Brewmaster Monk Artifact Weapon: Fu Zan, the Wanderer's Companion

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Fu Zan, the Wanderer's CompanionAppearances and TintsArtifact CalculatorLegion Dressing RoomLight's ChargeForged for BattlePower RealizedPart of HistoryThis Side UpImproving on HistoryUnleashed MonstrositiesKeystone MasterGlory of the Legion HeroThe PrestigeCrest of HeroismCrest of CarnageCrest of DevastationMage TowerThe Highlord's ReturnLegend of the Monkey KingBrewhouseTransmog Recommendationssave and share an Outfit with this artifactPandaria's Mist + Tier 17Default + Salvage GearEmpowered + Season 13 PvPOx Heart + Tier 14Dragonlord + Warlords Season 1Artifact AcquisitionFu Zan, the Wanderer's CompanionYouTube Artifact Acquisition PlaylistThe Wanderer's Companion

Legends say that long ago a staff was formed from the first tree to grow in Pandaria.

It is said that the bearer of the staff cannot be harmed by any weapon.

It is said that the staff was last possessed by the Monkey King, we should begin with asking him about it...

The Wanderer's CompanionThe Riddle of the BarrelThe Riddle of the LandThe Riddle of PurityThe Monkey King's Challenge

The Monkey Kings says: What happened to this place? Speak to us Wikket, with the sad looking face.
Master Windstrong says: Help masters! Demons are ransacking the temple!
The Jade Serpents fighting the invaders while we're holding the gate for survivors to escape. We're still missing several scribes though and I fear the worst. Please, help us!
The Monkey King says: Ook! This no good! Jade Serpent strong as a mountain and nimble as a bee, but even a mountain be worn down by the waves of the sea.
We must be fast to complete each task. These walls are easy to climb, the Jade Serpent is who I'll go find.
Master Windstrong says: Sillan, we're counting on you to rescue our scribes!

The Monkey King says: Get movin' wikket! Jade Serpent not lookin' too good, she need our help!
Ooo, that no look good! Come on Wikket' we no have time to play with these greenies! Follow me!
Priestess Summerpetal says: I'm coming too!
Yu'lon says: You should not be here, little ones. The Burning Legion's attacks are relentless and even I have suffered many wounds.
The Monkey King says: Jade Serpent taught me when time come for action, king do what king gotta. We not gonna' leave you alone while greenies be around to get gooked.
Yu'lon says: Thank you, little ones. I can heal my injuries, but I need time for my magic to take hold. Our foes are cunning, they will use this opportunity to strike.
Protect me while I recover from my injuries. Should we fall, all of Pandaria will follow.

Yu'lon yells: I AM RENEWED! Come, little ones. Let us put an end to this invasion!
Lord Korithis yells: Your mortal allies will not help you, little snake! Your doom is at hand!
Yu'lon says: Hero's , your fight is with Korithis. I'll protect you from his winged monstrosity.
Lord Korithis yells: Haha! So be it! Come mortals, your death awaits!
Lord Korithis says: This changes nothing... your world... will... burn!
Yu'lon says: You have learned well how to fight these creatures, but this will only be one of many battles.
Yu'lon says: This is Fu Zan, take it. May it shield you in the times ahead.

The Monkey King says: Wooo hoo! You did it, Wikket!
The staffs blessing doesn't come free, in you it will seek a heroic destiny.
Yu'lon says: Fu Zan has chosen a new companion for its journey. Great deeds and great trials await you, little one. For now you should return home to rest and prepare for the days ahead.

Artifact Book Text

Fu Zan, the Wanderer's Companion

You may have heard that this legendary staff was once carried by a hozen. That concerned us. A lot. We examined it thoroughly, and you will be pleased to hear that there was no damage done to this artifact (that we cannot fix).

And as it turns out, we weren't giving the Monkey King enough credit. He is not the most reverent creature on Azeroth, but he has a healthy respect for this weapon. He even helped us understand its true power. Fu Zan has certainly been through a strange journey.

Fu Zan, the Wanderer's Companion,
Part One

Long ago, Keeper Freya sculpted an ethereal plane of existence, the Emerald Dream, to act as a guide for Azeroth's natural life. She crafted and planted one tree near the powerful energy of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.

It grew strong and tall, drinking deeply from the vale's resonant power. More trees arose around it. Lush forests, both in the Dream and in the waking world, sprang to life across the region. Keeper Freya named the tree Fu Zan and shaped one of its branches into a walking stick for her long journeys.

From the beginning, this staff has accompanied legendary creatures and immortal spirits as they carried out important, lasting work all across Azeroth.

It also fell into the possession of the Monkey King. That came later.

Fu Zan, the Wanderer's Companion,
Part Two

In the early days of Azeroth's revival, natural life flourished strongly in the enclaves where the keeper Freya did her most intensive work. A small number of exceptional wild animals grew far beyond expectations, showing such remarkable power that they would soon be known as the Wild Gods.

