That's quite an increase in origin complexity.

SaltyToplaneGoat··69 votes·9,808 views

Now we have a born shuriman who volunteered in the noxian military, deserted during the invasion of ionia and is now on her way back to Shurima to defeat the evil Bird God that has risen from the grave, but has to take a detour over the Freljord to get past the Noxian territory.

Well, that’s quite a step up if you compare this to early lore…

Not complaining, I'm all for more depth and complexity, but it surely is a difference.

What's more interesting is the way it's crafted. It's a heroe's journey through three entirely different areas to save her family from the great evil. Ironically, Azir has probably zero business with enslaving people. He would probably invite all shurimans to live in the city, to fill it with life again. Full citicen rights and all. Heck, he would probably welcome her with open arms...

Also I get the feeling our rock-bending bird might cause quite some trouble during the Freljordian Civil War. Maybe we finally get some more lore from there too?

We have to keep in mind that both Freljord and Shurima are both falling into the "unfinished events" category. And now we have a champion who will travel both areas. Truly interesting...

113 Comments

RiotRiotJaredan33 votes

Loving this thread. Even if I need to put a Band-Aid on my lip.

EROTIC RAID BOSS22 votes

Azir better not be a bad guy suddenly I'll join the others and complain about space parasites if he is <.<

Seriously, lookin forward to that shurima lore which sounds like it's finally coming soon

Star Guardían16 votes

Life isn't as simple as good guys and bad guys all the time.

Arakadia11 votes

THIS! I can't stress this enough! Noxus isn't "evil" but mostly with different values. Rito makes Noxus look evil to make the story simpler, but I love how they made two sides of Azir. Those who think he will not be a good leader, be a tyrant, and those who support him and his bird glory.

Celio Hogane HD10 votes

Well actually Noxus right now is pretty evil, NOXIANS are not evil.

SaltyToplaneGoat5 votes

Oh hello there Jaredan.

If anything I expected you to show up on the Brand thread (which you indirectly caused btw ^^), but it's nice to see you here.

Also, I have a tiny guess to make about our new champ. She seems to be the "eager student" archetype, so for every area she will probably find a companion who's more experienced than her and helps her to see the world and her powers in a new way.

In Ionia it was Yasuo, so now I thought about who it could be in the Freljord. First guess was Braum, but that would be too perfect. The second was Sejuani, but that wouldn't really fly either. And then it hit me: the ultimate mentor that no one ever expects, yet would accept her with no problem: Gragas . Alone for the hilarity it would ensure I'm hoping her buddy for the Freljord will be the big drunkard. Mostly because he's the total opposite of Yasuo, but different teachers for different perspectives, no? ^^

But that's just a lucky guess from my account ^^

ProtestantCaesar8 votes

Total opposite of Yasuo, yet they're probably the two biggest drinkers in the list of Champions.

By the way, that would be cool, as long as Gragas has, you know, more character than I'm aware that he has. Maybe a story with him in it would help with that.

SaltyToplaneGoat5 votes

Well, this would be a good chance for such a story, don't you think? ^^

Voidac4 votes

I don't thiNK YOU UNDERSTAND, BUDDY. FRELJORD? IONIA? MAKING SHURIMA ACTUALLY INTERESTING? SIGN ME THE HELL UP.

TauntyArmordillo31 votes

Rammus

SaltyToplaneGoat5 votes

Ok

Orangesilk71 votes

His lore is:

"What the fuck's an armordillo anyways? No one knows, but Rammus sure as hell is one"

charcharmunro42 votes

Meanwhile Evelynn's lore is "What the fuck is she."

AsphodelNext36 votes

No, no, you have it backwards. Her lore is "She is what to fuck"...

macromite17 votes

I thought that was ahri's lore.

Kuiper Cliff19 votes

Also for reference: Skarner, even shorter.

Its like one guy wrote the lore for a while and his only thought was "wtf are these things?"

Shinirup7 votes

But Skarners lore still has me wondering what it is he is guarding down there...sadly as with other mysteries like where Kat's dad went, what is with the Rose and Leblancs reflection in the Swain and J4 battle, or information on Kog'maw's daddy, we will likely never know :(

TallyZrg6 votes

Wasn't he guarding his sleeping kind?

Shinirup4 votes

Once upon a time he was. However his current lore just states:

"Skarner, the crystalline guardian, defends the entrance to a realm deep beneath the Shuriman wastes. The few who survive trespassing his domain describe a creature of terrifying intelligence, anger, and precision. What this merciless creature protects, no one knows."

