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Multiple Harrowings in 1 year, why haven't folk there left already

Rito Staff·10/29/2015, 4:04:03 PM·7 votes·3,242 views

If the Harrowing was something that happened once every so years I see how people could fight it or try their luck through the darkness... (I know now that is rather inconsistent, but my point remains :3)

Happening once, or even multiple times a year, makes no sense for common folk to hold their ground (even more because it's not actual people they're fighting, but dead things, who can't be defeated)

And from what we read from the Shadow and Fortune event - where the dead took whole ships, the ghost Kraken destroyed a whole neighborhood - My question is, how is Bilgewater still up and running? In just one go Bilgewater got completely wrecked. Lots of people have died, the story having turned out to be grim as it is, and if it happens 2+ times in the same year? People would be migrating (even if illegaly) somewhere else for sure.

I love reading it and it's exciting, but I don't see how people actually stay in Bilgewater, knowing what hunts it very so often... I'm saying here that with these events it should've been explored by the writters clear and definite ways the people there fight off the dead, or keep them away. I'm talking about candles and lamb sacrifices, chalk drewn pentagrams and that sort of things.

Happens once, "what was that?", happens twice "we should get the f outta here"

These events opened up the world a bit but I hope for future Harrowings of this scope we get more information on what can trigger it (the dead simply decide to go for it? too much sin accumulated?), and what people over the decades started doing to help themselves and if the dead have an agenda of their own.

I think it would've been logical for Bilgewater to be better equipped against Harrowings though, like iron walls that would slide through a whole building façade shutting it close completely.

And what about the tunnels beneath the city?

The walls of the cave were pale limestone, gouged from the cliffs upon which Bilgewater was built. The motion of water and the stone picks of the natives had crafted a labyrinth beneath the city few knew of or even suspected existed. The pale rock walls were etched with looping spirals, rippling waves and things that might have been unblinking eyes.

That's what I'm talking about, just not many BW inhabitants know about it...

17 Comments

RiotDinopawz10/29/2015, 6:53:00 PM15 votes

That's a very good point, and it's one I took some time to think about at the start of all this...

I liken people who stay in Bilgewater to the folk who live on the slopes of a volcano (or near one). The soil around such places was incredibly fertile and great for growing crops, so folk stayed in place because they could grow food and feed their families, make a living etc. All the while praying that the Angry Volcano God wouldn't blow its top and fry them. Or praying that their chosen deity would keep it from erupting. Also, they might not have a choice but to stay. A lot of people in Bilgewater are there because there's stuff they can do there that they can't do anywhere else, and there's also the fact that some might not be able to leave...either by not having any money, it's too dangerous to be out on the road without a company of warriors, the (unknown) world beyond is too scary, rumours of war coming from Noxus and the Freljord and all manner of tales of monsters and dark tidings.

Sometimes it's better to stick with the devil you know, hide under the kitchen table clutching your symbol of the bearded lady and pray it takes the people next door instead of you...

GreenLore10/29/2015, 5:01:04 PM4 votes

Most times the harrowing doesn't even reach bilgewater,but only its surrounding waters. Looking at the harrowing map it looks like only 3 harrowings ever reached bilgewater(I,III and VI),with 3 others being rather close to the place(II,IV,V) http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/game-updates/special-event/first-light-after-harrowing

Stars Shaper10/29/2015, 7:29:46 PM3 votes

Ppl are still living and building houses at the roots of Mt. Vesuvius... Harrowings ain't that bad compared to what that vulcano will do when the time will come.

The Only Doctor10/29/2015, 9:35:34 PM3 votes

But it also says the Harrowing grows in strength each year. The Black Mist and The Shadow Isles themselves are both beneficiaries of death and magic. Since the wells for both are, year in and year out, being added to, it makes absolute sense that the Harrowing would be ever more powerful, which maybe even means that things that used to work against the Harrowing no longer do. The idols and wards and signs that are nailed to doors and frames maybe no longer work as effectively as they once did. Just a way to think about it. IDK

Caytheles10/30/2015, 5:03:57 AM2 votes

Bruh, Bilgewater folk are born in Bilgewater, and they Die in Bilgewater.

Lord Boltrix10/30/2015, 12:57:58 AM2 votes

Maybe, instead, you should ask: why are there multiple harrowings in one year, and why one harrowing just happens to occur after Gangplank falls...

It's almost as if someone is behind the Black Mist, directing it in a way that suits the purposes of the controller.

Mordekaiser

TBakes10/30/2015, 4:17:51 PM1 votes

From what we have seen of the people in Bilgewater, they also seem to have a penchant for gambling. I'm sure there are travelers from all over who come to the port just to make a quick buck and get out. It might be the only safe harbor for certain groups of people. It might be a place where criminals and outcasts can live and find a certain amount of success just because others around the world will not follow them there.

The Harrowing is just a downside. Everyone is prepared to certain extent with faith and spirituality.

Zarkkast10/29/2015, 11:02:09 PM1 votes

I'd also like to bring up the point that a year on Runeterra might be more time than a year here on Earth.

A year on Saturn, for instance, takes about 30 Earth-years.

LongHair Fox10/30/2015, 5:01:11 AM1 votes

As a European I find myself asking the excapt same question every year, but towards people living the so called "hurricane straight" in USA. I guess it is attachment, spite, and a bit of faith and insanity based on how all the houses always seem to be made of wood,