The Blackfrost Envoy
The introduction lore for Envoy, the emissary of the Blackfrost. Remaining details/fleshouts/stats to come later (more added).
(Notice: This champion is made specifically in line with the alternate timeline listed in the above competition, which stretches out along a couple of competitions and has events that have happened regarding the league lore. Most relevantly the Summoners Rift and Tribunals being destroyed and the traditional champions of Runeterra falling to chaos and despair. Specifically, this champion is from a story where the Blackfrost successfully takes over the Freljord some time in the future.)
Cloistered Queendom War has no winners, so they say. After all is said and done, somebody may survive, and vanquish their foes, but there will be no spoils remaining to claim. Such is the tale of the Freljord. Ashe, Sejauni, and Lissandra openly declared war against each other without the League to serve as even a front. Blackfrost crept all over the icelands, and the area had turned to nigh inhospitable wastes. One would imagine Lissandra won, but Lissandra has remained silent in the intervening months. What became of the Freljord? Perhaps the war still rages on. Perhaps the Blackfrost is residual corruption after Lissandra was slain, and now the remaining tribes wait to perish in their homeland, with no escape. Perhaps something… else… overtook Lissandra’s throne. Like a phoenix from the ashes.
Ahimoth’s meddling had set the Freljord on a downward spiral, and he needed not do more to achieve his desired result. Just one part of Runeterra to fall into havoc in this game of chess. As the Shaman and the Shade gathered their forces for the final battle, wider and wider calls to arms were made. Some even from survivors that had escaped the Freljord before the corruption.
The Envoy of Blackfrost was not one of these survivors. Envoy, which was the only name she would be known by, headed directly for Ahimoth and his gathering. The mere presence of a being that resembled Lissandra in unsettling ways shook the resolve of many bandits gathered. She traversed in an ordinary hiker’s appearance, backpack, mug, walking stick, a simple short undecorated dress, all tinted dark blue in ice. Not that Envoy cared one whit. Shade was the one gathering and talking to the recruits, not Ahimoth, the one she was ordered to seek out. “…this one shall suffice.”
“Greetings, I am a emissary, sent here by my Queen. I will be serving your master in this endeavor.” Envoy calmly sipped her cup, gazing around with a soft smile and those entirely empty eyes. Shade simply stared at the newcomer, that had made the gathering go silent by mere presence alone. “I… did not invite you.” The words slipped off of his mouth, slightly surprised at her certainty, briefly wondering if Ahimoth himself made a connection without telling him. Who knew, in the end.
“You gave an open invitation, and my Queen accepted. She sent me in her stead, to assist your plans come to fruition. With the gathering of the enemy forces, shall you really… refuse?”
Shade revealed nothing from his gaze, except for something of a wicked smile. “Welcome aboard, then.” One of the voices dared to speak up from the crowd, some big tough bandit with runic steel forged armor, glistening against the cold airs. “And who do you think you are, anyway? What queen is this, that you hail from, monster from the Blight?”
Envoy simply chortled with a mug to her lips. “The Queen of the Freljord, of course.” A moment passed, as suspicion became certainty. Envoy was now facing the man and his crew, staring past them vacantly. Something resembling a poro slipped out of the bag onto Envoy’s shoulder, holding a canister in mouth. Envoy opened and poured into her mug, but nothing came out.
“Oh, dear me. I seem to be out of juice. Would any of you fellows or lasses care to spare me a drink?” Flickers of snow fell around the populace, an extended hand out to the crowd. “Could any of you spare some drink? We need to… feast.”
Statblock HP 550+80/lvl HP/5: 5.5+0.7/lvl MP: 340+60/lvl MP/5: 6+0.8/lvl Atk Dmg: 54+3.3/lvl Atk Spd: 0.625+0.02/lvl Armor: 22+3/lvl Mag Res: 30 M Speed: 325 Range: 450
Ability List
Passive: Cloistered Cleric Whenever Envoy deals damage to an enemy, she gains a Cloister stack, up to 100. Envoy gains 1 stack every second passively. Envoy can only gain 1 stack per 2 seconds per enemy unless that enemy is a champion. Whenever Envoy takes damage while possessing over 25 stacks, all the stacks are consumed and she gains a shield equal to 200/250/300/350/400/450/500/550/600+1.0 AP x StacksConsumed%. This shield lasts for 3 seconds, and if this ability procs again while the shield is active, the shield numbers are added together and the duration is refreshed, to a maximum of the 100% shield amount.
