[Champion Concept] Jarla, the Hound Whisperer

#WORK IN PROGRESS

First of all, just want to throw a huge thank you to Lutzburg for basically being my inspiration for Champion concepts (I especially love how he organizes and formats each concept). All of his concepts are very interesting and unique and you should totally check them out (Most of them are SUPER old, and even hold some similarities to Champions we have today, even if they were made months or years before their release).

ROLE: Jarla's most powerful in the jungle, but she can also go top lane as a Fighter.

INSPIRATION: This is my first Champion Concept, but it seemed like the most fleshed out one I've had floating around in my computer (and head) right now, so I thought I'd give it a go. I actually thought of a character using pets and leashes as their weapon when I was walking my dogs in the backyard one day. From there, my two dogs got tangled up to a tree due to the fact that they spun around it, wrapping the tree with their leashes. From there on, I've always had this fantasy for a Beast-Tamer-like Champion that uses pets and leashes as their main weapon (along with a personality and lore that makes them a sort of anti-thesis or 'frenemy' of ). Though I ended up building Jarla more on the focus on her two dogs rather then the crazy "Buff the enemy JG monsters/Bring JG into your lane" sorta stuff since I thought it'd be a little easier and fit more with her.

APPEARANCE: Jarla is an intimidating and strange woman. She is the same species as , bearing more of a resemblance to a Lynx-like creature instead of a lion though. She dons armor most fitting for a beast-tamer like her, but also aspects of being a hunter as well, such as various teeth and skulls of smaller and weaker animals, leather armor decorated to blend in somewhat with the forest (obviously not as revealing as seen in the picture), and maybe a hood or headdress of sorts.

Alone, she wields a whip of sorts that gives her a moderate-range basic attack, but begins to use her fists when one of her hands is wielding the leashes connecting to her two hounds, Ortho and Cerber. The two stand beside her with pride, ready to tear apart the next enemy that she directs them to. Ortho and Cerber resemble a strange mix between a rabid wolf and a hyena, both bearing a brownish-orangeish fur coat, aggressive idle stance, bright yellow eyes, snarling and barking attitude, but with Ortho being spotted and Cerber being stripped.

Jarla's a very young, yet extreme woman, expressed through her violent and messy fighting style using her whips and her fists, mimicking her hounds in a way. With this, she is seen as the 'alpha bitch' of her hounds, as she firmly commands her pets to commit their savage actions. Though she may seem cruel, she actually has deep respect for her hounds and does anything to protect them, train them, feed them, and keep 's hands off them. Jarla speaks with a strange accent, with emphasized "R's" and occasional hissing, think "J'Zargo."

http://www.hiveworkshop.com/data/ratory-images/104/104544-4b0ad02722cd0e429f7d7d056bcd6e81.jpg P - Ortoho & Cerber: Whenever Jarla kills a Jungle Monster, Plant, Champion or the occasional Minion, they drop a bit of food called 'Bait' (Works on minions, but only every 6th minion that dies near Jarla, much like 's passive where a grave appears on the 12th minion that dies). Collecting Bait fills up a bar under your health, with each kill giving a different amount of bait (Monsters give 3, Champions, Baron, Dragon and Rift Herald give 6, and Plants & Minions give 1). The maximum Bait you can hold is 15, where when reached either Ortho or Cerber are summoned. This can be done twice, holding both Ortho and Cerber on the battlefield, any additional Bait picked up while both hounds are active are used for Jarla's other abilities. Bait stops spawning if your bar is still full while Ortho and Cerber are summoned.

The hounds both have a duration bar, which increases as you level up. Since they are targetabble, their duration bar significantly decreases ever time they take damage, essentially having decreasing duration bars instead of health bars. Both of them are stationary on their own, but will only move closer to stay within their, indicated area around Jarla. Both Ortho and Cerber are connected by a leash, which reaches the max range of the area around Jarla that the hounds stay within. Ortho's leash is colored yellow-orange, while Cerber's is red-orange, and both deal slight magic damage on anyone that walks through them. Each leash is held by one of Jarla's hands, turning her moderate-ranged basic attacks into close range melee attacks with her fists if both Ortho and Cerber are on the battlefield. Each leash also applies their own mark, and if an enemy champion walks through both of them (gaining both marks) then they are rooted for a short time (this has a cooldown that appears on each Champion affected, like 's dash or 's knockup). DESIGN PHILOSOPHY: The basis of Jarla's whole kit. The hounds are essential for most of Jarla's abilities as one of her weaknesses are her dependency on them.

