The Stories of Elaine Cunningham

GAMES OF CHANCE

Elaith Craulnober is one of my favorite characters, but the truth of the matter is that he's not "my" character at all-or at least, he didn't start out that way. His first in-print appearance was a brief paragraph in the first edition game product Waterdeep and the North, written by FORGOTTEN REALMS creator Ed Greenwood. The entry caught my eye when I was researching Realmslore for Elf shadow, my first book, and for some reason the rogue moon elf captured my imagination. I included him in that first novel. Only later did I learn that Elaith was more than just a bit player invented for a game product-he'd been part of Ed's personal campaign for years.

Ed has been very gracious about this, and fortunately we seem to be on much the same page when it comes to this character. He has repeatedly said that he's happy with the directions Elaith has taken and content to let me run with the character.

Still, I've always felt a little guilty about having shanghaied another writer's character. Early on, I learned that writing in a shared world works a whole lot better if you don't define "sharing" as "everything in the lore is up for grabs, no matter who created it,"

But having stolen Elaith, I felt obligated to give him interesting things to do. He took an active role in the events of City of Splendors: A Waterdeep Novel, and he'll be even more prominent in Reclamation, the upcoming Songs amp; Swords book. This short story gives a glimpse into one of Elaith's many business affairs-a glitzy casino in Waterdeep. It also revisits his daughter, Azariah, and her determination to inherit the Craulnober moonblade. Please note that Elaith's thoughts concerning moonblades reflect his personal bias and the level of information available to him; as such, they do not necessarily reflect the whole truth, or the "canon lore" concerning these magic swords.

Over the years, many readers have wondered if there's any significance in the similarity between Elaith's name and mine. Circumstances being what they are-Ed created the character long before he knew me from Lolth-it is clearly a matter of coincidence. But when I'm in a fanciful mood, I'm not quite so sure of that. I might not have created Elaith, I might not look or act or think as he does, but I understand him far too well for my peace of mind.