The Discs of Norgannon

The dwarves were still caught up in the joy of finding treasure, completely unaware that Patrick had gone motionless with one hand resting on the Discs of Norgannon.

"Pat, what's wrong?" Alleria cried anxiously when she noticed Patrick's condition. He had been perfectly fine just moments ago, but now he had slipped straight into a trance and could not be woken, leaving Alleria panic-stricken.

Moreover, Alleria discovered that whenever she touched Patrick, a powerful force repelled her, making it impossible to get close.

Lorne Songweaver and the dwarves were all cheering over the gold and treasure, completely unaware that anything was wrong with Patrick.

"Young life, you are very fortunate, and very capable, to be able to see me here," Norgannon said.

"Why did you build so many facilities on Azeroth? Was it for Elune?" Patrick asked Norgannon, though he did not expect Norgannon's apparition to answer his questions.

There had been much debate in his previous life about Elune, the moon goddess. Some believed Elune was a Titan, some believed he was a Naaru, and others believed he was a world-soul. Opinions varied, and no definitive official answer had been given either (excluding Blizzard's retconned lore).

"You are correct. The Pantheon originally came to Azeroth and left many facilities here because the supreme god Aman'Thul discovered the soul of one of our kind within Azeroth's core. Although her soul was still incomplete, she would need only a little over a million years of nurturing to form a body, sustain a material existence in the void, and become a member of our Pantheon."

Norgannon's words caused an uproar in Patrick's heart. If Elune really was a Titan, where did the moon goddess Granny Tyrande and the others worshipped come from? If Elune and that moon goddess were the same person, that raised some intriguing questions. What priest in the world would blow up their own deity's power supply?

Wouldn't that amount to destroying their own deity's energy supply? Didn't that make the supposed description-"the finest hunter beneath the moonlight, the chosen of the goddess Elune"-a joke?

And what the hell did "only a little over a million years of nurturing" mean? Was a little over a million years a short time to a Titan? No wonder the Titans of the Pantheon were all so powerful. With such a long maturation period, it would have been hard not to be.

"But why is the energy flowing in the Well of Eternity arcane energy and the force of nature? Is Elune the Titan who governs the arcane and nature?" Patrick continued asking Norgannon questions. With a real Titan before him, he could not let this opportunity slip away.

"Elune should be a Titan who governs souls and purity. We only found her soul during its growth, so we do not know what abilities she will have once fully grown. The reason we nourish her soul with arcane energy and the force of nature is that both are merely energies inclined toward order, rather than energies of pure order."

"Isn't blood, the carrier of life, a mildly alkaline liquid? If your bodily fluids were purely strongly acidic or strongly alkaline, how could you survive in this complex and ever-changing world? If you lived in a strongly acidic environment, you would be completely unable to tolerate neutral or alkaline environments. Conversely, if you lived in a strongly alkaline environment, you would be unable to tolerate neutral or acidic environments. Arcane energy and the force of nature are energies inclined toward order, which can be guided and controlled without affecting the body."

"The Holy Light and shadow in your memories, however, are a force of pure order and a force of chaos, respectively. Both are highly domineering powers that are difficult to neutralize, placing stringent demands on the user's body and the vessel carrying the power. The only difference between the Holy Light and the arcane is that the Holy Light differs in its sources and composition."

Would you stop reading other people's memories without permission? Patrick thought.

"Some Holy Light represents only the concept of purity, some represents purification, and some represents only devotion.

"The pure Holy Light that truly represents order is composed of all the concepts above, and it tolerates no other energy. Pure Holy Light energy corrodes or purifies other energies, whereas Holy Light produced by a single concept can coexist with other energies without domineeringly purifying chaos and all energy and matter that is not Holy Light." As a Titan who governed the arcane and knowledge, Norgannon understood energy thoroughly and went straight to the heart of the matter. At the same time, he resolved a question in Patrick's mind: why the Undead Priests of later times could wield the Holy Light. If the Holy Light summoned by the Undead contained only the concept of devotion, then it was understandable why the Holy Light, the bane of the Undead, did not harm Undead Priests.

Priests and Paladins also differed despite both wielding the Holy Light. The Holy Light of Paladins clearly carried the concept of purification, something the Undead could not touch. Pure Holy Light, meanwhile, would involuntarily purify or transform its user into a being of pure Holy Light, like the Naaru.

"So energies are also divided into chaotic, neutral, and orderly energies," Patrick said. "Honored Titan, could you tell me about the arcane?"

"First intelligent life to reach this place, the Four Discs of Norgannon's Arcane Truth shall be your reward." Norgannon did not answer directly. Instead, he gathered arcane energy in his palm into a sigil, which slowly sank into Patrick's body.

Outside, Alleria felt this panicked for the first time. Even the spiritual power she released could not touch Patrick. Beyond sensing the vast amount of arcane energy radiating from his entire body and confirming that his breathing and other vital signs were steady, Alleria could do nothing.

Lorne Songweaver and the dwarves also noticed Patrick's unusual condition, but like Alleria, they were repelled by a powerful energy whenever they touched him.

With nothing they could do, the dwarves could only begin collecting, sorting, and packing the gold coins. After all, they knew nothing about the arcane and could not help, so they might as well find a way to carry more treasure out.

Several hours later, Patrick finally woke and leaned against the discs, his whole body weak and sore. After holding the same position rigidly for hours, his muscles had gone numb.

Alleria felt a weight lift from her shoulders when she saw Patrick wake, but when she saw him nearly fall to the ground, she immediately held him up. "Pat, you're finally awake."

Seeing Alleria's panicked expression, Patrick had no idea that several hours had passed. He thought he had merely chatted with Norgannon for a little while in his sea of consciousness.

Only when Lorne Songweaver, Olaf, Prospector Redul, and Prospector Thelsamar told Patrick did he learn that he had stood beside these discs for several hours without moving a muscle. They had tried to wake him, but some inexplicable force had repelled them all.

So I was talking to Norgannon for that long, Patrick thought.