The Silver King

Silver King Human Form Official Art by @CitricKing

## Background

The Silver King is a ruler a far-off country called Eltmur in the Alton region and frequently called "The Silver King's Kingdom". There is a statue of the Silver King in the Middle Arcana District in Alivast, which was donated by Redmond Bell. The Silver King "felled [the] corrupt rulers" of his country, and freed the people of the previously tyrannical rule.

The Silver King intervened in Eltmur's war of conquest against its neighbor Valithea. After meeting with the Eltmur leaders and stopping the country from completely destroying the Valithean capital, the dragon headed back to his lair in the Pinespire Mountains. It is revealed that for a time after, he slept in his mountain keep for many years; until he was reawoken by a proposition for a road through his mountain home by the Eltmurian Royalty. He was wined and dined, and was about to enjoy a delightful slumber in their partnership until it was discovered that the Eltmurians planned to slay him while he was flying away. Enraged, he polymorphed into an old man, snuck into their midst, and returned to dragon form, slaying all but one. It was then when he took the throne that he saw the depths of the old regime's depravity, and strove to improve the civil rights of all his newly acquired citizens and restore Eltmur to a more egalitarian state.

Many citizens of Eltmur regard the Silver King as a liberator and reformer.

The Silver King slipped into Alivast without the general public's knowledge, though rumors began to circulate. His presence was made unmistakably known when he fought and easily defeated a nearly ancient white dragon. After defeating the white, he let loose a roar that terrified all the wyvern mounts of the Dragon Cult, causing them to cease attacking the citizens of Alivast and flee.

The Silver King has recently made a formal public appearance at a ball held in his honor in Alivast's Middle Clergy District. Here he revealed his humanoid form to the public.

## Personality

In spite of his impressive power, the Silver King is actually quite humble for a dragon and a regent, refusing to be bowed to and being endlessly patient and kind to those that he meets. He has a deep appreciation and fascination with "Human Humor", cracking terrible jokes and puns whenever he can, and using human idioms whenever possible. He also has a deep love of stories, specifically of the non-draconic races, and will listen to whoever he can to possibly gain new ones. Because of this, he pines to adventure like so many others do in Alivast.

That said, he is still a dragon, and a metallic one at that, and so has a very clear streak of pride in his heritage. He is implied to be somewhat protective of his hoard, though he's much kinder about it than others might be. He definitely responds negatively to Chromatic Dragons causing havoc, the forceful control of dragon-kind, and does not take being lied to and threatened well at all.

The Silver King (real name Swarrow) has a hatred for slavery and highly values his own freedom from not just physical restraints, but also restraints of duty and leadership. Despite being practically worshiped as a liberator by many and feted as royalty, he hates being a ruler. Not only does he dislike being bound by the duties and responsibilities of a ruler, but he also is philosophically opposed to a dragon ruling over humans. His belief in the teachings of Orthoc means he places a great value on being humble. While what constitutes humility is slightly different for a dragon than a human, he believes that he will be corrupted and grow arrogant if he is in a position where he is worshiped and adored. He also feels inadequate to govern humans because of the short-lived races' ability to form communities where dragons are creatures of solitary existence.
Despite a public image of a powerful, albeit eccentric personality, in private Swarrow sometimes displays petulant and almost childish behavior when he is upset and frustrated.

The Silver King has revealed his extreme age, and though he usually hides it well, he has revealed how he struggles with the collective grief of outliving so many people dear to him. He feels almost smothered by nostalgia as the weight of his years continues to increase, and despite his curiosity about mortal races, he finds himself becoming increasingly out-of-touch with the progress of societies and civilizations. He has used his great age as an excuse for lapses in judgement or eccentric behavior. This may be a convenient fib, or it may be hiding the truth in plain sight.

## Relations

### Alivast

   The Alivastian Council seeks to form an alliance with the Silver king so he can assist in the young nation's aerial defense. The Silver King's presence was a great boon during the raid by the Dragon Cult, killing the white dragon leading the attack and scaring off their wyvern riders. At the moment he seems to ask very little in return for his assistance; simply requesting that the Council ask people originating from Eltmur to consider returning to their place of origin, using money as an incentive. This is because Eltmur is currently suffering a labor shortage in agriculture, education, and other industries.

### The Unexpectables

**Task**

Task started with a negative opinion of the Silver King due to his previous issues with dragons in general. He softened slightly when he offered condolences as to what happened to Iron-Oath and to help Tarusk see his true form, and when he overheard the Silver King's intentions.

**Panic**

Panic started on the wrong foot almost immediately with the Silver King when he loudly booed his opening joke. He softened on him when Panic apologized and instead suggested that he start with knock-knock jokes when he entered a room.

**Greckles**

In spite of his apprehension with how he would deal with Solly, The Silver King was very interested in Greckles' culture and style of dress, stating he had an interest in seeing the Eastern Isles himself. While he didn't intend to, later in the night he unintentionally caused tension between Greckles and Brorc Bronze-Fang by somewhat subtly suggesting Solly was better suited with either of them.

