Evan

Evan is the current leader of the Scholars and one of the primary influencers of the Labyrinth. He was friends with Lord Provost Stonebold as a child and had a close relationship with his sister, Ava. He is known as a powerful mage and a charismatic leader, if an increasingly unstable one.

Evan and Ava grew up in Arnor and are assumed to be orphans, their only material possession a complete deck of many things, split between the two of them. They were adopted by the Archmage, Ulanda Avinus, and lived in the Arcane University until the Arnor disaster. Evan, Ava, and Stonebold survived only because Ava used one of her wishes. In the years that followed, Ava and Evan pulled together mages displaced by the collapse of the University, eventually calling themselves the Scholars. At some point Evan drew Sun, granting him even greater magical power. During this time they became familiar with the Labyrinth and used it to move safely across the continent, mapping what parts they could.

Impatient with their progress towards a permanent home for Sorellian mages, however, Evan drew another card, this time pulling Ruin. With the loss of all of their wealth, including everything they used to support the Scholars, Ava used another wish to transport her and Evan to the Vestige, where they altered it into its current state. Evan brought in Valentina Laurent to provide additional resources until they were eventually able to establish Scholar HQ. When Ava wanted to stop using the Labyrinth and accelerating its growth, Evan allowed Valentina to lock her in the Bastion, and chased her out of the Scholars when she was freed.

Evan has been described as an incredibly compelling leader with a tendency towards violent zealotry. He commands the loyalty of thousands of mages, particularly those who survived the collapse of Arnor and the anti-mage violence that came after. Like Valentina, however, he is undeniably power-hungry, calling himself the Dean after his adoptive mother. By all accounts, there are no lines he will not cross in pursuit of his goals--all means justify his ends.

PC Interaction
As of 6/4/21 the party has never interacted with him directly, only seeing him from a distance during their infiltration of Scholar HQ. It is strongly suspected he or Valentina Laurent sent a Scholar to assassinate the party during their first visit to Hanton.