Lorewalker Mo' - Sheilun, Staff of the Mists

Water has always been important to the people of Pandaria. From the powerful waters of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms to the mists that protected them from the war of the ancients. Today’s mistweavers embody the safety and renewal of water.

When Freya created the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, she filled it with pools and rivers of enchanted water. This was used to start creating new forms of life to populate the world with, and they soon flourished across Pandaria. The water spills out of the Vale into the valley below, making it the best farmland in the world.

Some indigenous races also found the Vale, including the Murlocs. As they drank the waters their minds and bodies were expanded, transforming them into the Jinyu. The Mogu also made use of this property, using the waters on Crocolisks to create the savage Saurok. The Pandaren Emporers didn’t directly use it, but they took some to create the symbol of their office: Sheilun.

Water also plays a key role in the succession of new emperors. When they take up the staff their first duty is to travel to Dawn’s Blossom in the Jade forest to have the fate of their reign foretold by the Jinyu waterspeakers. This was the tradition for centuries until the time of Shaohao, the last emperor.

The young Shaohao took the staff dutifully and headed to Dawn’s Blossom in good spirits, expecting to hear about another few years of prosperity. The Jinyu drove his staff into the sacred pool in the village and called upon his ancestors for a vision. The waterspeaker gaped in horror at what he saw. Demons flooding the land, the sky burning green with felfire and life scoured from the world, this was not going be an easy reign.

Shaohao travelled to the peak of mount Neverest to seek a vision from the celestials. Apparently going down the road to the temple of the Jade serpent wasn’t good enough. He was afraid of the vision, angry at the Elven Empire who brought this upon him and doubt and despair at what he could possibly do. This raging emotion stirred the sha spirits trapped within the land and gave him yet another problem, but also the solution.

He travelled the land, facing each of the sha and purging himself of the emotion they represented. Each time he fought, the staff Sheilun’s waters healed the corruption the old god’s power caused. Eventually Shaohao defeated 6 of the sha spirits, but one eluded him: pride. He thought the people of Pandaria were better than the reckless elves that caused all this and so he decided to hide his land.

Using his staff he created a vast wall of mists to shroud and protect his people. As he worked he became part of Pandaria itself, giving his life to save his people. The staff fell to the ground in the Vale, later found by the monks of the Golden Lotus. They took the staff to the Terrace of Endless Springs for safekeeping, knowing Pandaria would never have another emperor.

The staff has laid enshrined ever since, waiting for a time when the world would need its healing powers again. But now the sha of pride has been defeated, and the monks see their place in the world clearly, this time they will fight.