Boards›Story, Art, & Sound

Lore Timeline of League of Legends

cerbari··19 votes·11,623 views

Hey guys, for a long time i wondered when each of the major events in the league lore took place. We have so many regions and civilisations that it is sometimes confusing as what happened first. For example, were the watchers in freljord trapped in the howling abyss before the ruination of the shadow isles? So after reading here on the board, that it was confirmed, that shurimas fall, the darkin wars, and the rune wars happened in that order. I wanted to make a bigger timeline. I started to search for glues in the different Storys on the universe page, that say when something took place. With that Information i created my own timeline.

  • shurima founding (my starting point)
  • aurelion visits runterra again (he saw the construction of the sundisc in his Story)
  • Doom of Icathia (since Setaka died on the eve of Icathias Doom and Setaka was ascended)
  • great void war (guess, but it is a probable reason that the doom of icathia was the reason)
  • creation of vastaya ("The vastaya’s origins can be traced back to a hidden corner of Ionia where a group of humans fled in escape of the Great Void War.")
  • fall of shurima (millenia ago)
  • darkin wars (after fall of shurima confirmed boards)
  • Morde gets his empire (in his bio its said that he has existed for countless centuries)
  • Morde falls
  • the freljordians are enslaved by the Watchers (in lyissandras lore it happened centuries ago)
  • watchers are defeated (lissandra said it happened Generations ago)
  • Noxus founding (confirmed after fall of Morde)
  • Rune wars (after darkin wars confirmed board)
  • Demacia founding (confirmed after rune wars in Galios bio)
  • Ruination of the blessed isles (~100 years ago, confirmed by Yoricks short story)
  • Rise of Shurima

Would be nice if you guys could Point out any mistakes i may have made, or help me expand the timeline. Or if an official Rioter could confirm if it's accurate or not.

33 Comments

RiotBioluminescence24 votes

Ok! Let's do this! (This is my other specialist subject, that isn't maps.) Not sure how much I'm allowed to say, so what I'll do is call out the lines in your list that are a bit off.

  • shurima founding (my starting point)
  • aurelion visits runterra again (he saw the construction of the sundisc in his Story)
  • Doom of Icathia (since Setaka died on the eve of Icathias Doom and Setaka was ascended)
  • great void war (guess, but it is a probable reason that the doom of icathia was the reason)
  • creation of vastaya ("The vastaya’s origins can be traced back to a hidden corner of Ionia where a group of humans fled in escape of the Great Void War.")
  • (Think much earlier for these.)
  • fall of shurima (millenia ago)
  • darkin wars (after fall of shurima confirmed boards)
  • Morde gets his empire (in his bio its said that he has existed for countless centuries)
  • Morde falls
  • the freljordians are enslaved by the Watchers (in lyissandras lore it happened centuries ago)
  • watchers are defeated (lissandra said it happened Generations ago)
  • (Again, think earlier for these. Also while Mordekaiser ruled with his iron fist for a long time, the time between his fall and the founding of Noxus was pretty short!)
  • Noxus founding (confirmed after fall of Morde)
  • Rune wars (after darkin wars confirmed board)
  • Demacia founding (confirmed after rune wars in Galios bio)
  • Ruination of the blessed isles (~100 years ago, confirmed by Yoricks short story)
  • (Earlier. While Yorick said he hadn't seen people in a hundred years, that doesn't mean that A) the Ruination was the last time he saw people, or even B) that the story is set recently.)
  • Rise of Shurima

I know your pain though - I have a painstakingly assembled 458 entry spreadsheet for this sort of stuff, sortable by region, champ, date, age confidence level, player-facing-ness, etc. Took me weeks. Internally quite handy though - and I think my cheerful color coding makes it slightly more approachable :)

This is about the point where folks get annoyed with me and go "Well if you know, why don't you just tell us, gosh darn it, Bioluminescence!" Fair point. Working on it, same as the map. Sorry.

