WoW+Folklore+Videos

//** Between a Saurok and a Hard Place **// media type="custom" key="23500426" // Lorewalker Cho says: // // Let us talk about the nature of power. In my hands I hold a sword. I ask you: Who wields the power? I do, for I wield the sword! // // Many thousands of years ago, the mogu held all the power. They ruled this land with fists of iron. But as their empire grew, they needed a way to police and control it. They used the powers of the Vale, and their own flesh-warping magics, to twist and shape a race of ferocious lizards into a living weapon. They created an army. An army of Saurok. Bloodthirsty savages created to enforce the will of the emperor. // // Ah, but there is a problem with creating a living weapon. Do you see? Who, now, wields the power? // // The heartless saurok, even with their tiny lizard brains, soon realized the truth of their position. They killed the enemies of the mogu. Then they killed the subjects of the mogu. Soon, they started killing the mogu themselves. // // The mogu emperor then ordered all of the saurok to be purged. He tried to wipe out their entire race, to no avail. They still plague Pandaria to this day. // // So you see - power is easily taken, but should not be lightly given. // // Oh... I seem to have lost my sword. //

__Question__: Explain the lesson/theme. What does it really mean? Make sure to cite examples from the story to support your response.

//** Hozen in the Mist **// media type="custom" key="23509760"

// Lorewalker Cho says: // // One day, a father grew tired of his young cub's misbehavior. "You act just like a hozen!" the father scolded. Still, his son misbehaved. // // To teach him a lesson, the father dragged the cub out to the forest, to watch how the hozen live. "Do you see what the hozen are like?" he asked. "Do you want to live like that?" // // The hozen are quite lively indeed. A short-lived race, few hozen survive past their 20th birthday. Their leaders are all 14 or 15. How mature were you at 14 years old? Meditate on that! // // Afterwards, the father asked his cub what he had learned. // // "I learned that we work and toil on our little farm, but that the hozen have the whole world as their garden," the cub said. "I learned that we squint by the light of a single candle, but that the hozen enjoy the light of the stars. I learned that I go to school every day, but that the hozen learn by doing." // // And the cub concluded, "I should very much like to live like a hozen!" // // Who then, was the wiser? The father or the cub? // // That, my friend, is for you to decide. //

__Question__: Who was wiser - the father or the son? Make sure to cite examples from the story to support your response.

//** Fish Tales **// media type="custom" key="23509764"

// Lorewalker Cho says: // // Great events often have humble beginnings. Consider: a quiet pond. Still. The water is like a sheet of glass. Until I throw a stone. Such a small thing - but soon, ripples engulf the whole of the lake! // // The jinyu also have humble origins. Once primitive creatures, they were fortunate enough to live near the enchanted pools within the Vale. The magic of the pools expanded their minds and grew their bodies, until they became one of the great ancient cultures of Pandaria. // // The wisest of the jinyu are very wise indeed - they can speak to the rivers the way you and I would consult our elders. In the whispering waters, they can hear the future. The jinyu and their waterspeakers stand at the very heart of the greatest events in Pandaria's history. Their visions built empires, freed slaves, and warned our Last Emperor of the Sundering that shattered Azeroth ten thousand years ago. // // Think about it: the smallest voice can change the world. Consider that, friend, the next time you decide to start throwing stones! //

__Question__: Explain the metaphor used in the story. What does it mean? Make sure to cite examples from the story to support your response.

//** Dark Heart of the Mogu **// media type="custom" key="23521786"

// Lorewalker Cho says: // // What do you fear most in this world? Have you conquered your fear... or has your fear conquered you? // // In the ancient days before the sundering of the world, the mogu emperors ruled over Pandaria. My people were made slaves, and they were afraid. // // The mogu were masters of pain and torture, of dark magics and brutal weapons. No pandaren, hozen, or jinyu could resist the power they held. And my people were afraid. // // It was the mogu who built the Serpent's Spine. The most unlucky of slaves were sent to aid in its construction and defense, to be fodder for the mantid. And my people were afraid. // // As the empire grew, the mogu began to experiment with the secrets of the Vale. They crafted terrible weapons of living flesh and stone. And my people were afraid. // // In their hubris, the mogu never foresaw that their downfall lay in wait, not among their enemies, but among the oppressed. The day that one slave stood... // // ...and was no longer afraid. //

__Question__: How does fear effect this story? How do you think that one slave made a difference? Make sure to cite examples from the story to support your response.

