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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3736 Posts |
 Posted - 29 Oct 2017 : 22:30:55
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-Last night (Saturday, October 28), Michael Satran died from a brain tumor. Mike was an old-school poster (msatran), posting here a bit and more at the WotC boards in the mid-to-late 2000s.
-Mike brought the Forgotten Realms alive for me. D&D isn't exactly a mainstream thing and my social circle is pretty small, so my exposure to the Forgotten Realms was always limited mainly to books, video games, and talking about it online here and at WotC. As it turned out, he happened to live not that far from me, and after meeting up a few times with a few other posters ("The Forgotten Realms Coffee Club"), we started a D&D campaign. My first Forgotten Realms character was "Crazy" Ali al-Hassan, a Calashite beguiler that fled Calimport after trying to pull a fast one and selling some fake magical goods to a politically powerful person and incurring their wrath. The notes have since been lost at my ex's place, but the party adventured all through Tethyr, where we met all kinds of interesting NPCs (canon and homemade), stopped a war between Humans and Elves being instigated by corrupt woodcutters, and got knighted, stopped what seemed to be Ravenloft from manifesting, and all kinds of other cool stuff. He knew it was my first time actually playing in the Forgotten Realms as well as someone else's in the party, and he made sure to make it a fun experience. Our game was one of a handful he was running, and definitely the least important one to dedicate his time to (as opposed to campaigns going back years, and campaigns with close friends), but you'd never know that with how prepared he always was and how dedicated he was to making it a fun, enjoyable game for everyone at the table in that campaign, which included D&D beginners and familiar with the rules.
-We fell out of touch for a while after I decided to "close that chapter of my life", but I recently got back in touch with him on Facebook earlier this year. Reading all of the eulogies his friends have been writing, it makes me wish I hadn't. It was easy to misunderstand Mike, but he was by no means a bad guy. He was a very passionate man (does Rich Baker still need to be stopped?). He loved his cats, he loved D&D, and he loved the Forgotten Realms. He loved other RPG games, got a bunch of his stuff for Hero/Champions published, and even wrote a novel that I know he was working on for a long time published. He was extremely generous. When we played D&D at his place, dinner was always on him. When he got his first adventure published, wanted a copy? Yours. Wanted a signed copy? Yours. He was always there with advice or an opinion, even if you didn't want it. Maybe it seemed a little rude or a little off-putting, but he meant well and he thought that you'd be better off from hearing it.
-The RPG world and the Forgotten Realms community lost a cool dude.
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(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know)
Elves of Faerūn
Vol I- The Elves of Faerūn
Vol. III- Spells of the Elves
Vol. VI- Mechanical Compendium |
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Arivia
Great Reader
Canada
2965 Posts |
Posted - 29 Oct 2017 : 23:51:21
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| I remember him. He was a good contributor to this place, too. Rest in peace, Michael. |
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Alaundo
Head Moderator
United Kingdom
5692 Posts |
Posted - 30 Oct 2017 : 15:48:55
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Well met
This is very sad news indeed and I certainly recall Michael from back in the day here on Candlekeep. Always very sad to lose fellow scribes, whether we know them in person or nay. Our sincere sympathies on behalf of Candlekeep to his friends and family. |
Alaundo
Candlekeep Forums Head Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
An Introduction to Candlekeep - by Ed Greenwood
The Candlekeep Compendium - Tomes of Realmslore penned by Scribes of Candlekeep
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Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3285 Posts |
Posted - 31 Oct 2017 : 16:03:59
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| Damn. I remember him. Til Valhalla. |
"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
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Marco Volo
Learned Scribe
France
201 Posts |
Posted - 06 Nov 2017 : 11:35:19
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| RIP |
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BrennonGoldeye
Learned Scribe
105 Posts |
Posted - 27 Nov 2017 : 21:54:33
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| Wow, i remeber him from the WotC boards. Sad news. |
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The Masked Mage
Great Reader
USA
2420 Posts |
Posted - 16 Dec 2017 : 15:16:24
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| Sorry to hear that. Tonight I'll tip a glass or two to his memory! |
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Sad news to pass along
