Quite an interesting read, which expands and reinforces what lore we already know.
I agree it looks like the WoW writing team are trying to re-introduce mystifying elements to the story again after the veil of speculation surrounding of the Titans and soon possibly Elune too have been dismantled. Hopefully if they’re smart about the new material they’ll retain the wonder.
Although I share your concerns, I don’t think they’re necessarily trying to push for a vertical expansion but, more a horizontal one. This should help curtail the issue of having a stacking issue where the next big bad has to be ever more nefarious with the power creep that comes along with it.
Looking over the text, some on the US forum thread have already commented on similarities with the chronicles cosmology chart, and that it reaffirms the primordial forces of Light and Void coexisted for a period at the outset before the others appeared or formed.
However, the section that’s peaked my interest here is the text from the part 1 of the expedition report. There are two things of note here.
Firstly to quote,
“At first I thought only two. until I perceived an infinite array–O, the terror of it!–but as of late I have settled on six. Possibly seven. but the last might be an artifact of the geometry. A fractal.”
Al’Firim, Expedition Report A37J - Part 1, p. 2.
The fact that the the seventh is identified after the two indicates that there is another power potentially outside of the cosmological chart (presented from the perspective of the titans) we have been provided with so far.
This source indicates it is not the Void (Void Lords) as some are already speculating unless their origins change as we understand them. This is because it would seem to suggest they would fall into one of the two powers so far identified at the start of the brokers recollection. The Void.
The second quote to take note of is as follows,
"Six realms. Many intersections. Countless fractals.
In balance? Possibly. But that might be wrong. If six equal one, then what is the other? The one outside the pattern?"
Al’Firim, Expedition Report A37J - Part 1, p. 6.
This further proposes the seventh does not appear to exist in harmony with the six in the geometry, the cosmology if the term is synonymous. It is hinted as something of an anomaly that doesn’t quite fit the pattern the broker has been able to decipher and describe to us so far.
To speculate, it could be a possible side effect from the six being interwoven with each other? …or something left behind that did not partake? Whatever it is, it is hinted as existing as an outlier, outside of the cosmology/pattern.
To stretch speculation further, it could be the emptiness that came before. There is a mention on the preceding page of an emptiness abating. Although, this could just be a description for a lack of something if not an entity too.
There is a lot that can be drawn and speculated from this and it does look promising but, the mention of a seventh stood out.
Another, important take on this is that “the one” mentioned is most likely illustratively represented as the ellipse that links the six powers together when comparing and referencing his written account to the cosmology chart. This likely includes everything that occurs within it thereafter, with Reality at the centre. Each manifestation of a minor power (i.e. Spirit, Fire, Air, Decay, Earth and Water) taking on attributes from the six. The broker indicates in he recitation that there are infinity more subdivisions constantly evolving but, these are examples of ones clearly defined for us in existing literature so far.
Something else to take note of here is that my use of minor does not necessarily mean lesser. I think in the context of the brokers recount they are suggesting the idea of new concepts being created constantly as the interactions play out. It would be more akin to looking at a taxonomy tree as the interactions and changes become ever more complex between initially the two, then six and every subdivision thereafter. Sort of willed into existence via circumstance.
To draw a parallel with real world mythology, think about the idea of where as gods/goddesses are created in many pagan/polytheistic pantheons from across the world.
Each typically represents a certain attribute or concept where the initial deities at the start of a creation myth represent more broad concepts. Younger deities introduced at later points are then typically more bespoke and nuanced. All of which are the physical representation of an idea defined and brought into being where ordered from initial chaos/non-being.
