Cloud serpent



Cloud serpents are dragons  native to Pandaria.

Background
The origin of the cloud serpents is unknown. They are, however, not part of the "whole Aspects scene" and are not really related to the classic Azerothian dragonflights. According to Loh-Ki, an otherworldly storm was summoned by Lei Shen, the Thunder King, in his final moments, and blanketed the Vale of Eternal Blossoms with rainfall and struck jagged spears of lightning into the hills. With its final breath, the storm struck the center of the lake, igniting the very water itself. The lake burned with a crimson hue for many days. When the blaze subsided, a cloud serpent hatchling could be seen flying around the center of the lake. Its scales sparked with storm and fire, and where it flew, great clouds formed in the sky. The pandaren named it Alani, the Stormborn.

Thousands of years ago, the cloud serpents were feared as monsters and wild animals, both cunning and dangerous. During the Zandalari Troll Wars, a century after the founding of the Pandaren Empire, a young girl named Jiang took a small cloud serpent named Lo into her care. The Zandalari numbers were vast, and their bat riders fought in such a way the pandaren had no counter to. Jiang and her cloud serpent friend, however, swooped in, plucking the Zandalari from the bridge and striking down their bat riders. The war would still take many months to win, but this was the turning point. Soon Ji was training other pandaren how to ride as she did, upon the backs of other serpents. From that day forward, the serpent became a symbol of hope to the pandaren people, and the Order of the Cloud Serpent was founded. Cloud serpents are wild and tempestuous by nature and, if mistreated, may still grow to be that way as adults. But a cloud serpent is not bound by its nature, no more than any of the sapient races.

Cloud serpent eggs are rare and look like jewels, and were once worth their weight in solid gold. The serpents are known to lay their eggs in nests at only two places in Pandaria: on the beach of Shan'ze Dao off the coast of Townlong Steppes, where the local wood sprites are known to steal them whenever they can, and on Windward Isle, off the east coast of the Jade Forest.

The wild cloud serpents live in a delicate balance with nature. Their rare eggs are quite vulnerable to enemies. Recently the nests of the Jade Forest have come under attack by the Slitherscale saurok. At first, the Slitherscale were too frightened to approach the wild serpents. Soon however they began snatching the eggs under the cover of night. Now, they are slaughtering adults and hatchlings alike and eating their eggs for dinner.

When the Vale of Eternal Blossoms was destroyed by Garrosh Hellscream and the Heart of Y'Shaarj, the industrious cloud serpents rescued the Jewel Danio and relocated them to the Timeless Isle, allowing them to thrive once more.

Breeds

 * Azure cloud serpents are believed by the pandaren to be harbingers of good fortune.
 * Crimson cloud serpents are given to flights of fancy, striking out on a whim for seemingly random journeys, sometimes for days at a time.
 * Golden cloud serpents are a treasure to be enjoyed by all who visit the continent of Pandaria.
 * Jade cloud serpents are light and agile; quick and deadly.
 * Onyx cloud serpents are known to be more aggressive and daring than their cousins, the heavenly onyx cloud serpents.

From their infancy, thundering cloud serpents are drawn to storms. They have been known to chase lightning through the blackened, roiling clouds, and to bathe in the pouring rain.
 * Thundering
 * The thundering onyx serpent is a lightning-wreathed vision of such rarity as to have driven many mortals to madness.
 * Heavenly crimson cloud serpents are considered to be among the noblest of dragons.
 * Heavenly onyx cloud serpents are born with violet scales covering the entirety of their body. Over time, these scales darken to the color of onyx.

As a mount
In Mists of Pandaria, a large amount of different cloud serpent mounts are available through a variety of different methods. Originally all of these mounts required Cloud Serpent Riding, obtained by reaching and completing the questchain for the Order of the Cloud Serpent, but the requirement was removed in patch 6.0.1.

As a companion pet

 * You need to be exalted with the Order of the Cloud Serpent to be able to start catching Wild Crimson Hatchling, Wild Jade Hatchling and the Wild Golden Hatchling, all found in the area around the Arboretum.
 * The Thundering Serpent Hatchling was unlocked by completing Challenge Conquerors: Gold - Guild Edition, and could then be bought from the guild vendor. This pet became unobtainable with the release of patch 6.0.1.
 * The Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling can be crafted by Engineers.
 * Yu'la, Broodling of Yu'lon is available from the Celestial Tournament.
 * Infinite Hatchling can be purchased from Mistweaver Xia at a cost of during Mists of Pandaria Timewalking.
 * Azure Cloud Serpent Egg is a rare drop from Cache of Tsulong in the Terrace of Endless Spring.

As a hunter pet
Cloud serpents are tamable by hunters as part of the serpent family. Only pandaren hunters can tame them by default; other races must learn the skill from How to School Your Serpent, which can be purchased from San Redscale when with the Order of the Cloud Serpent and unlocks the skill for all hunters on that account. This requirement extends to Elegon, who is classified as a spirit beast.

Notes and trivia

 * These creatures are also called storm dragons in the quest The Fall of Shan Bu. It's the only known place they're called that.
 * A cloud serpent-like creature is depicted on some goblin take-away bags.
 * While during most of Mists of Pandaria these creatures were labeled as dragonkin, many were later changed to beasts for an unknown reason. The baby versions of these creatures used as battle pets are still labeled as dragonkin.
 * Before he encountered living cloud serpents, Vol'jin assumed that the Shado-Pan Monastery's cloud serpent statues and wall carvings were a pandaren artistic representation of dragons.
 * During the Battle for Azeroth beta, the Corrupted Jade Serpent mount's description stated that the mogu used corrupted cloud serpents to travel to islands covered in Azerite.
 * Cloud serpents are based on the look of s.
 * In Heroes of the Storm, one of Li Li's basic abilities is "Cloud Serpent", which allows her to summon a baby cloud serpent that attaches itself to an ally and aids them in combat for a brief duration.

Speculation
Avatars of Jade, Celestial Dragon, Tiny Green Dragons, Tiny Red Dragons, Essences of Competition, Spirits of Competition, Willow, and Crimson resemble cloud serpent hatchlings with small wings, but it's unclear whether or not they are actually cloud serpents.