Sleep comes late to you…and it is not an easy sleep. Sound fills your world as you drift away into slumber; the smallest beating of a fly’s wings, the heavy march of a beetle across granite. All are sounds now open to you. Your very being reverberates with this new world this new power suffuses everything.

Even in your dreams you are not immune from this power…your acute perceptions, your measure of the intensity of noise leads you halfway between sleep and the waking world. On this cusp you hear the beating of large wings in the spiritual world – a world no normal man can hear…a world where a spirit has been sent to meet you.

"You could hear me couldn’t you?" a voice says. It is a voice without substance, a spirit voice sent by Malkar from a valley forbidden to all. It is the spirit of one of the Glaennyn. "I should have guessed. Resonance is an ability from another universe and one created by the mighty dragons of the past…it is the work of the Glaennyn and yet here is an adept on Grayhawk. Most strange. The emperor Sarrik Ramadius II alerted Malkar to your skills and thus the god has sent me here to counsel you.

"I am Aynar – a Glaennyn lord. The spirit in your dreams is the god’s way of communication…he feels it necessary to give you instruction yet my instinct tells me that you require none of it. You are a natural. But there are things you must know as your skill grows…things you must learn before you mature to an adept of our most ancient ability.

"Resonance is the oldest of all the Glaennyn powers. The first sense is aural; the first entrance to the world is what is heard. You feel the most delicate nuances of sound and, with your excellent control of timbre; you can affect your very surroundings. A Glaennyn adept can kill a man with a screech – burst his brain more effectively than a sword. It has always been so, though you need to learn to control this skill.

You hear beyond the skill of elves, beyond the skill of even the gods.

But to hear is also to possess. A sound is the most obvious footprint of an opponent…something that cannot be concealed, cannot be disguised. A man may cloak his appearance, mask his skills but the tone of his passing cannot be duplicated. It is possible, my sleeping adept, to hear what an opponent is going to do before he knows it himself.

"But Malkar wishes me to speak of your beginning. Though I am sceptical about his motives I must adhere to his whim…it is, after all, Malkar’s priest who drives forward the quest to free us. If that liberation should come, my sleeping companion, there will be a place beside me as friend, as student, and as rider.

"Your heritage is shrouded from me. Strange, since my power over the spirits is great…but then my power on Grayhawk has yet to be tested. The god of liberation (Malkar) has bid me to steer your mind on a path that will help the priest…the gifted priest that Malkar the man saved from his father. The fact that I cannot divine your lineage speaks volumes, however, the very fact that your father and mother are masked can mean only one thing – your roots lie in primal power. Oh yes, my adept, the god Malkar does not reveal to me your parents for a reason…he knows only too well where your power lies.

"Still, there remains the question which burns on your lips. Who am I? A good question, and one that I will attempt to answer. One member of your immediate family was dragonkind – that would explain your talent with Resonance and why I cannot divine the nature of your parentage.

But which one? If it was your father then you would display the hallmarks of duplicity – either form suits you. I will explain…if your father was a dragon then you could easily adopt the form at will. If, however, your mother was a dragon then your inner powers will come to the fore. At the full moon you must bare yourself and await your awakening…only by the light of that bright satellite will you know.

"This is the true reason Malkar wants me to speak to you. Staff or distaff you must know of your parentage. But why? Why must you know and why is it important? If you are dragonkind then you will understand…but if you are dragonspawn then you will stand beside the creator and know his purpose. Time is something the Glaennyn lack, my friend. The demon Azael assails the closest gate and will surely break through before long. When that happens it will become a race against time to free the Glaennyn and raise the only army capable of standing against such a foe.

"The gods have sent one man to seal the gate to Grayhawk. As we speak the Great Betrayer wields his awesome blades against the demons in an attempt to destroy the gate and buy you more time. If he succeeds you will have weeks…if he fails then Azael will dog your path every step of the way. But that should be of no consequence to you, my friend, for your only quest is to bathe yourself in the glory of the full moon. To be born or reborn…that is your only task. It is what Malkar requires of you…it is what the universe demands of you…it is what the Glaennyn can only hope. A friend on the outside…a kindred spirit to give us hope…a guide in the darkness of our prison.

"Go in peace…and may the luck of the Glaennyn shine for you…"

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