[Champion Concept] Cecilia and Ailia - the Sky Cavalry
CCOS Reviews:
Champion Type
Diver
Short Lore
A knight who once abandoned her purpose and a steed instinctively searching for her own, Cecilia and her pegasus, Ailia, fight with ferocious valor to demonstrate to the Demacian military the value of training an official contingent of Pegasus Knights.
Once a dreamer in search of opportunities for heroism, Cecilia abandoned her calling with the Demacian military when she found the life of a basic soldier unfulfilling. She went off to Mt. Targon hoping to find herself, but instead found a herd of wild pegasi flying around the foothills of the mountains. Immediately stricken by visions of heroics carried out from the sky, Cecilia spent months singling out and winning the trust of one of them, whom she named Ailia. In truth, Ailia and her herd were long without masters but still with a long-bred drive to serve one, and Ailia appealed to Cecilia in her own way to find riders for the rest of her herd.
Now finally possessing a real goal with which she could better her people, Cecilia rode Ailia back to her home. Regaining the trust of the military would be an uphill battle for the pair, but they'd already gone as far as to win the respect of one another. The rest was just a matter of time.
Appearance
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/67/2d/da/672dda04dc5a19c7bbde85cec8fcdb9e.jpg
Statistics
Health: 585 (+ 80) Health Regen: 8.5 (+ 0.8) Mana: 334 (+ 40) Mana Regen: 7.1 (+ 0.65) Melee: 175
Attack Damage: 60 (+ 3.5) Attack Speed: 0.644 (+ 2.5%) Armor: 24 (+ 3.25) Magic Resistance: 32.1 (+ 1.25) Movement Speed: 345
__ __
Abilities
Guiding Currents
Wing Guard protection arc: 90 degrees
Innate: Ailia passively generates a Wing Guard that absorbs damage for herself and Cecilia originating from the direction it is facing. The Wing Guard slowly updates to face the direction they are facing and gains strength as they or their allied champions move.
If depleted, the Wing Guard persists but ceases to protect the pair unless recharged, and has its ability to recharge through movement disabled for 9 seconds, at the end of which it regains 10% of its maximum capacity.
Shield % gained per 100 units traveled: (1/1.75/2.5)% at levels (1/7/13) Wing Guard shield cap: 60 + [15 per level for levels 1 to 9/20 per level for levels 10 to 18] + 10% Bonus Health
(The Wing Guard's strength is shown in a resource bar below her mana bar, in the same location most champions have ammo gauges)
Q: Strike From The Sky
Dash range: 400 Cost: 30/35/40/45/50 mana Cooldown: 14/12/10/8/6 seconds
Active: Ailia dashes to the target location, stopping after passing through the first enemy champion or reaching terrain and dealing physical damage to enemies she passes through.
Crashing Gale: If Cecilia hasn't attacked or been attacked in the last 5 seconds, the dash's range doubles, it deals 50% bonus damage, and it no longer stops at terrain.
Physical Damage: 30/60/90/120/150 + 100% AD Enhanced Physical Damage: 45/90/135/180/225 + 150% AD
W: Air Slice
Cost: 40/50/60/70/80 mana Cooldown: 16 seconds
Active: For the next 4 seconds, Cecilia’s basic attacks against enemy champions, large minions, and large monsters, if aimed in the direction of the Wing Guard, gain bonus attack speed.
Cecilia’s third consecutive attack that triggers this effect during this time briefly excites the Wing Guard, restoring a portion of its strength and refreshing the ability’s cooldown by 50%
Bonus Attack Speed: 40/50/60/70/80% Wing Guard strength regained: 5/7.5/10/12.5/15% missing shield gauge
E: By Wing And Spear
Flap range: 250 Blade min range: 200 Blade max range: 500 Sweep arc: 90 degrees Cost: 50/55/60/65/70 mana Cooldown: 15/13.5/12/10.5/9 seconds
Active: Ailia flaps her wings hard as she lifts into the air, knocking nearby enemies in the target direction while also forcing the Wing Guard to face that same direction.
Afterward, Cecilia sweeps her spear in an arc across the same direction, dealing enemies struck by the blade physical damage and reducing their armor for 5 seconds. Ailia remains afloat during and for 1 second after Cecilia's swing, ghosting the pair and allowing them to continue moving.
