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SPOILERS: My thoughts on Ashe: Warmother #1 of 4 and Glossary of Terms

Darrosh Jewfist·12/19/2018, 9:43:40 AM·15 votes·19,060 views

I really liked the idea that League is making professional comics. The price isn't so bad in the 5 dollar range with 4 issues (20 dollars total) and I wanted to support it and see it. The actual comic itself is about 22-ish pages with the rest being sketches, glossary. Oh and thank god for a glossary, holy crap. We have definitions now and new terms.

Synopsis: Ashe's tribe is weak and poor after years of leadership by her insane/delusional mom, Grena, who thinks she can find the Throne of Avarosa (which is treated like a children's fairy tale and filled with riches). They introduced some new characters besides Grena.

Aunt Helnr, who challenges Ashe's mom for leadership and loses but survives. She leads the Hearthbound (or warmbloods) who are the normies. Iceborn are part-genetic, part-trained, and become iceborn when they win a game of super-cold-potato with some true ice.

Maalcrom, a frost-priest who Ashe might have a thing for. Frost-priests are healers but also implied spy agents of Lissandra?

Yrael, Ashe's maybe father (because warmothers practice polygamy so who knows who Ashe's real father is?). He's oathbound and bloodsworn which are pretty much the same thing. He's typical cool old guy who has a fanatical loyalty to Grena.

After some introductions, Ashe's mom decides to raid a village only to end up getting ambushed themselves. Ashe's mom realizes she dun goof'd and tells Ashe to run. Then the issue ends with NEXT ISSUE: DRAKLORN (Draklorn are Lissandra's cult inquisition).

My Thoughts I really liked it. One major nitpick I have with a lot of League of Legends short stories is that they tend to be extremely adjective heavy. Comics are neat in that pictures convey a lot more of the story then dialogue alone and saves a boatload on word count. The dialogue itself is well written, mostly because Ashe's internal narration to explain context/definitions/etc... helped trim it so it was much more focused. I liked how everything felt natural and despite the short page count, there was a lot shoved into it (like the oathfathers agree'ing to give up their last rations to Ashe because she's their daughter and they're all joking/smiling about it - either they're trying to not make her feel bad/guilty or they're glad to see their kid eat). I felt it was much better executed in a visual medium than it would in text like...

My oathfathers handed me a bowl of disgusting gruel. We had been marching for 6 days and nights. We were burning our last portion of firewood. They sat around it, staring at the crackling embers full of smiles. When that old-guy that may or may not be my step dad told me it was the last of our food, I spilled some on accident. I felt really bad. Hey, is my mother still insane? Yes. Yes she is.

The art is divine. 5/5 stars full stop.

Predictions I think the story is heading in a pretty neat direction as an elaborated Ashe origin. I imagine the next issue will show Ashe's mom dying (as per the Universe bio on Ashe so.... spoilers for a spoiler?) and the other issues will eventually have her either finding Avarosa's Throne or making up a fake one like Swain implied. I wouldn't be surprised if Ashe has survivor's guilt because it seems like she's going to abandon her mom to get out of the ambush.

I feel this is a very strong direction for League to take with regards to expanding its lore.

Bonus here are the glossary terms (please don't ban me Riot, I'll remove this part if asked)

  • Warmother - The military leader of a Freljordian Tribe or clan, always a woman and usually an iceborn. She decides when to fight, who to fight, and who will die.

  • Iceborn - A person born with the ancestral ice magic of the Freljord, possessing greater stamina, strength, and resistance to cold than most humans. Iceborn have the potential to use ice magic and wield true ice. A person is not typically called an iceborn until they have proven their ability to wield true ice and have been "named" following a duel or battle. Until then, they are often described as the daughter or son of an iceborn.

  • True Ice - Innately magical ice that enhances ice magic. It is colder than any other known substance and lethal for any but the strongest iceborn to touch.

  • Bloodsworn - The sworn "husbands" of a warmother, usually the toughest warriors in the tribe. Their loyalty is to her and her children above all else.

  • Oathfather - Interchangeably describes a father or step-father, roles Freljordians do not typically distinguish between. Any man who has sworn his life to protect a mother and her children is considered an oathfather.

  • Ice Children - A mountain tribe with a long standing rivalry against Ashe's tribe.

  • Hearthbound - Human inhabitants of the Freljord, unable to survive the same extremes as the iceborn, they take up the majority of the population, the term is sometimes used by iceborn as a slur or insult.

  • Warmblood - A casual term used by iceborn to describe normal humans. It is synonymous with hearthbound, but has no negative connotation.

  • Frost Priest - A healer and follower of Lissandra who serves and monitors the tribes on her behalf.

  • Draklorn - High-ranking Frost Priests, often assigned to regional villages as sources of social and religious authority.

  • Vedmah - A freljordian oracle or with who divines through magical means

  • Elnuk - shaggy buffalo-like creature with long curved tusks, used ofr riding, cattle, and as currency by many tribes.

Also quick question - Does anyone know what the hell IS the name of Ashe's tribe? I don't think it's mentioned unless it's still Avarosan, which I thought was the name of the tribe after Ashe renames them.

