[Champion Concept] Zenthyra the Insatiable Harpy
Hello everyone.
My name is Shane, but some of you might know me better as Cryptekz. I've been a content creator for several small publications since August regarding League eSports, and have helped my friend Billcurme in designing several champion concepts over the past year or so. Admittedly, I've thought about doing this whole concept creation thing for a while, as far back as 2013 when I first posted the concept for this champion on the old boards. A lot has changed since then, and I've been helping Bill with a lot of his champions, which has inspired me to take a second look at Zenthyra.
Initially, she was written in a world where the Summoner's Institute existed, so I had to re-write a fair portion of her lore, but I think it worked out for the benefit of the character. I also changed several of her mechanics. If you'd like to see the original, I'll include a link to the archived post from the old forums. Now, without further ado, allow me to re-introduce Zenthyra, with a fresh coat of paint.
The old champ thread, for anyone who's interested.
EDIT:
CCCOS Good neighbor links: Delyora
EDIT 2: I am a dumbass and included links to champs who aren't in the contest. Did not fully read thread on how Good Neighbor bonus works. My bad.
ALSO, changed a LOT about the champion. Passive, W, E and Ult all updated; Q changed to no longer Crit but grants spellblade procs and has its damage treated as an empowered auto-attack. Special shout-out to Billcurme who helped a lot with the design for the new Ultimate. We work together for a reason. (Judges, humbly asking you consider this a nod for Good Neighbor.)
EDIT 3: Good Neighbor Links replaced with actual members of the competition. Best of luck, everyone!
Far above the clouds on Mount Targon reside the Targonians, made up of several tribes of people. Many are devoted to the light and warmth of the sun, or else protecting those who freely worship at the mountain's peak. In a society built upon the quest for glory in battle and reverence of holy light, they live their lives with pride and religious jurisprudence. Below the clouds, however, there is much to be desired for the supposed nobility of war with which those of Targon and their fellows carry themselves. Below the clouds, there is only death.
Hidden away beneath the foothills and steppes of the fabled Mount Targon, is the home to some of the most insidious beasts known across all of Runeterra: The Harpies. These half human, half avian creatures are as deadly as they are charming, and are known for taunting and seducing passers by to their demise. Their society is brutal; a hierarchy enforced by rampant infighting and sororicide, over which a reigning High Queen presides. It is due to the very machinations of this High Queen, that we come to the story of an otherwise un-noteworthy harpy by the name of Zenthyra.
From a young age, Zenthyra was considered wily, even by harpy standards. Born to a mother who died in childbirth, she spent her life as an orphan, scraping by a pitiful existence on the bottom rung of society. Forced to struggle daily just to live, scrounging on rats and scraps of bone and carcass, she grew indifferent and resentful towards those above her, and often wound up fighting with her sisters, unwilling to submit to their dominance. More often than not she wound up paying for her insolence, a few times even left hinging on the verge of death; But each time she found herself standing upon the precipice between worlds, she persevered, feeling a rage burning inside her that refused to let her fall.
After several years of strife and battles leaving her scarred and bloodied, Zenthyra rose through the ranks of the tribe, fighting tooth and talon at every turn to prove herself more than just a lowly orphan. With her iron will and refusal to die, she climbed the societal ladder. Often she would come to claws with her sisters, and often they would wind up bloodied or dead in her stead. Eventually, with time, patience and a thirst for blood, Zenthyra fought herself into the innermost council of Deynris, the self-proclaimed Harpy High Queen. A cunning and wise woman, Deynris had overthrown the former Queen Symira in her youth and had presided over the horde for many years, bringing them to bloody war with the Rakkor tribe time and again and stealing away several young warriors to increase their ranks and fill their bellies.