Physical Damage: 80/120/160/200/240 + 120% Bonus AD Armor Reduction: 10/14/18/22/26% armor
R: Sky Duet
Cost: 100 mana Blast Range: 550 Land Range: 550 Cooldown: 140/120/100 seconds
Active: Cecilia stabs the Wing Guard, disrupting it to unleash a blast of wind that knocks up the first enemy champion in the direction it was facing. Cecilia and Ailia then carry that enemy champion skyward, suspending them while they channel for a short duration, at the end of which they they deal them physical damage.
The suspension applied by this effect cannot be cleansed, nor its duration reduced, and both Cecilia and her target are untargetable and otherwise invulnerable for the duration.
The damaged enemy crashes to the ground after the duration is over, stunning them for 0.5 seconds. Cecilia remains in the air for an additional 0.5 seconds until the effect ends or Cecilia reactivates the ability, at which point she lands at the cursor’s location.
Physical Damage: 150/250/350 + 100% Bonus AD Duration: 1.5/2/2.5 seconds
(Casting the ability does not reduce the strength of the Wing Guard)
Long Lore
Cecilia was born as nothing more than a common farm girl in a Demacian frontier village, far from the white walls, far from the proud knights, and far from the shadows that flourished within Demacia's highest nobility. To her, the cruelty of ancient mages, the bitter recklessness of the Noxian barbarians, and the majestic might of the guardian colossus were just bed-time stories to conclude a long day of work and play in the fields. As she grew past her childhood days she began to serve her small community by tending and caring for the horses, a task she had a natural aptitude at.
She might have lived her life in that relatively comfortable simplicity but for the fateful day when a small gang of roaming bandits came upon their village, demanding tole and toil. Rather than submit, the men of the village took up arms against the bandits - Cecilia's father, her only living family, included. The peasants were brave but were no warriors, and the bandits tore through them with ease and began to sack the village. It was at that moment when a patrol of Demacian knights - no more than scouts looking to police the countryside - arrived. Cecilia watched from her hiding place in the stables, her eyes shining, as the knights brought justice down on the bandits. To her simple eyes they were like paragons of virtue, protecting the people. Not a single bandit escaped.
Once the fires were put out and the bodies laid to rest, the villagers tried to return to their old lives - Cecilia as well. Her efforts were for naught: her sunlit hours were filled with daydreams of the gallantry of the soldiers that had saved her and her fellow townsfolk from the bandits, and her nights with fraught with terrible dreams. Visions of the flames and bodies would visit her nearly every night, and she often lie awake, quivering.
All around her, the survivors slowly moved on from their old home, all seeking a better life elsewhere. Eventually she could stand it no longer. Channeling her grief for her life lost into patriotic fervor, and rode her favorite horse to the Demacian capital.
She wouldn't let anybody else suffer as she had. She'd join the glorious knights and defend her home.
Although she was a commoner, Cecilia was still sufficiently able-bodied to be accepted as a common soldier in the military. She put forth everything she had into her training as she learned to hold and use a spear, her dreams of protecting the people pushing her through the long days and nights. Her nightmares slowly lessened as her training went on - sheer exhaustion ensuring she would sleep through the night. But, when she finally received her first assignment, she found it rather... lacking in moments of glory. What she'd envisioned - rather naively, granted - was epic battles against rogues, Noxian soldiers, and vile mages. What she instead experienced was long, dull, drills in towns or marches through the countryside, accomplishing not much in her eyes. And during those dull days, memories of the night her village was attacked began to come to her in her dreams once again.
In truth she served the country well enough, but she'd expected too much from a life as a soldier, and reality found itself hard-pressed to compete. When her impatience - both with her life and her inability to forget her past - reached its breaking point, she wondered how else she might ("actually," as she thought it) serve her people, and heard legends of exiled Demacians being sentence to climb a mountain in some distant land, which would somehow absolve them of their failures and bestow them with enlightenment. It seemed far-fetched even to her, but when she stopped to reflect on how far she'd come from home already, she decided to go a few steps further.