Each of these beings had a different personality, but Freya noticed that four in particular shared a deep commitment to peace and wisdom. These four-a serpent, an ox, a crane, and a tiger-had gathered near the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. Freya knew their compassion would aid the region well. Indeed, they would be called the August Celestials by the inhabitants of Pandaria.

One day, Freya came to the celestials with concern in her heart. There was a great darkness in the north, she told them, and she believed a confrontation was near. She gave them her staff for safekeeping. ""If I do not see you again, return this staff to Azeroth, to one of its children,"" she said. ""Give it to someone who loathes battle and loves peace.""

Freya never returned. Yu'lon, the Jade Serpent, vowed to keep the staff safe. For thousands of years, even during the dark reign of the mogu empire, she did just that.

Fu Zan, the Wanderer's Companion,
Part Three

In the south, near the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, many new creatures arose, forming tribes, villages, and even empires. There were the jinyu, the pandaren, the hozen, and others.

Yu'lon suspected that, if Fu Zan would pass to one of these beings, it would go to a jinyu or a pandaren. Surely the hozen were too innately violent to be trusted with such a gift. They were often selfish and shortsighted, unable to work together long enough to build a proper civilization of their own.

But as time passed, Yu'lon questioned her assumptions. There were different forms of wisdom and courage, were there not? It was easy to see the short-lived, short-tempered hozen as troublemakers, but they lived full lives-wild lives-in the years they had.

Yu'lon felt Fu Zan begin to awaken. It needed a new companion. The Jade Serpent knew that soon she would honor Freya's wishes and allow a worthy mortal to carry Fu Zan. And she was becoming certain that it needed to be given to a hozen.

Fu Zan, the Wanderer's Companion,
Part Four

""Give it to someone who loathes battle and loves peace.""

Freya's words became clear the moment Yu'lon laid eyes upon one exceptional hozen. He called himself the Monkey King.

Long ago, only a few years before the War of the Ancients, he had become the leader of an ungovernable people. He had risen to power without spilling a single drop of blood. He was beloved by every hozen tribe.

How had he done this? After all, hozen fought endlessly. Constantly. For the simplest reasons. Any disagreement meant physical violence.

The Monkey King knew this. So he told the hozen tribes, ""I am the Monkey King. Your tribe supports me with all its heart."" That was all. When a single hozen would question him, he would tell them that their tribe's leader had already agreed to it. No hozen wanted to challenge their leader on a whim-and be in a fight-so they declared, ""You are the Monkey King.""

When the tribe leaders learned his name, all of their subjects were already calling him the Monkey King. They were confused, but they did not want to fight their people, so they did not challenge him either. The Monkey King's wild claim, his lie, eventually became true because nobody dared to disagree with it.

Soon tribal fighting had ceased. The Monkey King passed judgment on all disputes. The hozen obeyed.

The Jade Serpent could see the Monkey King's motivation. It was simple: he disliked the sight of blood. At the most fundamental level, this was a creature who loathed battle and loved peace. And from that, he had achieved what no other hozen ever had.

Fu Zan, the Wanderer's Companion,
Part Five

Yu'lon needed to know how deep the Monkey King's cleverness ran. She visited him in disguise. All the Monkey King saw was another hozen... but this one did not call him king or bow before him. He demanded that she show respect.

Instead, the newcomer asked him a riddle, telling him that a true king would have no trouble answering it. He snapped out the correct answer in seconds. She gave him another. He answered again. On and on they went, for three days and three nights. The Monkey King grew enraged, but even in his anger, he continued to answer her questions.

Yu'lon was convinced. Violence and tyranny were not in the Monkey King's nature, or he would have tried to shut her up with force long ago. She revealed her true form-which caused considerable chaos in that hozen village-and presented him with Fu Zan.

The Jade Serpent told him the story of Freya and how the staff had come to be. Then she warned him: she sensed that, one day, his cleverness would not be enough to stop evil. When that day came, he would need to act decisively.

The Monkey King did not believe her. But he did think the staff was very, very pretty.

Fu Zan, the Wanderer's Companion,
Part Six

With Fu Zan in his grasp, the Monkey King's authority over the hozen became absolute. He could bend like a willow in the wind, avoiding any blow from a challenger to the throne. The staff was as light as a feather, and yet anyone who tried to steal it found they could not lift it an inch. It was his; no one else was allowed to wield it.

But there was a serious problem with Fu Zan. To look regal while carrying it, the Monkey King needed to use two hands. That meant he had no free hand for his most prized possession, a small keg that he always kept filled with brew.

But that was easy to solve. The Monkey King had two metal bands added to the end of Fu Zan and hung his keg from them. Luckily, the staff was not permanently damaged.

Fu Zan, the Wanderer's Companion,
Part Seven

The Monkey King became fast friends with a young pandaren prince, Shaohao. The day of Shaohao's coronation, the new emperor learned that all of the land was at risk of being destroyed by the Burning Legion's first invasion of Azeroth.

