So, what mounts should/would a vulpera use for travel?
ground mounts are pretty simple:
– alpacas, other vol’dun creatures (krolusk), duh
– standard ground mounts: wolves/hyenas/horses/camels/etc.
– multi-person mounts, since there isnt a caravan mount in game.
– anything else that would fit?
flying is a lot more out there, since we dont really see the in game npcs use flying mounts too much.
– maybe vultures? again, vol’dun creatures.
– hunters and monks could probably get away with pandaria thunder serpents.
– flying carpets? would that fit?
– ??ideas?? i dont wanna waste a profession slot for a carpet.
Not sure I find either of these fitting.
There’s not really any association between flying carpets and voldun, and cloud serpents are a distinctly pandaren thing.
You’d be better off with, yes, vultures or a more baseline Horde mount like the wyverns/wind riders
I’m pretty sure you nailed it with this list, except I disagree with the cloud serpents and the carpets, those don’t really feel like they fit the vulpera vibe much.
Other mounts would be fitting too, if the character in question was more specialized, or the occasion called for it, but if we’re talking traditional? Yeah, that list is solid.
I think it does mostly change depending on your context.
For example my character is a farmhand so he uses a goat.
I’ve considered using a donkey before too. I guess ‘simple’ animals like goats and donkeys fit smaller characters such as vulpera well, and as they are not rare or exotic they could easily be purchased or bred.
those are hard to argue argue, even as a Monk. I am not an expert but I have been told their lore before myself and anything else than a Pandaren having a Cloud Serpent is difficult to say the least.
I absolutely agree here. I wrote an entire caravan for a story that is entirely build around that. Nomads as they are flying from desert mountain to desert mountain and see for the eggs and nests there etc (as I think its always good to have a reason for nomads to travel (which the dangers of Voldun is enough tbf but something more cant harm as long as its makes sense and doesnt go too wild)
I think if done right you can go many ways here. Again as long as it isnt too wild no one should argue against a hunter riding their pet.
I think even if they dont really have the voldun vibes but the Yaks from Pandaria are perfect for a caravan event. We did one a few months ago and it was quite fun (and in Pandaria)
In general as a Vulpera if you want to stay true to Voldun and the desert vibe you dont have that many options. Though I think for ground mounts nothing beats the Hyena. It has all the voldun vibes but also is far more agressive (well and of course far easier to get) than the Alpaccas do.
Another aproach you can take is with the quitters. As you can go for the parrot maybe, or in general explain through that some mounts that have been stolen somewhere etc.
Depends heavily on the character but in general you’d go for desert themed mounts such as camels or a hyena as ground mount and the seagull, vultures or mountainous birds when it comes to flying as they fit vol’dun’s setting.
Parrots and more coastal themed mounts such as crabs would fit if you were a pirate.
But most things go due to vulpera having a mercantile spirit.
The thing is, the Vulpera are a race of utility and venture. If a Vulpera travels far enough, they are bound to get in love with the use of a Yak or Mammoth as they can haul more. It is more the ones bound for hunting/fighting that would use the wolves/hyenas I would believe.
I could see a Vulpera using a carpet, either of their own making, or barter item through trades.
In the end, it is all down to what kind of Vulpera our little friend is. An adventurer? A fighter? A tradesman? Following those questions then comes, are they adapting to the new changes or keeping to the dunes?
You’re on the nose for the ground mounts. Vol’dun creatures and those that can easily be bought are definitely justifiable for Vulperas without much thought having to be put into it.
You could add some magic mounts depending on the background of the Vulpera - like a warlock summoning a Xorothian Dreadsteed, a shadow priest summoning a Lucid Nightmare, etc… And the same goes for other exotic ones.
Now for flying ones, you could go for pretty much anything found on Zandalar. Pterrordaxes are also available from the Voldunai rep vendor, so that doesn’t seem farfetched to me. Others have also mentioned parrot, albatross, other sea birds, who could fit for a Freehold-hailing Vulpera. That makes it for the mounts that are really easy to justify.
Flying carpets could work if bought. I don’t actually know how common a flying carpet could be to obtain on markets, but I wouldn’t say it’s out of the question.
Cloud serpents though, there we’re gonna meet a problem. We know Cloud Serpents are only entrusted to very select people who can bond with them, that bond being usually made from the egg, and Vulperas definitely haven’t been aware of Pandaria long enough to be granted that kind of privilege. Even their monks ought to be all novices (though I guess it applies to every race except Pandarens)
You’ve nailed the basics on the ground mounts there!
