First light after the Harrowing - Bilgewater / Shadow Isles lore development?

Pyro·11/5/2014, 11:53:25 PM·10 votes·5,783 views

First light after the Harrowing

Right now it seems more like sketch than a story, but there's a series of allusions and hints:

The Drowned Anchor - that's Nautilus alright
A Blue Flame leviathan is goaded to the surface by a serpent caller to face the Harrowing - Ao Shin?
Mentions of Hecarim and Mordekaiser in the further past

Thoughts?

I still don't see why the Institute of War had to get retconned, but hey, at least they're trying

51 Comments

Melancholy Exile11/6/2014, 12:26:58 AM10 votes

Maybe it's just me, but I'm a little on the fence about this because it feels like they've taken what was a relatively quiet and light-hearted place, more focussed on internal politics and pirate tropes than anything, and immediately shoved the needle all the way to grimdark without an ounce of preamble. The Black Mist has gone from a vague and mysterious threat in the earlier video, with something of a dark fairytale feel thanks to the framing, to something positively apocalyptic which is almost powerful enough to overcome a union of the two most influential figures in Bilgewater.

That isn't to say that it can't make for interesting stories - it definitely can - but the relatively weak characterisation of Bilgewater before this point, and the sheer scale and power of the threat, makes it feel as though The Harrowing is pretty much the sole focus of the region now.

Xulsigae11/6/2014, 1:15:20 AM9 votes

So...since the Black Mist is so powerful and such, how's the story going to actually progress? If this is going to be a yearly thing then...what are the stakes? Can the Shadow Isles be conquered? Can Bilgewater be destroyed? Will Gangplank kill Hecarim or Thresh kill Graves? Can anything really change?

I ask because it sounds to me like a stalemate is being set up (akin to the balance of power in Warhammer 40K) where no side can make true gains against the other. For those who know Warhammer, I'd compare this to Abbadon's Black Crusades. They come out of the Eye of Terror, do a hell of a lot of damage, but ultimately fail and are driven back. Repeat. In Warhammer this is fine, as it's how it's been since the beginning. In League however, this is coming at the cost of the IoW, which apparently was too restrictive. But if (and a big if) the stories are just going to be lore stalemates...then how have things improved?

Sharjo11/6/2014, 12:06:33 AM5 votes

Some things to note that I learned from this:

There have been 12 Harrowings, the first taking place 186 years ago. This potentially coincides with the corruption of the Shadow Isles, considering that after this, Harrowings only got more and more frequent.
There's creatures called Blue Flame Leviathans and they sound cool as hell! Also since its named a "Blue Flame" Leviathan, I guess we can infer that the Island Bilgewater's situated on is still called Blue Flame Isle.
This potentially marks the first appearances of Mordekaiser and Hecarim in known/recorded history.
They found out what to do with Nautilus now that there's no more League; he's trudging around Blue Flame Isle trying to figure out his past and who he needs to get revenge on.
Bilgewater is actively trying to fight off the Harrowing, so much so that Miss Fortune and Gangplank were willing to put aside their differences to hold it back with a united force.

This has me excited. Also that Graves cameo at the end really got me for some reason, no clue why. Is it even a cameo? I mean he is a Bilgewater born man. Whatever, I actually like this a lot.

Diahane11/7/2014, 1:05:57 PM4 votes

All things apart, don't you think that such a brief static video with a voice over it is a bit poor for a lore event? We've gotten just some bookkeeping on what happened when, but we got showed nothing. We are only told of events happened. To me it's a bit frustrating that nothing seems to ever happen on-screen nor there is any written lore piece, apart Arisen and Unbound, describing something happening.

LeeDark11/6/2014, 1:06:00 AM3 votes

I like this, I really do, don't get me wrong there.

I do feel, however, that this is a case of quantity over quality. I want to know more about each of these events, and you did good making me want that. (Though, admittedly, that isn't all that hard to do.) You don't deliver more, and I have no reason to believe you will, so that's bad.

tau4311/6/2014, 3:35:45 PM2 votes

They also moved the Shadow Isles to the planar opposite side of the map. I'm curious to see why, and how they'll change Hecarim's story to fit.

Sneak Dog11/6/2014, 12:16:56 AM2 votes

Sounds like Riot decided Bilgewater needed a more interesting story, so they made up a war with the Shadow Isles. Just don't look at a map of Runeterra and you'll be fine. I'm not excited one little bit, but I guess I am biased by my lack of trust in narrative (Trundle, different thread).

Seems unlikely the leviathan is Ao Shin:

The Black Mist is dispersed before it reaches Bilgewater, but the giant from the depths is slain in the process.

Earl Eulrich11/6/2014, 1:23:00 AM2 votes

I still don't see why the Institute of War had to get retconned, but hey, at least they're trying

Just still the greatest problem right there...they could have done all (and it´s not much) they did so far without the goddamn retcon, so it just seems like they lack every understanding of why they retconed/what they´re doing in general.

LordHippoman11/6/2014, 12:56:05 AM2 votes

This is a lot of information to parse. I guess the most obvious thing to note is that Nautilus has fought in these battles. Never mentioned what side he's on, though...