Yes, that is the full length of his write up on his league page...compared to the new champions. His old Lore kind of broke when they removed the rune wars/ league from lore.

Melledoneus21 votes

"No one knows why Rammus exists. And we here at Riot think that's... ok."

Oh, wait. I made it longer than his actual lore. Darn.

Blue Moon Wolf4 votes

At first, the world wasn't ok. Then Rammus appeared, and ushered in a new era of moderate satisfaction.

japan hate acc20 votes

Ironically, Azir definitely doesn't want to enslave anyone. Before he was destroyed, he actually freed every single slave in all of Shurima. So no, he's not going to enslave anyone.

Imortal Dragon1 votes

People mistake sand soldiers for people. Theres azirs slaves. His memory

japan hate acc11 votes

That grammar though... But anyway, no. He freed all the slaves, and the sand soldiers are memories of ancient soldiers, not slaves.

Imortal Dragon8 votes

I know they arent slave's but im saying to a person looking from a distance if you see a birdman controlling people to (example) rebuild a city day and night without question What would you think? Kind king with devoted citizens? Or evil creature controlling slaves? (note: his powers aren't limited to soldiers but anyone in his memory)

japan hate acc16 votes

I think the real reason as to why everyone thinks he is enslaving people is because only him, Nasus, Renekton, and Xerath know about the freeing of the slaves. Everyone else is dead and the records were wiped out in an arcane blast. So of course no one knows about it, which is why everyone thinks there's gonna be slaves.

The Whamboozler5 votes

To be fair, Azir took his sweet time with the slave-freeing. It's not like he got rid of 'em the moment he could.

A Superb Villain7 votes

Well, when an economy is built on a strong slave-trade, abolishing slavery in a single moment, without preparation, would toss the empire's stability right out the window. More than likely, Azir was taking time during his rule to actually set up the Shuriman Empire in such a way that it could function without slaves.

Desiderium4 votes

That, and he wanted Xerath to be the first person to know that he is abolishing slavery. Because Xerath was his friend and he cared about him. He thought he deserved to be the first person to know that he is free. On top of the whole empire stability thing.

underscores2228 votes

If I recall correctly, Azir isn't quite so benign as people want to believe. He has a vision, and it is going to be his way or die. He is the emperor, after all. I don't see wandering desert tribes falling in line just because he says so and believes he is the ruler based on ancient history.

I also am slightly concerned about how much impact this character's journey will affect these ongoing stories. Will her appearance in Freljord (and, presumably, any events she catalyzes) take away from another, already Freljordian character who could create the same changes? There is a balance there, as the Freljord issues shouldn't be just contained to those champs who hail from the area, but introducing newcomers risks overshadowing other characters that have more of a connection to the events.

charcharmunro8 votes

He's not going to suddenly start enslaving people, though. He wants to gather people back into the city so that Shurima can be great again. It's a matter of pride, really. He's got an ego and he's a bit of a dick, yes, but he's ultimately a benevolent ruler.

SaltyToplaneGoat17 votes

"WELL THERE; primitive tribe people. Do you want to keep living in your unsave village or your caravan camps, constantly threatened by voidbreed, bandits or sandstorms while having to drink dirty water from a half-drained well? Or do you want to live in this rad city I have that can offer you protection from bandits and sandstorms while supplying you with clean oasis water? Also, I have an army of infinite sand soldiers to prevent ANYONE from ever brning harm to us."

I doubt that there are many village clans that would not take that chance...

First of all he looks like an old god right out of Shuriman culture - and he can back that up with immense powers. I can see why people would follow him.

underscores2228 votes

I'm not saying people won't follow him. I'm just pointing out he is not righteous or inclined to democracy/listening to other people's ideas or concerns. He has a plan, if you do not accept that plan (which involves being told what to do) then you are swept away. A lot of independent tribesmen will probably not want to be told what to do by someone who has not earned their respect, even if they do recognize his power.

The point is that everyone seems to be taking the whole "evil brid-god enslaving people" as rumor and completely untrue. All I'm saying is that it isn't out of character for Azir. There will probably be conflict between him and the tribes. Yes he wants to restore the glory of his empire (which brought up the quality of life for most people in the region) but he is also pharaoh like in his ruling, and having a lord over you when you've been free your entire life (and for uncounted generations past) is not something you just accept for some cleaner water.

SaltyToplaneGoat12 votes

Uhh, you do realize that Runeterra has like, almost ZERO experience with democracy? In this world it is entirely NORMAL to rule or be ruled. And if you're smart you eithe rrule or pick a chill ruler. Noxus is a military regime, Demacia is an absolutistic monarchy. Shurima is tribal area, Ionia has village elders making the rules in a council. Shadow Isles are dead. Bilgewater is anarchy that has to be kept forcefully down by a brutal ruler.

