Ulagan - Born of a Roleplay
**So, I've GM'ed a roleplay for the past year or so that involves the world of RuneTerra and many original characters and familiar locations and over the past year we've developed some pretty interesting characters. Please do not write anything uncivilized I simply want to do is receive feedback and productive conversations, thanks :P. All I want is to tell the story of Ulagan, one of the main characters in the roleplay and hear some thoughts about it and maybe someone might actually think of a kit for her with interesting mechanics and such just for fun (We all know that no characters here actually will ever get released :P). So with that all in mind, shall we begin? It will be kind of a long post...
Within Valoran there are many factions and many City-States and cults all vying for power, one of them is known as the Cult of the Void. Ulagan, was raised into the cult as the daughter of Malzahar (spoiler alert: She's not) and had a... difficult upbringing. She was born half voidborn and half human giving her a unique form, looking more like a demon than anything else. Her unnatural red colour and oily skin make her seem unnerving and her oriental facial features suggest an ionian parent which was never to be met. She also has quite a tail.
As she grew up, the cultists guided her in ways to work and serve the void and its followers where she learned most of her skills. Ulagan doesn't know much about her early life, guessing that she must've been under the care of her maternal relatives until her father learned of her existence and came to claim her. Most of the woman's early memories are related to travels in Southern Valoran, including treks through the Shurima Desert and Voodoo Lands under the eye of multiple caretakers picked by her father. They did a good job at keeping her alive, but rarely had the patience or mental stability to deal with her on an emotional level. Being a lonely girl on the move, heavily discouraged from talking to people, Ulagan turned to music as a way of expression, stealing her first flute and playing around with it for hours, out of the earshot of her caretakers. Eventually she began trying to copy the tunes of caravan travelers and street musicians, as well as creating her own. Even through her emotional neglect the girl didn't socialize with the outsiders much, considering the Cult her only family regardless of how they treated her.
After Ulagan hit puberty her father started showing more interest in her, teaching her to better control her Void skills and getting the girl a combat teacher. Her life became a bit more stable - the girl spent most of her time in a small cult safehouse, with a steady stream of cultists tricking through. She attained her fiddle at around that time, once again finding quiet spots and teaching herself, though this time with the help of a cultist called Durmier, who'd secretly get her books and fiddle strings in exchange for 'favours'. Eventually Ulagan started leaving the safe house again, first with her father or other cultists and later on solo missions, taking on the role of a solitary traveling bard on such occasions.
Her story mostly begins later in her life, early 20's when she is sent to the frozen lands of the Freljord in a mission to cause disarray for the clans under some sort of scheme planned by her father. After a long and cold path, she reached Rakelstake where the queen resided. She attempted to poison her, but she was foiled by an ionian swordsman named Shojin who had noticed the poison. She was attacked after by an assassin who had come for her and the queen. The assassin was stopped from killing her by a strange man who did not introduce himself but seemed quite powerful. He was an aged man, maybe in his 40's, with white hair and in incandescent aura around him. The assassin came for both Ulagan and the Queen and the man, the Queen's guard and Shojin. They drove him off and chased him to an abandoned temple outside the city. After a long fight the assassin was defeated. Ulagan, Shojin and the white haired man remain. The white haired man then revealed the nature of the assassin, he was sent by Ulagan's father to dispose of her... she refused to listen and started her way off back to the city. She was attacked again later on, and after again being saved by the odd man and Shojin (The white haired man had enlisted his help through tl:dr ways that would complicate the story, were focusing on Ulagan :P) they spoke again. She called him "Archer" due to the large bow he had used to fight earlier, since he did not intend to tell him his true name. He told her that Malzahar wasn't her real father and that he only needed her as a tool to serve him, he told her that he knew her real father and he will help her without explaining why. After her inability to contact the cult through the use of void magic, her pessimistic side began putting her in a panic. Without her cult, her family... what would she do, But a big part of her refused to believe this man. She was convinced to come with them to Piltover, mostly due to self protection interests concerning the assassins. She kept trying to contact the cultists on the way but to no avail. She stayed her usual silent recluse self on the journey and did not play her music, which ended up keeping her on edge the entire time...
