Ironforge is a very unique city, divided into five districts: the Military Quarter, the Commons, the Mystic Ward, the Tinker Town, and the Hall of Explorers. At the very center is the Great Forge, and several lava waterfalls cascade down from the top of Ironforge. Outsiders have no idea how this lava is brought up from the depths of the earth. In short, this place is not to be approached because it is extremely hot.
Brann led the way, and the group soon arrived at the Hall of Explorers.
Ironforge is a castle-like city; the entire city is essentially a massive castle, so large that it can hold tens of thousands of Dwarves.
The Explorers' League, attracting thousands of members, was naturally quite large. While called a hall, it was essentially a large plaza, surrounded by numerous independent buildings such as museums, libraries, exhibition halls, and Booty Bay chambers storing even more valuable items.
There were many Dwarves here; some were researching, some were preserving precious artifacts, and others were gathered together, discussing the next steps in their expedition.
When Jiang Jie arrived at the exhibition hall, he saw one exhibit after another, including even the skeleton of a giant dragon!
" Nicholas, look what you've got! What do you see? Dragon skeletons? Those are the skeletons of Tyranastrasz!"
Brann pointed to the skull, which was nearly three meters tall, and proudly exclaimed, "I personally led the team to bring it from Grim Batol! I almost offended Krasus in the process!"
Tyranastrasz was the Red Dragon Queen's first consort and the most senior, while Krasus was the Red Dragon Queen's youngest consort, though he was at least ten thousand years old, or even tens of thousands of years old.
The Dragonmaw Orcs enslaved the Red Dragon Queen with the " Dragon Soul," forcing her to mate with Tyranastrasz and lay dragon eggs in Grim Batol.
Later, Archmage Rhonin led his forces to destroy the Dragon Soul and rescue the Red Dragon Queen. The enraged Red Dragonflight killed almost all of the Dragonmaw Orcs.
Brann actually dared to bring Tyranastrasz's skull to Ironforge! Has he lost his mind? Isn't he afraid Krasus will come looking for trouble? Or perhaps the Red Dragon Queen herself will come looking for trouble?
The exhibition hall displays a large number of exhibits, some of which have a significant history.
For example, some of the broken fossil eggs actually came from the Tanaris Desert and are related to the Qiraji.
For example, a bone claw larger than Tauren was found in Stranglethorn Vale, said to belong to the Roc. And the Roc is said to be able to fight adult dragons!
There are also the broken Horde catapults, left behind by the Orcs who attacked Ironforge during World War II.
The Dwarves of the Explorers' League are truly a remarkable group; they can be found in any corner filled with mystery. Even before the Alliance Expedition set foot on the Kalimdor, Dwarves had already ventured into mysterious lands to explore. This spirit is somewhat similar to that of the Pandaren.
Therefore, it's not without reason that Brann and the Lorewalker Cho are known as "monster-opening maniacs".
" Nicholas, come with me!"
Brann led them to the deepest part of the Hall of Explorers, to a room guarded by soldiers, and they went inside.
Only a few of them were allowed in; others were not permitted.
Clearly, even within the Explorers' League, this room is the most important place, of paramount importance.
Upon entering the room, Jiang Jie saw rows of bookshelves, six or seven meters high, covering every wall of the room. It turned out to be a library!
On the stone table in the very center of the library sits an exquisitely carved obsidian box.
The stone box had been opened, and a Discs of Norgannon was placed in the center, upon which floated a constantly changing illusion—it was the planet Azeroth!
Several Dwarves surrounded the Discs of Norgannon, constantly recording with quill pens. Sometimes they would lightly tap on the illusion to magnify a certain area and see clearly what was happening. At other times, they would manipulate the illusion to speed up, slow down, or stop it.
The illusion projected by this silver disc was like a high-tech 3D stereoscopic player that could accelerate, decelerate, and stop!
Xiao Feng praised in Jiang Jie's mind.
