A thoughtful discussion about fiddlesticks rework and story Part 3/3 (final) (REUPLOAD)
Hello for the last time! This is part 3 of my whole fiddlesticks idea barrage, i apologize in advance for spamming the boards with these 3 posts, but I wanted to get them on paper and in the eyes of players/devs before i forget.
Anyways, this last post is talking about the potental short story that would come with the fiddle rework. Again, i dont know if riot has already had something in mind for fiddle already and his story, or the direction they want to take fiddle or his origins "Was he always this evil creature or was he turned into this?" but this is my take on what it could be, and it would also tie into the teaser trailer idea i wrote up. Ill put the links for both posts here before i begin Part 1 :https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/Li4z4QAw-a-thoughtful-discussion-about-fiddlesticks-rework-and-story-part-13
Now with that out of the way, lets start.
The scene is set in a tavern, not a drunk and party type, but a family restaurant type, children running around and playing, parents talking and laughing with each other. We cut to our main character of this story, Jane/John Doe (basically name is up to riot) walking into the tavern and ordering a drink. He starts to notice the children all running to the same spot in a corner booth and sitting down. Intrigued, this person follows a bit to see them sitting down in front of an old man in said booth telling a story. The main character chimes in if they're able to listen as well, and the old man obliges.
The story begins in a village somewhere near the middle of what would be demica and noxus (so like either they aren't in either territory so its neutral, or its a small farming community that supplies their city with food) This story takes place before noxus and demica started fighting each other, so before any wars but after morde was banished (and i think before the rune wars if i remember, someone fact check me on that if you can) In this village, there was a few families, roughly 8 of them, with lots of children, 1 to 2 in each. It was a simple town with simple folk leading simple lives. The children would often go into the woods or near the river playing tag, hide and seek, and other games, and since it was all close to the town, there was no real danger in letting them go off alone. One day while playing hide and seek, a small girl no more than 6 years of age (who is sorta a main character) is hiding a bit farther than normal. Hours go by and nobody finds her, giggling to herself that shes the 'best hider ever' Eventually she realizes nobody can find her and shes lost, so she starts to panic and cry. Suddenly a small glow starts to shine in front of her, a distant, faint voice telling the child all will be well and to follow it. She follows it out of the forest, her parents and brother hugging her crying, saying they thought they lost her, other townsfolk being with the search party, sighing with relief. The girl looks back, telling her parents that it wasn't just her, it was another thing that helped her out of the forest, only to turn around and nothing be there.
The next day, the girl goes back to the same spot, with a friend of hers, to try to find this mysterious glow again. She calls out to it, tells it they wont hurt it and she wanted to thank them for helping her out of the woods. Cautiously, the glow begins to show and get brighter, seemingly getting stronger with the girl's friend being with her as well, almost like when more people see it and know its real/there, he becomes more real and corporal. It is moved by the little girls words, and starts to talk with her and tell her stories. Sadly however, it couldn't remember much, only of what it has seen. What was it before it died? What was its name? Even it did not know, but the stories he told, of giant metal warlords, of kings creating a city with no magic, warriors in full armor seeming as if they were blessed by light. Over the next few days, the girl would visit it more and more, bringing more kids along with her each time to hear its stories. The more children that were there, the more powerful it grew. It became so powerful, that it was actually able to move small stones and almost control small animals like rabbits or squirrels for a short time (possessing them, but not in a harmful way) The children thought that was neat, and tried to add it to the games they would play to make it feel like it wasn't alone and was wanted. Sadly it couldn't play a lot of the game because, alas, it was still a spirit, with no body to speak of. One day however, as he was talking to the children trying to explain that it wishes it could play with them but it doesn't have a body, the little girl's brother, about 12 years of age, was also there. At first he was worried about his little sister, thinking it might be a stranger looking to lure kids away, or if she was crazy, but after joining her one day, he started to also believe. He saw his sister wanted nothing more than to play with her new friend, so, he has an idea.
Now, this brother was the son of a farmer, so naturally, he would work on the farm with his father, picking crops and watering plants, stuff like that. He remembers there is this old scarecrow that they don't use because it wouldn't stand up straight and the birds weren't afraid of it, so they left it in the barn. He takes it one day with them as they are going to meet him, set it down in front of it, and asks if this would work. At this point almost all of the kids and even some of the parents (The parents haven't seen it at this point, just basing it off of a child's fantasy and going along with the story) believed that it was indeed real, so his power was much stronger than before. He was skeptical at first, but relented and attempted to posses the scarecrow. At first, the light dissipated, and the children watched, as nothing happened.
