50th rarespawn: Qirot

Somewhat amazingly, this is the fiftieth rarespawn I have covered in this blog. It feels like just yesterday that I started out gathering up rarespawn screenshots and assembling text snippets and fun facts. On a whole I rather like how the blog has turned out so far, and would love to hear more from you, the people reading it. What do you like and dislike? Any suggestions for the future?

With that being said, I figured the occasion called for a rarespawn that is interesting, and I have chosen one of the coolest-looking ones for this purpose.

This post is about Qirot.



Secrets of Feralas

Qirot is a rare mob silithid found in Feralas, on Kalimdor.



Qirot can be found inside the Writhing Deep, the silithid hive in southern Feralas. Qirot will usually be found rather stationary in one of the underground chambers of the hive (quite often in the vicinity of the cocoon containing the captive Raschal, the objective of an alliance quest. Qirot is a silithid wasp, and unfortunately an uncategorized creature. However, while Qirot is thus not trackable, it is remarkably striking and easy to recognize.



Qirot has a very nice white carapace with black markings, something quite unique among all the green silithid wasps in the same hive. There are not many white silithid wasps outside of raid instances, and seeing Qirot in the "wild" is quite a sight. The wasp model is really nicely designed, with clacking mandibles, legs, large wings and the stinger slung under the body.

The crawling threat

Feralas is one of the zones neighboring Silithus to which silithids have spread. While it is not the most northern location of a silithid nest (that would be the Field of Giants in the Barrens), it is still remarkably close to both alliance and horde settlements. The Zukk'ash silithid even seem to waylay the occasional traveler, and no doubt cause quite a problem for the local ogres, gnolls and yeti.



An interesting aspect of the silithid is that they are frequently described as "insects". This implies that they are similar to normal insects, but not many types of silithids have six limbs. In fact, most only have four. I suppose calling them "insects" is more in line of calling aliens "bugs" because of superficial resemblance. As noted, while many silithids are today classified as beasts (some even being tameable), the wasps are still usually unclassified and thus not tameable by hunters.



Ignoring classification, Qirot has a venomous stinger and will aggressively attack anyone entering the hive. It does not have any special drops, and is not much of a threat.

What's the story?

I would guess that Qirot was named by one of the nearby sentient races on the ground of its odd coloration. Weirdly colored animals have always been the focus of legends and stories, and doubtless a huge white wasp would impress even the hardened races of Azeroth.



For the most part, wasps seem to serve the role as soldiers and guards of the silithid hives. Perhaps Qirot is such a hive guard, patrolling the zukk'ashi tunnels in searh of intruders. I doubt that silithids have much in the way of personalities or a sense of identity, so Qirot probably only consider itself anything but a tiny cog in the enormous silithid hierarchy.



In conclusion, Qirot may not have a lot of identity, but it is a strikingly beautiful mob. I constantly feel sad that these creatures are not tameable (odd since some other wasps are). Qirot is well worth seeking out just for the sight.

And with that, onward towards the 100th rarespawn! Hope you enjoy the ride with me.

~Dragonshade