**Borky**

The Silver King actually thought that Borky was a bodyguard for most of the time he was around him and assumed he was working, so he didn't actually interact with him until the end of his party. He enjoyed the story of how he suplexed a hag, and considered his offer to go to the Sweet Dragon.

### Solly

The Silver King was offered Solly's hand in marriage by the Alivastian Council as a means of political bargaining. At the ball held in his honor, Solly and the Silver King met for the first time and engaged in a private discussion to figure out the terms of this agreement. The Silver King supplied Solly with no shortage of compliments, but in the end declined the offer as his hand belongs to someone else. He does seem to think that she would be better off with Brorc or Greckles, as implied by him when he twirled her in their direction. He also offered to introduce his children to Solly as compensation for the rejected proposal.

### Willow

For unknown reasons, the Silver King abducted Willow, smashing her tower and part of the Sweet Dragon in the process. He then flew with her to the peak of Everbright Mountain.

The Silver King was roused from his long sleep when Willow orchestrated a conflict between him and the Kingdom of Eltmur. In a double cross, she took on the guise of a "prince" and told Swarrow about her family's plans to kill him. She then presented him with a plan - that he would destroy the monarchy of Eltmur, freeing its people and getting his revenge, and then Willow would take the throne as its ruler.
Willow had no intentions of taking the throne and instead fled the country. She evaded the Silver King for several years and even spread the rumors that there was a surviving prince of the kingdom to help throw him off her scent. The Silver King desperately tried to find Willow - not for revenge, but so that she could fill her end of the deal and take the burden of leadership from his shoulders. To achieve this, he attempted to speak to Willow when he found her in Alivast. Willow was so desperate to avoid taking the throne that she hid from him and nearly froze to death.
The Unexpectables, with help from Remy were able to convince Swarrow that making Willow take the throne would be placing her in chains. He came to understand her fear of becoming a figurehead for those who wished to restore the old ways of Eltmur and fear that she would lose her friends and the man she loved by having to leave Alivast. With this knowledge, he agreed to 'free' Willow by declaring Elizabeth, Princess of Eltmur dead and allow her to remain living her life of magical study in Alivast as simply Willow.
Willow revealed the Silver King's true name to her friends - Swarrow.
Despite being used by Willow, he still shielded her from suspicion by concocting a cover story that placed him in the less-than-admirable role of being a bit forgetful and a little clumsy his magic. The flimsy cover story was accepted, aided by the Silver King communicating it to several different parties via telepathy while he was in the form of a rabbit.
He later revealed that he did hold some romantic feelings for Willow and regretted that they were never mutual. His attraction to her was based on an appreciation for her cunning mind and complex personality, and he was greatly saddened that the "death" of Elizabeth Eltmur effectively ended any potential for a deeper relationship.
After he finds out that Willow and Doros are to be engaged, he makes one final offer via letter for her to reconsider his offer to become his romantic partner, much to the wizard's chagrin.

### Children

The Silver King has many children. As of Winter, year 1, there were at least 15 of his children in Alivast and two more helping manage affairs in Eltmur while he was away. He was willing to lend their service to Alivast to serve in its defense, especially against areal assault, and they willingly joined him. They roam the city polymorphed into humanoid forms. Their primary duty is to provide air defense of the city, but this leaves them with a lot of down time. During the second Dragon Cult attack the silver dragons did their duty and five of them were killed defending the city. Aside from Arlo and Zotira, it is currently unknown if any of the others listed here survived.

* Zotira - first encountered in Tent Town, the Silver King considers her to be his favorite and he assigned her to be Tarusk's nanny and teacher in all things draconic.
* Arlo - Zotira's surly and arrogant younger brother who has been assigned to guard the Sweet Dragon, specifically a certain employee. The Silver King has flat out stated that Arlo is an asshole and he hopes that he will learn by mingling with the mortal races.
* Orlos - Male who was kidnapped by the Dragon Cult and rescued by The Merks. Bookish and interested in mortal farming practices.
* Ciedrym - the eldest child who the Silver King charged with acting as his proxy and leading two of his brothers to challenge the viability of Doros and Willow's wedding. He wasn't very thrilled with the duty but performed it to the best of his ability to fulfil his obligation to his father's wishes.
* Kira - Female who helps guard the middle district and catches people who fall when they try to climb the chains to the attic. She caught Panic. She is rather aloof and unfamiliar with mortal customs. She can't read common, and speaks matter-of-factly about her father's tendency to create dragon-blooded sorcerers by coupling with mortal women

## Trivia

* The corrupt rulers of Eltmur, before the Silver King took over, tried to take over the entire Alton region. While they didn't completely conquer the region, they greatly expanded their country's boarders, making it one of the most powerful countries in Alton.
* The Silver King's humanoid form went through many revisions before the official art was produced. MontyGlu shared that at one point in the process Damon Gant, an antagonist from the Ace Attorney franchise of games, was used as an inspiration for some aspects of the character.
* The Silver King is his title. His real name was kept secret because a name is a powerful thing. It was revealed by Willow to be Swarrow.
* The Silver King can transform into a rabbit.
* He enjoys playing chess with Willow but she effortlessly destroys him.