Once her mandatory four-year period of service with the military was up she resigned her commission and rode out into the countryside, seeing first hand the world beyond Demacia's borders. She took only the supplies she needed and her spear to remind her of her days as a soldier and trusted her own experience and her skill with her horse to see her through. The trial of reaching the mountain would prepare her for the task of climbing it. That was the idea, anyways. In reality she got lost several times on the way to Targon and made a several-month trip last a little over a year, but she made it either way. In any case, she slept better while on the road than she had in some time.
When she finally stepped under the shadow of the mountain, she looked up. And up. And up. And realized it was much taller than even the harrowing tales had suggested. It was the first time that her dreams would be properly challenged by the cold grip of reality, and she began to search around, as if for some other way to accomplish the task.
That was when she saw them. She thought at first her eyes were playing tricks on her but they were there and plain and clear: horses galloping through the air. She gaped up at them, eager to see the beasts up close, but was stymied when she saw them land amidst the cliffs of Targon; not even remotely near the top, but still well out of reach.
If she wanted to see them, she’d need to climb anyways, at least for a while. It took her several weeks of struggle - not the least because she had no experience scaling mountains - but finally she managed to pull herself up upon the small plateau where the winged horses - pegasi, she’d learned from locals near the bottom - roosted when they came to rest. Her background with horses immediately struck her in the face when she saw them, and she was sorry for the sight. Free-roaming, unsteady, antsy. They were feral animals. She’d seen wild horses many times in her youth, and seeing them again reminded them of… herself. She’d been directionless through her life ever since her village had been burned down. Becoming a soldier had been nothing but a distraction from her grief, as had leaving to climb a mountain in the middle of nowhere. No matter where she ran, things never improved. Reality kept failing her. Or maybe she was the one failing...
It was time to stop running. The pegasi were waiting for new riders.
Singling one mare out from the others, she spent weeks following her (when she was on the ground, anyways), trying every trick she could remember to gain the trust of the pegasus. It was only during the night of a storm, when the pegasus was grounded by the rain and beset by mountain wolves, that Cecilia finally made headway with her. Cecilia put herself between the pegasus and the beasts, and the pegasus seemed to realize in her inborn instincts the difference between a human and another animal, and came to her aid. The pair spent the rest of the night huddled under a rocky outcropping.
It took time for Cecilia to fully gain the trust of the pegasus that Cecilia had chosen to name Ailia, but the day finally came that Ailia would bare Cecilia on her back and take flight with her. As her hair whipped through the sky and she looked down at the world below, Cecilia finally felt a sense of accomplishment - one she’d worked for. Ailia then brought Cecilia back to her herd, as if to ask her to find her brothers and sisters help. Cecilia nodded, knowing that her job wasn’t done yet.
She gently turned Ailia back to home, to Demacia, and pressed her forward. The military wouldn’t be happy to see her again, especially if on the back of an animal they might consider magical in nature, but she’d face their doubts either way. If she could prove her worth as a knight on a pegasus’ back, she could convince her people to tame and help Ailia’s herd.
It wouldn’t be easy, but for once she’d see her duty through. She could manage it with Ailia at her side.
Quotes
Selection: "Demacia wings to the sky!" Ban: "Sorry girl, guess we're sitting this one out."
Game start: "Ready girl?" "Saddle up, we've got a fight to win." "The breeze feels great today." "The sky opens its arms for us." "Don't worry, we'll keep watch from the sky!"
Game start with an ally Demacian: "Look sharp girl, now's our chance to show off!" "Hey, ready to see what a Pegasus Knight can do?" "So, please take note of how Ailia and I perform today!" "I'll expect glowing praise for how much I saved you after this is over."
Attacking: "Taste the spear of Demacia!" "Trample 'em, Ailia!" "By wing and spear!" "Don't touch my pegasus!" "Justice descends!" "You never saw us coming!" "Hoof falls coming from above!" "You can't hide from the sky!" "We were both born for this!" "Go in, Ailia!" "We've got this together, Ailia!" "Woah, Ailia!" "On the wings of justice!"
