The Princess and the Turtle (part 8)

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Emperor Huizong, Emperor Shaohao, Hozen, Iron Qon, Kun Yomi, Kun-Lai Summit, Lei Shen, Lorewalker Cho, Mogu, Monkey King, Pandaren, Pandaria, Protector Shaohao, Thunder King, Valley of Emperors, Warcraft, World of Warcraft, WoW, Yaochi, Yi-Bo Shen, Yu Gwai

Princess Yaochi stood in the burial chamber of the Thunder King, facing off against the two mogu warlords, one of whom stood in her way for the last couple of days. On her side stood only a Protector of the Golden Lotus she just found in the same tomb and a particularly smart turtle. The battle seemed hopeless, even more so considering what the warlords just said. Yaochi was shocked that they were happy to see her, that they claimed to have orchestrated everything… how could it be?

“That’s impossible,” she finally said, looking between the two smiling monsters, “you couldn’t have possibly planned everything.”

“Not everything,” Kun Yomi responded, “but we planned enough. You see, Qon’s consort has already read the tablet when you found her. We knew we needed blood…”

“…that didn’t come from a mogu,” Iron Qon interrupted, “so we left her to fight you. If you lost, we would have blood from you.”

“If you won,” Kun continued, “you would doubtlessly come here to fight us. So we get your blood anyway.”

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The Princess and the Turtle (part 7)

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Golden Lotus, Iron Qon, Kun Yomi, Kun-Lai Summit, Lei Shen, Lorewalker Cho, Mogu, Pandaren, Pandaria, Protector Shaohao, Ra-den, Thunder King, Titan technology, Valley of Emperors, Warcraft, World of Warcraft, WoW, Yaochi, Yu Gwai

The dull, rough noise of a man hitting stone was filling the room. Yu Gwai wasted no time trying to get himself and his companion free. Hours have passed, and if they waited even a short time more, the day would come again and Yaochi would be left with only a turtle to help her – one of very limited combat capability. However, despite the warlord’s best efforts at breaking the stone with the sheer mass of his body hitting repeatedly against it, the only result was bruises and exhaustion.

The princess just sat on the stairs, covering her ears from the noise and trying to think of a solution. Although she knew Yu Gwai was trying to help them, the noise was starting to get annoying. For hours she looked for a button or mechanism that would release the slab standing in the doorway, but to no avail. She was wondering how Kun Yomi could have known so much about these ancient mechanisms, but then she remembered he was alive when they were constructed. Still, she thought, he couldn’t have been around when the original thing, hidden behind the tomb, where Diaochan found the tablet, was constructed. Perhaps… there she could find something that would save them.

The Princess and the Turtle (part 6)

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Diaochan, Iron Qon, Kun Yomi, Kun-Lai Summit, Lei Shen, Lorewalker Cho, Mogu, Pandaren, Pandaria, Thunder King, Valley of Emperors, Warcraft, World of Warcraft, WoW, Yaochi, Yu Gwai

The princess and the turtle were meandering through the Valley of Emperors, trying to avoid the mogu troops suddenly populating it and to find a clue as to what they were doing at the same time. So far, they had no luck with the latter. They hid in every nook and cranny they could find and managed to avoid combat, but they didn’t know anything more than they did couple of hours before. Yaochi kept wondering why wouldn’t the Monkey King tell them more, or why wouldn’t he just defeat them himself. She felt resting this responsibility on the hands of a child – thinking about herself as a child for the first time in years – was just irresponsible, but what else could she do now?

As the day was drawing to a close, Yaochi was lying down on a ledge above one particular tomb, observing the movements. Two mogu soldiers stood guard over the entrance, nearly motionless. This particular property of the mogu always surprised the princess. They were always so similar to their statues. When a pandaren wanted to make a statue of himself, it took a lot of work to get a resemblance half as perfect. But the mogu, not only could they simply freeze in place like a statue, their skin was like stone and their statues looked so much like them. Little did she know how spot on she was about their nature.

The Princess and the Turtle (part 5)

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Diaochan, Hozen, Iron Qon, Kun Yomi, Kun-Lai Summit, Lei Shen, Lorewalker Cho, Mogu, Monkey King, Pandaren, Pandaria, Thunder King, Warcraft, World of Warcraft, WoW, Xuen, Yaochi, Yu Gwai

Yaochi and the turtle slowly approached the temple, sneaking out of the sight of the mogu. The girl had hoped the mogu would soon leave and she would be free, but life is rarely that easy. Although neither side wanted to attack, they were both ready to fight at a moment’s notice. Iron Qon just sat atop his red quilen, grinning his fangs at the temple’s defenders. When Yaochi got close enough, she noticed something even rarer than the ancient warlords that seem to be coming out of the woodwork lately. She saw a female mogu. A tall, slender figure, red-skinned and beautiful in her own way, although still unmistakably mogu.

