First of all, thank you for sharing this with us — and for having a first edition copy of Solitaria! That’s such a thoughtful birthday gift, and I love hearing that you’ve been diving into it.
I completely understand how confusing it must be to read about prebuilt characters and then not be able to find them. You’re not doing anything wrong — those prebuilt characters were actually added directly into the newer version of the gamebook, so they aren’t available with the first edition. I’m really sorry that wasn’t clearer in the copy you have.
Regarding the trouble with our website’s spam check, thank you for letting us know. The most reliable way to reach us is by email at sparuh.com@gmail.com . If you’ve already tried writing us there, no worries — we just got back from vacation and are carefully working through the messages we missed. It may take a few extra days, but we’re aiming to have everything answered by the end of this week.
We’re truly grateful for your patience and for being part of the Solitaria community. If you email us directly, we’ll make sure your question is taken care of. And in the meantime, thank you again for playing the game — it means a lot.