Move: "Doing okay, girl?" "I used to be lost, I just didn't know it." "I'd rather be flying right now." "I feel like I've known you forever, Ailia." "See any dangers, Ailia?" "Being with you feels very nostalgic..." "I can go anywhere when I'm with you, girl." "How high will we go today, Ailia?" "Let's find what's waiting at the end of our trail." "We were born to find each other, girl." "No matter what, we're together forever!" "Someday we'll have a whole team of Pegasus Knights fighting with us!" "The air belongs to Demacia now!" "We'll make them understand somehow." "See anything?" "Everywhere in this world shares the same sky." "The shadow we cast is one of hope." "There's always a place for us, Ailia." "There's nowhere too far to go!"
Dance: (Cecilia dismounts and begins calmly grooming Ailia, occasionally patting her)
Joking: (Offers a carrot to Ailia, leading her around for a while. Ailia catches it with a huge bite, apparently taking Cecilia's hand with it, but after a moment of panic she pulls her hand out of her sleeve and sighs with relief)
Responding to an ally joke: "Why're we doing standup now?" "That was funny, but..." "Not sure why you wanna make jokes in a battle."
Responding to Xayah's joke: (Ally) "Wanna give her lessons, girl?" (Enemy) (Laughs quietly)
Responding to an enemy joke: "That was funny. Can I stab you now?" "We done here? Trample time!" "Ailia didn't think that was funny. I didn't either."
Allied team aced: "Well... at least I can still depend on you, Ailia." "We're used to managing on our own anyways." "I'd better train the future Pegasus Knights not to do that."
Killing an enemy champion: "Another goes underhoof!" "Just another stepping stone!" "Another one to step over, Ailia!" "We've got a name to carve for ourselves!"
Killing a champion Cecilia last killed: "Have you considered flanking?" "Maybe bring reinforcements?" "Charging in doesn't seem to be a winning strategy for you."
Killing a Demacian: "I'm sorry it came to that..." "If it has to be this way..." "I'm... I'm not a traitor..." "They wouldn't understand..."
Killing Kayn: "Shadows retreat from the lights above!" "You died long ago."
Killing Kled: "Sorry, Skaarl..." "We owe Skaarl an apology, girl..."
Killing Lux: "Mages are all the same." "The lights go out!"
Killing a mage: "Enough of your evil magics!" "You've uttered your last spell!" "You can't trust a spellcaster!" "Demacians won't ever suffer under magic again!"
Killing a Noxian: "Demacia!" "Down with the empire!" "Death comes to Noxus from above!" "You can't wall off the sky, Noxian!"
Killing Riven: "You can't fly on broken wings!" "The only end for a bird with broken wings."
Killing a Targonian: "Pegasus wings soar higher than Targon's peak!" "It seems Targon didn't teach you anything after all."
Killing Urgot: "You should've stayed underground!" "Swain should've finished what he began."
Purchasing an item: "Best to be prepared." "A useful thing to have around." "Into the saddlebags!" "Gotta replace your equipment and supplies."
Placing a Ward: "Keep watch for us, little ward!" "We'll take 'em out, you stay here!" "Broadening our horizons!"
Destroying a Ward: "Bye bye, little spy!" "Only we get to flank around here!" "Always gotta watch for these things."
Recall: (Cecilia and Ailia stop to rest briefly, before Ailia prepares to take flight. Their recall animation completes with the pair flying off screen) "Ready for a break, girl?" "I think we've earned a breather." "Let's stop to rest." "Back home, Ailia!"
Taunting: (Ailia rears up, neighing loudly and kicking her legs while Cecilia flourishes her spear) "Just one of you and two of us! You don't stand a chance!" "You can run, but we'll run you down from above!" "There's nowhere in this world the skies can't reach!" "What'll it be, her hooves or my spear?"
Taunting Fiora: (Ally) "Surely you wouldn't mind some help this time?" (Enemy) "A duelist is someone who has nobody they can rely on."
Taunting a Demacian: (Ally) "No matter how far I traveled, my heart was always in Demacia." (Ally) "My time away from Demacia bore fruit, just wait and see!" (Enemy) "Fine, don't listen, we'll do it the hard way!" (Enemy) "Ailia's not magical! And even if she is, she's not dangerous!"
Taunting Garen: (Ally) "Hey, DEMACIA!" (laughs) (Enemy) "I'm NOT a traitor!"
Taunting an enemy Hecarim: "And I thought Ailia and I had a connection..." "It's sad to see a horse gone bad."
Taunting Lux: (Ally) "So you've seen the world? How far did you go?" (Enemy) "You really can't trust mages!"
