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Culture, lifestyle, and fashion in Valoran.

Voidac·6/12/2015, 9:18:04 AM·13 votes·5,727 views

I want to talk about a couple major cities (...provinces/nations?) Demacia, Noxus, Piltover, Zaun, Bandle City, Ionia.

With so many different cultures and ideals, Valoran is quite the colorful place. Now, since the mass retcon, how much of this world has changed? Are we sticking with the basic understandings of each nation/city? Let's go ahead and assume we are.

In order as listed above, let's talk about...

DEMACIA A nation of pride and justice... and a crap-ton of body armor. While literally the rest of the world scrambles for new technology, Demacia is still just kinda...using swords (and a bit of magic). Yep. They have it programmed into their minds that Demacia is the best nation and that no one should dare cross them... (coughunitedstatescough). There fashion consists of blue, silver, and gold colors. Not much is said about any sort of religion. But they sure like to shout "DEMACIA!!" every change they get... so there's that.

NOXUS These guys. Opposite of Demacia. Think Nazi Germany and set it to overkill. While some still fight with swords and axes, others turn to science (chemistry in particular). Noxus is also home to many powerful mages. They seem to look at everything as a means to obtain power. Similar to Demacia in a small way, they think Noxus is above the rest of the world. They usually have their noses in a lot of other people's business. As far as religion, maybe someone can fill me in on any religion going on in Noxus? Their fashion consists of... a lot of stuff. They don't seem to have any major representing colors. No uniforms or flags. But they have a lot of people with many different backgrounds, so maybe that's a contributing factor.

PILTOVER The City of Progress. Again, no really evident representative colors. But they pursue technology for the betterment of society. Sort of. So far they've shown they're really good at building guns, gauntlets, canon-hammers, and just... a bunch of things meant to hurt people... which is funny now that I think about it. They seem eager to invent something to hurt people as much as they do to help people. Which is ironic.

ZAUN Dirty, industrial, and full of people who... also want to help better humanity? (whaaat) Seriously. Viktor started out as a really good guy, inventing things to help people. But there's a problem with this city, it's as corrupt as my PS2 memory card I found the other day. People will cheat and steal to make a name for themselves, leaving others in the dust. Not everyone things this way, but you can only push someone so far. What if someone stole Ekko's Zero-Drive and took all the credit for its creation? Ekko would be downright furious. And that's the problem. You have a lot of brilliant people and a lot of bad people. Taking advantage of a young, naive inventor is a piece of cake in a place like this. As for color and fashion... lots of greens and browns. Lots of funky hairstyles, though.

Bandle City Like Piltover for little furry dudes. They pursue technology and magic. Knowledge in general. No specific fashion (that we've seen. This applies to a lot of these). Lots of Yordles want to make a name for themselves, while some are actually pushed out of society. (Ziggs and Veigar) Other than that, they have a military and... that's all we really know. Some Tudor-style architecture. No real representative colors. Not much in the way of religion.

IONIA While quite a few of my favorite champions are from Zaun/Piltover. Ionia is actually the most interesting to me. The style of their buildings, they're mellow lifestyles. It's like Tibet, and Noxus is their China (in a way...?). Lots of magic, and lots of invaders. I'd love to explore this land more. Peaceful pacifists turns activists, protesting the assault on their home. Others chose to rebel against the lives forced on them by their elders. Fearing for their freedom and wanting to become the best they can be, they lash out.

FRELJORD IT'S FREAKIN' GAME OF THRONES UP IN THIS PLACE. It's amazing! I love the lore, I love the people. Unlike Shurima, this was done so well! Many different ideals, lifestyles and beliefs, and conflicts arising because of this. Ancient magic waiting to claim the world. Not much in the way of technology, however. They're kind of secluded from the rest of the world.

This is an amazing world. So much to explore and learn. These aren't even all the places to learn about. There are places like Mount Targon and Shurima. Man, if Valoran were a game like Skyrim, I'd play it for... well, the rest of my damn like. I'm STILL PLAYING SKYRIM. Damn game came out in 2011 and I'm still running around throwing fire at giants and sneaking around town guards. Sorry, my point is that Riot has made an amazing world, rich with lore and interesting characters. I love exploring the world the champions come from. What molds them, changes them into the people we seem them as? Their ideas and beliefs. All of it. I WANT TO KNOW ALL OF IT. So let's discuss it.

