Pandaria

Pandaria is a legendary place of bambus forests and the mysterious pandaren of the Pandaren Empire.

Pandaren hail from the distant island nation of Pandaria, which non-pandarens have never seen or ever visited to this day. The Pandaren Empire was founded before the Great Sundering of the world, and is believed to be just as old as the kaldorei civilization. It shared and traded resources, goods, ideas and mystic knowledge with the haughty night elves of central Kalimdor in the years before the War of the Ancients. As the night elves' obsession with the forces of magic drove them to the brink of madness, the gentle pandaren severed ties, withdrew and closed their borders, and left the night elves behind forever. The pandaren clans, or shao'dins, traveled far across the seas and established crude but beautiful cities of stone and sturdy bambus reed on an island they named Pandaria. In time they built a new empire on the island. For ten millennia, the world had forgotten pandaren. Shortly after the Third War, though, a few reappeared — perhaps roused from their isolation by the Burning Legion, whose catastrophic coming shook the world.

Pandarens have chosen to keep the location of their island a secret and most are content to remain there, with only the rare few pandaren choosing to leave and see the outside world.

A splinter group of pandaren arrived on Kalimdor in the aftermath of the Third War and has established a settlement in the Stonetalon Mountains of Kalimdor, but the location remains as secret as that of their island homeland.

Pandaren society
Pandaren society has changed from its origins. Where once the pandaren were a mighty empire, standing proud beside their night elf allies, now they are a simple people who want only peace and a safe home. Yet the world is a dangerous place, and only through an acceptance of the violence that comes with life can the pandaren continue to prosper.

Pandaren society is, in many ways, compartmentalized. At their core, the pandaren treasure peace and creativity. Most pandaren are poets and singers, and the craftsmen of their culture are truly revered. The danger of their lives, however, has necessitated the evolution of a class of warriors to defend those ideals — it is these warriors, from the simplest pikeman to the great shodopans, who ensure that Pandaren culture survives.

Even the lowliest pandaren is capable of defending himself, using the fangs and stubby but needle-like claws that are a natural part of his body. All pandaren can use these natural weapons to fight and hunt, as pandaren grow up playing rough and tumble games meant to hone their abilities while learning the admonishments of their elders that such things are a last resort. In general, pandaren prefer to use the weapons they craft, feeling that their natural weapons hearken back to a primal time.

Pandaren are bipedal creatures, but their ursine forms allow them to move at tremendous speed on four limbs. When a pandaren drops down to all fours, his speed increases greatly. He must have nothing in his hands to use quadrupedal movement.

Gems of Pandaria
Pandaria is apparently known for its gems (which are apparently magical). The red dragons believed that three crushed gems from Pandaria were one of the components needed to rejuvenate the Sunwell.