Quilen



Quilen (pronounced "kwai-lin") are canine-leonine creatures that are native to Pandaria and serve as the favorite companions of the mogu. Mogu sorcerers create them by breathing life into stone using an ancient, secret magic. Loyal and fearless, these stone hounds know no mercy and can be quite skilled at blending into their surroundings. The mogu use them as guard dogs, in war, and to track their enemies. There are three variations of quilen: organic, stone, and adorned stone.

During the brief reign of Emperor Kang, the mogu experimented with binding quilen servants in small stone statuettes. The experiment was abandoned as the quilen thus bound were greatly diminished in power and therefore deemed unworthy.

As a mount

 * Imperial Quilen is rewarded from the Mists of Pandaria Collector's Edition as well as the Digital Deluxe Edition.
 * Qinsho's Eternal Hound is a rare drop from Island Expeditions.
 * Xinlao drops from Anh-De the Loyal in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.
 * Ren's Stalwart Hound drops from Houndlord Ren in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.

As a companion pet

 * Lucky Quilen Cub is rewarded from the Mists of Pandaria Collector's Edition as well as the Digital Deluxe Edition.
 * Celestial Gift is a rare drop from Elegon in Mogu'shan Vaults.
 * Stoneclaw is a rare drop from The Stone Guard in Mogu'shan Vaults.

As guardian pet

 * Quilen Statuette is a rare mogu Archaeology artifact.

As a hunter pet
Quilen are tamable by hunters as part of the stone hound family. The family was originally named "quilen", but was renamed and expanded to include gargons in patch 9.0.1.

Trivia

 * The in-game icon for Lucky Quilen Cub and an unreleased mogu mob named Mogu Quilin Master use the spelling "quilin".
 * The name of these creatures seems to be derived from the (麒麟, qílín), Chinese mythological creatures often referred to as "Chinese unicorns". Warcraft's interpretations more closely resemble, or shishi, also known as "Foo Dogs" in the West.
 * A creature based on the qilin would be introduced later in Mists of Pandaria's patch cycle in the form of the Swift Windsteed mount.