//** Heart of the Mantid Swarm **// media type="custom" key="23509768"

// Lorewalker Cho says: // // Oh, my student - you wish to study the mantid? Be warned: the pandaren frontier is littered with the graves of former pupils. The mantid are harsh teachers. // // Every generation, the mantid swarm the Serpent's Spine wall in great numbers. They murder many pandaren, so we kill many times their number in return. Yet each generation, they attack once more. Why do they do this? We pandaren do not know. // // Our ancient writings indicate that the mantid have always been here. They predate even the mogu. Where did they come from? We pandaren do not know. // // Perhaps, if you were to befriend the mantid, and earn a reputation among them, they would teach you their secrets. But I warn you: Nobody has ever befriended the mantid. // // Here is what the pandaren do know: By massacring our people, by slaughtering tens of thousands of pandaren, generation after generation, they have taught us the value of life. A precious but fleeting gift. Easily snuffed out... in an instant. // // This is what the mantid have taught us. //

__Question__: Explain the lesson/theme of this story. What does it really mean? Make sure to cite examples from the story to support your response.

//** What is Worth Fighting For **// media type="custom" key="23509902"

// Lorewalker Cho says: // // What is the source of YOUR power? Think carefully before you answer. Many adventurers point to their weapons, or their equipment, or to tomes of arcane might. // // Long ago, when my people were slaves of the mogu empire, we were forbidden from carrying any weapon at all. We were not fighters. And no one believed we could fight the mogu without magic and steel. // // Until Kang, the First of First Dawn, opened our eyes. // // One day, the beloved monk issued a challenge to his fellow slaves. "Hit me!" he called out. // // Surprised, the beleaguered Pandaren slaves tried to strike Kang. One by one they failed, for he intercepted their blows like a dancer and sidestepped their attacks like a reed in the wind. // // "Our backs are hardened by the whips of the mogu," he told them. "Our arms are powerful from building their fortresses. Our minds are sharp from working alongside our enemy. You think the mogu are stronger? I say we are their strength!" // // The farmers, the bricklayers, the shepherds and the smiths... they all bowed before Kang. "Teach us," they said. "Teach us to fight." And when they rose... they rose as warriors. // // Your voice. Your hands. THESE are the tools of true heroes. Use them well... and you can change the world. //

__Question__: How can you use your voice and hands to help change the world? Make sure to cite examples from the story to support your response.

//** Song of the Yaungol **// media type="custom" key="23509946"

// Lorewalker Cho says: // // Fire! It is the most magical of elements. It warms us, it cooks our food. It is the hearthfire that makes a house a home. In the right hands, fire can shape iron into swords or plowshares. Left uncontrolled, fire could destroy a city. // // Fire is the instrument of change. // // Long ago, a group of sturdy nomad hunters wandered the world. By a stroke of fate, they were here in Pandaria when the Sundering split apart the continents of Azeroth. The wanderers found themselves trapped in the Townlong Steppes, a harsh and dangerous land. Those noble hunters found a way to survive on their own. Fire was the key. They drew up oil from the ground. They used it to heat their homes, cook their food, and burn their enemies. They grew STRONG. From the flames of fate, the yaungol were born. They survive beyond the wall, for they refuse to submit to any law but their own. // // Has fate been cruel to the yaungol? You may as well ask if fire is good or bad. Fate is like fire; it can shape or destroy us. All that matters is what you do with it. //

__Question__: Explain what Loremaster Cho means by, "Fire is like fate, it can shape us or it can destroy us. Make sure to cite examples from the story to support your response.

