The Sunless Tangle -- Fog of War heavy capture the flag map with accompanying lore.
This is a work in progress idea for a jungle themed map that uses the fog of war as a means of exploration as players make their way to the center of the map to retrieve the flag (in this case, a tear). Below is also an accompanying story to set up the premise. I'm not a lore expert, so if I screwed anything up I apologize. I'm still working on a crude map. I'm also not an artist, so it'll likely be done in MS Paint or crayon. Enjoy!
Graves took a long drag off of his cigar and exhaled twin streams of smoke through his nostrils, narrowing his eyes in deep consideration at the mysterious stout figure in a brown and dirty cloak who boasted that at long, long last, he could exact his revenge on Twisted Fate if he did this one difficult task.
 "You know for sure he'll be there?" Graves asked firmly, chomping the end of his cigar to bits in anticipation. How long had he dreamed of finding that two-timing lowlife snake of an ex-partner of his, having him beg for his miserable life and putting a bullet between those double aces of his? And here he was in a shady backwater saloon in Zaun talking to a man (or so he thinks it's a man) who claims that he could make it happen.
"Oh, I'm VERY sure of it, Malcolm. See, I'm a man who can make things happen. I can assure you that this is no double cross in the making. It simply wouldn't benefit either of us to waste your time filling your head with thoughts of glorious revenge. Do this for me and it--" he paused and pantomimed a finger across his throat "is all yours." The cloaked man said with a chuckle that shook the table. The only thing not shrouded from direct vision was his hooked and warty nose and his massive, livery lips. "It's what you want, right? I mean, how loooong were YOU tucked away in that cell, left for dead while HE walked free in the sunshine and fresh air?"
Graves' teeth clenched at those memories of cold nights and bad food and even worse company. The cloaked figure handed him a map and instructions, and Graves looked them over for a time before finally standing up. "How do you know my name, partner?" He spat out a mouthful of tobacco and paper, his eyes squinted at the man, trying to get a better look under that hood. He let it go. "Alright. I'll get this for you, but I'm never going to be double crossed again, y'hear? If I get up there and this thing's a deal gone sour, I'm coming back here, back for you." He mashed the lit end of his cigar on the table and left it to smoulder.
Again the cloaked man smiled at Graves, exposing a few spaced apart teeth. "I'd never dream it! Best be off now. There's something of a time limit after all, and I hear the jungle is a terrible place to be at night! Good bye and good day!" Graves grunted and walked out of the saloon and into his next adventure.
The cloaked man watched Graves leave and all of the cheer went out of his smile as he went and he replaced it with a wicked sneer. He braced one arm on the table and reached underneath it for the sack he kept there. He set a massive bag of oddities that looked like a present sack you'd see during the Snowdown Showdown next to his chair and started rummaging through it. Inside was a multitude of items ranging from the very priceless to the very curious; a picture of a little girl's parents, a luminous moon stone, a baker's apron, and Ah! Here it is, a Shurimian artifact said to have been worn by one of the Ascended. He carefully set it on the top of the pile, and only minutes later he spied his next customer, a curious blonde boy in a leather coat and weathered shirt.
Ezreal's eyes adjusted quickly to his dim surroundings. People were carrying on their conversations and drinking merrily, waitresses were being flirted with and pinched by unsavory characters, and in the far back, away from the croud, was a cloaked creature beckoning him over. Ezreal strutted over to him. He sat down at the same seat where Graves had sat just moments before and coughed at the lingering smell. "Ugh," he said wafting his hands in front of his face. "Smells like an ashtray."
Beneath the cowl the man wore, his eyes flashed dangerously. "Do indulge me my one and only vice, Master Ezreal, as yes, I'm aware it is a nasty awful habit to break, but you could imagine how one might take offense to being called an ashtray?"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to imply--"
"I have something you want very badly, which is why you're here." He said sharply.
"Oh yeah pal? And what's that?" Ezreal folded his arms and looked sternly at the cloaked man. The gold disk on his wrist began pulsating a faint and pleasant blue light, which it had never done before. Ezreal looked at his wrist, and then to the man across from him in surprise and understanding. "How..?"
The stranger picked up the Shurumian artifact in his bag and placed it on the table. It was now giving off it's own pulsating light. Although this one's was dimmer and the pulses were much farther spaced apart, Ezreal's eyes fixated on it affectionately. "Ah ah, we have business to discuss, Master Ezreal. Business first, questions later." He covered the artifact with his hand, and the pulsing continued under his sausage-like fingers. Ezreal thought for a moment how strange man's hand was, which was a deep pink, and his fingers were adorned in fabulous rings and jewels, but that thought was quickly replaced with his lust for the artifact mere inches away from him. "Now that I've got your attention, I want you to do a job for me, and in return upon successful completion of said job, you will receive this fine, PRICELESS.. well, you know what it is, don't you, Master Ezreal?"
Ezreal's eyes were still focused on that blue light. "What's the deal?" he said. "Don't I know you from some place..?"
The cloaked man shrugged off that question and removed a map and a list of instructions and put it on the table. "Have you ever heard of Ajima's Tear, Master Ezreal? It is a beautiful but sadly lost stone that is said to have existed in the heart of the Kumungu jungle. As you must have realized already, I am a collector of rare and priceless objects and I simply MUST have that stone to add to my collection. I have enlisted the help of other legends such as yourself to hunt it down for me, but alas, I am only willing to part with one of my prized posessions, to the person who brings me Ajima's Tear. To the victor goes the spoils, as they say!" He laughed heartily and scooped up the artifact and placed it inside his sack once more, much to Ezreal's dissappointment. "Can I count on you fulfill this eccentric little quest of mine?"
