A (small) Comprehensive (fan made) Guide to the lore of the City States of Valoran

I apologize, as I do realize that this map is very out of date. After the Institute of War disappeared off the face of Valoran as a whole, the land teramorphed into new shapes, meaning that some places may not be in the same area as this outdated map. However, many of the major landmarks including the city states of Noxus and Demacia remain mostly unmoved. Until new cartographers take the time to map all of the new lands out, we are forced to use older maps. I apologize for the inconvenience.

History The city state known as Noxus and Demacia came into being quite recently as apposed to other kingdoms such as the Freljords and the newly formed Shurimian Empire. Once, long ago, all citizens lived under one tribal banner, known only as "Gardenia." Not much is known about this ancient tribe, but historians from all over Runeterra have been able to uncover a few artifacts from the time of the Gardenian people. What is known as a fact however, is that the tribe was ruled by a single Chieftain, who was called Demacia. Reports seem to wave back and forth depending on where the historian comes from, but the chieftain was generally known to uphold himself and his fellow tribesman to higher moral standards than some of the barbarians to the north. What was once a small tribe grew into an immense super power that dominated the northern central area of Valoran. However, as the once chieftain, now king began to age, his popularity began to decline with the public. While he still attempted to uphold his morals, many saw him as being too lax on those who broke those laws, and too forgiving of mistakes. Others saw his policies as damning and destructive to the potential strength of Gardenia. Eventually, the old king, unable to keep his power, stepped down from his position and forced himself into exile, never to be seen again. This major event in history is often forgotten and overshadowed by the falling of the Shurimian Empire to the south in the Great Desert, which had happened a few years prior. New parties quickly attempted to fill the gap, and a new, albeit temporary king was crowned. Due to the panic and confusion of this event and time period, the name of this king has long since been lost, but he served a minor role. The new king crowned did not satisfy anybody whatsoever, him being more of a compromise between the two largest parties, the Tetarians and the Dynastinians. The Tetarians wished for the old King Demacia's already high moral standards to be raised still, and harsher punishments be levied on those who chose to break those standards. The Dynastinians disagreed in a complete opposite sense. They wanted complete abandonment of all moral principles and guidelines to instead make way for focus on the military and the power of the common individual to create a powerful nation. Unsurprisingly, the recently crowned king, after only being in his position for two months was assassinated by an unknown party. Neither side claimed to have done the deed, but neither mourned the loss of the king. An immediate power struggle came forward, with both sides pushing immensely to crown their perfect idea of a ruler. It was inevitable that a civil war would break out, and indeed one did. During a political rally in the capital, the Tetarians met with an aggressive group of Dynastinians who wished for an end of the constant shouting and noise. Both sides were at least partially armed, and both sides waited for the other to make the first move. What happened next was something that no one historian can seem to remember. Go to any Demacian, and he will tell you the Dynastinians attacked first. Ask any Noxian, and he'll say the Demacians attacked first. History may never know the true answer, but what we do know is that a large battle broke out. This resulted in a declaration of war by both parties, who wished for something to be able to spark such a conflict. Both sides rallied large armies and attacked the other. The capital city, which was seated where the Institute of War once resided, became a bloodbath. A severe conflict ravaged the entire country, eventually completely destroying the capital and most of the surrounding land. This was also brought something new and terrible into the world. Weaponized magic. While others such as the Frozen Watchers and the Iceborn before did use magic for conflict, this war brought forth magic only used to kill. Demons were summoned from other dimensions, the dead were raised to create unholy armies, and undying fire burned through anything it touched. Eventually, both sides declared a victory and abandoned the fighting. In actuality, neither side had much of a fighting force left, and did not have the power to continue such a destructive conflict. Both sides split, adopting new names and attempting to create new lives for themselves. The once named Tetarians became known as "Demacians" named after the king who once ruled over the lands. The Dynastinians became the "Noxians" named after the Dynastinian hero at the Battle of Capital Hill, Abraham Noxus. Both rebuilt in their ideas of the perfect world, and grew into the city states we know of today.

This is the extent of my knowledge of Gardenia, and the people of it. If you would like another topic to be covered in the future, please tell me. Know this however, research takes quite a while, and it is rather difficult to piece together a neutral picture of this once great civilization. If you do want a future topic to be covered, do tell me and I will try my best to cover it. This includes people, city-states, places, landmarks, islands, or civilizations. See you next time. -Solomon