_However, with the godly mantle born to several warriors in the ranks of Targon in recent years, the harpies had proven to find their recent raids far less rewarding. Several in the fold had perished fighting the mighty Pantheon, and found their attempts to steal away soldiers met by the unyielding protection of Taric's divine grace. Times had grown harder for the flock, and there were talks of mutiny among the ranks of sisters. Deynris did her best to quell these uprisings, but it was obvious to all among the council what aspirations Zenthyra had, and what lengths she would go to in order to secure them. Tired of the ailing Queen's ineffectual rule, the young upstart began spreading malignant whispers of dissent, claiming that someone more powerful ought to rightly claim the throne. Hearing of these rumors, and knowing the coming fight would likely leave her gravely wounded or worse, dead, and without a throne to preside over, Deynris schemed to put forth a proposal to her underling, as a means of sating her ire and securing her own continued existence as Queen of her kind. _
It was an overcast night when Deynris held an audience of her fellow sisters beneath the peak of Targon, perched on the rocky crags. She spoke of the misery that her sisters had endured at the hands of the Targonians, and of the woe she felt at failing to provide for her people. She gave grievance to the many new foes they faced and how things had changed from the years when she was a young queen, when the men of Targon were weaker and more easily charmed from their mountaintop homes. Many piercing glares were fixed upon their humbled ruler, but it was with a wry smirk that she addressed the young upstart whom she knew was posed to take her place.
"Times have indeed changed. Though I have grown cunning and wise in my years, I am no longer the valkyrie of death that so many men of Targon feared. I lead through wisdom, not through strength, and so I task you, my sisters, with this: If any among you can slay the Targonians whom so wound us, I would gladly abdicate my crown to you, for surely you would prove to be a better Queen than I. Only with those godlike figures out of the way can we harpies flourish as we had when we so ruthlessly ruled the skies. Without them gone, however, I fear that any such replacement will only prove to be a futile gesture of struggle, born from the frustration of larger problems at hand."
There were whispers as there always were when the queen spoke; many seemed impetuous, balking at the sight of their queen so diminished, so vulnerable... but eventually a silence fell, and from the circle of sisters, the strongest among them, Zenthyra stepped forward, bending a knee before her Queen. She spoke gruffly, her voice piercing the silence.
"Though I have long been scorned for my birth and my standing, I have bested all among these ranks but one in single combat, and have taken my rightful place among this council. I am the will of my sisters, and serve my Queen faithfully. Give me a name, and I shall bring you their head, but know that I shall take the throne I have earned in return."
Zenthyra looked up, regarding her Queen, daring the elder woman to challenge her declaration. As the two stared at each other, Deynris' lips hooked and briefly, a glint of the fangs she held for teeth shone in the dull light of the moon that seeped through the ever present clouds. The elder harpy spoke the name that would bring her strongest challenger to what the queen hoped would be a swift and bloody end.
"Leona."
With a rustle of her wings, Zentyhra took to the air, swooping through the crevices between the rocky spires amid the screeching and whooping of her sisters, speeding off to her home to sharpen her claws for the coming fight. With a wave, the queen spake "BEGONE!" and the council was done, the circle of sisters departing amid hoots and hollering, leaving Deynris perched in solitary, languishing in a lonely moonbeam. It was minutes before the hardened feminine voice spoke from the shadows where its owner had hidden, unseen to the other women.
"You trust in her power?"
The Queen turned to the white-haired silhouette, the outsider in her lands, and bore the intruder an evil grin.
"Even if I don't, your job will be far easier. Just be sure you hold up your end of the bargain."
Diana gave a curt nod and grimaced, displeased with her new political ally, but knowing she had few choices if she was to achieve the revenge that she so desperately sought.
"So long as she does as expected, the others won't harm you. I'll see to that, much as I hate the taste of it."
The last Lunari stared up through the clouds to her patron, and but for a moment, they parted, showing a slowly waning crescent. There were two faces to the moon, and only by embracing them both could she hope to overcome the wretched sun that so tormented her soul.
