despite a few notable high points. The zone begins with a trip from the Vally of the Four Winds, through the Veiled Stair. You stop off at the Tavern in the Mists, home to Wrathion and his group of shady thugs, the Blacktalon Watchers. There’s obviously something going on with these guys, but I’m not really qualified to comment on that at the moment!

The zone proper starts as you arrive at a Pandaren settlement which is under attack from the local Yaungol tribes. The same Horde scouting part from Jade Forest is here, led by General Nazgrim, finishing up their recuperation from the battle at the Jade Serpent statue. You’re tasked with helping the local Pandaren as, as always, combating the Sha influence in the zone – this time the Sha of Anger. To this end, you help some of the local people rebuild their town, in return for their allegiance to the Horde. More Pandas are always useful, I guess!

Moving swiftly on, you meet up with Lorewalker Exposition, who wants to investigate some local Mogu tombs for signs of what they’re up to. The answers are simple: they’ve allied with the Zandalar tribe of Trolls, who are searching for the remains of the Thunder King, in order to raise him and rule the world together. Well, it’s one plan at least. Anyone else remember when the Zandalar tribe were good guys? Or, at least, allies of convenience. They probably could’ve had Zul’gurub, if they wanted it!

Anyway, this goes predictably, with the trolls successfully retrieving Lei Shen’s body and raising him. We’ll come back for him, I’m sure.

Barrels: a Pandarian theme

Finally, this is the zone that fully introduces the Shado-Pan, Pandaria’s main fighting force – founded by Shaohao to combat the Sha, primarily. You help them with Sha-infested Yaungol and investigate their monastery (in an instance, of course) which has been corrupted by the Sha of Violence. To cap it off, they have you roll giant barrels of flaming beer down a hill to stop an attack. It’s amusing.

With Kun Lai done, Illirica is level 89. I finished up Engineering from the massive amounts of Ghost Iron I’ve been mining (it’s pretty much everywhere), and with a couple of purchases from the auction house, made her Engineering goggles. I expect they’ll be replaced fairly swiftly at 90 (as they always used to be), but they’ll stand me in good stead until then.

Dread Wastes next, for the final stretch to 90!