King of Swords

The King of Swords (El Rey de Espadas in his native Spanish) is a Gallerran cressarch ruling much of northwestern Europe, his territory encompassing much of the former nations of Spain, France, and the United Kingdom, as well most of Belgium, Portugal, and the Netherlands. While he has no innate powers of his own, through alliances and through accumulation of various useful devices and talismans the King of Swords has made himself fully the equal of his neighboring cressarchs.

The King of Swords calls his territory Barajaria.

Headquarters

The primary home of the King of Swords is a castle he calls El Castillo de Naipes, built partly onto the ancient Château de Brest in western France. Much of the interior of the Castillo is a confusing maze of passages and chambers full of elaborate traps; the King himself and his highest advisers, of course, are familiar with the layout and contents, but other residents and servants in the castle are likely to know only the specific parts of the castle where they are authorized to go. Visitors to the Castle are provided with guides who show them exactly where they may step; a guest who ignores the guide's advice and tries to venture off on his own may find this decision a fatal mistake.

Although the King himself seldom journeys far from the Castillo de Naipes—and when he does, it is never without a large retinue—, he does have a number of other administrative centers scattered throughout his territory, which serve as headquarters for his agents and as temporary homes on those rare occasions that he does decide to travel.

History

The King of Swords grew up in Zamora, Spain, the son of a bricklayer, with the name David Juvérez Quesado. As a youth, he passed his time with card games, particular favorites being the games known as Mus and Escoba, and became very good at them, to the extent that he often won money from older men who underestimated him. His other principal interest was warfare, both historical and simulated; much of the money he won at card games went into buying wargame components and books on war. Still, David was unsatisfied with his life, and longed for more excitement and a chance to put to real use what he'd learned in his books.

That chance came when a petty supervillain named El Papón appeared in Zamora, and started working mischief there. Juvérez realized that El Papón wasn't making the best use of his powers, and decided to seek out the minor villain and offer his advisory services. When he managed to convince El Papón of his usefulness, under his counsel the formerly inconsequential villain rose to heights he had never previously reached. Still, El Papón seemed to have less ambition to Juvérez, and the youth decided to move elsewhere, coming to work for another relatively minor villain named La Cascada. By now the boy had decided he was becoming a prominent enough part of the process himself that he deserved his own nickname, and decided to call himself Sota.

Having heard of Juvérez's success with El Papón, La Cascada readily agreed to enlist him in her own service. The partnership didn't last long, however, before La Cascada tried to betray Sota, but the latter outmaneuvered her and went his own way. For some six years Juvérez/Sota continued working for various increasingly powerful supervillains and making more of a name for himself, until the Deconstruction started and he saw the opportunity to seize more power for himself. Making deals, calling in favors, and demonstrating his abilities, Sota managed to enlist the services of a number of supers, and to consolidate power over a sizeable chunk of Europe. Now calling himself the King of Swords, he set about cementing his rulership and running his kingdom... and perhaps occasionally plotting to seize some territory from other cressarchs, though he has yet to carry out any such plan.

Description

The King of Swords dresses to resemble (some versions of) the playing card from which he takes his name, corresponding to the king of spades in the Anglo-American-French deck. He wears a red robe with gold embroidery, a blue cloak with an ermine interior, and a six-pointed golden crown. Of course, he always carries a sword as well, though which sword he carries depends on the occasion; when he's not holding it, the sword is carried in a sheath on his belt.

A handsome man around forty years of age, the King of Swords maintains a thick mustache and beard, and long hair that falls over his shoulders. All of his hair, including his facial hair, are bleached white, the better to match the typical description on the playing card, though strands of his natural dark hair do still show. The King has an aquiline nose and piercing eyes, and a general air of unmistakable confidence and leadership.

