Swain

Their story, step by step

1. Step 1

   A noble house and a secret cult

   Swain was born into a wealthy Noxian noble house. His parents belonged to the Black Rose, a secret cabal hunting for dark power hidden in the Immortal Bastion. When the Black Rose moved against Emperor Boram Darkwill, LeBlanc, the group's hidden matriarch, told Swain about the plot. He chose to expose it and executed the leading conspirators, including his own parents and LeBlanc, and was rewarded with a military commission.

2. Step 2

   A soldier who believed in unity

   As an officer he secured Noxus's western borders and pushed into Shurima. He came to believe Noxus was strongest when it drew on all its people, whatever their origin. He also saw an aging, suspicious Darkwill pull resources away from the armies to chase magical relics.

3. Step 3

   Broken in Ionia

   During the invasion of Ionia, Swain took the Placidium of Navori and held its defenders hostage. The young Ionian leader Irelia led a counterattack and her blade dancing cost him his left arm and shattered his knee. He was left close to death.

4. Step 4

   Raum and a raven's vision

   A raven came to the dying Swain, and in its eyes he saw the Black Rose pulling Darkwill's strings through a pale woman. Discharged as a cripple, he went into the Immortal Bastion and found Raum, an ancient demon that feeds on the secrets of the dying. Swain found a way to use the demon's power rather than be consumed, and used it to heal himself.

5. Step 5

   The night of the coup

   Over many years Swain plotted. He allied with the washed-up gladiator Draven and the great assassin General Marcus Du Couteau, and when the moment came they took power in a single night. Swain killed Darkwill with magic no one had seen before. He also lured Urgot to Zaun to keep him out of the way, and his guards managed to detain Briar, the weapon the Black Rose sent against him.

6. Step 6

   The Trifarix

   Swain declined to rule alone and set up the Trifarix, a three-seat council: Vision (himself), Might (Darius) and Guile (the Faceless One). The design checks every member, Swain included, against corruption by Raum. Under it Noxus moved from crushing conquered peoples toward absorbing them and using their talents. Later events included stopping a Black Rose general's plot at a war council and sending Marcus Du Couteau against Demacia's king, which ended with Katarina, Marcus's daughter, staying loyal to Swain and being named head of the Du Couteau assassins.

Turning points

• Exposing the Black Rose plot, even at the cost of his own parents
• Losing an arm and a knee to Irelia, then bargaining with Raum
• Overthrowing Darkwill in one night
• Creating the Trifarix instead of taking the throne

Where their story stands now

Swain rules as Grand General and the Vision seat of the Trifarix from the Immortal Bastion. The Black Rose still works against him, and Katarina is expected to kill him if Raum ever corrupts him. Open threads include the Black Rose and LeBlanc, Vladimir's public opposition, Gangplank's theft of his warship, and a darkness Swain feels coming that only he seems to sense.

Who they are tied to

• Darius →Darius holds the Might seat beside Swain on the Trifarix, the council Swain designed so that no single ruler could go unchecked.
• LeBlanc →The ancient, scheming Matron of the Black Rose.
• Vladimir →An ancient hemomancer who has shaped Noxus from the shadows.
• Briar →A blood golem engineered as a living weapon who escaped her captors.
• Urgot →A cyborg anarchist and former Noxian headsman who rules from Zaun's underworld.
• Talon →A Noxian master assassin raised into House Du Couteau.

Where this fits in the story

1. Noxus · step 1

   From tyranny to tribes

   Before Noxus existed, the Immortal Bastion belonged to Mordekaiser, whose reign is remembered as the Age of Tyranny. After the Rune Wars the Noxii tribes took the fortress and founded modern Noxus.

2. Noxus · step 2

   The rivalry with Demacia

   Noxus and Demacia fought on and off for centuries. Sion's killing of King Jarvan I is the war's most famous moment.

3. Noxus · step 3

   The invasion of Ionia

   For about five years Noxus invaded Ionia, conquering territory and taking magical artifacts. The campaign finally failed, and Irelia led the Ionian resistance.

4. Noxus · step 4

   The Trifarix

   Around 990 AN Swain overthrew Emperor Darkwill and a council of three replaced the emperor. The wiki describes a second invasion of Ionia as looming.

Read the full story of Noxus