perhaps predictably, I am all a-squee that…

There are Highmountain Tauren in Thunder Bluff!

I’d heard that the thing in the place was visible from as far away as Thunder Bluff, so I went there with Kamalia to see if she could see it without having done any Antorus LFR.

The answer to that question was “no”; I could not discern any such ominous object on the horizon. As I was hovering near the central totem tower making sure that I really couldn’t see anything unusual in the distance, I spotted something much more interesting nearby.

Looking around the city, I found a couple more!

Then, of course, I had to investigate further. Would there be Nightborne in Silvermoon? Void Elves in Stormwind? Lightforged Draenei in the Exodar?

I looked around Silvermoon with Kaelinda — no tall, arrogant blue elves with upturned long ears. I looked around Stormwind with Kaylynda — no short, pouty blue elves with funny glowing hair. I looked around the Exodar with Kaprikka — no strange gray Draenei with golden markings.

I didn’t see any Void Elves or Lightforged Draenei around the Stormwind Embassy when I visited it with Kaylynda, but when I visited the Orgrimmar Embassy with Kamalia, I saw several Highmountain Tauren there, as well as a few in the Valley of Wisdom. I didn’t see any Nightborne around the Orgrimmar Embassy, however.

The Underpowered Death Knight can also see the Highmountain Tauren in Thunder Bluff and in Orgrimmar. So can level 60 Mama Kawneiha. So can a level 1 character on that realm.

But my level 33 Goblin Mage, who logged on to check out how the construction of the Embassy had affected the Bilgewater Cartel NPCs in the area, didn’t see any Highmountain Tauren.

From these data, my current hypothesis is that to see Allied Race NPCs around the Embassy and in the ethnically related capital city, one must have a) completed the requirements to unlock that Allied Race and b) a level 110 character on either that realm or its connected realm.

If this hypothesis is correct, then I should start seeing Nightborne at the Orgrimmar Embassy on Kamalia’s realm when Kaelinda finishes the Suramar Insurrection storyline. I should start seeing the Horde Allied Races on my Mage realm once Kaylynda reaches level 110. And I should start seeing the Alliance Allied Races on my Mage realm after a) I go do Argus with somebody, anybody, and b) Kaylynda reaches level 110.