), I can now present - My report on the White Crane, which I used from level 10 to 20.
As I mentioned before, I was very happy with this roll. I've never really gotten around to try a crane before, and I could only imagine that it would fit my panda well. And though I'm not one to shy away from a challenging tame, I was relieved that I wouldn't have to make the trek to Teldrassil or Dun Morogh as a level 10 horde.
The trek to the pond was quick and effortless, as was the taming itself, since there were plenty of cranes around. However, at the end of the tame I got quite the surprise...
My newly tamed crane shrunk.. and shrunk.. and then shrunk some more. Where a majestic full grown bird had stood a moment ago, was now a tiny little craneling, dwarfed even by my Darkmoon Hatchling minipet.
I was more than a little taken aback by this. I thought that maybe this was a normal size for a level 10 pet, and that I had just grown accustomed to my level 110 hunter and her personal zoo of massive beasts. So as soon as Nhee had sided with Ji and the Horde and had a “friendly” chat with Garrosh, I sent her to the edge of Durotar to pick up a tallstrider to compare with, and see if that was the case.
As you can see, it wasn't.
Though I was a bit annoyed at first, I got used to her size rather quickly. I am happy that I picked survival for Nhee, since it wouldn't have felt right to send such a tiny bird in to duke it out alonea against creatures that tower tenfold over her.
On a side note, I find it interesting how strong the bond between a survival hunter and her pet is. Where my main BM hunter is content to pile up mobs on her pet with misdirect and barrage, Nhee is not afraid to jump into the fray herself and fight alongside her pet, even though she's only in whites and questing greens.
I named my little lady Shallan, after the ginger haired heroine of Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive books. She is a young scholar, whose unassuming gracefulness and propriety belies a sharp wit and a sharper tongue. I thought this was all very befitting of a crane, particularly this skin.
Cranes have the same rig as tallstriders, and therefore use the same animations, though they look a lot less silly. Whereas I've never gotten used to the 'new' tallstrider run, it looked very natural on Shallan.
They have two idle animations: One where they crane (pun unintended) their neck and open their mouth up wide, and one where they preen their feathers with their beak. Shallan was in particular fond of preening and making her feathers sit just right... except of course when I wanted to take a screenshot of it.
The swimming animation is pleasant to look at as well. She uses her legs to paddle with, and the animation is very smooth and fluid. It's not one of the most unique swimming animations, but it's perfectly serviceable nonetheless.
It was very difficult to get any proper screenshots of her attack animations, due to her size. They mainly consist of her using her beak to peck with. I think there are two or three different variations. Unlike tallstriders, with their iconic (and to some, grating) KREEEEEEE battlecry, Shallan was very quiet. I play with sound on, and could hardly hear her at all. She makes some low pitched squawks when attacking, and makes no noise when idling.
We had a blast questing and leveling through the Barrens, and I have to say it's very nice to see it back to normal after being plagued with invasions for weeks on end. It's one of my favorite zones. I am making a conscious effort to not outlevel zones on Nhee (no heirlooms, no mining/herbalism), and we still had no problems handling multiple mobs at once. During our travels we did all sorts of stuff. We interrogated a captive quillboar and assisted the local caravaneers, bothered the kolkar centaurs with a brash idiot of an orc and a troll named Shoe, slayed Echeyakee with a heavy heart (I hate that quest. The quest giver never gives a reason for why she wants him dead, and it's not like he was bothering anyone
) and helped a shifty looking troll commit mutiny on a pirate ship. We even found Humar the Pridelord laying about. I asked in general chat if any hunters wanted to come and tame him, but got no answers. Oh well.
Since I'm not using heirlooms, I didn't feel like doing any dungeons or battlegrounds. But I can imagine that Shallan would be a good pet for PVP. Her size and unobtrusiveness means that she probably will go under the radar, and not be targeted a lot. The special crane skill, a combat res, is of course also very handy to have.
In dungeons she would most likely perform the same as any other non-exotic pet, due to how normalized pets are nowadays. Though I can imagine many tanks would appreciate a hunter with a small pet that wouldn't obstruct their view or get in the way.
The lower levels go by so quickly, and it wasn't long before we dinged 20! Though I was happy to reach this milestone, as it meant I got to use a mount other than the boring and loud chauffeured hog, it was also a bittersweet moment since I knew it was time to get the next challenge pet, and say (temporarily) bye to Shallan.
Though we only spent 10 short levels together, I've grown very attached to her. She is full of personality, a beautiful little trooper who isn't gonna let her small stature get in the way, and a perfect fit for my panda. So while she returns to the stable for the time being, I will bring her out from time to time to see how much she's grown.
All in all, Shallan the crane lived up to all my expectations, and then some. I already view her as Nhee's primary pet, but I will try and not let that affect my view on the next pet I get. I can wholeheartedly recommend a crane, a very solid pet on all accounts.
That's it for now
I hope I did this review right, and I hope I didn't use too many images. Onto the next pet now!
Name: Nhee
Level: 20
Exotics: No
Restrictions: No mechanicals please, the imprint matrixes are going for a small fortune on my server.
I totally forgot that the crane in the panda zone is unusually small! I'm glad I picked that one. 
And congrats on getting your Madexx!!!!! 