She remembered in this moment an old tale about the consort of Iron Qon, Diaochan, a woman as ruthless and ferocious as she was beautiful. Diaochan was a vicious woman who hid her true colors behind her powdered face and elegant dress, making the impression of a demure and obedient lady. But Iron Qon knew the true fire that slept underneath these robes and those who heard the tales about her knew it too. But every now and again someone would underestimate her. Coupled with the infamously chronic backstabber Iron Qon, these two together meant trouble.

The Princess and the Turtle (part 4)

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Hozen, Iron Qon, Kun Yomi, Lorewalker Cho, Mogu, Pandaren, Pandaria, Sha, Temple of the White Tiger, Warcraft, World of Warcraft, WoW, Xuen, Yaochi, Yu Gwai

A lone hozen sat on a ridge near the Great Lift. Bored with all the tasks given to him by his elders, he snuck away and decided to just look at passengers of the Lift. On a normal day, it’s pretty busy – travelers come and go to and from Zouchin Province, but that morning it was so far eerily quiet. He realized something must have happened, but a simple hozen could not imagine what might it be. Then, he noticed the oddest thing – a turtle, slowly passing through a nearby valley, with a sleeping pandaren girl on its back. The girl must have grooked everyone down there, he thought, and that’s why she is now so tired that she sleeps during the day. No sane hozen sleeps during the day!

Yaochi may not have killed everyone in the Zouchin Province, but she certainly did enough killing, with very little sleep, to feel very tired. As soon as they were out of the immediate vicinity of the lift, she just crawled on the turtle’s back and asked it to let her “rest a bit” there. She barely ended her sentence when she fell fast asleep. The turtle had no heart to wake her now after all she’s been through so it just moved on, with her still on his back. It did not exactly know where to go – the turtle itself has never been up there, and even searching the warlord’s mind proved difficult, since even he was stuck in Zouchin for countless centuries and has simply forgotten the lay of Kun-Lai. But the turtle remembered something the pandaren always talk about with reverence – Temple of the White Tiger. Clearly, it is important to reach it… while avoiding the major roads the mogu could patrol in search of them.

The Princess and the Turtle (part 3)

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Kun Yomi, Kun-Lai Summit, Lei Shen, Lorewalker Cho, Mogu, Pandaren, Pandaria, Shan Jitong, Thunder King, Warcraft, World of Warcraft, WoW, Yaochi, Yu Gwai, Zouchin Province

The mogu warlord towered over poor Yaochi, slowly approaching her with his arms stretched out and ready to grasp her. She couldn’t seem to catch a break. Whenever she managed to get away from one enemy, she only fell into the hands of another. Still, something was different about this Yu Gwai. His skin seemed less metallic and his hair looked almost like real hair of a real person, not the unmoving coiffures of most mogu which looked like carved from sandstone. Despite all the differences, he was still snarling at her and posturing to attack. But why?

“Why are you attacking me?” she said, pressing her back against the stone wall. “A moment ago you were helping me!”

“Not me,” Yu Gwai barked back, “the turtle did.”

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “But you are the turtle!” she replied.

“Not quite,” the mogu said before reaching out to her. Yaochi closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, preparing to be hit… but then another voice filled the air, and a familiar one at that.

The Princess and the Turtle (part 2)

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Kaldorei Empire, Kun Yomi, Kun-Lai Summit, Lei Shen, Lorewalker Cho, Master Chang, Mogu, Old Kalimdor, Pandaren, Pandaria, Warcraft, World of Warcraft, WoW, Yaochi, Yu Gwai, Zandalar, Zouchin Province, Zouchin Village

Yaochi was sitting up on the grass at the feet of the mountain. Although she was still in great pain, nothing seemed to be broken. By the grass she could tell she’s in Zouchin Province, the northernmost province of the Pandaren Empire, one isolated from the rest of the Empire by great mountains. The only thing further north was the Plains of Giants and then remnants of the Zandalari Empire, and finally the Kaldorei lands. She had never seen any of these lands, only hearing frightful tales about the vicious, cannibal trolls who used to be allies of the mogu, and about the night elves, powerful magi who hated the trolls as much as pandaren hated the mogu. Perhaps there was a story between them, but no one could tell it to her but ancient tomes written in characters she hasn’t learned yet. Indeed, there were no Lorewalkers yet back then!

Her position quickly torn her away from these musings. She was wounded and in pain, sitting at the feet of the Kun-Lai Mountains. Master Chang was undoubtedly dead, killed brutally by the mogu villain and ancestors only know what kind of gruesome ritual his remains were put through. The carriage driver was lying motionless and breathless on nearby rocks, with a bolt in his chest. Even the yaks were dead. Her only companion seemed to be the turtle that gave her water when she woke up. What kind of turtle would know how to do such things? There was something odd about it. It moved with speed and deliberation she only saw from people, and his eyes… there was something about his eyes. When she looked into his eyes, she saw a splinter of sentience. There was no doubt, that was not a normal turtle.