28 Comments

RiotWAAARGHbobo12/19/2018, 4:59:37 PM7 votes

Vedmah - A freljordian oracle or witch who divines through magical means. Somehow a typo sneaked thru on comixology. "witch" not "with."
A lot of thought was given to not overwhelming the reader with a bunch of in-world terms, but instead slowly introducing them organically. So each issue will expand the glossary as terms, places, and concepts are added.

Re: Oathfather vs Bloodsword. Difference is between "father" and "husband." I.e. Grena's Bloodsword, are Ashe's Oathfathers.

Falrein12/19/2018, 11:38:48 AM3 votes

First issue was indeed very nice. This is what I retain:

  • Maalcrom is a Frost Priest. He was seemingly sent by Lissandra. That implies that, in the eyes of the Freljord's tribes, Lissandra is a good guy. Now the question is: Does Maalcrom know her real identity? If yes, did he betray her (he seems to care a lot about Ashe and her tribe)? Or is he just playing a part, deceiving everyone...?

  • True Ice is powerful. Like, super powerful. We were wondering on the Lore of League server if it can One-Shot any non-Iceborn just by touching skin. Wielding it is lethal to non-Iceborn (and still dangerous for some Iceborn it seems) because of the cold, does that mean it is lethal to strike someone with it (if that person is a human)?

  • I really liked the characters. In the end, I even felt sad for Ashe's mother.

Of course there a lot of other things but that's mostly it. Good job to Odin, as the characters were very well written, and the story in general is appealing. Art is amazing too. Now, as for my hopes and theories in next issues...

  • How is Ashe gonna find the bow? My guess is that she'll climb the mountain, but what will she find? I don't think there is a Throne of Avarosa. I think it's something she'll make up in order to appease her tribe, or she'll tell them that the Throne of Avarosa isn't what it seems, I don't know.

  • I hope we'll explore why she is considered Avarosa's reincarnation. I mean really, why? Is there even a reason? It could be anyone, so why her?

  • I think Tryndamere will appear at some point (maybe last issue). I'd like Sejuani and Liss to make an appearance, but I don't think it'll happen. Odin said he didn't want to rush Lissandra's appearance (and he's right, the real Queen of the Freljord needs a proper introduction).

Aaaaand that's it. I really liked it. I rated it 5/5. However, I was disappointed with the bonus content. It was nice of course, but I would've liked something else... Tho I guess it's because I'm not that much into Ashe/Freljord lore. Had it been about Syndra I would've enjoyed every piece of art (I hope someday, she'll appear in a comic...), hence why I still rated it 5/5. Overall, good job Riot. That cliffhanger at the end was really nice, makes us wanna read the next issue (which is totally the point of a cliffhanger, Caith, you don't have to state this fact.)

Johnny El Rojo12/19/2018, 2:23:57 PM3 votes

I also would give my opinion, but for some reason, the page just keeps eternally loading for me. I need to know, it's my internet conection, or anyone else is having the same problem?

Chromatic Eagle12/19/2018, 4:10:25 PM2 votes

Didn't know it was out.

RyzeTheSmurfMage12/19/2018, 10:55:33 AM2 votes

Haven't seen it yet, waiting for the Universe release, but nobody expects Lissandra's inquisition.

MS exceI12/19/2018, 6:11:31 PM2 votes

It was truly amazing. Good job everyone who worked on it can't wait for the second issue

Crazy Apple12/20/2018, 3:35:14 AM1 votes

Was blown away by how amazing this comic turned out! Wow, really turning up the heat in regards to the lore. Just responding to Darrosh, some things I want to add/comment on regarding thoughts on lore:

Overall Thoughts: They story reminds me a bit of Banner Saga, since they both heavily pull from Norse mythos, it seems like the approach here. Nothing else to add really, its neat.

  • Maalcrom: I think he's her cousin, actually. When Yrael was talking to her before they left, he mentioned that it wasn't her cousing destiny to lead, but hers. The only person we can think to reference is Maalcrom, since...I mean...there are only like...less than 5 named people. He has to be one of them.

  • Yrael: totally ashes baby daddy. It seems like warmothers are like jarls/warlords. It wouldn't be out of the realm of imagination for someone as powerful as her to have male consorts, like a khan or something. And, it does say outright that he's her father during the "Thrice honored and thrice blessed.." part. She had siblings too, but they didn't make it.

Ice-children: I think, just supposition, that this is Sejuani's clan? I mean, they are riding monster things with sharp horns, and when they spring the ambush it kinda looks like one of Sej's skin sets.

Oathfather: I agree with ya, but want to add, that an oathfather is a consort :D! They might actually be your oathfather and biological father (like Yrael to Ashe) at the same time :O!

Bloodsworn: I think these aren't husbands, but just warriors. This is common in warring bands (vikings, plains riders, etc.) and all seem to be Iceborn. Some could also be consorts to the leader, if they are oathfathers, but it seems not all oathfathers=warrior/bloodsworn.

The rest was just filler until they start developing the story more. I like the ideas they introduced, though. Of the Khan's Plateau (could that means a plains people, maybe Thalia's peeps Her garbs would match) They threw in Lissandra, cults and some other stuff which seems neat.