[cass-cry]

TerraRising2 votes

{quoted}

This is about the point where folks get annoyed with me and go "Well if you know, why don't you just tell us, gosh darn it, Bioluminescence!"

I have to ask. Do they yell at you like a parent annoyed with their kid?

#"Bio Lumin Escence, if you already know it, just tell us!"

RiotBioluminescence6 votes

{quoted}

I have to ask. Do they yell at you like a parent annoyed with their kid?

Only in my head.

cerbari3 votes

{quoted}

Ok! Let's do this! (This is my other specialist subject, that isn't maps.) Not sure how much I'm allowed to say, so what I'll do is call out the lines in your list that are a bit off.

  • shurima founding (my starting point)

  • aurelion visits runterra again (he saw the construction of the sundisc in his Story)

  • Doom of Icathia (since Setaka died on the eve of Icathias Doom and Setaka was ascended)

  • great void war (guess, but it is a probable reason that the doom of icathia was the reason)

  • creation of vastaya ("The vastaya’s origins can be traced back to a hidden corner of Ionia where a group of humans fled in escape of the Great Void War.")

  • (Think much earlier for these.)

  • fall of shurima (millenia ago)

  • darkin wars (after fall of shurima confirmed boards)

  • Morde gets his empire (in his bio its said that he has existed for countless centuries)

  • Morde falls

  • the freljordians are enslaved by the Watchers (in lyissandras lore it happened centuries ago)

  • watchers are defeated (lissandra said it happened Generations ago)

  • (Again, think earlier for these. Also while Mordekaiser ruled with his iron fist for a long time, the time between his fall and the founding of Noxus was pretty short!)

  • Noxus founding (confirmed after fall of Morde)

  • Rune wars (after darkin wars confirmed board)

  • Demacia founding (confirmed after rune wars in Galios bio)

  • Ruination of the blessed isles (~100 years ago, confirmed by Yoricks short story)

  • (Earlier. While Yorick said he hadn't seen people in a hundred years, that doesn't mean that A) the Ruination was the last time he saw people, or even B) that the story is set recently.)

  • Rise of Shurima

I know your pain though - I have a painstakingly assembled 458 entry spreadsheet for this sort of stuff, sortable by region, champ, date, age confidence level, player-facing-ness, etc. Took me weeks. Internally quite handy though - and I think my cheerful color coding makes it slightly more approachable :)

This is about the point where folks get annoyed with me and go "Well if you know, why don't you just tell us, gosh darn it, Bioluminescence!" Fair point. Working on it, same as the map. Sorry.

[cass-cry]

Okay thank you very much, like i said earlier when first constructing my time line the first Event ever was the freljord with frozen watchers. It just felt right as this super ancient empire and with the magical ice age. I am quite happy it happened not that recent. The same Thing with the shadow isles. On the other side i have now no idea where to put the ruination though ^^ Also i am a Little sad that my theory on the great void war is wrong. The Doom of Icathia was just the perfect incident to set such a war in Motion.

Still thank you for showing me where is was wrong, also thanks for the hint that we dont know when the Storys take place.

RiotBioluminescence8 votes

{quoted}

Okay thank you very much, like i said earlier when first constructing my time line the first Event ever was the freljord with frozen watchers. It just felt right as this super ancient empire and with the magical ice age. I am quite happy it happened not that recent. The same Thing with the shadow isles. On the other side i have now no idea where to put the ruination though ^^ Also i am a Little sad that my theory on the great void war is wrong. The Doom of Icathia was just the perfect incident to set such a war in Motion.

Still thank you for showing me where is was wrong, also thanks for the hint that we dont know when the Storys take place.

The Fall of Icathia was a big enough deal on its own, really. That was not a pleasant time to be an organic being.

Kerrigan 4 Prez2 votes

{quoted}

That was not a pleasant time to be an organic being.

[galio-happy]

RottedApples1 votes

You know i've wondered, how many vastayan are actually truly vastayan?

