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Who is Winterhawk, and why has he got his own web page?

'Hawk is my Shadowrun character, and he has been since 1990. Ever since I started playing SR back in the dark ages, I've never run another character, so he's had a long time to evolve. Here's his story.

Alastair Michael Stone was born in London on October 27, 2021, the only child of Lord Neville Stone, a prominent politician, and Elizabeth Stone, a high-ranking executive of TransEuro Systems.

Young Alastair was a bright child, and quickly picked up on the fact that his parents did not particularly like children and didn't enjoy having them around. He rarely saw his parents throughout his childhood, spending most of his early years in prestigious (if impersonal) boarding schools. His parents, both of whom were completely devoted to their respective careers, spent most of their time in a lavish apartment in London, though they did retain ownership of the ancestral home and land that went with Lord Neville's hereditary title. Alastair, when on his rare holidays from school, spent most of his time at this house, a large but somewhat decaying old mansion on a number of wooded acres. When living here, Alastair was looked after by Aubrey Townes, the house's caretaker, since his parents did not like the house and rarely visited it, nor were they particularly interested in seeing their son. Aubrey became Alastair's confidant and surrogate father.

All this changed shortly after Alastair's tenth birthday. During a routine test done on all children at his school, it was discovered that Alastair had the necessary genetics to become a full magician. This was very rare--he was the only full mage to turn up in his testing group. Suddenly, his life changed: his father began paying more attention to him, and he was pulled out of his school to begin at yet another school, this one set up to train mages for elite corporate and government service.

Alastair was thrilled to discover that he was a mage, since while he was academically quite accomplished, physically he was somewhat skinny, awkward, and not good at sports, which made him the butt of many of his schoolmates' jokes. With his newfound magical abilities came newfound confidence, and Alastair took to his magical studies with great vigor and success, devouring every lesson he was taught. He figured out early on that his father was paying attention to him only because of the power and prestige having a mage for a son could offer, but he didn't care. He and his father maintained a strained but cordial relationship. His mother, who was often out of town on business and who disliked being around children even more than Lord Neville did, stayed out of the picture for the most part, burying herself in her work and entertaining in London.

Alastair continued with his studies at the elite mage school until he was fifteen, fully expecting that his life as a highly-paid corp or government wage mage was already laid out for him. This view was altered when he and some classmates visited London University and spent the day at the Department of Thaumaturgy. Alastair was immediately taken with the academic life, since he was interested in not only casting spells and conjuring spirits, but in knowing the whys behind magic. His insatiable curiosity demanded that he try his best to find out the answers to all his questions. While at the University, he spend a couple of hours talking to Dr. Rodney Leifeld, a professor of applied thaumaturgy, and the two hit it off immediately. Realizing that he was bored by his studies (all but the magical aspects, that is), Alastair had several more conversations with Leifeld, convincing the professor to sponsor him for admission to London University after his third year in high school. At sixteen, Alastair Stone became one of the youngest freshmen ever admitted to London U's prestigious thaumaturgical studies department. His parents were proud of him, but still continued to support him far more financially than emotionally.

Alastair completed his undergraduate studies in three years, graduating near the top of his class at age nineteen and already accepted into the university's Masters program. He was preparing to start this program when he received word that his parents were both dead, having been killed in the crash of a corporate jet on which they had been passengers. Since he was the only heir, he was forced to take time off from school to get the details of the will and the inheritance sorted out.

By the time he had gotten everything straightened out, almost two years had passed. Alastair had discovered that his parents had a great deal of debt, and paying off these obligations took care of most of his parents' assets. Alastair was left with Stone Manor and the trust fund set up to care for it, enough money to see himself comfortably through school, and not much else. The Manor was not in good repair; Aubrey had done what he could with it, but years of disuse would require a great amount of money to make it completely liveable again. Alastair considered selling it, but discovered that there was an ancient provision governing the ancestral home--as long as there was a Stone to own it, it would remain in the family, but if the owner ever tried to sell it, it would revert to the British government, probably to use as a museum or convert it into tourist lodging. The same thing would occur if the last Stone died without heir, but Alastair wasn't worrying about that at the age of nineteen.

Also part of his inheritance was his father's title--he was now Lord Stone. The title was a minor one, but he still hated it, and refused to have anything to do with it, much to Aubrey's consternation. Alastair's father's political friends tried to draw the young man into their pursuits, but he had no interest. As soon as he could, he went back to school and continued to pursue his Master's degree, ignoring all outside influences.

He had almost completed his degree when he was approached by two men whom he recognized as friends and associates of his father. These two, high-ranking officials in the British government, had a proposition for Alastair--one he could not turn down. To this day, he won't reveal what happened at that meeting, but it resulted in his performing several covert jobs for the government, jobs that required a young, unknown mage. Due to his family affiliations, Alastair was the perfect choice. He reluctantly allowed himself to be fitted with a small amount of cyberware--boosted reflexes and cybereyes--and, with help from his employers, took a leave of absence from London University.

