Vastaya Q&A

Soraka, Voli, Alistar and Trundle are all different, distinct species. Alistar is a minotaur - a race which likely evolved separate from the vastaya even if they are sometimes confused by outsiders. Trundle a troll. Soraka is something… different, probably associated with Mt. Targon. Volibear is more akin to a primal Freljordian nature spirit/force of nature.

Our Champion Publishing team chose Zed to show that Rakan and Xayah aren’t totally villains. Their cause leads them to operate in some morally grey areas, but they ultimately seek a noble goal. Zed corrupting vastayan wild magic with his shadow powers was a clear way to show what Xayah and Rakan stood against.

There are a number of different sources for magic in Runeterra, from a realm we would call a ‘spirit world’ to Hextech and beyond. Often it depends on the area you’re talking about. For example, though the kind of magic you mention is most intense and noticeable in Ionia, it intersects with Runeterra in many ways. Then compare the magic of Shurima, Targon, etc. and you start to see a variety of types of magic.

Xayah and Rakan were instantly smitten with each other. Give or take several months of chagrin and adventure. In all seriousness, read Xayah and Rakan’s bios and color texts for the full story!

I’ll be struggling to get that image out of my head for a couple of days, but no, they don’t.

They are not considered vastaya, but they do have some vastayan blood.

Not many regular people in Runeterra have seen them, but those who have are unlikely to have tied together all the various tribes and their sources. Perhaps the work of Eduard Santangelo might begin to change things? If folks take him seriously (he is a bit of a bragard).

No, they are very different entities.

This will be revealed at a later date, but it is a very old treaty between specific tribes of Ionian vastaya and humans that deals with sharing magic.

Rakan is a battle dancer. He has been training in those skills—combining performance with warfare—his whole life. Xayah is a natural fighter who has been honed through combat.

They are close to the spirit world. They do not have an organized religion, they pay respects to the various nature spirits and spirit animals, but have a much closer relationship than human shamans do.

No. But it didn’t make them very happy.

Overall, the vastayan race was created as a concept champions could use as we move forward, both in creating new characters and to help unify certain elements of Runeterra. The exact nature of each creature in our IP was not exhaustively determined from the outset, giving teams like Worldbuilding and ChampUp room to explore.

Absolutely. Tribes like the Sodjoko are made up of various tribes coming together. What a child would look like would depend on the parents, the nature and amount of magic the child grew up near, the customs of the tribe it grew up in, and the child’s own personality - especially its connection to the various animal spirits.

Not all animal based champions are vastaya. Ascended champions, from Shurima, for example, are not of vastayan blood or magic. See other answers for which champions are confirmed vastaya or not.

We have no immediate plans for any more vastaya, but it’s definitely not been ruled out. We have other areas of Runeterra to explore and create new champs. I’m sure we’ll make our way back to the vastaya at some point in the future.

There are many types of magical creatures. Many have no connection with the vastaya or vastayasha’rei (the proto-vastaya). There are even other creatures descended from the vastayasha’rei who are effectively unrelated to vastaya. Vastaya have a human ancestor and a vastayasha’rei ancestor. There is a logic underlying most of these creatures, but having a similar system ≠ similar species.

A few generations of mingling with other creatures, for sure. I mean, look at evolution. It’s a slow process.

Currently it is only Xayah and Rakan, but who knows what will happen when and if Coll can rally some other Lhotlan to her side. There is a growing sentiment and displeasure with the human behavior in the Ionian vastaya however.

Not dying, but magical essence sustains their continued existence. The less magic there is, the fewer resources there are to support vastayan life and tradition. Other humans tap into or twist up the same magic source that the Lhotlan vastaya need to survive. This is not necessarily a moral thing, good people do bad things for good reasons, unaware of the consequences it causes others. Zed and his people are unknowingly or uncaringly accelerating the drain of the magical energy though they are absolutely not alone in doing this. This is aggravating the growing tension between humans and some vastayan tribes in Ionia - and directly violates the agreements that were forged between species.

It may seem immoral and unnatural to some, but not to everyone. Runeterra is a place with many cultures.

Xayah thinks people confuse yordles for Vastaya as they are all lumped together as “magical creatures.” Not really prejudiced to race, though she also doesn’t like the yordles’ association with humans, and the magic of human ideals.

While most vastaya need a supply of magic to thrive - they don’t need massive amounts of it and can go extended periods without magic (think of humans’ relationship to water). Vastaya tend to settle near the “springs” where magic comes into our world or near the invisible “streams” of magic that flow from these springs and snake through the world (comparable to ley lines). They can travel beyond though, just as we humans don't all have to constantly live near fresh water rivers.

Nothing specific, really. It’s hinting at the general feeling Xayah and Rakan have when they have to fight ANY other vastaya. Nobody likes infighting.

As we've mentioned, Nidalee’s ancestry is too diluted to be considered a true vastaya. Similarly, Udyr is not a true vastaya, because though he can access the power of many animal spirits, he cannot truly change into their forms.

The vastaya name was originally created with several goals: it should feel exotic, Ionian, and lyrical. For more details on the rest of this question, check out the /dev “On Vastaya Evolution.”

Within certain tribes they do, but not uniformly, and not across the entire species. Rakan is the best though, according to him. And maybe Xayah on days he can actually remember her plans.

;)