Q: Blackheart Poro Snax Envoy channels, summoning a Blackfrost Poro at her location. She controls this poro while she channels, which is not limited by unit collision, moves fast, and deals damage to enemies surrounding it. The Blackfrost Poro is forcibly dechannelled if it goes too far from Envoy or her Heavy Heart, or enters Fountain Turret range. While this ability is channeling, Envoy's abilities are replaced with the following. When Envoy is forcibly disrupted, she is self-silenced for 0.5 seconds. Q: Stop channelling the Blackfrost Poro. W: Charge at enemy unit within 125 Range, knocking it back 250 units and moving Blackfrost Poro on top of it. E: Dash forwards up to 350 units over 0.1 seconds. R: Teleport the Blackfrost Poro to Envoy's Heavy Heart. All these abilities have a 6 second cooldown.
Cooldown: 6/5.5/5/4.5/4 seconds Mana Cost: 20/23/26/29/32 + 8/9/10/11/12 per second Damage: 32/44/56/68/80 + 0.16 AP per half second AoE Damage Range: 275 Blackfrost Poro Speed: 500+Envoy's Bonus Movement Speed, -50 move speed for every 100 units Blackfrost Poro is from Envoy or Heavy Heart, to a minimum of 150+Envoy's Bonus Movement Speed. Unit Collision: No Leash Range to Envoy/Heavy Heart: 1050/900 Range
W: Drink The Marrow Fluff: Envoy shoots a short skillshot, forming a leash between her and her target. Envoy self-roots until 0.25 seconds after that skillshot lands or dissapates. Envoy gains a Shield for 40%/45%/50%/55%/60% of the damage this spell does, for 3 seconds after all leashes are down.
Cooldown: 10/9/8/7/6 Hitting an unleashed enemy with this ability reduces the cooldown of all Envoy's abilities by 1 second, and if that enemy is a champion Drink The Marrow's cooldown is reset. Leashes reset duration on targets that are already leashed. Mana Cost: 50 Range: 500 Leash Range: 650 Travel Time: 2000 Leash Width: 70 units Leash Duration: 5 seconds, or until leash break Damage per half second: 30/45/60/75/90+0.225 AP
E: A Silent Requiem Fluff: After a 0.5 second channel, Envoy creates a bubble of disquiet, damaging all enemies at creation and setting them back. The bubble lasts 4 seconds, inflicting the status to all enemies that enter, but not the damage.
Cooldown: 13/12/11/10/9 Mana Cost: 40/45/50/55/60 Creation Range: 800 Units Damage: 80/110/140/170/200+0.8 AP Duration: 4 seconds On Champion targets, this ability sets back the cooldown of all abilities the champion has by 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 seconds, even if they were ready to use before. Activation items are set back by 8/10/12/14/16 seconds instead. On non-champion targets, this ability stuns for 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 seconds.
R: With A Heavy Heart Fluff: After channelling for 0.75 seconds, Envoy tosses a Blackfrost artifact called her Heavy Heart at a nearby area, always taking 0.25 seconds to reach destination and land. Upon landing, this artifact emits an aura that constantly damages and shreds foes nearby, and allows Envoy to emphasize her other abilities. Heavy Heart can be targeted and destroyed, but not moved. If it is destroyed, the effect ends.
Other Skill Interactions: Blackheart Poro (Q) can be within 900 range of Heavy Heart even if outside of the range of Envoy normally. Heavy Heart gains a shield from Cloistered Cleric whenever it procs. If Envoy is slain, the Heavy Heart will take 25% of it's Current Health in True Damage every second.
Mechanics: Cooldown: 160/135/110 Mana Cost: 100 Cast Range: 900
Artifact Durability Artifact Duration: 8 seconds Health: 1900/3200/4500 + 2.25 AP Armor: 40/50/60 + 0.21 AP MR: 25/35/45 + 0.12 AP
AoE Radius: 650 AoE Damage per half second: 60/105/150 +22.5% AP (XCurrentHeavyHeartHP%) AoE Shred: 6/8/10 Armor/MR every half second, stacking up to a maximum of the higher of 30% of the target’s total Armor/MR or 18/24/30 Flat AR/MR, and fading after 3 seconds of not being damaged by this ability.
Gameplay
Playing As Envoy
Passive (Cloistered Cleric) This passive is Envoy's basic power scale mechanic. If a minion ticks you, whoops there's your stacks blown, hope you needed it 'right then'. Stacks are fairly simple to attain though, and Liandries is a synergistic item on Envoy simply because on champions you can rack stacks extremely quickly. Finding ways to not blow your stacks while farming them is difficult, but the reward can be a potentially titanic amount of shields in an upcoming team fight.