//** Seven Burdens of Shaohao **// media type="custom" key="23509772" // Lorewalker Cho says: // // Ah! You wish to learn of our last and greatest emperor, Shaohao? My friend, I do not have the time here to recount all of his adventures, but his actions ten thousand years ago resonate to this very day. We know that he purged his doubts in the Jade Forest. That he cleansed himself of despair in the Krasarang Wilds. That he overcame his fear in Townlong Steppes. And that he defeated anger, hatred, and violence high in the mountains of Kun-Lai. This is known; and there are temples to mark these most sacred of places. // // But I want you to imagine standing in this very valley on the day he returned from his journey. Imagine being here when the gates opened for him. By then our emperor was a creature of pure light: No doubts, no fears, no hatred... It is said that all the trees in the vale blossomed as he entered, and continue to blossom to this day. // // Would that we could all live like our most sacred emperor. That we could put aside all our burdens and exist in harmony with the cosmos. THAT, I believe, was his message to us... before he became one with the land, and hid Pandaria away from the terror of the Sundering. // // Thank you, dear emperor. //

__Question__: What can we learn from Emperor Shaohao? How can we apply that knowledge to our own lives? Make sure to cite examples from the story to support your response.

//** Ballad of Liu Lang **// media type="custom" key="23499780" // Lorewalker Cho says: // // When the Sundering ripped apart the continents of Azeroth, we pandaren thought that the rest of the world had been utterly destroyed. But as the centuries passed, one young explorer decided to see what was out there. His name was Liu Lang. And he set out to discover the world... on the back of a turtle! // // We celebrate his bravery with statue and song, but if you were actually there on the beach that very day - well, I'm sure he looked quite silly, indeed. Oh, how the pandaren laughed at him. But Liu Lang was more clever than anyone thought. Sea turtles always return to the beach where they were born. And so, despite the mists that envelop our land, he always had a way home. // // Every few years, he returned - with tales of mysterious cities in the sand, nomadic people living on endless grassy plains, a great empire under the ice, and a magical kingdom gilded in gold. Each time he returned, more and more pandaren answered Liu Lang's call, and joined him on his growing turtle. They were the bravest among us: The explorers. The adventurers. // // And that is the lesson of Liu Lang, my friend. Everyone always laughs at the explorer. They always laugh... until he returns. //

__Question__: Explain the lesson of Liu Lang. What does it really mean? Make sure to cite examples from the story to support your response.

//** The Zandalari Prophecy **// media type="custom" key="23509778"

// Lorewalker Cho says: // // It is said the God King Rastakhan, ruler of the Zandalari, lords over his mighty kingdom from a throne carved of solid gold. Years ago, as he sat on this opulent seat of power, he was visited by his most trusted prophet: Zul. Zul warned King Rastakhan of a terrible Cataclysm. For Zul had seen a vision of a great armored dragon clenching the world in his ferocious jaws. // // King Rastakhan did nothing. // // Months later Zul returned, bearing more grim news from his visions. He saw a legion of serpents pouring forth from a gaping fissure that tore open the floor of the ocean. // // Still, King Rastakhan did nothing. // // Finally, mere months before the Cataclysm, Zul returned. Tearing his clothes and throwing his staff to the ground, Zul spoke of earthquakes and tidal waves. He described the golden capital of Zandalar slowly sinking beneath the waves in the aftermath of the Cataclysm, its once-great people drowning as their mighty works slipped forever beneath the sea. // // King Rastakhan tired of Zul and his troubling nightmares. To be rid of the prophet, he granted Zul the use of his largest ships, so that he and his followers could seek a new land if his visions came to pass. // // And his visions DID come to pass. // // When Deathwing rose from the Maelstrom, dark, angry waves crashed into the Zandalari capital. The spine of the land broke in two, and soon, the city and all its riches began to slide into the hungry sea. The Zandalari people turned to their King for help, but there was only one Zandalari equipped to help them: The prophet Zul. The prophet, and the mighty warfleet he had assembled while his King sat idle. // // You see, the TRUE power of kings and emperors stems from the power to aid their people. The moment they fail, they cede their power to the one who can. //

__Question__: Explain what the power of kings and emperors is. Make sure to cite examples from the story to support your response.

