That’s actually an interesting point, for some reason everyone is always interested in having Seers peer into the future.
I think this is because they “think” they know history. I also sincerely believe that humans like to forget history, so they can repeat it…like watching reruns.
Maelen would recognize him, primarily because he’s an official member and agent of the Society of Learned Fellows which was founded after the fall of the Anilords basically to make sure they never come back. Of course, by this point most people don’t even think the Society still exists. No one in Norelon has ran into anyone claiming to be a member for some time (remember animages are secretive by default, particularly after the Anilords–the Society is even more circumspect–and their membership is way down)
The Society is really only openly active in Etonia, they sort of hold it together and keep it from being overwhelmed by New Etonia (which is dominated by the Etonian Churches (Tiernon and his fellow Etonian Deities) and the Holy Etonian Emperor…HEE for short…”HEE is displeased with your actions.” etc.
And from devolving into chaos like Eastern Free Eton…
So, in short, it’s part of his job to be on the lookout for returning Anilords and such.