They started to think nothing would happen when suddenly subtle twitches and movements started to happen from the scarecrow, limbs moving, eyes glowing, mouth opening and closing. Pretty soon, it rises up, and the kids cheer, knowing their friend now has a body and can play with them. At this point, this spirit was so thankful, if he had eyes he would cry even, that these kids treated him like any other person, and not only that, but treated him with kindness not noticed or felt in the silent woods. He would take a few days to get used to his new body, not being able to walk like a normal person, he would try to hop and hobble on his sticks for legs, learning to talk again with a mouth, even though it was pretty much metal and straw and wouldn't move on its own. After he got its bearings however, it would play with them all day and be so thrilled to see them visit. They would play catch, tag, hide and seek, all the games the kids normally played, but this time he was actually a part of it.
One day while playing hide and seek, he was standing near the river watching the seeker find the kids when the brother of the little girl comes up to it, and says, "You know, in all the time we've known about you, you haven't told us your name." It agreed, but told the boy that he could not remember, for it has been so long. the boy responded, "well if you don't know your own name, then why not make a new one? You cant not have a name, you know",chuckling. It agreed, and they began to think of names, none of which really fit or was liked by the others. While discussing names, they overheard a child, who was still the seeker, yell that he found someone. The other kid proceeded to walk out from behind a tree, visibly grumpy, and said 'Fiddlesticks! How'd you find me so fast?" Fiddlesticks, the thing thought, that sounds like it would be a good name. The boy looked at him puzzled when he said this, but eventually agreed saying it would be a good name, and it would also make the kids giggle. From then on out, the spirit had a name, Fiddlesticks, and he was proud of it. For many weeks they would play and tell stories together, blissfully running through the farmers field of wheat, scaring crows away and laughing all the way back to the forest. Things were good, and fiddlesticks was happy.
Not all good things last forever, however, as a group of kids, older than the farm boy, from age 14 to 16 started to pick up on this. They would love to bully and tease the other kids, seeing as how they were kids of more wealthy families in the village, and would berate the children telling them they were better, taking their things and toys as 'rightfully theirs' and other nasty things. None of which were more bullied than the farm boy, calling him less than nothing because he worked on the farm and was always dirty, or wearing old farms clothes. They would push him around, and trip him into the mud, comparing him to the pigs on his farm. Eventually however, they started to notice no matter how much they harassed the other kids, trying to get a good chuckle out of making them miserable, it stopped working, as they were always happy, no matter what was said. If they took toys, they would strangely come back to town with new ones made of sticks and leaves. These kids were furious that they weren't the center of attention anymore, and demanded to know why. They cornered a younger child and forced him to tell them where they were going and why they were so happy all the time, and the kid, fearing for his safety, told him about the spot in the woods, and, ultimately, fiddlesticks.
The next day as they children were playing with fiddle like they normally did, a shout comes from the distance. They look over to see the nasty bully kids walking over to meet them, unfazed by fiddlesticks, who was still a walking talking scarecrow, something that would have at least spooked a sane person at least for awhile. These kids lay their eyes on fiddlesticks and laugh. They tease the kids about their so called 'imaginary friend' and how he was nothing but straw and rags with no soul, making the kids seem like fools. The lead bully, however, recognized the scarecrow as the farm boys, and started insulting not only the farmboy, but fiddlesticks himself, calling him things like tinder, monster, dirty rags, and even abomination. For fiddle however, this was the first time he'd seen anyone be so cruel, so naturally, he tried to be nice to them, not agitating them while asking to not bully the kids. To them, this made fiddle look weak and (ironically) spineless, and therefor not a threat. He has a small feeling however, he cant explain what it is, growing at the back of his clouded thoughts. He looks back at the group and now sees the leader of the bullies picking on the farm boy, calling him the usual things, and laughing that he had no friends so he had to make one. Normally, the farm boy would walk away, saddened and with the look of defeat, knowing he cant do anything. Now, however, he stood his ground, and told the bully that he wasn't scared of him anymore. Nobody knows why, but this somehow set the bully off, and the bully began hitting and kicking the farm boy, knocking him to the ground. Fiddle, obviously terrified that his friend was in danger, attempted to break up the fight, but was ultimately pushed away by the bullies cronies, threatening they will tear him apart if he tries anything. The feeling fiddle had started to get stronger, almost more intense, a sort of, burning almost. Suddenly, the farm boy's little sister starting punching and kicking the main bully's leg yelling at them to leave her brother alone. The bullies laughed, and the main bully picked up the girl by the arm and started swinging her around like a metronome, stretching her arm to the point where it was extremely painful for her, and her screaming showed it.