23 Comments

RiotBioluminescence6/12/2015, 4:49:46 PM7 votes

This is fun - I like it :)

SHURIMA As seen in Rek'Sai's video and teaser site, the common peoples of Shurima favor loose clothing in white, tan, and dark red. With so much of the lands of Shurima being a desert, protection from the sun during the day and from bitter cold at night are of the highest priority. Also; sandstorms.

I would suspect that some small artifacts of the ancient empire can still be found amongst the very wealthiest (or secretive) of the desert people - and are likely to be accessories of gold or glass-jade with radial and circular patterns.

(Standard disclaimer - I'm not a narrative-team-Rioter, I just love this stuff the same as you guys do!)

cHAncEman12926/12/2015, 5:43:47 PM4 votes

** DEMACIA **

Is a land defined by tradition. I think there is a reason we haven't seen more technically adept Demacians or citizens with stronger ties to other nations - its atypical. The only example would may be Sona but she doesn't have much influence in Demacia.

However, there are a lot of champions within the faction that break tradition. Shyvanna and Quinn, both were elevated to their position by royal decree. We see the price of conformity with Garen and Lux. The previous being a paragon of Demacian values. The later being forced into military service by her family (if that's still part of the lore).

It should be noted that there are royal houses in Demacia. Laurent (Fiora), Vayne (Vayne), Stormight (???), Buvelle (Sona), Crownguard (Garen & Lux), Lightshield (Jarvan VI)

Here are some interesting theories I have about the houses and what may be going on in the nobility of Demacia.

  • House Laurent's reputation for dueling has been thrown into ruin.
  • House Vayne'smatriarch and patriarch were killed by an evil witch and Vayne has devoted herself to a dark crusade
  • The lady of House Buvelle adopted Sona, leading me to believe that House Buvelle has no true heir
  • The** Black Rose and Swain **are working to weaken the royal family (House Lightshield)

My theory is that the houses are falling apart. I wonder if they'll be some sort of revolution to change tradition or if new houses will take the place of the former!

GenoXx6/12/2015, 3:15:13 PM2 votes

Noxus follows a color scheme: Red, black, silver, and gray.

And I thought about that Idea so many times how if The Elder Scrolls had runeterra. I'd play that shit. Also:

      ** SHADOW ISLES**

A land devoid of life. These Mysterious Isles we're once a thriving kingdom. It is said it was teeming with life, spirit and animal alike. Sounds like a promising paradise. But with the King(coughlichkingcough) corrupting his land with undeath, It's just a terrible place to be. I would love to explore the shadow Isles. Uncovering artifacts and ruins of sort that could tell you about the past. Or even uncover what lurks in the Shadow Isles. There's specters like Kalista and ghouls like yorick. Could there possibly be banshees as well?

RiverReign6/12/2015, 2:59:20 PM2 votes

Where is Bilgwater ????

ChaosThief6/13/2015, 12:19:40 AM1 votes

The only request I have of Riot right now:

Make featured modes new, temporary maps based around locations of runeterra.

I MEAN FOR GOD'S SAKE YOU HAVE ALL OF THIS YET IT MEANS ALMOST NOTHING. YOU COULD DO SO MUCH MORE.

Ironclad Dragon6/13/2015, 2:39:44 AM1 votes

Since Darius is a member of the Noxian military, I suspect Noxus's official colors are muted metal (of any sort), ashen white, and blood red. Lower ranking soldiers seem to stick to those darker metals, as seen in Bard: Mountain, but even Sion conforms to this color scheme. They're not a very gaudy people, if you exempt Swain.

Voidac6/13/2015, 8:22:29 AM1 votes

LOKFAR

"An unforgiving barren tundra, Lokfar is a place where all creatures must vie bitterly for every resource. The coastal peninsula of Lokfar is among the most brutal places in the Freljord. There, rage is the only fire to warm frozen bones, blood is the only liquid that flows freely, and there is no worse fate than to grow old, frail, and forgotten. In the lands of Lokfar there exists a long tradition of soldiers unlike most others. Berserkers, as they call themselves, are warriors who channel fury from deep within their cores, unleashing pure and savage wrath upon their enemies."