http://www.hiveworkshop.com/data/ratory-images/74/74621-e0531b8a5c1512662b3fa2016e7550f0.jpg Q - Go Chase!: Cost: N/A If both of Jarla's hounds are out ont he battlefield, then she commands Ortho and/or Cerber to dash in a direction within their range, dealing physical damage on enemies that they dash through. Targetting in between both hounds causes both of the hounds to converge on the cursor, causing them to dash across from one another, acting a bit like 's rockets but instead involving two pets. Otherwise, targetting outside of the middle of both hounds acts differently, prioritizing the hound closest to the cursor. For instance, if Cerber is on the right and Ortho is on the left, then aiming "Go Chase!" to the right causes Ortho to dash towards the center, while Cerber just dashes to the right as normal. DESIGN PHILOSOPHY: The main tool used to direct your hounds, this ability is meant to have a pretty short cooldown and be the only way to directly control your hounds. The reason behind the strange targetting-mechanic is to easily proc the marks from your passive.

http://www.hiveworkshop.com/data/ratory-images/58/58994-7e978e8c64f278e6d6b448ad64adb8ac.jpg W - Play Fetch!: Cost: 3/3/2/1/1 Bait Jarla flings a raw steak at a small targetted area as a projectile ( bomb style). If the hounds are out, then they both enter a frenzy-like state and gain increased movement speed when moving towards the steak. Any enemies along their path to the steak are attacked by Ortho and Cerber, each dealing some physical damage. The steak can also be thrown on top of an enemy Champion, causing the hounds to go on a frenzy with increased attack speed on the target. If the hounds manage to kill the targetted Champion or eat the steak, then their duration bar is slightly increased. DESIGN PHILOSOPHY: Another hound-dependent ability used for directing your hounds, but the only ability that allows them to directly attack your enemies. Since they scale off of AD, this is what makes Jarla a decent fighter.

http://www.hiveworkshop.com/data/ratory-images/100/100742-df5121d4d67f14f979db8d88d3db39dc.jpg E - Whiplash: Cost: N/A If the hounds are not summoned on the battlefield, leaving Jarla's hands free, then she is able to cast Whiplash. Once casted, Jarla begins to attack with her whip in a small cone in front of her, dealing moderate physical damage. This can be cast while moving, but it slightly slows Jarla. DESIGN PHILOSOPHY: The only ability (aside from her ult) that doesn't need hounds to cast, and the only ability that doesn't really interact with them. This is somewhat of a last resort if Jarla gets caught out without her hounds, mostly for dueling.

http://www.hiveworkshop.com/data/ratory-images/59/59833-24aa1fb0cc8578887c259d8885c77802.jpg R - TREAT!: Cost: 10/9/8 Bait Jarla blows a whistle and throws two dog-treats in the air. Ortho and Cerber happily jump in the air and grab these treats, proceeding to run around Jarla rapidly in a circle for a duration, dealing continuous magic damage. During this, Jarla is immobile, but immune to CC. Jarla's passive still applies the mark to enemies caught in her ult, but the cooldown is drastically decreased. After the ult is finished, Ortho and Cerber's duration bars are completely reset. This can also be cast without both hounds on the battlefield, as it automatically summons both of them when casted. DESIGN PHILOSOPHY: The ability that makes Jarla a huge team-player, allowing her to proc her CC during a team fight, as well as provide extra if you win the fight as the ability automatically summons/completely heals both your hounds when casted.

LORE: WIP

WIP STUFF:

• Numbers, I'm pretty bad with the numbers when it comes to League so that's kind of what scared me off from ever really releasing my ideas. But perhaps I can delve deeper into that some other time, probably get some help from a friend on it maybe?
• Lore, I've pretty much got my idea going, but I'm still writing it up. I especially love this part of concepts, so I'm going all out on the lore and writing it as League has recently started formatting official lore (Small bio, Color-Text, and then a first-hand story of them)
• Design Philosophies, these aren't as fleshed out right now but I'll get to these once I get the numbers too maybe. Note, this is obviously my first concept I've really gotten into detail with, so It's gonna have it's flaws. But a first is definitely not a last : ^ ).