Rep: The Scale of the Sands

I errored last week and posted the Ashtongue Deathsworn when I meant to post this one. Sorry they are out of order.

Hidden down a long tunnel in the Caverns of Time is the entrance to the Battle for Hyjal Summit. Here a secretive sub group of the Keepers of Time lead by none other than Nozdormu's Prime Mate Soridormi. Called The Scale of the Sands  work to protect not only that time line but the World Tree itself from the invasion of the Legion. Of all the Bronze Dragon factions this is by far the SMALLEST containing only four members, beyond Soridormi there are only Arazmodu, Informi, and Tydormu.

Until patch 2.4 you needed to obtain friendly reputation with this faction via the attunement quest before you would be able to enter the instance. This is no longer the case. In addition to this before patch 2.2 only the BOSSES gave reputation, after that patch trash ALSO rewarded it making achieving exalted reputation with this faction the simple matter of no more than an average of six full clears of the instance. (This is at current levels, actual reputation amounts given have varied over time.)

The Battle for Mt Hyjal is an interesting instance in that once you enter you have to be VERY careful as it is difficult to leave. However the majority of the encounters are triggered by speaking to a specific NPC so players could generally enter and explore without fear of triggering the fights. Unlike in the case of Old Hillsbrad and Black Morass there is no evidence of tampering with this time line so players questioned WHY they were there only to later have Blizzard sheepishly acknowledge...because it was COOL and the designers just WANTED to do it. Those familiar with this battle from Warcraft III will note it differs slightly in that Kaz'rogal is now present.

As was the common practice in Burning Crusade this faction gave a Ring as you progressed up through the reputation ranks that was considered one of the best in the game at the time. You could chose the best for your particular class specifications at the start and then once you reached exalted switch to another if you so desired for a price. Beyond the ring and the attunement quest this faction has NO other quests for it.

Before the introduction of the Isle of Quel'Danas reputation with the Scales of the Sand was the ONLY way for Jewelcrafters to get a hold of ANY of the epic quality recipes. In addition there were two types of  EPIC ammo the Timeless Arrow and the Timeless Shell made available when you reached Honored. Hunters EVERYWHERE drooled over them.