The Monkey King believed that Yu'lon's prophecy had come to pass: this was the day he needed to face evil directly. He declared that he would stay by Shaohao's side until the end.

But fate had other plans. A great, ill wind roared from the east and carried the Monkey King far away.

The Monkey King was blown into the lands of the mantid. All of his cleverness counted for nothing there. He was helpless, about to die at their hands, when Shaohao rescued him. The Monkey King was enraged, but the mantid were not his enemy. Shaohao reminded him that the Burning Legion was the true threat.

And in the end, it was not violence that saved the peoples of Pandaria. Shaohao released his spirit to the land, shrouding it in mist and protecting it from the destruction of the Sundering.

Fu Zan, the Wanderer's Companion,
Part Eight

The Monkey King went home and hurled Fu Zan into a river in a fit of rage. His friend had vanished, and the Monkey King had seemingly failed Yu'lon's prophecy.

Eventually he went to the river to retrieve the staff, but only because those waters were sacred for a jinyu tribe, and they could not remove it themselves-it was too heavy. It still belonged to the Monkey King.

After the Sundering, Pandaria was isolated from the rest of the world. The emperor was gone. There would never be another.

Some believed that all the other lands had been destroyed. Others wanted to explore the world beyond the mists. And a few wanted to claim Pandaria for themselves. With force.

Not much has been written of this brief surge of would-be tyrants. Very few of Pandaria's denizens were harmed by any of them. Whether they were mogu warlords, fringe hozen tribes, or even brutal yaungol raiders, none of them ever launched a true campaign of conquest. Before they could, they were always approached by a mysterious hozen who would chatter endlessly about a hidden cache of artifacts that had granted him untold power. He could demonstrate miracles-no weapon could touch him, no matter how many combatants tried to attack him.

It was very convincing. These ambitious, greedy beings would eagerly follow the Monkey King's directions. Sometimes they would walk off a cliff. Sometimes they would find themselves ambushed by Shado-Pan. In any case, their story always came to a quick end, and the Monkey King would stride away, Fu Zan resting easily across his shoulders.

Fu Zan, the Wanderer's Companion,
Part Nine

The Monkey King had never had such fun. Turning evil beings into stumbling fools became his most cherished pastime for years. He saw it as his way of honoring his old friend Shaohao, who now watched over the land but could no longer protect Pandaria's peoples directly.

But just as Yu'lon had told him, his cleverness would one day not be enough to defeat evil.

A mogu despot called the Jade Warlord had followed the Monkey King's directions, traveling deep into a tomb beneath Kun-Lai. But rather than finding nothing--as the hozen had expected--the Jade Warlord found an ancient cache of knowledge written by the Thunder King, Lei Shen. In the warlord's hands, it would grant him terrible, awful power.

The Monkey King knew he had made a mistake... and as the ground began to shake, he knew there was no time for anyone else to stop the mogu. He took Fu Zan and went into the tomb to deal with the problem directly.

Fu Zan, the Wanderer's Companion,
Part Ten

The Monkey King loathed violence. He detested it. But he also knew he was the only one who could oppose the Jade Warlord before it was too late.

The two of them dueled beneath Kun-Lai for hours. For years, Fu Zan had been an aid to the Monkey King's mischief-that proved to be excellent practice for avoiding the powerful, lethal magic the mogu soon unleashed.

The Monkey King believed he would not leave the tomb alive that day. Indeed, he did not. But he was not killed. The Jade Warlord had no command of his new power, and an errant spell did what neither of them expected: it froze them both in jade. They remained there, locked in battle, for almost ten thousand years, able to communicate all the while.

That must have been a fate worse than death for the mogu.

Fu Zan, the Wanderer's Companion,
Part Eleven

Once the Monkey King was freed, he traveled to the Timeless Isle and watched as the August Celestials taught the champions of Azeroth lessons in strength, endurance, courage, and wisdom. After some time had passed, the Monkey King sensed that his travels with Fu Zan were nearing their end. So, he traveled to the temple of Yu'lon and passed the staff back into her care so that one day it can again be given up to another who is worthy to wield it.

He was even happy to hear that it would soon be carried into battle again.

Comments

Comment by Lischer

From the beginning, this staff has accompanied legendary creatures and immortal spirits as they carried out important, lasting work all across Azeroth.

It also fell into the possession of the Monkey King. That came later.

Ow. Ow, that burn.

Comment by AmazingSounds

Please add The Trial at the Temple to the list of artifact acquisition quests, that is the quest that actually grants Fu Zan.

Comment by guatafu

Most (all?) other staves and polearms are sheathed in the back, this artifact however is held over the shoulder (like the Pandaren in the first picture) while not in combat.

Brewmaster Monk Artifact Weapon: Fu Zan, the Wanderer's Companion

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