Shurima Story Q&A #2

RiotA Small Man·5/12/2016, 8:01:25 PM·22 votes·82,766 views


Hey folks!

We've nabbed a few members of the Narrative and Foundations teams for some Q&A about all the new champion stories that have hit the Shurima story page! Whether you're interested in Shurima, its champions, or the latest thinking behind League's background, ask away and they'll be happy to answer!

On hand for questions today we have:
  • Anthony "Ant in Oz" Reynolds - Foundations Lead
  • Ryan "Riot Rubinio" Rubin - Foundations Dev Manager
  • Scott "Jaredan" Hawkes - Narrative Lead
  • Graham "Dinopawz" McNeil - Senior Writer
  • Chanel "Riot Tiger Lily" Dawnee - Writer / Editor
  • Rayla "Jellbug" Heide - Writer
  • 442 Comments

    Sharjo5/12/2016, 8:12:41 PM9 votes

    Alrighty! Most of these ones I put down are gonna be related to Skarner I feel but we'll see!

    1. Skarner mentions "thousand spins" and "three turns" when referring to the passage of time, and it seems to give an indication of humans being around for a VASTLY shorter period of time than the Brackern, which I guess would make sense with them being almost elemental in origin they'd likely be one of the first organisms to appear in a world with as much magic as Runeterra. My question here is in relation to other species like darkin, targonians and humans, who've all been around on Runeterra for ages in some capacity, how ancient are the Brackern?

    2. Skarner tried to communicate with the thieves in the general Brackern way, but was unsuccessful, so two questions: firstly, is Skarner incapable of communicating like humans do or is it just difficult/not a thing he'd like to do, and secondly how does the Brackern's form of communication work? Is it almost like a telepathic link connecting the Brackern to each other and the earth or something different?

    3. When is "Greed and Tears" set? Because given the rumors and speculation in the lore about Amumu, I'm inclined to believe it's set a long, long time ago.

    4. Given the fact that the Rune Wars have been mentioned once again for the first time in YEARS, is there anything you guys can tell us about them? I imagine the specifics aren't up for discussion but are there any broad, sweeping things you could say about them? Like a general estimate as to how many there have been?

    Alright that'll be it for me at the moment. Thanks for doing these stories and, to the fellow who wrote Skarner's colour text; it's one of the best if not the best of any I've read so far, so kudos to you on writing such an awesome piece!

    Gandlos5/12/2016, 8:29:33 PM8 votes

    With most of the storys up i questioned myself if we will get some more lore around the connection between all these characters. We were told that we would get some. For example between Nasus and Sivir. Also what about connections with Skarner?

    WarlockLaw5/12/2016, 8:08:14 PM8 votes

    So are we never going to get a definitive answer on who Amumu was when he was alive?

    Zenthon Prime5/12/2016, 8:29:38 PM7 votes

    What drove Xerath to go basically mad with power and become completely evil (manipulating Renek, etc.)? Prior to him getting locked up, he didn't seem like a great guy but at least felt regret over killing Azir.

    If the League isn't around in the new lore, what's preventing another Rune War?

    EROTIC RAID BOSS5/12/2016, 9:06:11 PM6 votes

    Was it difficult to write for any of the shuriman champs? Like trying to find what excites you about skarner for example?

    Not really a question but usually bounty hunters and mercs, like miss fortune, are portrayed as overall good people, I liked that Sivir doubled down on her not so heartofgold morality

    I gotta admit I'm worried that taliyahs bio won't cover as much ground on azir and shurima as id like, how much do you have follow up stories planned for shurima and other stories that were left ready for sequels? Ie gangplank/mf, jhins story

    When you started doing these bios did you guys sit down with every champion to find the qualities that excited you or the story beats you were interested in or is the process more piecemeal or organic? How do you avoid writing 2 champs too similarly in terms of motivations or personality etc?

    Lastly, do you guys already know where we're going after shurima? Any hints? Is it difficult to tackle large regions like ionia or demacia?

    Tamuut5/12/2016, 9:41:02 PM4 votes

    What would have happened if Nasus was locked in with Xerath instead of Renekton? Would he have been able to retain his sanity, or would he turn out like his brother?

    Fasmodey5/12/2016, 8:23:45 PM4 votes
    • Would Xerath explode if he didn't have sarcophagus? A rioter said his power goes beyond than a out of 10 scale, and hinted he would explode. Is it true? If it is, is Xerath aware of it? What would he do to avoid exploding? Even the most impotant one, can he avoid it?

