Highlights from Exploring Azeroth: Pandaria - Li Li's Journey of Self-Discovery
Exploring Azeroth: Pandaria is the latest in World of Warcraft's Exploring Azeroth series. This time, we follow Li Li and Chen Stormstout as they take their friend, the pirate Catelyn the Blade, on a tour of Pandaria.
Basic Story
Previous books in the Exploring Azeroth series have covered Kalimdor, the Eastern Kingdoms, and Northrend, describing what these continents look like today. This time, the book is created from Lili Stormstout's personal journals as she records a tour she and her uncle, Chen Stormstout, take of Pandaria with their friend, the pirate captain Catelyn the Blade. Li Li's journals make up the bulk of the text, with Chen and Catelyn adding notes in the margins.
For the most part, there is little revolutionary about this return to Pandaria. We learn that some Alliance and Horde settlements have since been abandoned, while others still remain. The Yaungol invaders in Kun-Lai summit have been pushed back, and the Mantid of Dread Wastes have remained mostly quiet since their last attempt at an invasion. Pandaria still bears the scars of Garrosh's actions and, more recently, the Legion, but the continent is healing.
As they visit each area in Pandaria, Chen recounts the story of Emperor Shaohao, last emperor of Pandaria, and his various dealings with the Sha. And as can be expected, we encounter several old characters players may remember from their time in Pandaria, such as Tong the Fixer, owner of the Tavern in the Mists — where Wrathion and Anduin developed their friendship — or Mudmug, the Pandaren brewmaster who uses bug-infested water for his beer. We learn that Catelyn is married to a woman named Nalini, and Li Li has spent the last few years living in Mistfall Village.
One detail that we
