Story: The Calling of Keanot
Even though Maargog, the Emperor of Da'rahad and Wielder of the Dark Magic of the Undead, is more capable in the dark arts than any that have come before him, and despite the fact that he has been able to slow down his aging process, even he cannot escape the final consequence for practicing Dark Magic - insanity. Thus the secret society of the Circle of Kings, who are his counselors, suggested that Maargog find and train a protégé to one day take his place, when Da'rahad, the Kingdom of Darkness, has spread across the Known World.
Maargog chose a young man named Keanot whose origins were from the Middle Kingdoms of Men, and who had risen to the top of the Emperor's Court of Magicians very quickly. Keanot had learned a technique that even Maargog did not know - the ability to alter the space-time properties of a room so that time passes by very quickly. Combining this with the ability to slow down his aging process, Keanot was able to hide away in his chamber and read material from the Emperor's collection ten times faster than all the other members of the Court of Magicians. Maargog was so impressed that he knew Keanot was the one who could take his place.
Just as Maargog had secrets he kept from all the others, so too Keanot came across some secrets that he chose to keep. Another area that Keanot was excelling in beyond all of the other wizards was inter-dimensional portals. And on one particular day, a portal opened up unexpectedly to a dimension Keanot had no idea existed. There was nothing in the entire Dark Magic Library that he had read so far that was similar to the things he saw through the doorway. He gathered up his courage and stepped through to find a land with high mountains, deep blue skies, great forests, deep lakes, raging rivers, thick grass, and a gentle, cool breeze - all of which was richer in sensory stimuli than the world he had just left behind. He lost sense of time and wandered. He did not encounter anyone along his journey but sensed a conscious presence that was there, fully aware of him but not threatened. Eventually he came back through the door.
Upon his return he was further surprised to discover that the Emperor was not aware that he was gone. This was unusual because all other inter-dimensional travel was sensed immediately by the Fallen Ones, and in turn reported to Maargog, who was very strict about keeping track of all his wizard's activities. But no one asked him about this last journey - no one seemed to notice at all. This puzzled Keanot, for it seems he had stumbled across something beyond the current knowledge and scope of the Magic of the Undead.
Keanot's heart changed further on the following night when he was visited by an Ancient Steward in his dreams. This being showed him a secret door in the Dark Magic Library. Keanot woke from his dream and immediately went to look, and indeed the door was there. He entered the secret chamber and experienced a new phenomenon to him, one that would become common to his daily experience in the future - an Omen. Though he did not hear an audible voice, he felt impressed with a silent understanding, as if someone had planted a memory into his heart long ago and then suddenly reminded him of it:
"Behold, the way has been made for you to discover something old and new, for the demon who guards this chamber has been temporarily bound. Behold, the Knowledge that you will one day understand more deeply than the dark arts you now practice is set before you, and your darkness shall fall away like scales as the light of wisdom shines upon thee. Now, go forth boldly and do not tarry, for thy time is short!"
Thus Keanot was exposed to the Sacred Writings of the Elves, hidden away by Maargog in a secret chamber - writings that the Emperor had declared illegal in Da'rahad upon penalty of death. There Keanot opened the scrolls and saw the declaration of the Knowledge of the Most High and the Magic of Nature, and the Prophecy of the End of the Age and the future Kingdom of Summer that will stretch across the Known World.
But his time was short indeed, for no sooner did he browse through a single chapter of the Sacred Writings that the silent voice of the Omen returned and warned him to flee immediately back to his chamber. After closing his door and settling back in for the night, he was forced to rise and answer someone knocking. It was the Emperor himself, and he entered Keanot's chamber with a grave look upon his face.
"Someone has just desecrated my secret chamber in the library. Do you know who it was?"
"My lord, I did not know you had a secret chamber", answered Keanot. "What is stored there?"
"Never mind that," answered Maargog, "keep your eyes and ears open. The one who has done this must be caught and punished. You will let me know if you discover any information, yes?"
"Yes my lord, it will be so", replied Keanot. And Maargog left his room, disturbed in a way Keanot had not seen before.
Maargog immediately called the Circle of Kings to counsel, and he pressed in on them, "who could have done this?"
"We do not know," they replied, "it has been hidden from us".
"How can this be, are you not the great and ancient Circle of Kings? Certainly you must have some idea - who among us, in my palace, could even attempt such a thing and not be seen by the guardian of my secret chamber?"
"We know of only one - Keanot, thy protégé. You yourself have seen he is already advancing farther and faster than you."
Maargog fell silent as he pondered this. And his anger burned because this young man was the only person in the entire Known World that he had any fondness for at all. And he refused to believe it at first, but the idea began to take root as he stormed out of the presence of the Fallen Ones.
And thus, on the next evening, Keanot was visited a second time in his dreams by the Ancient Steward.
"Go now," it told him, "for your master has already begun to suspect you, and you must now flee into the wilderness. Go, and leave all the dark arts behind, for they are a snare to you. Go, and place thy feet upon the destiny declared for thee before you were born."
And it was so: Keanot left the Emperor's Court of Magicians that very night, disappearing into the wilderness, never to be seen face-to-face by Maargog again. Whatever fondness the Emperor had for him was buried and the Emperor's anger burned like a fire in his stomach, and he declared across Da'rahad that Keanot must be executed upon site for treason.