The Galactic Federation in the 35th century had also researched this technology, but recording tens of thousands of years of an entire planet's history on a small Discs of Norgannon was simply impossible. Titans technology is truly remarkable. " Nicholas, this is the Explorers' League's forbidden library. Every book here is more precious than a magic book! The information they contain is even more valuable!"
Brann proudly declared, " The Old Gods! The Titans! The Qiraji! The Ancient Temples! The Origins of the Troll! The Wild Gods! The Guardian of Tirisfal! The Legend of Tyr! The Origins of the Holy Light! Everything you can imagine, you can find it here!"
"That's remarkable."
Jiang Jie nodded in admiration, but his face showed no trace of longing or emotion. Instead, he said calmly, "But all of this combined is still not as good as the Disc of Norgannon."
Brann was about to continue boasting when he heard Jiang Jie's words and immediately choked.
Yes, no amount of books can compare to the Disc of Norgannon, because it records all the evolution of this planet after the Titans left! Although it cannot be specific to every individual, it encompasses the entire evolutionary process and historical trajectory of all life on Azeroth.
If the contents of the Disc of Norgannon were recorded in words and pictures, not only this small forbidden library, but even the entire Ironforge would not be able to hold them!
" Nicholas, you got more than me! The real Disc of Norgannon is still in your hands! I got a replica!" Brann gestured with his hands, pointing to the millstone, then to the apple. "Yours is this big! Mine is this small!"
" The Disc of Norgannon isn't in my possession; it's in Uldaman. That's where it belongs, and no one can touch it," Jiang Jie said solemnly. " The Disc of Norgannon is responsible for recording the history of Azeroth, and it will continue to do so. It absolutely cannot be interrupted! Besides, you can go to Uldaman anytime to continue replicating it, can't you?"
"But yours is so big, and mine is so small!" Brann was still a little annoyed; he couldn't stand the thought of it.
His eyes suddenly lit up, and he clapped his hands, exclaiming, " Nicholas! How about this, you join the Explorers' League? That way, no matter where the Disc of Norgannon is, it'll be in the Explorers' League's hands, right? I'll make you... the vice president!"
Jiang Jie was utterly speechless. He looked at Magni, hoping His Majesty the King would say something, "Can we talk about something serious?"
Then King Magni turned around, picked up a book from the shelf at random, and began to read it with great interest, as if to say, "I'm very serious, don't bother me."
Jiang Jie glanced at it; it was actually in Night Elf language. "Your Majesty, can you understand it?"
" Nicholas, joining the Explorers' League has many benefits! Whenever you want to explore, you can directly apply to form a team. We have the most professional exploration team and the most advanced exploration equipment! For example, these hardened kryptonite goggles were obtained from the Gnomes!"
Brann enthusiastically added, "I'm the president of the Explorers' League. There are only four vice presidents right now, and you're the fifth! You have a lot of power! The Explorers' League has almost ten thousand members, more than the Ironforge guards!"
Jiang Jie's lips twitched.
Four presidents? That many are needed.
Ten thousand people? That's less than half! Can you stop exaggerating? Aren't you afraid of blowing your own horn out of proportion? Even a clefthoof rhinoceros hide couldn't withstand that!
Brann was still talking non-stop, King Magni was still "attentively" reading, and the other important members of the association were busy recording the information on the Discs of Norgannon. It seemed that if they didn't agree to his request, they probably wouldn't be able to do anything.
"Fine, I agree." Jiang Jie helplessly.
Fortunately, it's not a bad thing.
The Explorers' League is indeed full of talented people. Perhaps we'll need them for the other two parts of the Staff of Origination. We'll also need them when we go to Uldum and Ulduar. Having multiple identities is never a bad thing.
When you're traveling, having more friends means having more options!
"You agreed? That's great!" Brann rubbed his hands together and chuckled. "By the way, Nicholas, you said you had something important to discuss?"