It seems like it's being used as a catch all term for anything that isn't human/ascended/from the void, which is a fair and diverse chunk of the roster. It makes me wonder if the humans are being ignorant and using it as such, if theres racial inequality between the humans and the non humans, somewhat like history in our world.

I just find it strange.

Chrysi71 votes

{quoted}

Ok! Let's do this! (This is my other specialist subject, that isn't maps.) Not sure how much I'm allowed to say, so what I'll do is call out the lines in your list that are a bit off.

  • shurima founding (my starting point)

  • aurelion visits runterra again (he saw the construction of the sundisc in his Story)

  • Doom of Icathia (since Setaka died on the eve of Icathias Doom and Setaka was ascended)

  • great void war (guess, but it is a probable reason that the doom of icathia was the reason)

  • creation of vastaya ("The vastaya’s origins can be traced back to a hidden corner of Ionia where a group of humans fled in escape of the Great Void War.")

  • (Think much earlier for these.)

  • fall of shurima (millenia ago)

  • darkin wars (after fall of shurima confirmed boards)

  • Morde gets his empire (in his bio its said that he has existed for countless centuries)

  • Morde falls

  • the freljordians are enslaved by the Watchers (in lyissandras lore it happened centuries ago)

  • watchers are defeated (lissandra said it happened Generations ago)

  • (Again, think earlier for these. Also while Mordekaiser ruled with his iron fist for a long time, the time between his fall and the founding of Noxus was pretty short!)

  • Noxus founding (confirmed after fall of Morde)

  • Rune wars (after darkin wars confirmed board)

  • Demacia founding (confirmed after rune wars in Galios bio)

  • Ruination of the blessed isles (~100 years ago, confirmed by Yoricks short story)

  • (Earlier. While Yorick said he hadn't seen people in a hundred years, that doesn't mean that A) the Ruination was the last time he saw people, or even B) that the story is set recently.)

  • Rise of Shurima

I know your pain though - I have a painstakingly assembled 458 entry spreadsheet for this sort of stuff, sortable by region, champ, date, age confidence level, player-facing-ness, etc. Took me weeks. Internally quite handy though - and I think my cheerful color coding makes it slightly more approachable :)

This is about the point where folks get annoyed with me and go "Well if you know, why don't you just tell us, gosh darn it, Bioluminescence!" Fair point. Working on it, same as the map. Sorry.

[cass-cry]

Um, I have a question. Wouldn't it make more sense if Shurima's Founding and the Enslavement of the Freljord happened around the same time? Lissandra stated 'before Shurima fell' and before Aurelion Sol came to Mount Targon, so she's ridonkulously old.

It's possible that, given the old ages, they simply didn't interact as much.

Ebonmaw Dragon5 votes

I would move everything about Freljord and the watchers before the Shurima founding... Mainly because what Lissandra says in ARAM

"Long before Ashe and Sejuani, before magic shattered the broken peaks, before the desert swallowed Shurima, it was the time of The Three Sisters. We were so young back then; Avarosa, Serylda, and me, Lissandra."

https://youtu.be/uFak8nkcGv0?t=45

cerbari1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Ebonmaw Dragon,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=ZmsIsYfy,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2017-12-08T23:51:58.945+0000)

I would move everything about Freljord and the watchers before the Shurima founding... Mainly because what Lissandra says in ARAM

I actually had it there :D But in her universe bio she says it happened centuries ago, and the fall of shurima was already millenia ago. So i changed it to be where it is now. I dont know the exact Quote she says in ARAM could you tell me?

Ebonmaw Dragon1 votes

{quoted}

I actually had it there :D But in her universe bio she says it happened centuries ago, and the fall of shurima was already millenia ago. So i changed it to be where it is now. I dont know the exact Quote she says in ARAM could you tell me?