Since I might actually put the entire story through posts on the forum i'm not going to go ahead and spoil the entire story of her, Shojin and the man... so ill sum up the rest of the story in a short TL:DR (Though to be honest the whole paragraph up there is a TL:DR of so many things that I skipped...)
TL:DR, Ulagan's story is about a brainwashed, emotionally shut-in woman who is betrayed by her family and slowly bonds with outsiders over the shared hatred of certain, yet unspecified characters and tries to find her real heritage. She learns that there is an alternative to blind faith and becomes more comfortable letting people closer**
Also, since the actual amount of detail we have pertaining the characters backstory is very large so here are a few short scenes from her youth:
_A caravan camping in a nighttime desert. People are gathered around campfires, brewing coffee, playing music and telling tales. A little bit further a small group of travelers is gathered around their own fire, speaking in hushed tones. Against them huddles a little red skinned girl whom no-one seems to pay any mind to. She is three or four years of age, with a timid expression and tiny horn bumps growing out of her forehead. The child's eyes are fixated on a kid sitting on the roof of one of the caravan wagons, playing a flute.
A cloaked child sitting on the pavement of a crowded southern city, crying over a scraped knee. "You are pathetic," says an elderly man standing beside the girl, looking down on her "Would you stop doing that? We have places to be." The words fail to generate a positive response, only making the girl weep even harder "You are publicly embarrassing yourself in front of everyone," he continues, growing irritated: "Look at how they are all staring at your tantrum. Aren't you a l i t t l e bit ashamed? Do you e n j o y looking this pitiful?" Still more crying, attracting unwanted attention from passing pedestrians. The man seems clearly at his wits end: "If you do not cease wailing right now, then I will tell your father. He will be disappointed with your disobedience." The threat has it's desired effect, for the girl shudders and pulls her knees under her chin, biting her lip in a heartfelt attempt to suppress the sobs, but clearly not fast enough for the man's liking "Suit yourself, not my problem that you have no self-control," He grabs the child by her elbow, forcefully yanking her up, dragging her along "...couldn't he babysit his own brat for once."
A dimly lit room with a crack between the curtains casting a bright stripe of sunlight across the floor. Strewn over the carpet are some books and a flute. On the edge of the bed there sits a girl, about Sou's age, with red skin and small backwards-curving horns, painstakingly trying (and failing) to play a fiddle tucked underneath her chin. Observing her, there sits a man in his late thirties, with a short, well-kept beard lining his jaw...his hand resting on the girl's thigh as she practices.
A human woman is chained to a wall in a dark basement, scared to the point of weeping, but still screaming insults at the other two presences in the room - Malzahar and a teenage Ulagan, the latter's face carefully devoid of expression. Malzahar raises his arms and swirls of dark purple void energy appear around the prisoner's head, instantly turning her swears into cries of pure agony. He gestures towards Ulagan: "Now it is your turn. Come forth and study, how your gift affects a living target." Ulagan bows: "As you wish, my father," and assumes a spellcasting position.
A human womans' broken body, hanging limply from the chains holding her to a basement's wall. Fingers missing, extremities riddled with burn marks and holes, some of which have gone all the way through judging by the pockmarks on the stone._
Feel free do debate, criticize and whatever you really want to do! The character was originally thought up by Cliodna, who played her in the roleplay. You can check out her art works of Ulagan here:
http://cliotna.deviantart.com/art/Give-in-once-566895883 http://cliotna.deviantart.com/art/Regained-the-last-one-568010809 http://cliotna.deviantart.com/art/Running-Ulagan-580526781
Also a few more details and insights into the character in the charahub page, though most of the bio there is outdated! https://charahub.com/character/502473/Ulagan/public/#prettyPhoto
Alright, thank you if you read this entire post. Ill be very happy for any discussions regarding the character and how well you liked her or other ideas and what not!