Background: Ralph Armitage was a fascinating guy. Born in 1900, Ralph was a classics scholar who'd trained at Cambridge, he'd returned to the Bay Area and settled into a comfortable role as a professor at San Francisco University. He was a close associate of Jack Harrison, who would become the Specter, and enjoyed and interesting, secret career battling cultists in the Bay Area who thought to use the area's magical energies to summon horrific monsters. Ralph was one of San Francisco's most sought after bachelors, though he didn't appear to notice, being thoroughly engrossed in his studies and teaching.

Two months before the United States entered World War II, in October of 1941, however, Ralph fell head over heels in love with one of his students, the seventeen-year-old daughter of an admiral. The middle-aged scholar adored Marcia, who was beautiful, accomplished, and keenly intelligent. When she became pregnant, in February of 1942, Ralph proposed, and she accepted. Bravely she faced down her father, informing him that they were engaged, and that she was expecting.

Ralph received a draft notice two days later: he was to report immediately to Fort Ord. He made provisions for Marcia to join him, though she never did.  It would be over a decade before he learned that Marcia's father had engineered the entire situation, and had whisked his daughter off to relatives in the country, where she bore her child in secrecy, and was then returned to proper society. She was told -- and wrote Ralph -- that their child had died shortly after birth.

Ralph continued to write to Marcia daily, though all of his letters were intercepted by her parents, and, believing he no longer loved her, Marcia married Wendell Thompson IV, a wealthy officer who met her father's full approval. The child that both parents believed dead was not, in fact, stillborn, but had been taken to live with distant relatives.  Returning to the United States at the end of the war after distinguishing himself in Europe, Ralph found that Marcia was married, with two children of her own.

It was Ralph's old investigator friend, Jack Harrison, who discovered David's existence and notified Ralph. Though he'd thought his heart had turned to ice after Marcia's marriage, he found that having a son -- a five year old son -- turned his life around.  A small financial settlement -- well, small in Ralph's book -- was all that was required to satisfy the foster parents that Marcia's father had arranged for.

David Armitage was raised all over the world, and taken on most of his father's adventures. He learned a half-dozen languages, and accompanied his father on digs and buying trips, and had the best private tutors money could buy. Ralph taught his son the rudiments of magic, and enchanted him with spells of protection to protect his mind. At the age of eighteen, he was accepted to Annapolis, much to Ralph's surprise ("What's bred in the bone," he was heard to mutter.)

A distinguished career followed his degree in history, with Armitage becoming good friends with Alex Johnson.  Like Armitage, Johnson came from a patrician background. It was Johnson and his wife, Samantha, who introduced Armitage to his future wife, Theresa. And it was Armitage who helped Johnson cover up certain indiscretions committed by his twin sons while at the Naval Academy, allowing them to continue and graduate with honors (Johnson's youngest son, DJ Johnson, would go on to leave the Navy and become a Silver Avenger in 1984).

Armitage and Theresa made a good life together, having two children, Robert and Alexandra in 1983 and 1986, respectively.  Theresa made a good officer's wife, entertaining and helping her husband's career. However, in 1994, Armitage discovered she'd been unfaithful, and an ugly divorce ensued. Knowing the children would only be hurt by a protracted custody battle and that with his frequent absences he'd make a lousy father, Armitage settled for holidays and two months in the summer, even though it broke his heart.

When his father told him in the summer of 1996 that he was dying, Armitage immediately rushed to Ralph's side, and found Marcia Thompson already there. For the first time, he learned the truth about his mother (he'd been told she died in childbirth) and Ralph also proceeded to charge him to continue a project he'd put into motion before he'd taken ill: Armitage Investigations, Inc.

The goal of AI Inc. was more than just to create another PI company. Ralph had realized just how blind most people were to magical threats, and knew that there needed to be some organization which would stand in the way.  AI Inc. is designed to grow and expand into other cities around the US, and ultimately the world, though most likely under different guises.  Armitage and his father utilized spells to find paranormals who would make good investigators, and who, for one reason or another, needed to stay out of the way of either the government or public eye.

Tactics/Powers: Armitage was taught what he knows of the arcane arts by his father, who was admittedly an expert. Armitage's skills are nowhere near the power of Ralph's, but he is learning. His VPP consists of spells he's learned in his father's library, and what he remembers from being taught while younger. He used the VPP to locate many of the paranormals he's employed (instructions from his father.)  He's pretty resistant to mental attacks, due to protection spells Ralph wove around him as a boy.

Personality: An easy-going guy, Armitage believes in the inherent goodness of humanity, despite twenty-five years in the Navy and a very cynical father.  While he's always willing to give people a second chance, it's rare he'll give them a third.  Easy-going, yes; foolish, no.  Very conscious of the fact that public opinion is shifting against paranormals, Armitage takes pride in the fact he's giving many Bay Area paranormals a safe place to work, though he hardly advertises that fact.

Lifestyle: Armitage lives in the large Mill Valley home his father bequeathed to him, and in which he was raised.  A housekeeper and butler maintain the house and grounds, both of whom had served Ralph Armitage for years previous. After over twenty years in the Navy, Armitage is used to having a routine.  He wakes around four in the morning, and swims for an hour before breakfast.  Now divorced for five years, he's become accustomed to being single, and while he dates, he isn't really looking to marry or even become involved again, given the bitterness of his divorce. He does attend social events with his mother, Marcia Thompson, though he prefers to spend his evenings reading his father's journals and catching up on centuries of collected arcane materials. He's now friends with his half-brothers, who have also recently been told the story of Marcia and Ralph Armitage.

Appearance: The owner of AI Inc. is a handsome, distinguished gray-haired man in his fifties; despite his hair color, he looks much younger than his age.  Armitage usually comes to the office in a tweed jacket and tie, though at home and with friends he dresses more casually, in khaki pants and short sleeved knit shirts or sweaters.