Q (Blackfrost Poro Snax) The Poro, he wants to give you a hug. This critter deals damage passively to enemies within the radius, and may be a decent lvl 1 skill as you don't actually need ranks in the other skills to utilize them as the Poro (except for R, which needs the R to be active to use anyway). Be careful where you cast Envoy's spells, because you'll be stuck where you are with this channel. A half second disrupt on Envoy's other spells when cc'd out of the Poro is both a punishment and a prevention of her accidentally casting other spells. This is Envoy's consistent damage that keeps her out of the fight, so if you can maintain a front line and let her Poro around the enemy, Envoy can deal considerable damage.
W (Drink The Marrow) Envoy's close range tool, a lot of Envoy's combat capacity is pumped in here, so Envoy will be able to mosh pit after she deploys her disruption, provided she isn't using her Poro. These will only give you shields, and are individually half as worth as a fiddle drain, with less drain %. Enemies can walk out of the range, so be very careful when positioning. Also be careful when using this as poke harass, you cc yourself for quite a while and setting yourself up for a nid/morg Q isn't usually worth landing a w snare in lane. The resetting mechanic of her W would be way more overpowered on a character who can spam abilities with ease. For Envoy it primarily functions to help R come online faster, to Prep your E up, and to give you a quicker time recasting Poroz (Q) after breaking it off to reposition. Mind your mana when rapid firing ws.
E (A Silent Requiem) Be careful when deploying this ability, as you have to lead your target and make sure you don't get disrupted. However, this can turn the tide when you make an enemy's Hourglass go on CD, or annoy an enemy by constantly setting back their BotRK or Righteous Glory activations. Moderate damage, and provides area control.
R (Heavy Heart) The spell that makes the peoples fall down. Envoy's majorly a damage dealer, and her ultimate's sole purpose is to damage. Again, be careful not to be in the mosh pit when deploying, because Leona Q knocking your ulti off makes for a sad Envoy. Ideally created in a place you can force the enemy to be, and channelled without them being able to react, this immobile fiddle ulti will annihilate enemies if you can hold them there for the duration. So, you know, great for Baron Steals. The ability has a high cool down however, and is a large portion of your contribution to a team fight. An enemy team that is hard to pin down and trap in this ultimate is going to render this ability mostly moot.
Playing Against Envoy Try to proc Envoy's passive with ticks of damage. Her Q slows massively while farther away, and always spawns directly from her, so you can keep-away and poke back while she's locked in place. Envoy's W is an annoying bugger of a leash, but not very 'strong' in a 1v1 confrontation. Don't let it discourage you from breaking her face in, if you can properly interrupt, she literally can't use any other spells to reasonable effect against you. Also for her leash, you can braun block it if you're already leashed to negate the effect on an ally 'and' stop her resetting the leash. Be Mindful of her E. It's a silence on steroids, and 'pushes back' spells already on cd. Note that it won't actually push them back further than Max CD, so if you're Karthus with 40% cdr, you can spam your q basically unfazed.
Her ultimate is scary, but has it's HP dwindle by 25% per SECOND if Envoy is dead. Kill the Witch, and the heart will crumble. Or, just back the hell off once you see her casting it, and keep out of the danger zone. Or, cc her while casting. In general if you can keep a bully on top of Envoy, she really can't do much. Don't let her get too many ticks off, lest her passive be hair pullingly frustrating. Envoy is suited to drawn out engagements-so end it quick. Damaging the Heart also reduces the damage it deals, though the bigger threat is the Shred, so be careful even if you whittle it down.
Lore: Recovering the ARK
The mission was to recover the Ark. This was indeed not something she had heard about. Perhaps her Queen had, but certainly not the Envoy. In ursine territory, transport a big ship. All by herself. Least it’s just dragging up to the ocean. This storm giant… research seems to be done. Volibear would be there. Her Queen didn’t wish for Volibear to be killed, for some reason. But her Queen also sent her on this mission to help Ahimoth, and investigate. If Volibear decided to engage her of his own volition… it would just be a shame if she had to defend herself. Her Queen was just letting them live out of some misguided sentimentality anyway. Probably.
Sun sets, moon rises, shinning over the ursine encampment…
The Ursine after their hunt, gaze out into the distant snow. The sky is black and foggy, but that isn’t anything new. Even during the midday sun the ‘Freljord wastes’ weren’t much brighter. Things were different. Another day, another couple Blackcrystal drones. Another couple inches the Blackfrost creeps forwards. There’s certainly ways to fight it, but time is running out.
