About: This is part of a collection of gaming notes left behind by my mother when she passed in 2020. Mom was an avid table-top role player, starting her adventures in the late 1970s and continued for as long as she could find a game. I’m slowly making my way through these papers and posting them as I uncover them.
PC: Dinin Baenrae
Prodigy (R) interactive personal service
07/20/96
3:09 PM
MYTH & FANTASY BB
TOPIC: R.A. SALVATORE
TIME: 07/01 12:05 PM
TO: ALL
FROM: PATRICK SCHULZ (CTP67A)
SUBJECT: PC: DININ BAENRAE
Dinin was the only son of a rather small House in the settlement of Mir Forest, in what was the humans call Calimshan, despite the connection to the first house of Menzoberranzan.
As a result, it went almost unnoticed when his montehr and two sisters began worshiping Elistraee, except for House DeVir. They brought the city against the house, and they were forced to flee. Dinin was the last to leave the house, setting off the destructive glyphs. The family fled to Kara-Tur, where Dinin was trained as a samurai, despite his inability to adhere to the strict organization of bushido.
He left when his instructor died in an attack by a rival school. Roaming the wilderness for a few weeks, he found a druid of Silvanus. The druid taught him all about nature, filling his soul. However something was missing, so he returned home, splitting his time between the druid and his mother’s magical instruction. After she died, he and his sisters wandered Toril.
They met their cousin Zaknafein from Ched Nassad and his traveling companions Dantrag Teken’duis and Elvantar, an elven wizard. Soon, they drifted to Silverymoon after hearing stories that another drow was allowed to walk free there. Dinin happened to meet the famous Drizzt Do’Urden one day, while visiting the market.
Through Drizzt, Dinin has met both Alustriel and Bruenor. At their urging, Dinin began the Underwalkers Trading Caravan. Nowadays, Dinin roams the planes and Toril, both for this Caravan and for personal knowledge. He has visited many worlds, including Oreth, Krynn, and seven variances of Earth. Despite his hardships, he still remains open and kind.
Few things anger Dinin. Unnecessary cruelty, violence, and the unnecessary destruction of nature will rile him, as will any harm to his friends. All one needs to lease him is to send him to an unknown natural setting, and let him wander.
Dinin Baenrae
drow ranger/mage
PC: Avis De Morte
Prodigy (R) interactive personal service
07/20/96
3:11 PM
MYTH & FANTASY BB
TOPIC: R.A. SALVATORE
TIME: 07/06 1:55 PM
TO: ALL
FROM: JOEY WEINBERG (JTSB16B)
SUBJECT: PC: AVIS DE MORTE
Aves De Morte <Latin: “bird of death”> is a half elf of very mixed lineage. To even call him half elf is innacurate [sic]. Avis’ father was a half elf, his mother a drow. Avis’ father spent years in menzoberanzaan with his mother, learning all he could about them, for he was a scholar of sorts. Eventually, he decided he could not allow his son to be raised in that horrid place, and he told his mate, a high priestess of a ruling house, that he was leaving, and taking the child with him.
It was then that his mate changed, going from relatively kind to cruel and merciless. It was through teary eyes that he struck her down and fled the city by the same secret way that brough him down. he knew the house would somehow come after him, so he fled to live with his people in the very forest where Drizzt spared that young elf’s life, who happened to be Avis’ half aunte [sic].
Avis was raised by his father. His father was a scholar of peoples, and taught that his only child the fightring [sic] styles, customs, languages, and religions of a large number of races, including: human, Drow, three surface elves, dwarven, gnomish, and even a bit about dragons, having known one long ago.
With this education, Avis became a true rennaisance [sic] man, having an extremely lengthy education, both physical and mental.
His father died an old man at three hundred and ninety eight, older than nearly any half elf ever lived before. That was when Avis was twenty four. There was a bit of sorrow, but no surprise. They both knew it was coming. His father’s last wish was for Avis to find a new teacher, but never to give up the principles he had been taught.
And so, Avis travelled Faerun, doing what good he could, looking for a teacher. He spent some time in silverymoon, and when he heard about a war brewing at mithril hall, he took up the swords his father had left him, and set out immediatly [isc].
Avis was one of the unsung heroes of that war, having gone out with a small group and cut down the drow wherever he could.
His small group, unfortunately, fell to the drow skill, but Avis survived by speaking to them in their own language, with their own accents and dialects. This confused them, and spread thoughts of betrayal from another house within their forces, sending them scurrying away to fight their rivals, leaving him, wounded, behind in safety.
After the war, Avis spent time healing, then set out to find [continued to second page] Drizzt Do’urden. It took him years of searching, but eventually he found him, and, rather than ask him to teach his swordsmastery [sic], Avis challenged him to a friendly battle, saying, “This is to be a battle only to first cut. If I win, you take me in and teach me your skills.”
“And if I win?” Drizzt asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Then I will perform any task or service you ask of me, ” he replied cooly.
With that, the battle was on. It lasted nearly an hour before an exhausted Drizzt picked up a fourth wind faster that [sic] Avis, and Avis’s sloppy swordmanship [sic] finally caught up to his astounding agility, and amazing luck.
“Now,” Drizzt told him, panting, “you will perform my task.”
Avis winced, waiting for the horrible task about to be assigned to him. “you will stay here and learn from me as my pupil,” Drizzt said with a smile, shocking Avis as nothing else could.
And so, he learned, and eventually met Lebca. The rest, as they say, is history…
Avis
OOC: any questions?
My thoughts
These notes appear to be from a Prodigy Network BBS (or similar group) with the topic of the author R.A. Salvatore; specifically with the stories, lore and AD&D world of Forgotten Realms.
The chances of Mom having a book signed by RA Salvatore is absolutely 100%.
But who are these characters? Did they appear in a table top session that Mom played in? Was this just a bit of virtual role playing going on? Nothing I’ve found links these characters with Mille the Dark, but there are similarities with copious reference to the Drow. Plus, they were kept in the same section of her binder.
The binder itself doesn’t hold any clues. The sections aren’t labeled with anything helpful. And a cursory Internet and Facebook search brings up a slew of names, with some likely similar interests, but nothing really points to “these are people my Mom gamed with” or even “these folks probably posted these character bios”.