Taliyah and her journey [Timeline and Map]
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Intro
Hey everyone, I made another megapost. This blew up, it actually started from a discussion in our lore discord (shameless plug :D ) but it was way more complicated than we all thought. Now I wanted to write down my thoughts in a coherent way and make a post similar to my timeline for Garen and Lux.
This one was tricky, because Taliyah is related to so many stories in both the Ionian invasion and the Rise of Azir. So just as before, I will write down my theory first, then explain why I think it has to be this way. There is not much hard evidence, but I will try to support my thoughts with quotes. If something is unclear or you disagree, feel free to comment!
##References
Quick reminder if you want to read up on Taliyah or check my sources: These are all stories and posts I used.
- Taliyah's Bio
- Taliyah's Champion Q&A
- ThermalKittens Taliyah Q&A (For Miss Maddy)
- The Bird and the Branch
- Bloodline
- Echoes in the Stone
- Shurima Story Q&A (Careful, some of the answers here are outdated, I just hope the one I need is still accurate)
- Yasuo's Bio
- Confessions of a Broken Blade
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Timeline
#####Shurima
Biography
Taliyah is born to the Nasaaj, a nomadic tribe of shepherds and weavers, when they were close to Icathia. She's growing up with the tribe wandering around Shurima, following the seasonal waters.
Early on, she develops a fondness of rocks and pebbles, and when she is 6 years old she follows a young goat into the desert at night. This is where her powers first manifest: She rescues the goatling, but the magic overwhelmes her and she is buried beneath the rocks.
Her father finds her and takes her back to the tribe.
Aged around 13 or 14 it is time for Taliyah to perform the dance that decides her profession, what she will brign to the tribe and who her mentor will be.
Like every child in her age, she is given the choice between the shepherd's crook, the spindle and the loom; but when she dances, she weaves the earth beneath her feet. When she loses control, her mother rushes to save her, but is hit by a falling stone.
The cut on her mother's face makes Taliyah realize she is a threat to anyone close to her and she runs away into the desert. Once again, she is found by her father, and she returns to complete her dance. When she finished weaving the rock, every single member of the tribe stands up to claim her as a student, but she can not learn from them. So, with a broken heart, she has to say farewell and goes to find her own way.
She journeys westwards to Mount Targon, but is found by Noxians on the northern border of Shurima, probably close to Urzeris. They promise her a teacher, and she comes with them on their way back to Noxus.
#####Noxus
Taliyah is taken through different Noxian territories and winds up in the capital. She is offered many opportunities, but accepts the one from a young captain who says he will take her across the sea to a land where she can practice safely. But when it is time to use her powers, the captain wants her to bury a sleeping city in the earth; a desperate effort to turn the tides of a war they are losing. She refuses and is thrown overboard to drown. (She is certainly 14 at this point, this coincides with Azir's Ascensions.)
#####Ionia
The Bird and the Branch
Escaping the tide, she wanders up the mountains of Ionia and meets Yasuo. After she buried him in snow, he becomes her teacher.
They spend some time together roaming Ionia and she learns to control her power (she turns 15), but one fateful day, she hears news from her home: That the long-dead hawk-god Azir has arisen once again and wants to enslave her people. Left without a choice, she leaves for the Freljord to return home.
#####Freljord
Traversing the entire Freljord east to west, she finally finds a ship that takes her back to the coast of her home. Turned 16 on the way, she arrives in Bel'Zhun.
#####Shurima
Bloodline
Back in her homeland, she travels from Bel'Zhun to Kenethet in company of a caravan, then to Vekaura alone. Outside of the city walls, she finds a wounded Sivir and brings her inside to care for her.
Xerath attacks the city, searching for Sivir, and Taliyah and Sivir flee while Nasus fights Xerath.
Echoes in the Stone
Taliyah flees to the capital to find her family, with an unnatural storm following her.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/457316449594245150/548507829171126275/map_taliyah_small.jpg
(This is not official, but I think it's a pretty good guess)
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Explanations
####Her Journey
We don't know where in Shurima she leaves her tribe since they are nomads, but I assume it is somewhat north because else she would not run into Noxians. I think the Noxians she came in contact with are from the western enclave (around Urzeris, not Bel'Zhun) because she set out to Mt. Targon in the west.
