Gender: Male
First Appearance: Forthcoming
Other Appearances: None
Created by: Abram Wintersmith
Born of a small clan in Northern California, Baldwin was always considered the runt of the family. His rookery brothers and sister constantly taunted him for his small size and lack of "normal wings", to the point where he attempted to run away from the clan’s home. He got no more than 100 yards when he stumbled over a black and green book bearing some odd symbols on it. Baldwin picked up the tome and began reading, and the words and magical spells in the book, of a mystical art called Modernism, came easily for him. He primed himself and learned six spells by daybreak, and even dreamed of an original enchantment.
When he returned to the badgering of his brothers and sister, Baldwin retaliated with offensive spells like "Hammerballs" and "Wave Repels," much to the shock of his parents. The youngest gargoyle simply smiled and said "when you’ve got it, you got it!" In the following months, Baldwin gained in power and arrogance, bossing his older siblings around, and eventually tried to overthrow the authority of the clan leader. Unfortunately, his father did not take kindly to his own youngest son challenging him, and added the stipulation that no magic was to be used. Needless to say, Baldwin was quickly humbled.
The clan leader refused to kill Baldwin, or even banish him, but merely insulted the scrawny gargoyle for being so headstrong. Of course, Baldwin took it the wrong way, and headed for greener pastures with his spellbook in hand. Originally, the blue gargoyle envisioned the day that he would be the clan leader, but since then he has matured enough to realize that he was incredibly headstrong and foolish. Deep down in his heart, he wishes to confront his father, the clan leader, and apologize, but has not mustered up the courage to do so yet.
In the meantime, Baldwin has settled on a life of being a hermit, gaining knowledge in magic and finding out more about the human world, something that he had not gotten a chance to do in his home clan (a strict edict stating that the gargoyles of his clan should not get involved in the human world - a preservation idea). The Modernist sorcerer has risen to the highest level of the art: "Paragon," and has used his power sparingly, fearing that he might make a mistake that could level mountains (which he did once).
Baldwin is still searching for the words that will smooth things over between him and his clan, and not being very successful at it. He keeps to himself in the woodlands of Washington, dreaming of leaving the West Coast and having a few adventures where he can put his abilities and skills to the test. He traveled for a brief time with a motorcycle group, but gave it up once his disguise spells backfired.
Baldwin's personality is this. He feels completely inadequate, given his small body and high, whiny voice. To make up for this, he is a perpetual wise guy and engages in good-spirited cruelty, and this is with his friends! When with people he is comfortable with, he’s quite friendly, although annoying, especially after he just finishes a box of Pop Tarts. He has a fear of wolves, for one nearly ate him (that’s where he got the tail injury) and avoids them whenever he can, and will kill such creatures without remorse. He also has a tendency to be overprotective of his possessions, nearly to the point of paranoia.
Physically, Baldwin appears as follows. He is 5 feet, 3 inches tall, and weighs 149 pounds in flesh, and 1304 pounds in stone. His hair is flaxy blond, and styled in a buzz cut. His eyes are black. His skin is deep blue, almost black, and slightly rough. His wings are membranes stretching from his arms to his legs, with "support arms" halfway down the wing surface. The tip of his tail is missing, thanks to a run-in with some savage animal, which the gargoyle doesn’t like mentioning. He wears very thick silvery glasses, which make his already large eyes appear even bigger. He has a slight overbite, with his upper fangs protruding from the lip. Also, he has a small belly bulge, but is by no means overweight ("It’s baby fat I never got rid of, it might come in handy someday").
He wears a loincloth secured by a large brown belt. A copper buckle with a stylized hawk on it keeps the covering together. A medium-sized belt pouch hangs on the left side. When he needs to travel close to the human world, he typically dons a Mexican poncho, the only thing he could find that would accommodate his membranes. In addition, he wears a single plain silver ring on his left pinky, which some people claimed to have seen switch color to gold on occasion.
Baldwin possesses all the typical abilities and traits of gargoyles. However, he does have some degree of control over when he turns to stone during the day. He can last up to fifteen minutes into the morning without entering stone sleep, and that time can be extended with his magic should the need arise. However, if Baldwin spends more than one hour awake during the day, his awakening at night is delayed by a like amount of time. There have been occasions where the gargoyle has remained asleep for the entire night. Also, his eyes glow green, not white, when he is casting a spell or is angered.
He eats as much as a human child, and has developed a love for Strawberry Pop Tarts and chewing gum. He is allergic to chocolate, and coughs and wheezes whenever he is exposed to it for more than a couple of minutes.
This gargoyle is a Modernist wizard of the "Paragon" level, and has nearly 300 spells, combinations, and medleys at his disposal, specializing in "Wickways" and "Illuminations" magics. Baldwin’s silver ring also gives him a special sixth sense, letting him know if there are enemies within 35 yards of him, in which case it does turns gold. It is unknown whether or not his annoying nature could be classified as a special ability, but it tends to keep strangers away!
He has also picked up various odd skills and talents which he learned through observation. He can improvise and try to perform highly-detailed actions he had seen others do, but rarely does he succeed. However, he always seems to come through when it is most needed. For example, if his group needs a getaway car, he manages to hot-wire one at the last possible second.