Just one drone tonight, actually. But the 6 pack sent to hunt and destroy it hasn’t returned. Overkill was necessary for safety, and thus five to one odds were always preferred. But… drones weren’t hard to kill. The overkill was to finish it quickly, to both care for an ambush, and to prevent them from doing their job and planting blackheart seeds deeper in.
A navy blue figure appeared on the camp horizon, and it became clear that the sand in the hourglass.
“Greetings ursine swine!” Envoy had a wide toothy grin, standing tall and creeping forwards with a trail of blackfrost wherever she went. “I have come to you today to water the snow with your blood.” She’d say that she ‘had’ to, of course. But this was a personal vendetta, with a perfect excuse. “Bring out your leader, so we may decide this honorably! Let me see your fearsome face, if you are not a coward! Bring me Volibear!”
The blackfrost was already creeping into the encampment inch by inch, forming scaly protrusions all around. “Volibear is not here for you, you twisted abomination. I will be fighting you today. Crushing you beneath, for this time I am prepared!”
Envoy’s eyes widened in a pale shock, expressionless, vision fixiated on the figure of Sejauni stepping out from the ursine. “We shall bear arms, and see who is truly right to rule.” Bristle snorted as he carried Sejauni forward, a hate in her eyes brighter than the full moon above that beamed defiantly through the smog. “It will not be you.”
Envoy took a foot backwards in posture. “Oh…” That expressionless gaze locked into a wicked smile. “I did not know you yet lived, Sejauni. Mother would not be pleased if she knew I failed my extermination. I will… ‘correct’ this inadequacy before she ever hears, of course.”
Something of a frost arena had enclosed the two inside, while Envoy raised a hand. “Now, auntie… I’ve been waiting for this for a long time… This is different from how Lissandra ‘and’ ashe suffered… why are you st-”
Bristle’s stampede knocked Envoy down. Sejauni’s armor glowed a bright blue. Envoy hissed out, now constantly scampering away from Sejauni and her boar. “You can’t crush my heart again, corrupt beast! There’s countermeasures in place.”
Snow flew in the air, bristle pinned Envoy down underhoof and massive weight. She winced out as her ice cracked, stuffing her fist in Bristle’s mouth. The dark poro in her fist popped out, and got right to work.
Ten seconds later, sejauni was the one on her back and Envoy was brushing herself off. Bristle lay on the ground, icy protrusions from all over the skin. “Looks like… your boar isn’t so well protected. You know the one thing I was a bit sad about was that I didn’t get to see your mount die when I offed you. That look on your face, seeing your fellow fleshbag rip and rend, it-”
“Would you stop hitting me when I’m [b]talking![/b]” Everything Sejauni had, crackled with the same light blue energy. Flail smashes, fists and kicks. They were in one v one combat, and Sejauni was pretty blatantly the superior in close combat.
“You, darkness, go out, melt and break!” Envoy was outright crying in pain, with only a twinkle of defiance left. Right hand entirely broken off, forehead caved in. “Damnit, this isn’t war! I was supposed to slay ashe! I was supposed to rule the freljord… not…. This!”
With a stomp, Sejauni opened Envoy’s chest. Envoy let out a laugh, grimacing with that light switch set to out and out malice. “Fine. We’ll do… this th…the h..ard way…”
Sejauni jumped back from Envoy to avoid the dark thunderclap. Envoy had ripped out her own core, this was… familiar somehow.
!!!
“RUN, EVERYONE! CLEAR OUT!” Sejauni wailed to the ursine that were fending the encroachment and watching for a necessity to join her in battle. “I will handle this get OUT of here NOW!” The ursine still didn’t budge, the core flew a good distance away almost to flee Sejauni’s pursuit.
A deafening crunch, and the frozen earth under the core gave way. Bright pure mana fissures split across the encampment, searing pain within every living being. “You can’t help here, I… will… handle this!” Finally the ursine were leaving, fleeing the scene. Even as Sejauni’s armor crumbled to dust, and her special flail broke like glass, she kept fighting. Breaking Envoy’s heart.
A cough erupted from Sejauni’s mouth, both hands clasping over it. She’d salvaged the encampment and most of the forces here. The blasted cryowitch was slain. The land was corrupt and shattered. Sejauni glanced down at her broken flail, with her bristle vanquished, her weapons shattered, and her bones embrittled by Envoy’s parting gift, she realized she may never be able to fight again like a true warrior.
