If Demacia doesn't approve magic

Ahristocats·Mar 29, 2017·4 votes·2,444 views

How is Sona able to live there?

15 Comments

SharjoMar 29, 201710 votes

I'd imagine Lestara's got enough influence to be able to sweep a few things under the rug and call in some favours, or maybe Sona's magic stuff's easier to hide considering most of it comes from the etwahl.

GinoSoldierMar 30, 20171 votes

Sharjo, i'd like your take on what kind of person Sona is, from the little we know of her old lore.

My take on it is this; If i recall properly, the reason Sona had joined the institute of war was essentially to expand her audience and bring her powers to a stage worthy of her talent. That puts her in the same thematic place as Draven, essentially. She's more than this of course, but it's the detail about her old lore that really stuck with me.

I'm someone who sees (and plays) Sona as a straight up midlaner mage, in terms of gameplay, thematic and lore. It never made sense to me that she'd play the role of a support in game. Maybe you can convince me otherwise?

SharjoMar 30, 20172 votes

Thought process on Sona being a support is that I can imagine her wanting to use the etwahl and her music to help people. She's always been a kind hearted woman, and I can see her becoming almost storied among Demacians; a beautiful maven so skilled in her work that she can restore faith and vitallity to even the most hardened of soldiers. She would perhaps also be there to help those defending the lands; a noble renowned for standing with soldiers, pushing them on with her inspiring songs and hymns.

Going really far in to head canon I like the idea that Sona would try and use her influence to help folks beyond Demacia, and explore other parts of the world, learning their ways, helping their people, and bringing their music back to Demacia to show them the beauty of the world beyond their walls. I like to entertain the idea that all of the music of League (or most of it) is Sona made, having been inspired by meetings with/tales of the nations of the world and their inhabitants.

I kinda like the image of someone walking in to Sona making Jhin's music where she's basically doing gun kata to work out the percussion section in the first part.

GinoSoldierMar 30, 20171 votes

Allright, good read, thanks Sharjo. The only part i find odd, and really we could chalk that up to lack of lore, is that nowhere i can remember is it mentioned that Sona has any healing powers, and the only emphasis made by the old lore on her magical attributes was her ability to cause pain and captivate people. Not even a tidbit about soothing people.

I assume new lore will take care of this, but currently, it's difficult for me to view Sona as a caretaker kind of person. An artist and a performer, yes, but the audience is hers.

SharjoMar 30, 20171 votes

An artist and a performer, yes, but the audience is hers.

I never took Sona as being possessive of her work such that she only cared about the music itself, but the characterisation of being obsessed with the music itself and the craft does make a lot of sense.

I feel like one thing that would be important in all of this is what Sona thinks of the Etwahl. My interpretation would be she'd be happy to use it as an instrument for change, progress and happiness, especially when she's lived in a nation that was probably marred in conflict during her youth, and is now living in a nation that touts itself as a paragon of justice. I could see Demacia's talk about them being the righteous force in the world, coupled with Sona seeing the destruction of her old home to inspire her to take that to heart and work towards making change, at home and beyond it, but that's just my thinking on the matter.

GinoSoldierMar 31, 20171 votes

Speaking of her Etwahl, i do hope Riot makes it more important to Sona than they've made the Ball be to Orianna in her new lore. However, we only really know one thing about the Etwahl, it's that it is bound to Sona. Why, how and when, nobody has a clue, however there is this tidbit from her old lore Judgement;

Opening her mouth, she began to speak for the first time in her life. Her breath caught in her throat, short of uttering her first sound, when a booming voice from the recesses of her dim memory resounded in her mind.

This instrument will be the key to unlocking the world. It will speak for you more truly than a voice ever could. Nothing else not us, them, or any magic in this world will ever own you again.

Almost of its own accord, her hand flung outwards and slammed down on the ethwahl next to her. Dissonance erupted, deafeningly loud, drowning out any sounds that might have spilled forth from her lips. As the tones faded away, so did the foreign tingling in her throat. The enchantment was gone, never to return.

This hints at a much more mystical background for Sona than either of us seems to favor. I had honestly forgot about it until i read it again just now, and in all likelihood, it may be removed from her lore.

Another tidbit i'm curious about, i wonder how they'll explain why she's always floating? :P

FloRaider42Mar 30, 20173 votes

I think Sona does craves attention for the arts sake and to be able to bring joy and happiness to as many people as possible with her music. Draven craves attention, because he is more narcistic than a godly dragon that casually creates stars.

That said Jhin also wants a big audience, but since his art does pretty much the opposite of Sonas I think he serves as a good foil.

zero356Apr 2, 20171 votes

Dear God Thank you I never understood why I was okay with Draven x Sona Or at least Draven x Sona from Sona's perspective ~~THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE MATCH FOR DRAVEN IS DRAVEN~~

NA DarklarikMar 30, 20176 votes

Fairly sure no one notices magic coming out of it. TO the average viewer its just an instrument, making beautiful sounds. The old lore suggests that any attack she produces from it are razor sharp gusts of air, that cant be seen. The effect her music produces is magical to the listener as well, but they lack the flashy spell effects we see in game for the sake of clarity.

Thus, to everyone, Sona is just a mute harp player and thats it.

RiotBioluminescenceMar 30, 20176 votes

[{quoted}](name=NA Darklarik,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=XH8UxZJ1,comment-id=0003,timestamp=2017-03-30T09:59:21.013+0000)

Fairly sure no one notices magic coming out of it. TO the average viewer its just an instrument, making beautiful sounds. The old lore suggests that any attack she produces from it are razor sharp gusts of air, that cant be seen. The effect her music produces is magical to the listener as well, but they lack the flashy spell effects we see in game for the sake of clarity.

Thus, to everyone, Sona is just a mute harp player and thats it.

I'm with NA Darklarik on this one - as that's my theory too. Maybe the listeners don't realize there has been any magic done at all - but that it's 'simply' transformatively incredible music. I'm looking forward to seeing what her lore will eventually reveal too!
######(Default disclaimer - not on the Narrative discipline, I don't get to see all of the secret stuff early, etc. etc.)

AhristocatsMar 30, 20171 votes

{quoted}

I'm looking forward to seeing what her lore will eventually reveal too!

but does that mean that riot will eventually look at her lore... =?

WarWorkMar 30, 20171 votes

Yeah well, uh, then explain the floating

GreenLoreMar 30, 20174 votes

Sona didn't get an updated lore so we don't know. However she likely hides her magical abilities to some extend and the magic in her songs might not be that noticeable(so the people likely believe that she is just so good that her music can encourage you to go beyond your limits)