Bryan was born in what was once called Utah, not very far from the Great Salt Lake, under the surname Donovan. Most of his childhood and teenage years were spent there, living in a small, isolated community. The inhabitants there, his family included, preferred to avoid contact with other humans, perhaps overly wary of potential dangers. His early years were, for the most part, uneventful, though they did serve to demonstrate his terrible propensity for attracting danger. Only a few years into his life, he began to show an incredible attraction to dangerous situations, and just as important, the good luck to come out of them in one piece. His double luck, unfortunately did not apply to those around him, and it was not uncommon for others to get wounded in the backlash of his actions. From even the youngest of ages, he was definitely not a crowd favorite in his small community.

It was not until his teens, however, that the real problems occurred. The naturally rebellious nature of teenagers kicked in, prompting him to go against his societal values by venturing out to interact with people of other communities. While to some, he was viewed as a rugged sort of 'hero' for breaking the mold, to most, he was seen as a renegade. No action was taken against him, but it was not long before his jinx took action against him. On one trip, another teen convinced him to be allowed to tag along. This was to be the biggest mistake of his life. A barter went bad, a few wrong words were spoken, and it was not long before a fight broke out. Through the second half of his luck, Bryan managed to make it out mostly intact. His companion, however did not. This was the straw that broke the brahmin's back. He was cast away from the community by unanimous vote, for not even his family would try to defend him. He was a liability, a disgrace. He was disowned.

Since his family had thrown him away, Bryan decided to return the favor. He discarded his given name, adopting a name that he felt was suitably vicious. Drake. With his new name, he set out to find a new place to make a home. Ironically, being exiled for his adventuresome spirit destroyed much of his will to explore and interact. He retreated to a limited hermitage for several years, settling somewhere in the broad expanses of Kansas. He limited his interactions with other wastelanders until the age of twenty-one. In these years, his spirit recovered, and he set out to wandering once more. After several more years of unlucky encounters and narrow misses, he came across the land of that encompassed New Nevada. There, he joined the Desert Rangers, hoping a cause would help rest his uneasy soul.

He served in the lowest of ranks of the rangers for several years with no distinction. The will to advance simply wasn't there. The years of cursed luck had driven his battered spirit into total remission. It was not until a sudden unexpected event, that Bryan found a place where he could rest easy. Colonel Edward Lee Chung Hang, known to most as Arctic Fox, was killed in a somewhat unofficial Pit Fight.

In what was perhaps his last attempt to ease his tired mind, he made a bid to help guide the Rangers through what were bound to be trying times ahead. For his 'initiative', he advanced in rank, taking on duty as an officer. This caused a degree of settling, but there was still far to go. The trials of luck continued to haunt him, causing injury to himself, and to others. This, in part, was a blessing, because through his injury, he befriended another officer, by the name of Rylen Grey. This was the first major drop in the fatigue that had plagued him for most of his life.

The next major event to change his life was the sudden disappearance of the new leader of the Rangers, Sanguinius Angel. This loss struck Bryan a blow, as he had come to like the new commander. But as was the trend in his life, with the bad, always came the good. The loss of Sanguinius put him in line to lead the organization. Perhaps in that, salvation might be found.