Mists of Pandaria (lore)

The mists of Pandaria were magical mists conjured by the last Emperor of Pandaria, Shaohao. They protected the inhabitants of the lands during the Great Sundering of Kalimdor, at the end of the War of the Ancients.

Shaohao sought the counsel of the great waterspeaker of the jinyu who, instead of good news, brought him news about the coming of a great catastrophe. Shaohao embarked on a journey to get rid of his negative emotions like doubt and anger. After Shaohao cleansed himself, using his staff Sheilun, he merged his spirit with the land, causing his very essence to shroud Pandaria in thick mist for years to come, and faded into a legend. Shaohao, however, did so out of pride which he never got rid of. It even became obscured from the bronze dragonflight's abilities to penetrate the passages of time.

According to the pandaren Anglers, no boat could find its way home through the mists. Even though the mists were dense and impenetrable, the keen adventurer and explorer Liu Lang on his giant turtle called Shen-zin Su traveled between shrouded Pandaria and the other continents of Azeroth. He gathered like-minded pandaren and never returned to Pandaria again, avoiding it.

Over 10,000 years later, the mists parted due to the effects of Deathwing's Cataclysm. Shortly after the Attack on Theramore Isle, the island continent was then first found by Chen and Li Li Stormstout thanks to the visions granted by the Pearl of Pandaria, soon followed by the forces of the Alliance and Horde. Even though they fell, the mists still remained in the sky.

The Timeless Isle has drifted in and out of Pandaria's mists for hundreds of years. It reappeared again at the time of the Siege of Orgrimmar. One of the victims of the mists was the Barnacle.

• Yu'lon initially did not know why the mists parted, but she suspected that the reason was the adventurers, who were referred to as "strangers from beyond the mist(s)" by the locals.
• Yaungol have mist-shaman.
• Mistweaver monks use mists to heal.
• In a conversation, Chen asked Li-Li "Why are you so impatient? Are you worried that the mists are going to come back before I finish my drink?"
• The continent of Kalimdor was also stated to have been shrouded in mists.

• Swirling Mist Soup
• Mistlurker
• Paoquan Hollow