She then is brought to Valoran, presumably through Kilgrove, Glorft or Trevale because they are the closest Noxian territories. Stonewall, Rokrund or Qualthala (least likely) are also possible if the ship was going east to Piltover.
Her captors companions then bring her to Noxus Prime, the capital, where her powers she is wanted by many people.
Finally, she is carried off to Ionia. Again, we don't know exactly where, but I assume it's the north-west of the main island, by the northern, smaller river. There are a few hints for that:
Yasuo's village is on the way to the placidium, so it must be on the main island.
Shortly after the murder, half of a Noxian warband had slaughtered many on the way to Navori.
Yasuo sends her to the coast to find a ship to the Freljord and there are merchants in the tavern, so it's not too remote and there must be a harbor nearby
“Follow this to the next river valley and that river to the sea,” he said, gesturing toward a lightly worn deer path. “There is a lone fisherwoman there. Tell her you wish to see the Freljord. Give her this.”
There are snow-capped mountains and it is cold throughout the story, so it must be in the north
She followed the high skirts of the mountains, not daring to look back at the carnage she’d left behind. The snow had started to fall two days ago. Or maybe it was three; she couldn’t remember.
Taliyah hugged herself, trying to remember the warmth of home. Her coat kept out the snow, but still the cold air crept in. The invisible loneliness snaked around her, sinking deep in her bones. The memory of being so far from those she loved now dropped her to her knees. She shoved her hands deep in her pockets, her shaking fingertips tumbling a few well-worn stones for warmth.
Next, her journey through the Freljord.
First: Why? To give her a release skin Because Yasuo wanted to keep her safe.
Notice that he sends her to a specific fisherwoman that he trusts (quote above) instead of just giving directions to a harbor city. His next line is this:
“In the Frozen North there are a people that resist Noxian rule. With them you might find passage back to your sands.”
If she just took a ship south either through the sun-gates of Piltover or around the southern parts of Shurima, she would get dangerously close to Noxian territory. It is still a long journey, but at least there is a reason he did not send her straight south. The war just ended and even in the current time (more than 6 years after that) there are noxian territories on Ionia, so she would likely be found and taken back - or worse.
Furthermore, we can deduce that she went through the entire freljord from east to the western coast:
Taliyah's passed through Noxus, Ionia, and the Freljord. So far.
Demacia is not too fond of magic and people from foreign lands after dealing with Noxus on their proverbial doorstep for such a long time. Taliyah would try to avoid Demacia on her way home.
This tells us she has not been to Demacia - probably a wise decision.
We know that she arrived by ship and did not pass through piltover, so it must have been from the west. If she avoids all Demacian and Noxian ports, the only place where she can board a ship is indeed the western coast of the Freljord. We know that there are ships from Freljord even in Piltover (mentioned in Progress Day .) so it seems likely that they would stop in Bel'zhun - which is a big trading port - on their way.
Finally, the end of her journey is detailed in Bloodline and Echoes in the Stone:
For the sake of some friendly faces, she left Bel’zhun in the company of a heavily armed caravan of Nerimazeth silk-merchants heading south to Kenethet. She’d endured the rolling motion of the caravan long enough to reach the bone-souks of that notorious city on the northern borders of the Sai before striking out on her own.
From Kenethet, she pushed ever south, following the winding arc of what people were once again calling the Mother of Life, a great river said to have its source in the capital of the ancient Shuriman empire. With no one around, she could make much better time, traveling with the rock as her steed, and riding its leading edge as she shaped it beneath her in sweeping waves that carried her ever southward toward Vekaura, a city she’d been told was half buried in the sand creeping out from the Sai.
As she drew closer to old Shurima, wet streaks dripped from each new stone as if they were weeping. Taliyah knew the rock had stories to tell as she sped across the desert, but she didn’t have time to listen, to hear if they were tears of joy or sadness.