Sorry, i edited the post afterwards with the quote, here is:

"Long before Ashe and Sejuani, before magic shattered the broken peaks, before the desert swallowed Shurima, it was the time of The Three Sisters. We were so young back then; Avarosa, Serylda, and me, Lissandra."

https://youtu.be/uFak8nkcGv0?t=46

cerbari1 votes

ok nwm didnt see the Video. Its strange so from her Quote i would place the freljordian Events during the shuriman empire since the desert swallowed it after its fall and the oasis of the dawn being sealed. like i said my first instinct was to put the it there but in her bios she says centuries and i wouldnt describe an Event that took place many millenia ago as centuries ago and not even countless centuries like in mordes lore

Ebonmaw Dragon1 votes

{quoted}

ok nwm didnt see the Video. Its strange so from her Quote i would place the freljordian Events during the shuriman empire since the desert swallowed it after its fall and the oasis of the dawn being sealed. like i said my first instinct was to put the it there but in her bios she says centuries and i wouldnt describe an Event that took place many millenia ago as centuries ago and not even countless centuries like in mordes lore

Well... a millennia is 10 centuries... so, 11 centuries can be considered "centuries" anyways.

Whatever, i remembered this post of Sharjo... Its outdated, but might help you:

https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/story-art/so3Em891-a-look-at-the-how-the-timeline-of-runeterra-and-the-league-universe-might-work-no-promises-though

cerbari1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Ebonmaw Dragon,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=ZmsIsYfy,comment-id=0000000000010001,timestamp=2017-12-09T00:08:01.333+0000)

Well... a millennia is 10 centuries... so, 11 centuries can be considered "centuries" anyways.

Whatever, i remembered this post of Sharjo... Its outdated, but might help you:

https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/story-art/so3Em891-a-look-at-the-how-the-timeline-of-runeterra-and-the-league-universe-might-work-no-promises-though

thanks for the answers and you are right 11 centuries could be considered ''centuries'' i am leaning towards putting it before the doom of icathia but first i am gonna wait for some more answers until i eventually Change my timeline

Celebrimborr1 votes

where is people getting all this void information on

nelogis1 votes

The Ruination happened before Noxus was there, Karthus lore says that he was born near Noxus and heard of the Shadow Isles, then went there to become dead and alive at the same time.

When Mordekaiser got revived tho the Ruination also had already happened

So I would say between Mordekaisers death and his revival maybe soon after the fall of Mordekaiser

Grimm Howl3 votes

I highly doubt that the Ruination happened before the rise of Noxus. The early Noxian's took over the the Immortal Bastion after the Valoran Alliance finally slew Mordekaiser for the "last time" because the priests of the Blessed Isles successfully infiltrated the fortress and stole away Mordekaiser's skull so that he could no longer be resurrected. They then took that skull to the Blessed Isles where it sat guarded in the vault for centuries until the Ruination occurred, drawing Mordekaiser's lich servants to the isle like moths to a flame to resurrect their warlord once again.

I'd say since at this point the city-state of Noxus would be a couple hundred years old, and then there is plenty of time between the Ruination occurring, multiple Harrowings, and the whispers of the Shadow Isles to spread to the city-state via word of mouth or the exploits of Elise at this point to draw Karthus to the island. There is no where in the lore that says Karthus was born shortly after the rise of Noxus. From what I gathered from his story, they already had taken over a good portion of the land surrounding the Immortal Bastion, and had created a culture and practice all their own.

nelogis1 votes

yeah you're right don't know why I thought Karthus was born in the early days of Noxus either ^^

Then I would put the Ruination between Noxus Founding and Rune Wars (It says that the spell of the King that cursed everything got accidentally enhanced by the artifacts around him, maybe a world rune was in play here? What I find interesting tho is that Thresh is responsible for the Ruination, he lured the King into the trap. Do you think he knew that this was going to happen?)

