SILK was created to rectify what I saw as certain deficiencies in Phalanx (the alliance I started in). A constitution cannot anticipate every event, so must change with time. But a constitution that can be altered at will, is no constitution at all. It must contain the process by which it can be amended, something Phalanx lacked. The attempted coup of Nemanja, who wished to remove Sapphire Sorrows and install me in her place, convinced me a process also needed to be in place to allow senators to force a founder to abdicate. Had such a process existed in Phalanx, I believe it would have been attempted in place of the coup, and Phalanx would not have fractured. Finally, I believed Phalanx had moved away from Ingmundaro's (original founder) ideals, and I wished to return to them. Much of that drift was simple pragmatism. To be perfectly noble and honorable is usually to die a horrible death, betrayed on all sides. With none to look after, such defeat no longer bothered me.
So with none but myself at risk, I created SILK to meet these conditions. Phalanx was currently under siege by WolfPack (Virtus Phoenix reborn), so I carried that war with me into the new alliance. Despite being initially outnumbered around 16-1 in the contested oceans, SILK managed to defeat WolfPack. The method was a combination of diplomatic agreements for mutual defense, which rallied a vast network of previously unconnected players to support my cities under attack, while sending a constant barrage of tiny spies at player after player. Defending, but almost never fighting back, and always spamming the report box, SILK drove WolfPack to frustration, causing it to experience a significant increase in inactivity among its players.
Eventually, the remaining players fled into Ascension and Phoenix of Carthage. Those alliances, ignoring my warning that this was considered condoning the unprovoked aggression of my targets, and an assumption of WolfPack's diplomatic status, became enemies as well.
After poaching a couple members from Ascension, tensions rose between SILK and Wake of the Kraken, which had been battling those members. SILK and WotK have skirted around full war, and though it once appeared imminent, we now expect a return to peaceful conditions.
The war with the two powerful DH alliances is mostly a cold one, with brief flares that continue to this day. Despite its diminutive size, SILK remains the only alliance to disrupt a world wonder belonging to PoC (the alliance considered the "winner" of beta), an accomplishment the leader of SILK has now managed twice.