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'''The Key''' is a [[fan fiction]] piece by [[Tamrend]], originally posted in the [[Diii.net|Diabloii.net]] [http://forums.diii.net/forumdisplay.php?f=8 Fan Fiction Forum]. The fiction series has been going since February 2004, and still see the occasional update with more chapters or parts of chapters.

{{== About the Story ''The Key navbox}}'' ==:''Comments by the Author, [[Tamrend]]:''I started writing The Key toward the end of 2003. It was, quite literally, a challenge to myself. Many times before, I had started writing a story, only to stop a few pages in, unhappy with what I had written. With this story, I was attempting to break that barrier that I kept running up against. Making it fanfiction helped with that. Since it could not be published, there was no pressure to make it perfect. I deliberately refrained from editing anything until I had finished an entire chapter. The downside to that is that often mistakes will slip through.  Like most of the fiction I have written, the concept began with an image in my head. A man lies at the center of a pile of ashes, apparently dead, while two girls move hesitantly toward him. I intended from the very beginning to tie this idea in with the Diablo world, and in fact, the circle of ash is actually a meteor spell. In reading some of the background for the characters in Diablo, it struck me as odd that the [[Zann Esu]], the [[sorceress]] character, is described as being one of the older [[mage clan]]s, but elsewhere, the lore says that the Zann Esu "wrested the secrets of [[magic]]" from the "male-dominated mage clans". These two statements seemed somewhat contradictory to me. If they were one of the older clans, why did they need to "wrest" anything?

I started writing The Key toward the end of 2003. It was, quite literally, delighted to discover after a challenge to myself. Many times before, few chapters that I had started writing something of a fan base for my story, only and churned out several more chapters in a matter of months. Then, around the middle of 2004 and twelve chapters in, I began to stop slow down, posting a chapter ever few pages months. The first big dry spell began inlate 2005 and went on for over two years. The more time went by, unhappy the more guilty I felt about leaving my readers hanging with what an unfinished story. For some reason, though, I had writtenjust couldn't find my way forward. With this storyFinally, in late 2008, having just learned that I was attempting to break that barrier that would soon be laid off for the third time in my life, I kept running up againstgot over myself and wrote a chapter. Making it fanfiction helped with that. Since it could not be publishedThe second dry spell followed, but then in June of 2009, there was no pressure I had a burst of creativity and began to make it perfectshow something like my old prolificacy. As of this writing, I deliberately refrained from editing anything until I had finished am adding an entire chapter. The downside update to that is that often mistakes will slip throughthe story every month or two.

Knowing that this contradiction was probably an oversight on the part of Blizzard writers:: --[[Tamrend]], I set out to solve it27 November, and came up with the idea that something happened which caused the Zann Esu to disappear completely, even to the point of vanishing from recorded history. From that, the plot of The Key developed, and I posted my first, short chapter on the fan fiction forums at www.diabloii.net. Incidentally, the story is set between the time of the Binding of the Three, when the Prime Evils were sealed away, and the events of the video game series.2009