Far away, in the southern reaches of the former Black Forest.
While Delilah "entertained" Soraya in Moonshadow Valley, a Horde rescue squad arrived at the edge of a massive bamboo sea.
"Stubborn old fool. The Horde built an entire city exclusively for the Pandaren, yet he insists on clinging to this place. Calls it the 'ancestral land,' the 'holy ground,' the 'cradle of our rise.'"
A Pandaren wearing a bamboo hat carved with the character for 'Fire' grumbled as he strode into the bamboo forest. "And look where it got him. Now, on top of increasingly dangerous magical beasts, they have to fend off dream incursions, swarms of insects, and dark cultists."
He snorted. "I wonder if that old geezer Taran is dead yet."
"Fire, you don't understand," replied a second Pandaren, his hat marked with the character for 'Earth'. "The elders have their convictions. They were born in a different era. Conservatism and stubbornness were the survival traits of their generation."
