Ryan Davos

**Ryan Davos** (10 October 1944 - 21 August 1999) was the last leader of the Scholars of the First Sin. Born into the Davos family under House Friis, he grew up a sworn magician of the Guild of American Magicians, but he withdrew from the Guild during his early adulthood and joined the Scholars. He would eventually gain enough influence within the Scholars to become the leader of the Red Scholars factions, and after expelling or undermining his main rivals, he took control of the Scholars in September 1992.

## History

### Early Life

Davos was born on 10 October 1944 to Sidney and Celestine Davos. Sidney was part of a minor magical family while Celestine was a mundane woman. Sidney had been drafted into the American army during WWII and was sent to the Pacific theater. He participated in the Battle of Guadalcanal, but following severe injuries sustained during the attacks on Mount Austen, he was discharged from the military and returned home. He attempted to start a business, but it quickly floundered following a short period of profit. Sidney became an alcoholic and would regularly beat his wife and child.

Celestine took the 5-year-old Davos and left the home in 1949. She moved into the home of a family friend, and she began working as a house cleaner to support her and her son. Davos was sent to the Chapelli School, a magic school founded shortly after the Tokyo Incident. Davos excelled academically, though he often got into fights. The Chapelli School featured a religious curriculum in addition to its mundane and magical curriculum, but as Davos got older, his interest in religion fell and his grades overall dropped. In 1961, Davos left the Chapelli School and never returned.

Davos found a master magician associated with House Friis to help him finish his magical education. By 1964, he had managed to prove himself and attained the rank of master magician within the Guild. However, his loyalty to the Guild began to diminish, and he formally left the Guild in 1967.

### Joining the Scholars

Davos began working as a staff member at a library in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There he discovered the works of numerous Scholars of the First Sin. He attracted a small number of followers at meetings of a group discussing the findings of Scholars. He helped organize demonstrations against Guild influence and promoted a more active investigation of the Echo to discover the origin of magic. By this point, the Crownsguard was aware of his activities in the Milwaukee area.

Davos began to associate with the Scholars of the First Sin in early 1968 after leaving the Guild. His militant rhetoric proved to be divisive amongst the Scholars in the Milwaukee area, and some suspected him of being a provocateur sent by the Crownsguard or Federal Bureau of Magical Affairs. Despite their reluctance, Davos quickly proved himself a capable leader and rose to the top of the Milwaukee branch of the Scholars.

After violence broke out in the summer of 1969 and especially after the Burlington Massacre, Davos began forming so-called "Security Squads" to protect the magical communities around Milwaukee.

The Milwaukee Scholars elected to send Davos to a conference of Scholars in late 1970. Travelling to Washington DC, he met Daniel Crass for the first time. Although Davos held Crass in deep respect, he was vocal about his disagreement with many of Crass's policies regarding the relationship between the Scholars and the government. Crass wanted to establish a political party to attempt to gain some seats in Congress, hoping that representation within the government would gain the Scholars access to federal funding and other resources. Davos believed that such an attempt was a waste of time, believing that focusing the Scholars' existing resources to fund research would be more productive.

Despite their disagreements, Davos was close to Crass. Crass's rise to power in 1973 led to a significant increase in Davos's power within the Scholars.

### Rise to Power

By 1990, tensions between the Red Scholars, led by Davos, and the White Scholars, led by Rossfeld, had reached a fever pitch. Crass's death in June only caused tensions to flare even further as he had declined to decide on his successor before his death. As a result, Davos and Rossfeld began vying for the position of Chief Scholar.

Following the departure of the near-side Scholars from the organization, the two factions began a non-violent paper war within the Scholars.

### Death

Davos was in Marquette when the Scholars attempted the Class B ritual. He was amongst the first fatalities following the failure of the