Grimm Howl1 votes

I don't believe any World Runes were present at all, but within the vault on the Blessed Isles that Thresh was the warden of were countless magical artifacts and weapons from all over Runeterra that the order of priests of the Isles confiscated or stole to help keep the world safe and in balance I believe. I might have to go back and read the Shadow Isles lore real quick because I thought it was Hecarim, the leader of the King's Iron Legion that instigated the king into forcing the priests to resurrect his dead wife/queen.

nelogis1 votes

Well locking away World Runes sure would keep the balance safe but I guess locking it in the same room with a guy in there 24/7 might not be the brightest idea yeah.

Hecarim tricked Kalista into bringing them to the Blessed Isles, started a slaughter to force the priests into telling him how to resurrect the king's wife, killed Kalista but Thresh was the one who lead them to the artifacts/fountain of life or whatever he led them to.

Threshs lore says that the artifacts in the Vault "spoke/tortured" him. And since Mordes skull was there maybe the skull "told" him what to do. His lich servants couldn't find the location of his skull thanks to the vault but if the vault would be destroyed.... I know that Thresh at some point got resistant to the artifacts and actually started torturing them. But the skull of Morde may have spoken to him only on this event? to make sure that Thresh never gets resistant to him.

Or maybe Thresh was just a mad bastard at that point.

Btw sorry for my english I know it's not the best

Grimm Howl1 votes

No worries, your english it fine. You bring up a good point though, it could have all be a calculated event on Mordekaiser's part to tear the vault asunder. Though in the end, I'm not sure anyone knew that the resurrection would have that kind of reaction the the surrounding artifacts.

Hovering Hentai1 votes

I thought the Watchers were before the Fall of Shurima

Necrozard1 votes

item 3348 :Poro:

Jaspers1 votes

I really like the whole theory of the timeline of the lore of LoL. But I have issues with the idea that Darkin War is between Shurima's fall and Rune Wars. I know it's basically set by the few instances recently mentioned by Rioters on the boards but some thing don't add up.

That being Varus' knowledge of it mainly. He mentions that not only was Shurima a wasteland (which doesn't mean a ruin, wasteland means nothing, meaning it might have been jut a desert so Darkin War long before Shurima even rose up) last he remembers but more importantly, people don't know what a Darkin is or that they 'all but destroyed this world' (Varus words). Why don't people know what Darkin's are? The guy writing about Vastayans and eyeing up Ahri mentioned that the Darkin were sentient weapons, not an entire race of invading near immortal beings that killed thousands. Is it so easily forgettable of a war? We, as humans, have on record nearly every major battle for the last 2000 years, some earlier through documentation. Did Runeterran's not document the Darkin War?

Yet they remember Shurima, quite well it seems. Seems out of place.

Also, as Brand is mentioned in the Shurima lore, yet he has a World Rune it means world runes were known about long before the Rune Wars.

Another thing, wasn't Aurelion Sol's story set recently? More recent that Shurima's sun disc was first constructed? (as in after Azir arose) I might have misunderstood it but he closed a void breach and killed a Pantheon, meaning the other Aspects left over from the dead Targon Empire took notice and were to return to Runeterra because their grip on him was subsiding? No. Probably took that story all wrong.

Just some thoughts.

cerbari1 votes

{quoted}

I really like the whole theory of the timeline of the lore of LoL. But I have issues with the idea that Darkin War is between Shurima's fall and Rune Wars. I know it's basically set by the few instances recently mentioned by Rioters on the boards but some thing don't add up.

That being Varus' knowledge of it mainly. He mentions that not only was Shurima a wasteland (which doesn't mean a ruin, wasteland means nothing, meaning it might have been jut a desert so Darkin War long before Shurima even rose up) last he remembers but more importantly, people don't know what a Darkin is or that they 'all but destroyed this world' (Varus words). Why don't people know what Darkin's are? The guy writing about Vastayans and eyeing up Ahri mentioned that the Darkin were sentient weapons, not an entire race of invading near immortal beings that killed thousands. Is it so easily forgettable of a war? We, as humans, have on record nearly every major battle for the last 2000 years, some earlier through documentation. Did Runeterran's not document the Darkin War?

