Richard Silverwater

Early life
Richard Silverwater recognized from an early age that his mind was his greatest weapon, due to being born a member of the Silverwater family with the expectation of upholding his family's military status, yet lacking the fighting skills possessed by his older brother. When his brother was training with spear and shield, Richard could be seen writing stories, making illustrations in the river clay with a stick or solving arguments between his childhood friends. Because not many people have seen him fight, some believe Richard's lack of skill on the battlefield has more to do with his unwillingness to inflict heavy loss of life on either side rather than not having any fighting skill at all. Growing up without his mother [https://stoneworksmc.fandom.com/wiki/House_Silverwater#:~:text=Jeyne%20(unknown),given%20a%20nickname. Jeyne], who died giving birth to him, was very hard for Richard.

Massacre at the Reach
When Fehnir III caused River’reach to split in 2, the Silverwater family quickly chose Argon’s side. Why they did this is not exactly known, though some believe Richard’s father, [https://stoneworksmc.fandom.com/wiki/House_Silverwater#:~:text=Anthony%20Silverwater,at%20the%20Reach. Anthony Silverwater], was present in the Throne Room when Fehnir the Foolish spat on the shoe of his most powerful vassal. When all hell broke loose, Richard’s father and brother fought in Argon’s army and succeeded in making Fehnir’s men surrender. Both Richard’s father and his brother were present on the castle walls when Fehnir the Foolish made the castle explode. The explosion was so big, it was heard throughout a huge part of Kylorne. Though Richard always admitted that that there was a certain level of "cheating" in war that he is comfortable with, the Massacre at the Reach went far beyond that and Richard even considers this event as a crime. He had seen it all while protecting a group of citizens that were fleeing the capital. Richard was very lucky to be outside of the castle walls during the blast. The body of his father was later found between the ruins of what was left of River’reach. The body of Richard’s brother, Brandon, was never found again. After the loss of his brother and father, Richard became a broken man: he had lost the will to live. Traumatized by pulling the armor off his dead father and not being able to find the body of his brother, he became more cynical and pessimistic and was content to just drink himself to death instead of helping rebuilding River’reach. Richard becomes convinced in the futility of everything, gaining a negative and rather fatalistic outlook on the past and the future, to the point of suicidal. However, whilst helping with the chaos in River’reach, and assisting Argon The Riverwashed as he ascends the Salt Rock Throne, he regains his will to live. He also finally finds something to believe in, as he believes in Argon.

Rebuilding River'reach
Ever since the start of rebuilding the Reach, Richard played a big role in mainly resource gathering for the different cities. This led to the creation of the Silver Gatherers. Richard delivered barrels filled with stacks of building materials for a very cheap price to speed up the process of nearby cities. This caused the surrounding cities to rise and prosper while Richard was still waiting for royal approval of his own project. Meanwhile members of the Court are pointing fingers, accusing eachothers of corruption. New citizens aren't converting to the new religion anymore. All of this causes Richard to grow more frustrated and start to question the capability of the current Court Chairmen to make good decisions that benefit the nation.

Deteriorating health
Richard hasn't been seen for years straight due to his deteriorating health. For a still unknown reason Richard got very sick which ultimatly led to his loss of vision. He kept himself locked up in his room, only opening the door to allow for food and medicines being brought in. Being blind frustrates Richard, who's the Lord of a combat based Noble family, since he's unable to fight as of now.

Appearance
Richard is a male human in his late fifties. He is around 1.81 meters tall and used to have his mother’s dark brown eyes. Richard has brown hair and a beard. Most of the time he is seen wearing the fixed armor he took from his dead father to honor his death. The armor consists of iron arm and leg plates with a blue cloth depicting the House Silverwater diagonal white line. Due to Richard's deteriorating health, he can now be seen wearing a white blindfold to hide his grey-ish blind eyes and a staff to navigate with.

Personality
Richard prides himself on his ability to read people as easily as he does books. He has also shown himself to possess a keen mind for strategy, as is evidenced in his research into defending against sieges. Richard is also genuinely loyal to those who treat him with love and respect. He has a compassionate nature but is capable of being ruthless when necessary. He is fond of beer, wine and Bamboo Bee Honey.