I’d say an undead hyena for a DK Vulpera would work (Could use the stitched hound mount from Maldraxxus).
Maybe the Legion collectors edition mount (Illidari felstalker) for a Vulp warlock if they use a Felhunter demon, they’d be small enough to ride one of those demons.
Yep the vultures would work 100% for a Vulpera, MAYBE one of the pterrodax mounts if you can explain it well enough?
Also say your Vulpera isn’t the standard dune dweller, maybe they’re a pirate, the parrot from Mythic Freehold (Sharkbait) would certainly work, or Squawks from Island Expeditions if you can muster the will to farm for it, or perhaps the Siltwing albatross from the Island Expedition vendor (If you can also muster the will to grind for 1k dubloons that is).
Gonna have to say not really on this one, Cloud Serpents would pretty much be reserved for Pandaren only and even then if you were to tote around with a subjugated and controlled Cloud Serpent it’d be on sight from the Serpent Riders.
See, flying carpets are a bit of an enigma, it WOULD fit with some races, like the Leywoven Flying Carpet from the Nightfallen Cache, it’d work for a Nightborne…
But a Vulpera from Vol’dun, where resources are already scarce and everything needs to have some benefit for the whole caravan? Eeeeeeh bit of a stretch to have one already, maybe as a reward or gift from another character IC for helping them out? Maybe?
There’d certainly be scrap rubble laying around from the Horde and Alliance war machines fighting in Vol’dun, could have a Vulpera gather parts up and scrounge together a rickety mechanical trike or other small mount if they have a knack and fascination for such things!
I think those go a little too far but that all depends on how high magic you want to play Vulpera.
To me we should always have in mind that Vulpera didnt got as much time to study these things as other races do. If they learned something in the dunes it was either a part of their culture that we do not know (says the totally unbiased shaman player) or something they found in the ruins. But have them do the same magic on the same level as a Blood Elf who had centuries to study for example, I think is a little too much.
Crashed planes and flying machines may also work.
You can RP them as rickety and unreliable from being “fixed”, not flying them high up and avoiding much weight.
Yes of course, there is a big part of how each and everyone plays the magic level of their Vulpera and what they put in their characters’ stories. Though I can definitely think of three races sharing Zandalar by which a high magic Vulpera can be justified : Learning from the Sethraks willingly or unwillingly (The way I personally chose for a Void-twisted Vulpera), learning from the Zandalari, learning from the Tortollans.
Each offering their own possibilities.
But of course, there is the matter of the amount of studying that was allowed by the character. We do agree that a Vulpera, unless we get some Lore saying they have lifespans like elves (highly doubt it), will never reach the same level of power.
While it’s hardly something I’d imagine a vulpera would acquire on their own (let alone make one), I could see a flying carpet working provided it had the right restrictions to it (such as needing to renew the enchantment upon it every so often, for example), and provided the character went through the required legwork to acquire it! Sethrak are very fond of their tapestries as you see throughout their temples and grounds, as well as their magics, and I wouldn’t put it past one to have decided to enchant it (and then have it stolen, oops!).
Flying carpets also very much appeal to that One Thousand and One Nights vibe that you can associate with the desert and the Sethrak themselves!
While I agree with many others saying that cloud serpents and even Xorothian Dreadsteeds are a little (or a lot) off for the vulpera (the cloud serpent for already mentioned reasons, though I’d say Zandalari could very well be in the possession of them, and the Xorothian Dreadsteeds because of the niche knowledge required to get them), I think a flying carpet is a fantastic idea for a more magically inclined vulpera! Carpets are everywhere in Vol’dun, both in making vulpera areas comfortable, but also among the sethrak. Enchanting one to fly? Finding or stealing one already enchanted? To me it fits the vulpera-vibe to a T!
Something that I also thought about was the Pandaria kites - obviously, some re-fluffing about it, but seeing as sandboarding is an actual thing in Vol’dun, I could imagine windboarding the dunes could easily be a thing as well as harnessing the winds for something like a kite.
Animals are a safer bet for a more “traditional” vulpera vibe, though, I agree on that. Things like the already mentioned vultures, seagull, hyenas and alpacas.
As a slight sidenote: we do see humans like Khadgar and Jaina surpass the magical powers of long-lived races, so it’s not entirely out of question for there to be very strong spellcasters among the vulpera. Never say never and all that…!