//** Rumbles of Thunder **// media type="custom" key="23509786"

// Lorewalker Cho says: // // The mogu tell a legend about Lei Shen, the Thunder King. It is said that he tore out the very heart of the mogu God. And from that hateful act he gained power over wind and storm. His followers fell to their knees before him. "We will call you 'The Lightning King,'" they said. // // But Lei Shen did not agree. // // "Lightning strikes in an instant and is over in a flash," he said. "But thunder. Thunder! Thunder proclaims the coming of the storm. Thunder quakes the skies long before the lightning strikes, and thunder echoes in the hills long after lightning's power is spent. It is thunder that sends animals cowering and fills the hearts of peasants with dread. Let thunder be my herald, so that my power is felt throughout the land. I will be... The Thunder King." //

// Oh my friend - that awful sound. For a hundred hundred generations the crash of thunder filled the hearts of pandaren with terror. It is said that after the revolution, the Red Crane of Hope placed the rainbow in the sky, so that pandaren would know not to fear the storms any longer. // // I do not see any rainbows today. Do you? //

__Question__: Would you rather be the Lightning King/Queen or the Thunder King/Queen? Make sure to cite examples from the story to support your response.

//** Gods and Monsters **// media type="custom" key="23509788"

// Lorewalker Cho says: // // Fathers and sons. Mothers and daughters. As parents, we pass our legacy on to our children. // // What values do we choose to instill in our progeny? // // What will our children learn from our mistakes? // // What sort of world will we create and leave behind for our daughters and sons? // // Parents place their children on a path, but they do not always know where the road will take them. // // The mogu were children as well. Children of the titans. They were once a legion of stone, heartless and obedient. By the titans' command, they fought the terrible servants of the old gods. They shaped the mountains and carved the rivers of the land. And they created a magical cradle of life in a hidden valley that we now call the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. // // But eventually the titans fell silent. And their creations were cursed with flesh. The mogu grew restless. Many generations later, when Thunder King united them, they seized upon their legacy! // // I truly believe now that the mogu thought they were doing the work of the titans. They fought against the mantid and used the powers of the Vale to create new life. Ah, but such terrible works! // // Parents cannot always be assured of the legacy they will leave behind. How especially true this is, when the parents are gods. And their children - monsters. //

__Question__: What legacies are your parents passing on to you? What values have they instilled in you? What can you learn from their mistakes? What world are they leaving behind?

//** The King and the Council & **////** The Warchief and the Darkness **//

// The King and the Council // media type="custom" key="23509802" // Lorewalker Cho says: // // Once upon a time - moments ago, in fact - a great king sought the help from a trio of powerful dwarves: The Council of Three Hammers. //// The king's scouts had discovered that Zandalari trolls threatened the dwarven capital. //// Surely, the king thought, if he helped them with their troll problem, they would give him more troops for his campaign against the Horde. // // But what the king did not realize is that the dwarves did not trust one another! // // "We cannot help you," said the Bronzebeard dwarf, "For if we turn our back on the Dark Irons, they will defeat the Wildhammer and take over Ironforge!" // // "We cannot help you," said the Wildhammer dwarf. "For if we turn our back on the Dark Irons, they will defeat the Bronzebeard and take over Ironforge!" // // The king was furious. "If none of you help, then Ironforge will fall under siege!" // // Only one dwarf offered to help the king. "We will lend you our strength," said Moira, of the Dark Iron. "We will trust our dwarven brothers, and we will show them what loyalty means!" // // And so Moira and the High King set out into the snow to save the city, leaving the others to think about their actions. // // What happens next? I must know! //

// The Warchief and the Darkness // media type="custom" key="23510034" // Lorewalker Cho says: // // The High King, his champions, and the Dark Iron dwarves worked together to save Ironforge. The other dwarven leaders were ashamed of their behavior, and vowed never again to allow fear or distrust to cloud their judgment. And so it was a human king who helped to unite the dwarven clans so long divided. Free to trust one another, all three dwarven leaders pledged their full strength to the Alliance cause. // // Meanwhile, in the city of Orgrimmar, Warchief Garrosh Hellscream sent goblin dig teams all across the continent of Pandaria. He promised gold and riches to any who could discover for him the hidden secrets of this land that fill Pandaria with such a dark and powerful energy. // // To my surprise, his people have found something! Right here, in the sacred vale! What will happen now? // // The story is still being written... //

__Question__: What lessons can we learn from the dwarves, especially the Darkiron dwarf? Make sure to cite examples from the story to support your response.