The jobs went far better than Alastair had any right to expect. The government men wanted him to stay on as an agent, telling him that he had a talent for it, but Alastair refused. All he wanted to do was get back to studying magic. Again due to his position, the men did not push the issue. They had gotten what they wanted. In exchange for Alastair's help, the officials made certain adjustments to his records that allowed him to get around most of the stifling bureaucratic rules governing mages in Britain. To this day, Alastair enjoys very good relations with the British government, although he rarely uses his connections, preferring to put that part of his life behind him.

Returning once again to school, Alastair finished his Master's in Applied Thaumaturgy and began preparing for his doctorate. Only a month after beginning the program, though, he met Ann Barton, a non-mage graduate student, at a nearby pub. He was quite attracted to her, and she to him, and the two quickly became an "item" around campus. Shortly after, he asked her to marry him, and she happily accepted. The wedding was set for six months later.

In the course of that six months, though, Alastair realized that he had made a mistake. Ann grew more and more dependent on him, monopolizing his time and expecting him to spend every free moment with her. All this attention began to stifle the easily-bored Alastair, to the point where he eventually broke off the engagement. Ann, enraged, stormed off and disappeared. Aubrey was highly disapproving of the circumstances of the breakup, resulting in an argument between him and Alastair that caused the young mage to flee Stone Manor for more than a year, off to indulge his curiosity about the UCAS and the rest of North America.

Alastair spent the next several years travelling around North America, studying various types of magic, paranormal animals, and magical traditions, and doing a few minor shadowrunning-related jobs, all of them solo. Eventually he did return home and settle his dispute with Aubrey, who had long since forgiven him, but from that point he had decided that practical experience was more interesting to him than study at the University.

Eventually, he ended up in Seattle, still feeling like he was missing something. During his missions in England and his few jobs around the UCAS, he'd gotten the chance to use his magic in a practical sense, and to experience some danger. Much as he hated to admit it, he had enjoyed it, and missed the opportunity to pit his magic against real opposition.

Chance led him to a bar known to be frequented by shadowrunners, where he met a young ex-gangleader who called himself Ocelot. Despite their wildly different backgrounds, the two found enough common ground to hit it off, and they both quickly saw the advantage in teaming up to look for shadow employment: Ocelot's speed, fighting prowess, and street smarts were a perfect complement to Alastair's magical talents and social skills.

The two runners quickly caught the eye of one of Seattle's preeminent fixers, a man known only as Harry, who was looking for some young unknown talent. He sent Alastair (now using the name Winterhawk, under which he'd worked in Britain) and Ocelot on a few runs on their own, then hooked them up with two other newcomers--the samurai Moto Gutzy and the troll rigger Vrool. That partnership lasted a couple of years, after which Moto returned to Japan and Vrool was (apparently) killed in an explosion of his van.

Moto was replaced by the elven assassin ShadoWraith, and Vrool by the troll samurai Joe. These four runners have been together for several years, and have in that time become one of Seattle's finest and most reliable runner teams. Although they sometimes disagree about methods (and many other things!) their partnership is solid and mutually beneficial. They have shown no indication that they plan to change the situation anytime soon.

As a team member, Winterhawk's role is fairly clearly defined. Never content to be relegated to a supporting role, 'Hawk provides heavy firepower in the form of punishing combat spells, as well as the requisite healing and astral surveillance duties. Handsome, charismatic, and somewhat flamboyant, he also serves as the group's main spokesman and negotiator. Although his tendency toward sarcasm can get him in trouble sometimes, he is still usually the best choice to get the team through situations requiring social graces. He does, however, have a problem with street-type matters: since he has very little understanding of how life is "down there," he tends to say the wrong thing to gangers and other street types. He will occasionally still attempt to take the front in these situations, but his teammates will usually talk him out of it since they all have far greater experience in this area than he does.

In terms of weaknesses, Winterhawk is an abysmal shot with a gun, and he can't fight his way out of a paper bag without a weapon (even with one he's not that good unless he has his mageblade). His friends are constantly trying to get him to upgrade his firearms abilities, but since he's a bit of a "magic snob," he tends to think that magic will get him out of any situation and always manages to find something better to do with his time than practice on the firing range. Further, his physical strength is quite low, a fact that doesn't bother him.

Winterhawk maintains a very nice apartment in Seattle, although he rarely is in residence. Between runs, he usually returns home to Stone Manor, where he spends his time designing spells, reading thaumaturgy journals, and listening to old British rock and roll. Occasionally, Rodney Leifeld convinces him to guest lecture or run a seminar at the University, especially after he finally returned to complete his doctorate in Applied Thaumaturgy two years ago. He shares the Manor with Aubrey, who has stayed on all these years as caretaker; Aubrey's aged beagle Mullins; and Maya, a blackberry cat who is convinced that the house is actually hers and she's just magnanimously allowing everyone else to stay. So far, no one has had the heart (or the guts!) to argue.

Winterhawk's plans for the future, when he finally decides to give up shadowrunning (and he has no intention of doing that in the foreseeable future), are to return to England, finally complete the renovation of the Manor, and most likely take a teaching job at the University. Right now, though, he likes having the best of both worlds.