Chapter One:
Intrigue in Amn
Fate. Be it your shield or your shackles, you are bound to it as
surely as you are your own skin. In the dreams that fill your mind in
the deepest hours of sleep, you hear a voice beckoning you on to deeds
of valor and glory. Even as a child you were aware that you were
different. You walked
through the cities and villages of men knowing that somehow they were
not of your kind, these men with their fragile lives. And in your
dreams you ask questions, but the answers seem to be hidden, as if
they are behind some manner of abstract wall. What am I, you ask - but
you cannot understand the answer. Your mind is flooded with images of
great battles between forces and beings beyond your ability to
comprehend or visualize. As if removed from your body, your essence
soars through the darkness of space, opening up visions of galaxies,
stars, and alien civilizations. And there in the distance you see
Faerūn, the world you call home. And it is then that you realize that
each one of these worlds has its own gods and its own rulers. But just
when the answers you seek are within your grasp, they are all of a
sudden gone, slipping away from your fingertips like a hazy memory.
And then you hear the voice again
deep and terrible, shaking your
essence down to the very roots of your soul. You hear its demand: you
will know.
You awake in a cold sweat. This dream has been with you since
childhood, growing stronger in its insistence with every passing year.
Somehow you know that it is your terrible destiny to seek out the
secrets behind Faerūn, the galaxy, and Creation itself. You clench
your fist and vow that those secrets will be yours, even if Ao himself
is opposed to your learning them. And in your mind, you sense that the
voice from your dreams is pleased with you.
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