Wandering Isle

The Wandering Isle
Level: 1 - 10; 100-110
Type	Giant turtle / Class Hall
Races	Pandaren; Hozen; Virmen
Major settlements	Temple of Five Dawns
Languages	Mogu, Hozen
Affiliation	Independent
Location	Drifting towards the Maelstrom

For many generations, the boldest pandaren gathered on the back of the colossal sea turtle Shen-zin Su to venture across the world. The moving isle's inhabitants are the descendants of a rare breed of pandaren: explorers who left their mist-shrouded homeland behind in search of knowledge and adventure.^[1]

The Wandering Isle is the starting area of the playable pandaren in World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. The Isle is a massive island on the back of a giant turtle, known to the pandaren as Shen-zin Su,^[2] and inhabited by curious pandaren and/or their descendants who left their homeland of Pandaria centuries after the Great Sundering^[3] in order to discover the other lands and races of Azeroth; the Isle has been drifting on the ocean ever since.

After the destruction of the Peak of Serenity in Pandaria, the monks of the Order of the Broken Temple relocate to the Wandering Isle.

Descriptions from site

From the zone listing: Separated from Pandaria for millennia, the Wandering Isle meanders the oceans of Azeroth. When the weather changes unexpectedly on the Isle and it begins erratically spiraling toward the Maelstrom, the elders at the Temple of Five Dawns request the aid of four elemental spirits to unravel the mystery. Heroes must figure out the cause of the land's illness before the entire island plunges into the abyss!^[4]

From the zone article: Liu Lang has passed on, but his followers still depart Pandaria's shores to see the world. The turtle has grown massive, the size of a small city. It’s here, on the "Wandering Isle" that young, eager Pandaren train and learn, engaging in mock combat against one another and mastering the tools and forms of martial arts.

Life on the Wandering Isle is pacific and enlightening until the day the Wandering Isle travels through the seas near Azeroth's Maelstrom. The ground becomes unstable, crops wilt, and Shen-zin Su seems to wobble in the ocean, drifting in an unsteady pattern that may be a death spiral.

As one of the most promising Pandaren wanderers, you'll uncover the true threat to the Wandering Isle. But the problem facing the great turtle has several potential solutions, and the students of the isle are split on how to handle it. Do they act immediately (but rashly) to save their home before all is lost? Do they deliberate, attempting to find a safer (but slower) way to heal the land and deal with the dangers in their midst?

Your decision will shape the future, and set the path of the Pandaren in a changed world.^[5]

From the information on the pandaren

It is the rare pandaren indeed who sought a way beyond the mist. Generations ago, pandaren explorers began to gather on the back of a giant turtle: Shen-zin Su. The great sea turtle roamed Azeroth's oceans, perhaps the only contact pandaren had with the outside world. Eventually, they too lost contact with their mist-shrouded homeland.

Players who choose to create a pandaren character will start their journey on the back of Shen-zin Su. When the great turtle is threatened, and their whole wandering homeland is in jeopardy of being swallowed by the sea, players will have to accelerate their training and spring into action.

During their time on the turtle, players will first encounter the Alliance and Horde. Before they are finished, they'll have to make the most important decision of their lives: Which of the two factions will they support as they venture out to heal a world broken by the Cataclysm and threatened by a global war?^[2]

History

Please add any available information to this section.

From Pandaren Starting Zone Cinematic

Though Pandaren live in harmony with their native land, wanderlust has gripped a small portion of their hearts for as long as they can remember. To satisfy that wanderlust, the ancient scholar Liu Lang set out long ago – on the back of a turtle – to explore the world he knew waited beyond Pandaria’s shores. Liu Lang made several return trips to his homeland, each time bringing with him stories of the wondrous things he’d seen; each time, Shen-zin Su, the turtle that carried Liu Lang through the waters, seemed to become larger and larger.

Liu Lang has passed on, but his followers still depart Pandaria’s shores to see the world. The turtle has grown massive, the size of a small city. It’s here, on the "Wandering Isle" that young, eager Pandaren train and learn, engaging in mock combat against one another and mastering the tools and forms of martial arts.

Life on the Wandering Isle is pacific and enlightening until the day the Wandering Isle travels through the seas near Azeroth’s Maelstrom. The ground becomes unstable, crops wilt, and Shen-zin Su seems to wobble in the ocean, drifting in an unsteady pattern that may be a death spiral.

As one of the most promising Pandaren wanderers, you’ll uncover the true threat to the Wandering Isle. But the problem facing the great turtle has several potential solutions, and the students of the isle are split on how to handle it. Do they act immediately (but rashly) to save their home before all is lost? Do they deliberate, attempting to find a safer (but slower) way to heal the land and deal with the dangers in their midst?

Your decision will shape the future, and set the path of the Pandaren in a changed world.

Geography

Maps and subregions

VZ-Wandering Isle — Map of the Wandering Isle

Cave of Meditation · Chamber of Whispers · The Dawning Span · The Dawning Stair · The Dawning Valley · The Elders' Path · Fe-Fang Village · Fu's Pond · Liang's Retreat · Mandori Village · Morning Breeze Lake · Morning Breeze Village · Pei-Wu Forest (Forlorn Hut · Pool of the Paw) · Ridge of Laughing Winds · The Rows (The Dai-Lo Farmstead · Ki-Han Brewery · Teeming Burrow · Virmen Grotto) · Shang Xi Training Grounds · Shrine of Five Dawns · Shrine of Inner-Light · The Singing Pools (Pool of Reflection) · Temple of Five Dawns · Tranquil Grotto · The Wood of Staves · Wreck of the Skyseeker · Wu-Song Village

Regions adjacent to the Wandering Isle

Zone Name	Faction	Access
Stormwind City, Elwynn Forest		Concluding Quest:A New Fate
Orgrimmar, Durotar		Concluding Quest:A New Fate

Once characters leave the Wandering Isle, they are ineligible for a return journey. Non-Pandaren are prevented from ever entering the Island, much like the Lost Isles and Kezan were only part of the leveling experience of goblin characters.

File:WorldMap-TheWanderingIsle-ClassHall.jpg

Map of the Wandering Isle when housing the Order of the Broken Temple

Monks of all races later establish the Wandering Isle as their Class Hall for the Order of the Broken Temple. This version of the Isle exists in a separate phase, not interfering with the pandaren starting experience. Notably, the Wreck of the Skyseeker is absent from the new version of the map.

Notable Characters

See also: The Wandering Isle NPCs

Quests

Main article: Wandering Isle storyline

The Wandering Isle storyline is the pandaren level 1-10 starting experience. Freshly-created pandaren start out neutral, in their own instance. Once players reach the end of the chain, they will be forced to make a one-time-only decision as to which faction they wish to ally with, Alliance or Horde.