    • And for this sin, Xerath had been punished with a horrible, maddening promise: Freedom. Unobtainable. Forbidden. Should the thought even dart through a slave’s mind, it would be punished by death, as the Ascended could gaze past flesh and bone, deep into one’s very soul, to see its dim traitorous glow. And yet, there it was, spoken by the young princeling he dragged from the embrace of the mercurial mother-desert. Azir, the Golden Sun, vowed that he would free his savior and new friend.

    How couldn't Nasus and Renekton understand the real purpose of Xerath then?

    • Xerath's story says Renekton and Nasus were there when Xerath just finished his ascension. They imprisoned him without any reaction and fought with Bound Xerath. But When I read the story of Renekton, it says when the shockwave shows up they were 1 day away from the Capital. Does it mean Xerath's Ascension was for 1 day? Dıd Xerath just dry up the Sun Disc's power?
    rtbf2256182415/12/2016, 8:35:20 PM4 votes

    Hm..it seems to bother me that Sivir has killed a lot of innocent people for money. Is that true? I mean in her story, she did kill a lot of soldiers with arguable moral outlooks but not sure if they got what was coming to them.

    Scarborough Fair5/12/2016, 8:58:24 PM4 votes

    If Cassiopeia asked Azir for a favor, would he think about it? Afterall, she did free him. In other words: Would Azir forgive Cassiopeia for stabbing Sivir in the back because it caused his revival?

    Breezes 5/12/2016, 9:04:13 PM4 votes

    I'm really curious about Sivir's connection to Azir. Who survived the destruction of the empire that had Azir's blood to pass down. Because in the text of Azir it said that he had multiple offspring with different people, and it also says that at his ascension ritual, when it all went bad, that his son who's on the brink of manhood and his young daughter were caught in the destruction. So does that mean that one of the multiple children Azir had escaped, was exiled or survive the down fall, lived? Sivir Azir

    Spection5/12/2016, 9:38:11 PM4 votes

    Hi! Love the stories. The amount of work you guys put into fleshing out these characters is really palpable. Keep up the good work!

    1. Is it possible that Renekton's mental trauma and the intense hatred brought on by it could be cured by some form of ionian healing magic? I'm thinking someone like Soraka or Sona might be able to have some positive effect on his condition. What are your thoughts on this?

    2. How aware is Azir of the other prevalent city-states? If he is aware of these city states, does he currently have any plans for establishing relations with other nations? What type of relations might he establish?

    3. Do you think Noxus might ever attempt an Ionian style invasion if they determine that Shurima has abundant natural resources to be exploited? Is Azir strong enough to counter a threat of this magnitude?

    4. If given an ultimatum, would Azir ally with Piltover/Demacia or Noxus/Zaun? Why?

    5. Does Azir have any plans for dealing with the void infestation?

    6. What is the process for creating these stories?

    Thank you!

    Jeddy0175/12/2016, 8:11:05 PM3 votes

    Has Sivir ever done work outside of Shurima?

    .......I feel like I should post more question, but I know most of them are the "no no,can't answer" question. So I'll just drop that simple one here.

    Solash5/12/2016, 8:31:41 PM3 votes

    So is it still up in the air as far as Amumu's race is concerned?

    Padillac15/12/2016, 8:18:45 PM3 votes

    -Is Xerath planing to create a rival empire in order to start a war?

    -Is it true that Xerath is the emperor of a new epire?

    -If an ascended met Ammumu, whould he die?

    Lord Caelistis5/12/2016, 8:50:03 PM3 votes

    Given that Xerath shapes up to be the main baddie for the whole Shurimian continent, would Skarner eventually be led to directly clash with him? Would his Dreamsong be able to reach Xerath's mind, as he is more finely attuned to arcane matters than almost anybody else on Runeterra? On a similar topic, would Xerath be able to feel the sleeping Brackerns and/or be interested in acquiring their crystals?

    Dantone5/12/2016, 9:23:26 PM2 votes

    It seems that the woman in Skarner's lore is important (especially because she doesn't die)... I feel dumb but I can't figure out who it is. Can we get anymore hints?

    Scarborough Fair5/12/2016, 8:41:23 PM2 votes

    What's your definition of a curse? Because I'm really trying to convince myself that Cassiopeia's transformation is a "curse".