Yet they remember Shurima, quite well it seems. Seems out of place.

Also, as Brand is mentioned in the Shurima lore, yet he has a World Rune it means world runes were known about long before the Rune Wars.

Another thing, wasn't Aurelion Sol's story set recently? More recent that Shurima's sun disc was first constructed? (as in after Azir arose) I might have misunderstood it but he closed a void breach and killed a Pantheon, meaning the other Aspects left over from the dead Targon Empire took notice and were to return to Runeterra because their grip on him was subsiding? No. Probably took that story all wrong.

Just some thoughts.

Ok i try to clear some Things up. shurima was a giant empire a lot of its Citys still stand, so you dont have to believe in shurima you can still visit it and there are also still shuriman People. also in the lore we can read that the sundisc stands in direct Connection with the oasis of the dawn. In nasus lore i believe he said that after the sundisc had no more Magic the oasis ran try and thus turning shurima back into a wasteland/Dessert. also People still remember the darkin, its just more like a myth. In shurima lore fiery Spirit is mentioned i dont know if its confirmed as brand.

And finally Aurelion saw slave worker constructing the sundisc so it was definitly not azirs Ascension.

I hope i could help you ^^

Jaspers1 votes

Perfect, that cleared a lot up. So Varus meant just the main city, not the rest of Shurima because of the magic involved in Oasis of Dawn. Shurima stuff and Sol sorted. :)

The whole Darkin thing I still don't get. 1066 is not a myth in British history, it happened, we have it documented. The Black Death did wiped out 50% of European population yet we all know about, no one thinks it's a myth. If the Darkin were that big of a deal it wouldn't be a myth. But alas, this is just my issue with the way it's told....and me being picky. :P

Thanks regardless.

sethaeon1 votes

I'm wondering, are we ever going to get to see the official timeline? (Not anytime soon obviously, but eventually)

Tesla Effect1 votes

Battle of Pallas where Varus was freed might have happened at the start of the Invasion of Ionia...meaning it was 16 years ago. Shuriman ascension happend 2 years ago, meaning Varus was roaming runeterra for 14 years or more until he came to Shurima. 14 Years!....ether that or Noxus decided to stupidly attack Ionia again, which is highly unlikely with Irelia around.

Camille Ferrøs1 votes

I always thought that the runes wars were one of the earliest events

Warlord Rhinark1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Camille Ferrøs,realm=EUNE,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=ZmsIsYfy,comment-id=0009,timestamp=2018-06-29T11:01:47.730+0000)

I always thought that the runes wars were one of the earliest events

Oi mate.

Don't necro 7 month old threads.

That's against the (Updated) Boards Universal Rules.

Camille Ferrøs1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Warlord Rhinark,realm=EUW,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=ZmsIsYfy,comment-id=00090000,timestamp=2018-06-29T19:22:02.385+0000)

Oi mate.

Don't necro 7 month old threads.

That's against the (Updated) Boards Universal Rules.

really ¿[sg-lux-2]

Warlord Rhinark1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Camille Ferrøs,realm=EUNE,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=ZmsIsYfy,comment-id=000900000000,timestamp=2018-06-29T22:17:53.671+0000)

really ¿[sg-lux-2]

Yeah.

Says so under "The Bad Stuff" under "Spamming & Trolling".

To quote:

No spamming or trolling. Some common examples of these behaviors are listed below.

Posting content not related to the discussion. Posting a discussion or comment repeatedly, or across multiple sub-boards. Posting designed to bait conversation or falsify content. Posting designed to spoil things (movies, shows, books, etc.) for other players Posting repetitive non-constructive or low-effort content. Bumping of discussions while adding no meaningful content. Excessive emoji / icon spam. Necromancy of old discussions.

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