When she started screaming however, that feeling fiddle had exploded, he knew no name for it, but it was strong, stronger than anything he'd ever felt. Everything was a blur, all he remembers was running to help the girl, no matter what happened to him. When his vision cleared and everything went back to normal, he was staring at the bully, on the ground backing away from him, a deep claw gash across his face and an eye, other bullies starting to flee. He looks down to see blood on his hand, the little fabrics of his gloves now torn off to reveal metal talons for fingers. He looked around to see the children, who he played with and laughed and sung with, who were his best friends, look at him with pure terror in their eyes. Even the farm boy, whom fiddle looked at getting up from the ground, was standing in front of his sister holding a stick pointing at fiddlesticks. Fiddle tried to speak and see if the kid was alright, starting to walk forward while doing so, and all the children screamed and ran back to their houses. Fiddle was devastated, "what happened to me?" he thought. "What did i do? I was only trying to help them! I only pushed him away from her, that's all!"
A few days later,in the solitude and the silence of the forest, fiddle was pacing back and forth with his little stubby legs, still trying to figure out what he felt, what he tried to do, how it went wrong, and what he would say to them. Suddenly, out of a thicket of trees comes a few of the kids, sort of jogging to fiddle. Fiddle seeing this, tried to close the distance and apologize for what he had done, when one child yells, "Its over here!" Suddenly its not just the children emerging anymore, its the farm boy, his father, and the rest of the parents of the town. What happened, that day, was a blur to fiddle, thinking he'd only pushed the child off and pushed too hard. What actually happened however, would burn a memory into all of the children there. Fiddle, upon seeing and hearing the girl screaming, started to sprint to the child, bounding with his legs like a crazed animal. His normal green hue of his eyes, turned blood red, and a metallic rasp was heard, almost as if he was anticipating what would happen. What he thought was a push, was actually him getting to the bully, him looking up at fiddle, and as he looked up, he saw a giant metal claw slash against his face, vision fading in one of his eyes, and him being thrown off the boy from the force of the swipe. Fiddle then roared this mixture of rage, metallic screeching, and fury, scaring off the bullies for good. Fiddle didn't know this at all, and thought he was trying to help. He started to walk to the parents, attempting to talk to them and explain what he did and why he did it and that he was sorry, but the closer he got, the more he noticed what they were carrying. Lanterns, pitchforks, shovels, torches, hammers. They closed the gap quite fast, and before he could get a word out, his face was smashed by the farm boys father, who's scarecrow was the sole reason he was even 'alive' Fiddle fell to the forest floor, dazed and confused as to what was going on, while the other parents started hacking and chopping at him and trying to burn him. That feeling came back, but he didn't act on it, only tried to shield himself from the blows. Another feeling came, but it was a new one. For the next hour the sounds of tools bashing metal, parents crying 'DIE MONSTER' and "HOW DARE YOU HARM MY CHILD" and "DESTROY IT SO IT CANT HURT ANYONE ELSE". After they were finished and fully thought fiddle was dead, as the lights in his eyes faded, they threw him in the river to rust, and went back to the village.
Fiddle was not dead, however. His arm, protruded and dislocated, dragging behind him, one of his legs bent, making him look more like he was hobbling, his jaw, smashed open in a fashion that turned it into a permanent jagged mouth, silently screaming, and his rags, most burned and charred, exposing the metal skeleton beneath, which has rusted from the river water. He could no longer speak, he didn't want to. He felt the same feeling he felt while attacking the bully, it was the same feeling the parents had. Rage. He also had another feeling, however, that he felt as he was being beaten and torn apart. He saw this same feeling on the faces of the children. Fear. But he wasn't afraid, in fact, he enjoyed the feeling of it, the rush of fear, the reaction it gave. He reveled in it. These feelings were there now, strong but not entirely controlling. He thought to himself, all this time, him and the kids have been best friends, happy even, doing things together most friends would do, but in a single day, they betrayed him just like that, over an outburst. A thought lingered. "He was betrayed". The feelings of fear and anger started to burn brighter, and eventually, he embraced it. His green eyes, turned blood red, forevermore, and he vowed to get revenge on his betrayers. "If they think me a monster, then i will BE a monster"
Over the years, children would start to disappear, one by one, from their beds and on roads. Search parties were formed, but nothing and nobody was ever found, besides the occasional flock of crows in the trees. Eventually, only a few children were left, 5 in total. Those of which included the bully, the farm boy and his sister. The bully's gash was clearly visible, his eye glassed over with blindness, always looking around like someone was watching him. The remaining parents decided to send their kids to relatives closer to the capital city, but they couldn't follow because they still had to provide food for them. The only one who stayed behind was the farmer's son, watching his sister leave with the others on a wagon. Eventually, when they all thought they were safe, adults started to disappear, just like the kids. However, instead of leaving no trace, there was many signs of what had happened, blood trails leading into the woods, bodies hoisted into the trees, farm animals slaughtered, scratches on houses. Almost as if something WANTED them to see. The more people that disappeared, the more the survivors became paranoid, thinking they see things in the shadows, and eventually turning on each other, opting to never leave their houses, and fend for themselves. Eventually, the houses started to catch fire, with seemingly no reason, crops died as there was nobody to tend to them. The town became a ghost of its former self. At the end of the 30th day, when everyone had either left or vanished, the only one left was the farmer. His son was the first to be taken after the other kids left, almost as if whatever was stealing people wanted to "cull the weak" He was a broken, sobbing, shambling mess at this point, drowning in whatever drinks the town had left, and waiting for the end.