GreenLore11/6/2014, 12:27:32 AM1 votes

It is interesting to put these 2 island states at odds with each other. I mean up til now the undead rarely had any problems with any other city states,despite the fact that the SI are the most evil faction of the game.

So now we probably know what has corrupted Nautilus,it was the black mist from the shadow isles.Nautilus drowned that day,but thanks to the black mist he probably returned as an undead.

The mention of a fleet captain possibly being taken by the black mist could hint at a future champ,I mean it sounds oddly specific,but then again I'd actually like to see the archetype of a fleet captain going to a bilgewater champ(but maybe we could get an undead pirate?)

brusque11/6/2014, 12:03:01 AM1 votes

A Blue Flame leviathan is goaded to the surface by a serpent caller to face the Harrowing.

Gyrados confirmed.

Seriously though, this is really cool. What is it? So the years are supposed to represent how long the Black Mist lasted ... I want to know who captained the Conqueror and where Grey Harbor is located!

Kerrigan 4 Prez11/6/2014, 3:46:10 AM1 votes

This needs to be turned into a TV show. No doubt. But, seriously there is a pattern i noticed. And that is that until it gets to a year after year point, the harrowing has one short pause than one long one, as well as the distance covered by it getting bigger every time. So this means that something is controlling the mist to me, and it gets stronger every other time. But that leaves one question, what changed that allowed this to happen? What variable made it that these harrowing's grew larger every time, does it have something to do with the ionian fleet? Was it carrying some sort of relic?

GenoXx11/6/2014, 4:06:26 AM1 votes

Actually what it is, the story is progressing. The harrowing just happened and now Narative are starting to show lore on Bilgewater...After the harrowing. You see they have named parts of Bilgewater. So this is what Narrative were talking about. Although I wonder whats they are going to give us for Bilgewater. Pirates are always a fun topic. And that leviathan was a sea serpent, not Ao shin. The serpent died.

Stars Shaper11/6/2014, 3:47:27 PM1 votes

My thoughts:

Confirmed to be a victim/spawn of the Black Mist
I hope they don't change his "neutrality" towards the Islands and the chance that he might go against the Heralds of them. My theory about him is that he was the first container for the Black Mist and now he is searching to get it back.
The Blue Flame Leviathan.. quite reminds me of the SI crest (the avatar that could be purchased).
The Serpent Caller... quite a peculiar individual. I really hope that is not related to Ao Shin.

Kinjishi11/7/2014, 12:16:20 AM1 votes

The harrowing seems like it was always relatively powerful. Part of the frequency is due to those that sailed near it as the harrowing expanded (i.e. incident at 33 yrs. ago, then Morde attacks the following year). It seems really peculiar that nobody has learned anything about it in the 49+ years that the harrowing has been happening. Thus, it keeps extending and becoming stronger.

I - 1 Year. The Battle of Knife Straits. An armada from Bilgewater, led by Miss Fortune and Captain Gangplank – sailing together under an uneasy truce – meets the Black Mist head on. Heavy casualties sustained. Fleet scattered. n MissFortune

II - 1 Year. The Drowned Anchor. One element of the Harrowing stalled. Reports of a large figure encased in a rusted diving suit seen in the heart of the fighting. Nautilus

III - 1 Year. The Reaping of Smuggler’s Cove. No survivors.

IV - 3 Years. The Battle of the Serpent. A Blue Flame leviathan is goaded to the surface by a serpent caller to face the Harrowing. The Black Mist is dispersed before it reaches Bilgewater, but the giant from the depths is slain in the process. ^ this could be Nami Nami

V - 9 Years. The Shadow Falls. The Black Mist overcomes the defenses of the Southern Beacon, and it sinks beneath the sea. Its guiding light is now lost to Bilgewater.

VI - 14 Years. The Wild Hunt. Hecarim marshals a spectral host and lays waste to the port of Grey Harbor. Despite valiant resistance from the fishing fleet anchored there, all souls are lost. Grey Harbor remains uninhabited to this day. Hecarim

VII - 17 years. The Crimson Armada. A Noxian war fleet is caught in the Black Mist. Over 30 vessels lost. No survivors.

Perhaps more Noxian lore to come out of this.

VIII - 21 Years. The Death of the Conqueror. The mighty galleon Conqueror is lost to the depths, along with 30 battleships. Some have claimed to have seen the Conqueror riding the Black Mist in subsequent Harrowings.

Potential for the Captain of this ship/fleet to be GPs or MFs teacher/predecessor.

IX - 32 years. The Battle of Port Mourn. The revenant Mordekaiser leads the Harrowing on a night of slaughter, and Port Mourn falls to darkness. It is said that specters now haunt its empty streets.

X - 33 years. The Flower of Ionia. An Ionian fleet of unknown size lost to the Harrowing.

Hope to see more back story of Ionia with appearances by Irelia's father.

XI - 37 years. The Maelstrom. The frigate Light-Bringer’s Bane is swallowed by the sea while sailing to outrun the Black Mist.

XII - 49 years. The Shroud. Up until half a century ago, this was the furthest extent of any known Harrowing.

Interested to see what the boundaries/reasons were that the kept the shroud in check and why they wore down.