Only Zaun and Piltover are POTENTIALLY democratic, if they don#t turn out to be technocraties.

For people it would be entirely normal to follow someone who claims to be king and can back that up somehow.

underscores2222 votes

Ok, leave democratic out of it. Bad choice of words on my part. My point still stands - he isn't a nice ruler who wants the best for his people. He wants his empire back, both to restore his glory and to prove he is ascended and powerful. If he has to enslave entire villages to build monuments to his hubris, he can and will. We don't know what the culture was like in the first empire, but chances are it was like ancient Egypt (since they're similar). The rulers there built huge monuments that required cities full of slaves working over a lifetime to complete. I don't think people, especially free-roving tribes in the desert, will completely change their lifestyle just because some legendary bird god appeared and asked them to build stuff for him (possibly with threats of enslavement if they don't agree)

"As a tribesman, I give my loyalty to the elders of my tribe because I know them and trust their judgment. When I am older, I will be an elder. This bird dude out there? Why should I trust him? He wants me to haul stones around and crowd into one place with all those other people. I want to remain free and wandering the dunes.

Oh, he says he is King. OK then, time to blindly follow him."

I really don't see that happening.

SaltyToplaneGoat15 votes

If it's a monumnent he could just build it himself. He restored the entire capital within minutes, so I doubt he would need any slaves for that. An empire is not just a mass of people or monuments. It's the population, the culture, the economy, the trading, its army - everything that makes it actually significant.

A bunch of slaves is not an empire. And Azir knows that as well.

Well, they might have sworn loyality to their elders but...

"Hey this man offers us water, shelter, safety from the deserts dangers, and food, as well as a chance of an economic miracle and and massive improvement of living standard." - that might not be exactly what they said, but that's what many might think.

On top of that there is the entire religious&cultural aspect. They know their country had been the largest and most powerful empire in the past. And now, the symbol of that, the lost capital, has returned. It's a miracle. A sign from the gods. And most of it all: a chance to be part of something that might be the most glorious empire in all of Valoran, even bigger than Demacia or Noxus, as this one seems to have divine protection.

It's kinda easy to see why this might have some attraction for people.

Senate7 votes

How did this become an analysis of the sociopolitical atmosphere of Runeterra again?

SaltyToplaneGoat6 votes

Don't mind me, that's just me doing stuff like that for fun ^^

[slayer-jinx-catface]

RiotRiotJaredan7 votes

Because awesome.

PeponiPoro3 votes

I can just tell you are bubbling over with giddiness!

Imortal Dragon4 votes

The slaves could easily be mistaken for his sand army. From a distance if you see people (shuriman people from his memory) and they were (for example) doing azirs bidding and working day n night building up his city without question. What would you think? (oh those are loyal citizens following this bird guy because... Reasons) or would you see and say (oh my god i saw this creature who were controlling these people! They must be slaves!). Unlike the characters in the story we have the opportunity to see both sides of the story. Sure everything i said could be wrong but we have to examine it in all angles [slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

Troll for Trump2 votes

Well being a god doesn't necessarily mean a good thing, as shown with Renekton

Imortal Dragon5 votes

Well with Renekton he was good but centuries locked up with Xerath his mind was currupted

Silverthane5 votes

maybe we'll see yasuo's conflict resolved and he will go pal around with the girl in her home town and try that shuriman mead :D

SaltyToplaneGoat5 votes

Why do I sense that he would start a Tavern Brawl with Sivir ? Ofc after they both tried to drink each other under the table... <_<'

But shuriman mead... how do they even make it? Mead is made from honey. Honey comes from bees... but bees need flowers. However, trying to find a flower in shurima is a bit of a tricky thing to do... <_<

Melledoneus7 votes

Hey, I'm cool with a tavern brawl as long as the deck is provided.

EndGamer117 votes

Cacti have flowers on them.

RottedApples2 votes

it is possible that over time some people have some misconceptions about their ancient bird god.

they might think that he wants to enslave people when he doesn't actually want to.

if the general consensus is that azir doesn't enslave people but infact freed them then rito must have a plan for this.

SaltyToplaneGoat8 votes

The plan is relatively obvious: send our little rock-birb on a long and epic hero's journey to defeat the evil birb god from the grave.

Plot Twist: Birb God is actually super nice and they become best birb-friends.

I know it's going to happen, but I still want to read it xD

Nahara4 votes

Birb God is going to be so happy to make new friends.

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