King of Shadows The King of Shadows ( originally known only as the Guardian ) was a dark creature who was both born of the Illefarn empire , as well as the reason for its destruction . History . Not much is known about the King ' s early days , save that he was a talented human magic user who was trained for twenty years by the elf Master Isym in the arcane arts . Fiercely patriotic to his homeland , the Second Illefarn empire , the King was one of the hundred who answered the call by the priest Annaeus to sacrifice himself to become a weapon against Illefarn ' s enemies : the orc tribes to the north , and Netheril to the east . After he was selected out of all the candidates , the King underwent a 100 - day long , extremely painful ritual in which Annaeus merged the man with the Weave . When the ritual had passed , the man had lost all traces of his former self ; he was now known as " the Guardian , " a perfect weapon with only two goals : to protect Illefarn and destroy its enemies . Fearing this Guardian , even Netheril dared not attack Illefarn , and so the empires co - existed for a time . However , when the wizard Karsus killed Mystryl , then - goddess of magic , via the spell " Karsus ' s avatar " , all magic ceased to function for a time . This caused the tie between the Weave and the Guardian to be shattered , and Netheril ' s floating cities to fall from the skies . Even after the goddess had been resurrected as Mystra , the King was unable to draw upon his old power . Therefore , he turned to the Shadow Weave , a dark magic source governed by Shar that turned him into a creature of darkness . Some Illefarn citizens came to fear this new incarnation of their Guardian , and sought to kill him before he could turn on his allies , even though he had made no attempt to do so . The six Silken Sisters attacked him in a forest , but were severely beaten . When they returned from the woods it was discovered that the King of Shadows had magically fused the six into one tortured creature . Deciding action had to be taken , Annaeus devised a Ritual of Purification , and assembled a large group of wizards and priests to attack the King of Shadows . Though they were successful in completing the ritual ( apparently wounding him ) , the group was beaten when some of the Guardian ' s old friends decided to attempt to reason with him instead of slaying him . The King of Shadows was finally defeated when the rest of Illefarn ' s forces attacked the King in a later battle . Many soldiers , and the great wyrm Nolalothcaragascint , died in the battle , but a group of wizards was able to successfully seal the King away in the Plane of Shadows . Centuries later , the King of Shadows threatened to return from the Shadow Plane to carry out his ancient purpose of the defense of Illefarn . However , Illefarn had long since fallen , its once proud cities reduced to foreboding arcane ruins , and the mighty citadel of Rivenguard Keep , where he was chosen to become the Guardian , was now overrun by ogre s and goblin s . The King of Shadows , however , held to two points of logic that though seeming twisted , were actually very well thought out when one analyzes his nature and base purpose : firstly , many of Illefarn ' s ancient foes remained ; secondly , the King of Shadows reasoned that Illefarn ' s descendants were an extension of the empire , and thus its very legacy , and therefore it was his duty to protect them . In order to carry out these aims , the King of Shadows began to tear a portal from the Shadow Plane to the Astral Plane , where the native githyanki attacked him . Though the King was powerful beyond all mortal comprehension , the silver blades of the githyanki inflicted considerable harm to his form , though never enough to kill him : his outer skin of the Guardian lingered , protecting the essence that had to be struck to undo him . The githyanki Lich Queen Vlaakith was informed by Nolaloth of the King ' s original nature , and the wyrm suggested that they attack the portal itself . After the Githyanki drove him from the Astral Plane , the King of Shadow was still able to somehow return to Faerûn , and the Sword Coast North , where he began to extend his influence from the Mere of Dead Men . In his many travels across the planes and lands of the Realms , the powerful warlock Ammon Jerro , a mage whose power rivaled or exceeded the likes of Elminster Aumar and Khelben Arunsun , learned of the King of Shadows . Quickly comprehending the threat he posed to the lands of Faerûn , Jerro committed himself to using his considerable arcane might and connections to darkness to vanquish the King of Shadows and save the realms . He traveled across the planes and lands where the Fallen Guardian did battle , and through his infernal contacts and the ancient crystal wyrm Nolaloth , the Warlock learned that githyanki silver swords were the only weapons capable of coming close to killing the King . He then learned that the most powerful silver sword , a god - worthy silver blade once held by the githyanki hero Gith herself , was the only weapon that could utterly destroy the Guardian of Illefarn . He went to search for the Blade in the place where Gith was reported to have gone missing , the Nine Hells . There , Jerro was able to retrieve the blade from Levistus , the Still Lord of the Fifth Circle of Hell , and his servant Mephasm . He then fought the King in an titanic battle in the tiny village of West Harbor , where he banished the King . The Blade was shattered in the fight , however - blasting Jerro himself into the Hells - and one shard was embedded in the chest of the infant who would grow to bring about the King ' s final destruction .