Eventually he had enough, took a final drink from his stein of whatever was in there, and marched out of his house to the town square, with hammer in hand, screaming for whatever was out there to come get him. He was ready to face his fate. Only silence answered. He began to get agitated and called out again, only this time there was a sound. The sound of crows, flapping their wings, cawing, there wasn't many. He thought that was strange, since all the crops died and rotted a week ago, so they had nothing to eat. More and more crows started to come, some flying above, others hopping along the road. The sound of cawing got louder and louder, as the crows seemed to almost surround him. Then, he saw it, the scarecrow he thought was destroyed, slowly hobbling out of the woods, scythe in hand, arm dragging behind him, with that twisted metal jaw hanging down, almost looking like it was grinning. He looked at him, terrified, but nonetheless readied his weapon, if he was going to die here, he would take that thing with him. Suddenly, the scarecrow stopped moving,staring at the man. The man, puzzled, began to say something when a sharp pain wracked his arm. He looked to see claw marks and a crow flying away. The sound got louder, and more and more crows started swooping in, scratching him and taking small bites out of him, eventually he was overwhelmed by the crows, stuck in a sea of murder, all he could do is scream. The last thing he ever saw, was the scarecrow, looking over him, cackling, asking the question in the mans OWN voice, "Whats wrong? Are you afraid?"
Years later the surviving children started to tell this story to other children, and when they grew up, to their children. Eventually the legend of the Fiddlesticks was born, stalking and taking children that would misbehave and act rotten, never to be seen again.
The old man, looking at the obviously frightened children, said that's the end, and to always remember to be good, or else. They all ran back to their parents, telling them about what the old man told them. The old man, tired after the story, got up from his table and started to leave, when he was stopped by our main character (john/jane doe) They ask him, "That was a good story you told, you almost made it believable at some parts, but that could never really happen right?" The old man nodded and said,"It is a little bit far fetched, i admit, but its not totally impossible." John/Jane laughs and says to the man, who's obviously spaced out, staring into nothing, "Hey don't worry, after all, you said it yourself, its just a story." The man, without blinking, said to them in a shaky, almost distant voice, "Yeah....a story" and turned to leave. As he turned, however, John/Janes heart sunk, as they saw what looked to be a massive scar on the old mans face, almost looking like a claw. In that moment, they felt fear, but not just normal fear. They felt something different. They felt pure terror. "Could this story be true? Could it be real? No, it must have been a coincidence, its only a story" they argued with themselves. A few days later, that mans body was found outside the tavern, the other side of his face slashed the same way, with crows feasting on him. From there on out, however, that terror would stick to the back of everyone in the town who thought the man crazy, and the kids whom he told the story to's mind, always doubting their thoughts, and always asking the question, "Its just a story, right?"
There we go! I hoped you all enjoyed it, it might not exactly be what most people expect, with the whole fiddle being a good spirit kind of thing who was turned into this savage nightmarish monster. You need to remember, however, this is just how the story is told in the idea that its a children's fable, and nobody alive knows the story about fiddesticks true origins. It truly makes for a good rendition about what happened and how he was twisted, but also leaving a lot of space for other stories to be told, trying to figure out whats real and what isn't. I think this adds to the theme of how fiddle is now this boogeyman who, at least from the story, has done these things and earned enough attention to become a sort of myth. However, this is my take on it, and id love to know yours! As with the previous 2 posts, i ask for your feedback and ideas, riot members also welcome, so i can improve on this. I also hope this gave some inspiration to the fiddle concept, if there was nothing there already. Id like to thank each and every one of you for reading my posts, and even if you didn't comment, just the fact that you are interested fills me with hope that maybe fiddle might go down this path lore wise, and it could maybe help with the future lore of the world and champions. I wish you all the best, and again, i thank you!
[slayer-jinx-catface]
UPDATE: had to reupload since this got deleted for being in the incorrect forum, and there was no way to just move the post from one forum to another. This is not spam.
EDIT 1: Ignore the second 2 voting categories, i thought there would be more than one vote, just use the normal yes or no, my bad lads lmao