Powers

The King of Swords has no personal powers of his own, but his intelligence, charisma, and foresight have allowed him to amass a sizeable army of followers including many supers, as well as to collect some useful objects he carries on his person. Most of these devices and talismans take the form of either swords or cards, in keeping with his chosen themes. While the King of Swords rarely puts himself in a position in which he's forced to face an enemy personally, when he does his potent arsenal makes him a significant threat despite his personal lack of powers.

Among the King's favorite blades are a sword he calls Chrysaor that can slice through nearly any material, no matter how hard; Mataogro, which strikes through illusions and weakens foes; and 5X, a technological marvel that can, among other functions, shoot powerful lasers. He also has some favorite decks of cards: his sharp cards are made of thin metal with razor edges, which he has become adept at utilizing as weapons ; and each card of his so-called gray decks is actually a small robot capable of performing specialized functions.

Goals and Personality

The King of Swords is ruthless and ambitious; if he seems at the moment to be stymied by his fellow cressarchs from increasing his territory, he's certain to still have some secret plots stewing. The King does not take well to insults or defeat, and may go to great lengths to avenge himself upon and make an example of anyone who interferes with his plans.

In person, however, he can be very amiable and charming. Those meeting the King of Swords for the first time are often surprised by his intellectual nature. In particular, he is a lover of philosophy, and will happily discuss the subject for hours with anyone of similar interest. He also finds fantasy literature something of a guilty pleasure, and a first edition of The Lord of the Rings occupies a prominent spot in his personal library.

Perhaps this interest in fantasy has contributed to the King of Swords' recent obsession to learn magic and develop some spellcasting abilities. After attempting to study magic on his own without success, he has turned to existing mages to teach him their skills, and has gone so far as to appointed a court wizard, the Hippogryph. So far, however, the King's endeavor to learn magic has borne little fruit, and he is known to be looking for a new court wizard to supplement—or perhaps to replace—the current office-holder. Still, he suspects that it could be that his dabbling in magic may be responsible for some strange dreams he has been having recently, in which he meets other figures representing his counterparts in the other three suits in the Spanish deck—the King of Cups, the King of Coins, and the King of Clubs—and they discuss dividing a vast new land among the four of them. The King of Swords is half-convinced that these dreams have some sort of reality, and that if he continues his studies he can find a way to more fully enter this dreamworld, and expand his territory there.

Relations

The King of Swords generally tries to cultivate cordial relations with his fellow cressarchs, but is currently embroiled in occasionally acrimonious territorial disputes with the Diva, Schadenfreude, and Toadstool. Even aside from that, many of the other cressarchs tend to look on him with contempt because of his lack of powers, but if he harbors any resentment about their attitudes he hides it well, for now. He has, however, leveraged this indignity to form alliances with other cressarchs with no actual powers of their own, such as Dr. Democritus and Mr. Nice Guy. Naturally, he is opposed by the heroes of Gallerra, with Pinochle being a particular thorn in his side.

The King of Swords has a large network of minions, upon many of which he bestows titles of nobility. (Indeed, given his lack of any personal superpowers, the fact that he has so many genuine supers serving him is an important factor in his maintaining power.) True to his theme, many of his hand-picked underlings the King of Swords names after famous blades. His most trusted agent is named Tizona, other viceroys and important representatives include Excalibur, Colada, Durendal, Zulfiqar, Samosëk, and Fragarach. His main champion, however, he has graced with the title of the Knight of Swords.

During the early days of his rise to power amidst the Deconstruction, the King of Swords did find time to woo and wed a wife, who has now inevitably come to be called the Queen of Swords, although she takes little or no part in the actual ruling of Barajaria. Perhaps equally inevitably, their oldest son is referred to as the Jack of Swords, or the Knave of Swords, though he is only twelve years old and has not made any independent mark for himself on the Gallerran political scene. The King and Queen of Swords also have two young daughters, Luisa and Olalla, who have yet to be given any sort of consistent code names. To all appearances, the King of Swords is a genuinely devoted family man... who, characteristically, especially delights in engaging his family in various card games.