“Screw that!” Her shout went to the skies. “I won’t falter that easily. I’m going to hunt you down and roast you like a common roc, for all that you have done and have yet to do.” Even as she spoke the words, Sejauni felt a coldness in her heart. Really cold. Unbelievably…
With a hand clutched to her breast Sejauni fell to her knees. “What’s wrong? You look a little scared, not smug at all, no sage advice anymore huh? It suits you, being a groveling piece of glacier gravel.”
Envoy was behind her. Slowly sauntering ever closer, and Sejauni had lost her protective armor in the blast. “You know, if Volibear was here, maybe he coulda lasted long enough with you to make sure I stayed down, huh. What a coward he was, wherever he is right now.”
The blackfrost boot planted on Sejauni’s chest, pressing her deep in the snow on her back. “I can see that determination Sejauni, you’re a hardy wench. I’m gonna get the job done RIGHT this time. Feel it rip, and tear, and crush that useless flesh, eating away from the inside. And you know what the worst part is? I’m still here. Your ‘sacrifice’ means NOTHING, because your disgusting tribes shall starve, with nothing to hunt and soon nowhere to even survive. Pitiful pig.”
Sejauni’s cold stare pierced through Envoy’s eyes even as she coughed up blood. A blob of spit found its way to Envoy’s nose, turning her wicked cackles into a wicked scowl, as another shard of Envoy’s remaining half of skull broke away. “It’s no use! Stop resisting! Die already you pitiful sack of meat! Go extinct!"
Sejauni’s neck snapped and buckled under the frost fists engulfing her, with Envoy’s boot through her chest entirely, shoving more and more corrupting ice into her body. “Your writhing makes me SICK, your blood melts my precious frost! I don’t give a damn what you, OR Mother, or ANY… I… there we… go…” Envoy wiped her forehead, standing up and giving some dark grin. “That… that ought to do it.”
Envoy’s utter loss of cool reset itself, standing up and looking as demure as ever. “My, I lost myself for a bit there, didn’t I. That was a ‘fun’ one, albeit perhaps more than I could chew. I’ve gotta ‘really’ be more careful.”
“Sweet Sejauni, now you are deceased, and now you rest in peace.” Envoy’s face caught a glimmer. “And yet… there are worse fates than death. Perhaps that… would be more befitting.” Envoy’s face set into a wide smile once more, and she began her work in earnest.
Beyond that, the actual finding, sealing the storm, and recovering of the ark was trivial. Time consuming and magic intensive, but Blackfrost plague kept outside interference to a minimum. Lots of experiments were done, this whole ‘spirit of the storm giant’, well, it was a fascinating concept. She and her Queen would have much use for this back home.
But this ark was for Ahimoth. Despite Envoy’s doubts, her Queen knew best. They’d gotten most of what they wanted from this Ark, and could put that to use in the future. Giving this ark gave Envoy access to the other spoils of war from Ahimoth, and those surely could be of more use than keeping ‘one’ priceless artifact they had already learned about…
Turning In The Grave
“You know, ‘corruption’ is a funny concept.”
A dark blue figure stood in the middle of a pitch black lair. Deep underground, light held no sway or meaning in this place. Colder than ice, harder than steel, a soothing melodic voice the only sensation trembling through the halls. “Loyalty, trust, direction. The hopes and dreams of an encampment, the legacy of a lineage. What is perhaps the very last of the very last of a Freljord long past. Legends have a lot of karmic power, you know. Sometimes that power… doesn’t go where you would expect.”
She paused, lips curved into a smile, fractures resembling scars as a vague hand-shape touched the face of a golem much bigger than her frame. “You’ll be glad to know I kept the marks you left, as a token of respect.”
“Alas, dear mother still struggles. This corruption business… is a complicated puzzle. She contents herself to watch over the freljord, dormant, as she had for ages, as a compromise. Even after my birth. I am fine with this. I can do the rest.”
“We are her black will.” Arms raised, churning ice turning around the subterranean hollow. “We will spread the Blackfrost.” A few tiny furry creatures scurry around the darkness, one up onto the head of the golem. “We turned over the ark, sealed the storm, but the ‘lessons’ learned, from storm, and from the missions of everyone else, are the true power.”
“Now… we just need a name. Storm Queen would be the most fitting… but you are not, and never will be the true queen.” A bite at the winter in the voice, scowl melting away as fast as it surged.
“Storm… Knight? Blackfrost Destroyer… No no, not barbaric enough. … aah. Yes.” Envoy’s hand thrust into the center of the golem. “Titan. Titan of the Tundra. Arise, awaken!” The blackened lair filled with cyan lightning, bright bursts, thunder echoing throughout the halls.
“Ah. I see that… it worked. Welcome, Titan. Bear your birthright with pride. We have much to do.”
