Gerwin Heron

Description:
Gerwin is rough and ragged around the edges. He definitely shows his age and his hard life in his skin - it is ridged in wrinkles, pot marks, and scars. His hair and beard are long and unkempt, his eyebrows bushy and large, shadowing deep brown eyes that hold malice and deceit. He dresses in clothing that is usually in various stages of disrepair, and is usually never seen without a hat and fingerless gloves. His body is shorter in stature and his stature is often stooped over. He walks with a significant limp. Gerwin is almost always seen smoking something in his pipe.
Personality:
Gerwin is a naturally distrustful and cynical person. He firmly believes all creatures are inherently selfish and thus you must be selfish in order to survive. He is self-centered and self-absorbed and cares little for the people of Dinotopia. That being said, those who earn his respect will be considered family and invited to his table; but his respect is exceptionally hard to earn. He rejects all ways of life on Dinotopia and prefers to do everything his way. He blatantly eats meat. He refuses to learn Saurian or work a job that improves the community. He openly criticizes the Dinotopian Council as a 'group of old farts who do nothing but weave wool over the eyes of the sheep who follow them.' He doesn't hate dinosaurs, but he treats them ambivalently.  He enjoys smoking and imbibing alcohol, and eating in excess.
History:
During WWII, Gerwin's parents met during WWII, after Himmler ordered Romani families occupying Czech lands to be sent to Auschwitz. Gerwin was born in the camp and beyond all odds he managed to survive. Of course, being a baby he did not know the horrors that befell his family, but he grew up listening to his mother and father's tales. His father bore the scars of attempted sterilization, and his mother suffered severe malnutrition that ultimately aged her far beyond her years.
When the camp closed in 1944, Gerwin and his parents managed to make their way back home, but were considered stateless and without rights. They attempted to see refuge with the UNRRA/IRO, and while they were snubbed for being part of a nomadic family culture, they were successful and were relocated to Ireland.
There Gerwin's parents found work and they were able to raise their little boy for a few years until Gerwin's mother ultimately passed away and Gerwin's father made the decision to leave Ireland behind and travel far away from the European nations that had caused his family such upset. Gerwin was only 9 when the ship they were on was wrecked and Gerwin found himself, alone, on the back of a dolphin, bound for Dinotopia.
Gerwin never adjusted to life in Dinotopia. His mind filled with hatred for the injustices he and his family had faced caused him to view every person with deep suspect and cynicism. He rebelled constantly, often running away from his foster families or the orphanage. He disrespected authority at every chance he got. The older he grew, the more he pulled away from the Dinotopian way of life. He viewed the world as the feral dinosaurs did in the Rainy Basin - eat or be eaten.
As such, Gerwin naturally sought out individuals who thought as he did, and eventually found himself in Dinotopia's black market, an underground group of sorts that held disdain and contempt for the strictly regulated 'Utopian' way of life. They saw it as a farce and a method of control rather than a genuine desire for everyone to be seen as equal. Gerwin thrived in this market, manipulating his way to the top as a young man, until eventually he controlled all black market trade on Dinotopia. With no real official police force, jail, nor regulations preventing his dealings, he conducts business somewhat openly and is thus decently despised within the Dinotopian community.

Sex: Male
Pronouns: He/Him
Age: 74
Languages: English (fluent), Romani (fluent)
Location: Waterfall City
Occupation: Black Market Dealer