When she was close enough to be covered by the shadow of the great Sun Disc, water from underground aquifers began to pour off the stone she rode like little rivers. And when she finally arrived at the gates, Taliyah heard the deafening water rushing along the bedrock. The Oasis of the Dawn, the Mother of Life, roared beneath the sands.
####Her Age
Taliyah has been confirmed 16 in her color story. (Source 1, Source 2, Source 3 all from her Q&A) From there, just calculate backwards with some estimations.
She must be older than 15 by the time she leaves Ionia, because her journey through the Freljord back to Shurima would definitely take a year. Then she spends some time with Yasuo, a little less than a year maybe. There is this quote
She was with Yasuo for a little while.
but also
Taliyah’s an only child, so I think she sees Yasuo as the older brother she never had. She definitely cares for him and looks up to him, but he still annoys her at times. They are kindred spirits in a certain way; loners, stubborn, both figuring out what their purpose is. The seasons are different in Ionia than Shurima and a little harder to track. I’d guess about a year. And their story isn’t finished yet. :)
Taliyah Q&A for Miss Maddy
The time with Yasuo and her journey from Shurima through Noxus to Ionia are certainly longer than a year, so she must have been 14 years or younger before she left (depending on how far she is through her 16th year in Bloodline / Echoes and how long it took for her to reach Ionia)
Furthermore, it makes sense to have the dance ceremony at around 14, as a coming-of-age moment. The children choose their profession and are assigned a teacher who they will complete their apprenticeship with. They are somewhat mature and have a general education and skills, but now choose a specialization.
##~~ Problems ~~
##~~ Timeline Problems~~ Due to Taliyah being involved in so many stories, especially CoaBB & the Noxian invasion, it was hard to place her and most theories lead to a dead end, but I think I found the solution: She is not aged 16 in the "current" lore time.
That would lead to many problems, because Bird and Branch was before Confessions of a Broken Blade, which was 6 years ago. So she would have to leave her tribe aged 8 or 9, travelling alone. While Azir, Xerath and Nasus do nothing for around 6 years until Taliyah drops by, now finally 16. Sounds unlikely.
The key is that her color story, Bloodline and her confirmed age of 16 years all happen in the past, 5 years ago to be precise. "Echoes in the Stone" is the last story (for now) in the Shuriman Arc, so that means the lore has not moved for 5 years (or we have not heard about it). That's not really satisfying as well, but I would expect stories that are set in the past to fill this gap, picking up where Echoes left.
Also, her connection to Sivir is another problem. "Water" (Sivir's color story) describes how she ends up in the desert after she fled Azir's Ascension. If Bloodline followed directly after that, we run into a contradiction because it is roughly 2 years after the Ascension - it took one year for Taliyah to hear the news, and presumably one to get back.
Azir's return is still pretty fresh for the people of Shurima. The city of Shurima rose around a year before the events of The Bird and the Branch.
This means Sivir just gets stabbed a lot and is actually recovering from a different wound in Bloodline. In fact, this might explain where her wound came from:
“Why would anyone want you dead?” asked Taliyah. “Because I’ve killed a lot of people,” replied Sivir, struggling to sit up. “Sometimes because I was paid to. Sometimes because they were in my way. But these days, it’s usually because they get very angry when I tell them I’m not going back.”
“This?” said Sivir before he could finish. “Just a disagreement with some fools who wouldn’t take no for an answer. Trust me, I’ve had worse and walked away. And I don’t need protecting. Fate seems to be looking out for me these days, no matter what I do.”
##~~ Calendar Problems~~ I actually solved one of the problems from the last post, we got a frame of reference now: The battle at the Placidium. We can connect Azir and the Shurima Arc to Ionia via the fact that the war ended around the time Bird and Branch was happening, Confessions of a Broken Blade shortly after. We know CoaBB is set 1 year after the war, 6 years before "now". This means Azir arises 3 years after the battle of the Placidium, and the Shuriman arc takes 2 years. So the last thing we heard from Shurima is from 5 years after the Placidium, while actually it's the 10th year a.P. Taliyah is 21+ now.
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