Prologue:
Norax stood on the balcony of his tower, watching the battle below. The Light Guard, the last of those who opposed him, stood arrayed defiantly as the hoards of his army advanced. The Light Guard had been allowed to go this far for only one reason: So Norax could watch their demise. His army far outnumbered the opponents, and although the light guard fought valiantly, Norax's army soon had them surrounded.
"Korenor!" Norax bellowed. Seconds later, Norax's assistant Korenor, a hunched over man in tattered robes, entered the room.
"Yes, master Norax? What do you wish of me?" He asked quietly.
"Korenor, witness the destruction of the Light Guard." He gestured grandly toward the battlefield, where his army waited for his order to slaughter the Light Guard, which was hopelessly surrounded. Before Korenor could respond there was a brilliant flash of light, and a column of fire appeared in the midst of Norax's troops. They fled and the Light Guard ran through the opening before the army could react. The column slowly took on a man-like shape and began setting Norax's soldiers on fire.
"What trickery is this?!" Norax demanded. "A fire elemental! One of their summoners yet lives!" With this, Norax ran into the tower and came back out with a rod clutched in his hand. The rod was jet black and had three points on both ends, and as Norax held it aloft, it glowed softly.
"Do you wish me to dispatch the abomination?" Korenor asked eagerly, already preparing his magic.
"No. I will take care of this." Norax replied. With that, he faced the fire elemental and yelled. "Begone, summoned thing! Go back to the realm which spawned you!" Norax's rod glowed a bright red and the elemental stopped in its tracks. For a few moments, it was paralyzed, and Norax's men took the opportunity to catch up with the fleeing Light Guard. Then the thing began to move again. Norax was shocked- no summoned thing could defy his magic! Again he held up the rod and commanded the elemental to leave. The rod flashed into life, but less brilliantly than before, and the elemental barely flinched. Finally, as Norax attempted a third attack, Korenor stepped forward and cast a spell. Shards of ice, some as big as a person's head, flew toward the elemental. Cringing, it shrank back, and that was when the rod's magic took hold. A stream of red light coarsed from it, striking the thing in the middle. It held on for a few seconds, and then vanished. The army, enheartened by their leader's victory, charged the Light Guard, killing first the person who had summoned the thing, and then taking the remaining few prisoner. Norax went back into the tower, hung the rod up on the wall, and sat down heavily in his throne.
"Korenor, nothing before has defied the rod's magic. I am growing old." Norax spoke slowly, although dreading the words.
"Do you wish the clerics to prepare a mixture for you?" Korenor asked, anxious to do something about his master's mood. The cleric's mixture was something that extended Norax's life, but it would only work so much- or so they said. For the clerics had no love for Norax, but they were held by a promise they had made long ago, and had long since regretted.
Norax shook his head slowly. "No. I fear the cleric's mixture would do me no good. I am coming to the end of my life. Korenor, I must choose a successor.
"But master, I am no summoner." Korenor objected.
"I did not say you! I require a summoner, not a petty wizard!" Norax stopped bellowing at Korenor to think. "There is someone, a summoner. He promised me his alliegance and if he could not fufill his promise, than his children could. Perhaps one of his children- or even his children's children- lives today."
"It may be master, but how will he be kept loyal to you?"
"At first, he will be held by the summoning. Then, as he sees how much power there is to wield, he will obey by his own free will." With that he stood up. "I have decided." He took his rod off of the wall and walked back to the balcony. He took a look down at the remnants of the Light Guard being hearded like sheep toward the prisons near Naogon and then looked up toward the sky. Holding the rod forward, he commanded:
"Tonir Brown, your debt has not been paid! If your children yet live, let them repay what is owed. I summon a child of Tonir Brown, summoner!"
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