Taunting Jarvan IV: (Ally) "Your Highness! An honor to fight alongside you!" (Enemy) "I thought you'd at least understand why I needed to leave..."
Taunting an enemy Kayn: "Shadow of Noxus, I'll run you through!" "Shadows can't reach the sky!"
Taunting an enemy Kled: "Your lizard has the right idea, rodent!" "You've been fighting for WAY too long..."
Taunting an enemy Noxian: "I'm just the first of many, Noxian!" "Bet you've never fought something like THIS before!"
Taunting an enemy Riven: "Sorrow doesn't absolve you of your crimes, Riven!" "You couldn't run from your past and you can't run from Ailia!"
Taunting an enemy Sejuani: "You can learn a lot about a soldier from the beast she rides."
Taunting Shyvana: (Ally) "Hey Shyvana, let's go in together!" (Enemy) "It's the prince's tamed pet dragon!"
Taunting a Targonian: (Ally) "Did you find yourself on Targon, too?" (Enemy) "I never needed to climb a mountain to touch the sky!"
Taunting Taric: (Ally) "You actually survived Targon? Amazing!" (Enemy) "The person who left Demacia died up on Targon..."
Taunting an enemy Urgot: "The ultimate expression of Noxian brutality." "A spider crawls from its hole to get snatched in a bird's talons."
Taunting an enemy Vayne: "Who'll be left to hunt you when it's over, Vayne?" "You'll be the only dark one left in the end, Vayne."
Taunting Xin Zhao: (Ally) "I've also got a point to make!" (laughs) (Enemy) "Shame you don't have a flying horse too."
Responding to taunts: "Now I'll stab you more." "... Get 'em, Ailia." "Say that to my pegasus!"
Reponding to Galio's taunts: (Ally) "No thanks, Ailia's already got me covered." (Enemy) "Can't hear you up there, let me fly a little closer."
Responding to an enemy Kayn's taunts: "If you need words to scare me then I've nothing to fear." "Then step forward and back up your threats!"
Responding to an enemy Kled's taunts: "We're not gonna end up like him, are we, Ailia?" "Hmm, he's our opposite number?"
Responding to Lux's taunts: (Ally) "Demacia's the only home I ever found, though." (Enemy) "I understand you're in my way!"
Responding to Urgot's taunts: "You... I have to kill you..." "No matter what, you have to die."
Upon an enemy responding to Cecilia's taunts: "Actions speak louder than words anyways!" "I warned you!" "I tried being nice!" "Then we're through talking!"
Upon casting Teleport "This is even quicker than flying!" "Time to go, Ailia!" "Time to fly, girl!" "A Pegasus Knight can't be idle!"
Teleporting to an ally "Hold on, we're coming!" "Try to hang on!" "Help is coming!" "Hang in there!"
Upon blocking all of an enemy Fiora's damage to a vital with the Wing Guard "You only hit air, Fiora!" "Poor form!" "Where were you aiming?"
Upon casting an empowered Strike From The Sky: "Run 'em down!" "Going in!" "Flanking from above!" "Charge!"
Upon landing Strike From The Sky upon an enemy champion who is in combat with an allied champion: "The cavalry's arrived!" "You won't stand alone, friend!" "Don't worry, we're here!" "It's not over yet!" "You're not alone!" "I won't let you take them!"
Upon landing both hits of By Wing And Spear" "Nice job, Ailia!" "You and me, Ailia!" "We've got this together!"
Upon catching an enemy with Sky Duet" "Let's dance!" "The skies await!" "You're coming with us!" "Let's show you the sky!" "The view's great from above!" "Ready for a skydive?" "Going up!"
Upon dying: (Cecilia falls from Ailia's back, and Ailia falls over on her side in the other direction, separating the pair and killing Ailia instantly. Cecilia tries to reach over to touch Ailia's face, but she collapses before she can reach her.) "Ailia... I'm sorry." "Ailia... it's all my fault." "You needed... a better rider." "Ssshhh... It's okay... girl." "I'm okay... don't... worry."
Upon Respawing: "Let's go at it from another angle, huh?" "Time to fly back in there!" "They'll go under our hooves soon enough, Ailia." "Well that was awful. Let's try something different this time."