With the artifact out of sight, the longing for it remained. More power! Think of all the places he could unearth and explore, all the people he could help with not one but TWO ancient artifacts! He had always felt that more existed; why wouldn't they? Shurima was a vast and magical empire, but so far he had never found another working artifact, and here, so close was its twin! Had he been thinking clearly, Ezreal would have asked the man how he came to find such an item, how he knew how badly he wanted to find another like the one on his wrist, or heck, even asking what the man's name was. But like Graves and the many others the cloaked man had visited and tempted with personal trophies or mementos, obsession had taken hold of the young adventurer. He had agreed to find the tear.
The cloaked man, whose name is Boor, let out a long sigh of relief when Ezreal had finally left the table. He was uncertain if the boy would take the bait or not, but he had shown Ezreal his hearts desire, seen that cold look in his eye after all and knew that he had yet one more pawn to play. He paused for a moment, sensing someone close by and quickly dove for his sack and plucked out a ruby red gem, or was it a mirror? He placed that object in his pocket, and leaned back in his chair that groaned in protest to the sudden change of weight.
A lovely voice called to him from the shadows, and Boor was startled, but mostly because he was pretending to be. LeBlanc the Deciever, leader of the Black Rose, ruthless politician and most importantly, his current employer and benefactor stepped into view. "I'm impressed that you managed to recruit Ezreal, of all the goody goodies, I expected him to be the most suspicious. Bravo."
"It's all in the bag of tricks, Ell Bee." Boor said in a very sarcastic voice. "But you know I'm a man who can make things happen. I'm your guy!"
"Hmm, quite. And when they bring me the tear and they ask for their reward, wouldn't the look on your face be priceless when they discover the object they risked their lives for is worth no more than a box of poro treats? They'll have your piggish head, Boor."
"Oh, absolutely they would! Which is why I fully intend to pay up. I may be dirty, but I'm not a cheat. All of my wares are real. Ezreal's artifact? Real. This moon stone? Real too. Some of them, all I needed to do was tell them where the blood would be." Boor's teeth were out, and he was grinning. "I've got something for everyone up in here. Have a look!"
Leblanc waved her glowing staff over the top of the bag to get a better view at it and its contents and frowned. "Nothing in there for me, like I thought." She said.
"Nope, you are a complete anomaly to the wonders of the bag of tricks boss. Hmm, wonder why that is?" Boor said. His arm nonchalantly covering the pocket of his cloak tightly.
 "Fool, it's because what I WANT is Ajima's Tear. I will use its harnessed power to create my own city state and use the light of the jungle to reign over anyone who would oppose me. Shadows are born from light, did you know that Boor? With the light of the tear, I will cast the longest shadow Runeterra has ever seen."
Boor smiled and nodded as she went on, not really listening or agreeing with what she was saying but sometimes the best way to get along with your employers is to pretend, and he was a very good pretender. Everybody's friend, that was Boor. How about a few health potions? Sure thing boss, you watch yourself out there. They're beating us to our turret, one BF sword NOW. Right you are, and might I say what a fine choice that is. Boor always knew exactly what the customer needed, what they wanted most, and when they ran off time and time again, he was happy just being boring old Boor, the shop keeper of Summoner's Rift. But then came a day when his stall was repleted by somebody else's wares and he realized at once that he had been replaced. And his friends? Surely they would be outraged and come to his aid after all the years of loyal service he had given them, wasn't he owed at least that? No. The champions he loved forgot he even existed. They were too busy fighting their proxy battles over and over and over to notice or care he was gone. And so Boor brooded over this, what could he do? He thought at last about all of the stories the champions had told him, about the kingdoms they'd eventually save or the adventures they'd eventually have. So Boor decided that he would have those adventures the champions for whatever reason would not have, and hoard their most valuable possessions when he found them, because like Boor, they were forgotten things as well. Soon they'd all see what he could do, and nobody would ever forget it.
Boor, after all, was a man who could make things happen. http://imgur.com/ZBGKuXq
The Sunless Tangle (tenetive name) is a capture the flag fog of war map in which 2 (maybe 3? 4?) teams of 4 players must navigate a treacherous jungle filled with branching paths and extremely limited vision. At the center of the map is Ajima's Tear, the heart of the jungle, but to obtain it, players must defeat its guardian, a giant python who patrols the grounds. The goal is to retrieve Ajima's Tear and safely return it to your base.
Aside from the player's starting base, and the very center of the map, every inch of it is covered in the fog of war, and players must rely on limited light waypoints they set for not only light, but safety. All champions receive a vision penalty, and it is very easy to become lost and alone without proper lighting or communication. The jungle is a living, breathing thing, and vicious monsters will grow stronger in areas without light. Players must work as a team to cut through vines and map out the safest route to take to the center, while also protecting themselves from other players.
Flashing over walls is ill advised without a back up plan, as it will often lead to a dead end or worse.
Upon defeating the guardian and retrieving the Tear, after 30 seconds, the center of the map becomes the new respawn location and all of the light waypoints for the team controlling the tear are deactivated. The jungle will also actively hunt down the bearer of the Tear in an effort to protect itself. The bearer is visible by all players who will then try to secure the tear for themselves.
The bearer of the tear gains armor and health to deal with the oncoming threat, but slowed movement speed. It is up to teammates to defend the bearer from neutral monsters and enemy skirmishes.
The game is won when a team successfully returns the Tear to their camp.
Items : TBD
Locations : TBD