APPEARANCE:
Height: 5'9 Weight: 110 lbs Eyes: Yellow Face: Very angular and hollowed. No prominent bird like features, but you wouldn't see her on the cover of vogue, either. Sharp teeth and very thin lips, with high cheek bones. **Hair/Feathers: **Raven Black with Blood Red accents. Hair is shoulder length in a jagged bob-style cut **Body-Type: **Athletic. B cup. Wings sprout from her shoulders but are still bound to her arms. Hands and feet are talon-like. Feathers cover her limbs and the lower half of her body/torso. Scars/Tattoos: Heavily scarred across most of her torso and human flesh, the most prominent being the one on her face, which extends from below her right eye to her jaw. Clothing: White linen Bandages around her chest with a bare midriff. Everything else is largely obscured by feathers.
STATS:
Damage: 60 + 4.3 Per level Health: 525 + 85 Per level Manaless: (Uses Fury, max 150) Attack Speed: 0.67 + 3% Per level Move Speed: 345 Armor: 23 + 3.6 Per level **Magic Res: ** 30 + 1.2 Per level Health Regen: 1.2/second +0.15 Per level Mana Regen: See Passive
ABILITIES:
Passive: Bird of Prey Zenthyra passively generates 5-10-15 fury with every auto-attack. When out of battle for 10 seconds, this fury decays at a rate of 5 fury per second.
Additionally, when Zenthyra attacks an enemy champion, she marks them as her prey, causing her auto-attacks against the target to grant her an additional 15/20/25 fury per strike. Upon three successive attacks, the prey mark is consumed dealing 12% + 0.033 AD % of the target's current health as physical damage. (Similar to Braum Q but a three-talon claw mark instead, first forming to the left side, then the right, with the third stack skewering them through the middle)
Targets can not be marked as prey again for 15 seconds after the mark is consumed. If Zenthyra does not attack her marked prey for five seconds, the mark is removed with no penalty. Zenthyra can only mark one champion as her prey at a time.
Q: Vicious Talons Damage: 80/100/120/140/160 + 0.6AD + 0.3AP. Cooldown: 13/12/11/10/9 Range: 550 Description: Zenthyra gathers up her wings behind her, Flapping them once and using the sheer force of lift to propel her towards her target before raking them with her talons, dealing Physical Damage. It also applies on-hit effects and counts as an auto-attack for the sake of spellblade procs and her passive. If Zenthyra has over 50 fury when she casts Vicious Talons, the base damage of this ability is doubled and 50 fury is consumed. This dash ignores unit collision.
W: Cunning Quill/Merciless Embrace Damage: 80-90-100-110-120 +0.6 AD per quill, champions hit by multiple quills take 50% damage from additional quills. Cone length: 700 Cone Width: 300 Projectile size: 45 Projectile speed: 1600 Cooldown: 14s at all ranks Description: Zenthyra draws in a wing, before flinging it forward, launching four large, quill-like feathers out in a thin cone that strike the first target hit, dealing physical damage and also marking them if they are an enemy champion for three seconds. Zenthyra gains 10-20-30-40-50 flat movement speed when moving towards marked targets. If Zenthyra marks at least one target, she gains access to Merciless Embrace, which she can activate at a cost of fifty fury. Doing so snares all targets marked by Cunning Quill for 0.5 seconds, as she magically manipulates the barbs of her feathers to slam into the earth.
E: Beguiling Gaze/Menacing Presence Damage: 60/70/80/90/100 + 0.5 AP Magic damage Cooldown: 18/17/16/15/14 Width of Cone: 300 Units Length of Cone: 450 Units Description: After channeling for 0.5 seconds, Zenthyra leers in target direction, commanding the respect and awe of her foes with her intimidating charisma. Anyone in her gaze is charmed for 0.5/0.75/1/1.25/1.5 Seconds and takes 60/70/80/90/100 + 0.5 AP Magic damage. If cast with more than 50 Fury, this ability becomes Menacing Presence, causing her foes to also lose 5%/10%/15%/20%/25% of their bonus armor as their will to fight is overcome by the fear she inspires. Using Menacing Presence consumes 50 Fury.
