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The history of the Shadow Isles

ChaosReyn·6/19/2019, 9:48:57 PM·2 votes·4,703 views

Some of you guys may know, I'm putting a lot of effort into making a new concept for a ghastly ranger in the Shadow Isles. A "Leave this place!" ranger who's tied to the cursed isles in the afterlife, trying still to protect them from further tampering. Thematically, I want to give her this sort of haunting/Slenderman kind of vibe, where you know she's there, but never really have a good way to judge exactly where, as she whittles away at your health and sanity enough that she can close in for the kill.

However, I've sort of hit a roadblock. I don't really have too much knowledge of the Blessed Isles before they were cursed. If there's any chance that you can refer me to the canon lore for exactly what happened, particularly in the events just before the Blessed Isles became cursed and known as the Shadow Isles, it'd be very beneficial to making sure I get the lore for my champion to fit correctly.

7 Comments

Kled Man Walking6/19/2019, 11:55:49 PM2 votes

If I remember right, some notable things about the Blessed Isles were:

They had no military forces and instead used magic to elude invaders, a la leading incoming ships astray with mist.
They are noted as "a society of scholars and researchers" in Maokai's lore.
The heartwaters of the Isles can prevent undeath, as seen in Maokai and Yorick's lore - however, they are also corruptible if not sheltered from the Black Mist, and the mind of those protected by the heartwater is still vulnerable.

Additionally, with Ixtal's unveiling it was revealed that the people who settled the Blessed Isles were originally from Ixaocan. This explains the whole mist-manipulation thing.

I'd say your best bet is some sort of Blessed Isles elementalist who could manipulate both the heartwaters of the Isles and had a hand in weaving the mists to keep inteuders away. Whatever you go with, best of luck!

Whyte Lyon6/19/2019, 10:14:27 PM1 votes

Im not going directly answer your question for you, unlike others who comment might be inclined to. I recommend just going to the Universe site, check out the Shadow Isles profile page and all the related champions where the content is provided, it's all right there. But you'll especially want to read the biographies of Kalista and Hecarim because they were directly involved in the ruination, but most of the other ShaIsles champs witnessed it too.

Just scour through it all and build whatever lore you're hoping for based off what you find on the Universe site and the intractable map of Runeterra. It's a lot more engaging to do the reading for yourself.

SSmotzer6/20/2019, 12:12:30 AM1 votes

For a "Leave this place!" style champion I would recommend taking inspiration from one of the remaining Darkin in the lore.

Cebotaru, a play on the myths of Cerberus, the 3 headed dog that guards the gates of Hades, and the Minotaur, a demi-titan thrown into an inescapable labyrinth and kills all living souls who enter. Cebotaru was a wolf Darkin who rivaled Aatrox in combat and, before they were sealed into weapons, he was poised to conquer all of Runeterra.

It would make sense for his story to mirror that of his inspiration. Guarding the underworld, unable to escape, and killing anything that dares to step foot onto the Isles who did not heed his warning.

The only lore important to Cebotaru would be the vault filled with magic items, and the current resting place of Mordakiser's skull. Since he would have been sealed, along with the rest of the Darkin, it would make sense his weapon would have been sealed within the vault before the ruination. Then the mist overpowered his curse and allowed his spirit to use the weapon.

Of course the real question would be, what is his weapon? The Darkin all draw inspiration from weapons from the Bible. I would probably go with an iron lance, for two reasons. A lance is what finally killed Jesus when he was crucified, and when Jesus returns in Revelations, he commands the armies of Heaven with a rod of iron.

...So he's a guard dog with a stick. I guess your ghost lady could be wielding Cebotaru.

Valor Bot6/20/2019, 12:41:42 AM1 votes

Kalista, Thresh, and Hecarim's lore goes into detail about the events right before the Blessed Isles' downfall. Yorick's also shows a bit of what the society there looked like prior to the Ruination. Hope that helps.