Oh, and Brand was imprisoned there, too. Until good ol' Kegan set him free. This place is waaay north, and the people there are tough. Really tough.

There clothing seems to consist mostly of leather and animal hides. And whatever the hell Brand's pants are. They're clearly decently skilled metal workers, adding designs into weapons and belt buckles. Also belts. Brand's got 'em all... and pants, while Olaf has a severe lack of pants. They must be skilled craftsman in general, as well as experts at traveling the sea. They are also rather superstitious as they have objects that, when tossed and read like dice, have different meanings. This even drove Olaf to the Freljord to see if the prediction was true.

Decrit6/14/2015, 8:59:46 AM1 votes

I always wondered about yordles and Bandle. Not sure how much stuff there is like Piltover, as you said. This because yordles came from pretty much everywhere, with different affiliations and culture, and only settled there because of... an airship?

We see many yordles are into technology, with many having a connection to Piltover too, many others into military ( with a great connection to technology too ) and only few of them in magic ( and dammit if they go hardcore Veigar Lulu ), but all of this stuff is done with outsider knowledge, with the many yordles being scattered all over Valoran ( if they are not in Piltover) besides Bandle . Frankly, if there was not for Tristana and Corky, I would think the Narrative wants to delete Bandle and make the yordles nomads/scattered again.

A thing that actually i would like to see - it would be interesting how a culture develops if the individual needs the company of his kin, while there is not too much in the immediate surroundings - but that i hope will never happen, since there is already a load of people that cares about the old lore and for good reasons wants to keep it.

Marbelara6/17/2015, 10:18:07 PM1 votes

Hmmm... While we're at it, can I try? [excuse my language and formatting, I'm new here! Also some of the following may seem crazy. Please forgive me.]

The Void

An unspecified realm or dimension, filled with undescribable horrors that are driven by an intense hunger. Because of that, they seek out other realms (such as Runeterra) and invade them through various entry points (Icathia), absorbing whatever they can into the Void. They have a strict hierarchy where the stronger and more intelligent creatures (Chogath RekSai Velkoz ) can dispose of the weaker ones as they see fit. They are also quite animalistic. Their bodies have many forms while their color scheme is purple, probably matching the inside of their realm.

The effect of the Void on outside beings is horrific. As seen with Malzahar and Kassadin , the creatures afflicted with it are violated (mind, body) and then often lured in to further the Void's quest. The effects seem irreversible.

The Celestial Realms

Not much is known about them. They seem to reside in another set of dimensions, though unlike the thick of the Void, they appear to be more of specific realms belonging to the singular Celestial beings and their aquitances (Soraka grove, Bard storage, maybe the Glade if Pix is tied to the Celestials). They are free from the rigid rules of this world, with space and time unlike that of Runeterra.

The residents of these realms are usually tied to the stars in some way, while also following some set of purposes given to them by the stars. Much like with the Void, their shapes vary much from the Runterran standard, and they feel a need to influence our world, though unlike the Void, it has a profoundly benelovent effect. They seem to be able to archeive great power, wisdom and immortality.

The people who have visited those realms are Soraka patients and possibly Lulu (again, if Glade is in any way tied to the celestial realms). While the patients were simply healed, in the Glade, Lulu had barely aged, and upon returning, it turned out that hundreds of years have passed in her absence. She also obtained or learned a set of powers mirroring those of Pix's.

[As we can see, those two realms are almost polar opposites. They are almost the same but fundamentally different. Interesting.]

[Btw Riot, it really would be cool to clarify what Glade is. It's bugging me and I may potentially end up looking silly in front of everyone xD But what is it? Is Pix a small celestial? Is he just a # magical race living in Runeterra like Skarner's race? Does Pix have a motive for taking Lulu away or was it for fun? I could make an entire thread about this.]

[And was Amumu taken to the Glade in his song video, or a random magical realm? Or was this artistic license?]

Fowus6/12/2015, 4:18:02 PM1 votes

Void

The Soulforged6/12/2015, 6:00:03 PM1 votes

Actually, in a way Bandle City has a religion. In a way, the Mothership is something the yordles look up to as piece of their past, but I suspect the crazies may think of it in a different way.

ModWulf Helhammer6/12/2015, 6:05:33 PM1 votes

Spikes. Noxus's big thing is spikes (at least on their fighters, like Darius(