R: Relentless Drive Damage: 125/175/225 + 0.3 AD/0.25 AP Physical Damage Per strike Cooldowns: 130/115/100 Duration: 5/6.5/8 Seconds Range: 400 Cost: 40/35/30 Fury Per Strike Description: Zenthyra takes wing, soaring into the air and gaining 15% increased movement speed for the duration of the ability. Upon re-casting Relentless Drive, Zenthyra leaps to target nearby enemy, colliding with them and knocking them back. Enemy units travel 100 units + the remaining distance of the dash between Zenthyra and her target. This ability can be cast again on the same target, but doing so halves the distance of the successive knock-backs with diminishing returns. (250, 125, 62.5, etc, assuming cast at melee range) This ability can be used to carry enemy champions over thin-ledges and player created terrain, but not through walls or impassable terrain. (Can push someone through thin part of krug wall or over the ledge near blue side top jungle or red side bot jungle ramps)
Quotes:
Champion selection: "Time to get my claws dirty."
Ban: "Tch. I'm no stranger to rejection."
Movement: "Such is the way." "Ready to strike!" "No time to dawdle..." "I grow impatient."
Attacking an enemy champion: "They will bleed..." "I will show them real pain!" "You are weak!" "Taste my wrath!"
Marking an enemy champion with Cunning Quills: "You really would look better with feathers" "I'll pen your epitaph with your blood" "Can't hide from me now..."
Upon activating Merciless Embrace: "More snug than a hare in a snare." "What weighs more? Your feet or my feathers?" "You're not going anywhere..."
When using Beguiling Gaze: "You cannot resist temptation..." "The hearts of men are fickle." "You're at my mercy now, fools."
When Using Menacing Presence: "I will reign in blood and glory!" "KNEEL, WORMS!" "Bow to your New Queen!"
When using Relentless Drive: "FEEL MY CLAWS!" "I'LL RIP YOUR HEART OUT!" "SHRED THEM TO PIECES!" "NO MERCY!"
Upon buying: -Guinsoo's Rageblade "Rageblade, eh? My kind of weapon." "An angry sword? I think we'll get along just fine."
-Infinity Edge "You're almost as sharp as my talons." "Maybe the humans are smarter than we give them credit for."
-Bloodthirster "I'll give you all that you can drink, my friend" "Let's go make a beautiful mess."
-Rabbadon's Deathcap "Do you think this makes my head look fat?" "I don't like hats, but I guess I can make an exception for something with Death in the name."
Taunting an Enemy Leona: "Your life is forfeit!" "For my people to survive, you must die!" "I will be Queen! You will be dead!"
Taunting an Enemy Pantheon: "You've slain my sisters! I will not permit you to live any longer!" "Rakkor men... you're all the same! Dull, muscled war-beasts!" "When I'm through with you, you'll BEG for death... I might oblige." "In another world, we could have made beautiful daughters together."
Taunting an Enemy Taric: "Protector? Let's see you protect yourself from this." "Vain fool. Your love for mankind will be the death of my people."
Taunting an Enemy Diana: "Stay out of my way, or I'll do to you what I'm about to do to your Ex" "I thought we shared an enemy. Glad to see you've made your allegiances clear." "I WILL be Queen of the Harpies. It will take more than you to stop me."
Taunting an Enemy Aurelion Sol: "YOU are what the Targonian's worship? You're nothing but a bedazzled magpie." "You will bleed like any other mortal."
Taunting an Enemy Quinn: "Traitor! Not you, the bird!"
Taunt near an Enemy Anivia: "Birds of a Feather? Can't say I care to flock with you." "It's like looking through the past to what a much uglier me would've been eons ago." "Prepare to be scrambled."
Default Taunts: "I'm the Bird. You're my prey." "If you want to make an omelette, you've got to crack a few skulls first."
Joke near an Allied Quinn (while Quinn is being carried by Valor): "Sister! What are- you're no harpy!" "I thought I told Deynris I would do this alone! Wait a minute..."
Joke: "Fight or Flight? Why not both?" "Do you even lift?" (while flapping wings to float)
RELATIONSHIPS:
Friends: Valor? (She wants to free him from human tyranny)
Rivals:
Enemies:
