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My Vision of the Runaterra Map [ Some Concepts ]

Killaburn··72 votes·15,290 views

Before you read, this is my own creation with a bit of canon maps that have been presented after the lore revamp. so please feel free to see it.

So this is my vision of runeterra(Just next it, idk what happend lol): http://imgur.com/a/es42n

Canon maps presented in my fan made map: http://imgur.com/a/afPz8

Continents in runaterra: http://imgur.com/a/UJWNb

Territories/cities/countries/areas: http://imgur.com/a/zn1R5

Justification on why I put this places there and theories aswell as to why is it placed in that part of the map:

Noxus, Piltover, Zaun, Bilgwater,shadow isles,freljord - i don't need to elaborate these places actually because they are already seen in the cannon map but i don't think if these are really canonically accurate maps in a way because riot likes to play with a vision of an owned entity like this is the vision of X person's map(like The Medarda Heirloom Map). but i will justify these places in my map just for the sake of this post.

  • Shadow Isles - the place of the shadow isles is nearly at the south east of bilgewater by the canon map (The Medarda Heirloom Map) and it has this mist going on so thats why i placed that accurately on my own map.
  • Bilgewater - It is in the northwest part of the shadow isles and south east of piltover/zaun so i think its nice to place it like that on my map.
  • Ionia - it is a continent that's why i made it larger other than the others on my map. and by the looks of it, in the cannon map it is in the northern part of bilgewater but we can only see a tiny portion of it so i made an ionian map myself.
  • Piltover/Zaun - self explanatory. look at he cannon map (The Medarda Heirloom Map).
  • Demacia - one of the maps that we don't have atm so in my vision i placed it in the western part of the map because(isolation) and in the pictures of the place(in the universe page) it has rivers so that why i placed rivers aswell. Another point is that in the canon map (The Medarda Heirloom Map), it is placed in the western side of the world of runatera.
  • Shurima - we all know that shurima is one hell of a big place so in my map it is huge. and in the canon lore they said that the shuriman map is in the southern part of runaterra.(in the future i will also make an elaborate map of shurima in my fan made map like the shurima capital,etc.)
  • Noxus - self explanatory. look at he cannon map (The Medarda Heirloom Map).
  • Freljord - This is tricky so i researched a bit. The reason why i put freljord in that place is because: it must be in the northern part of runatera(because ice), it is close to demacia(alot of freljord-demacian interaction in the lore), it is also close to noxus(see the video where darius walks in the lands of freljord) and in The Medarda Heirloom Map, the arrow is pointing towards northwest so we assume that it is not really west.
  • Mt. targon - we all know that the mountain is large and long. In the lore it is also stated that its in the southern part of runatera and besides shurima. And I also assume it is close to demacia because taric duh!(he was exiled in targon so it might be closed).
  • Bandle city - I will elaborate this in the future( i have theories like it is a mystical forest that has a city in the middle alongside a portal that they come trough and that no one can enter in/out in the forest except yordles and the yordles can only be seen as humans to some ordinary people like tristana is visioned as an old lady unless you are a magcal being( don't argue with me about the games because summoners are not really cannon anymore)).
  • Kumungu Jungles - I know this is not canon anymore( i think) but this is just my place holder name to the jungles of shurima. This is also close to the place of rengar(the savannah region of shurima)and i wish jungle champs should be retconed here like nida and zyra.
  • Icathia - it is somewhere in shurima and i can say that it is in the sourthern part of it. this is where the void's portal happend,void corruption, etc.. Another theory is that it is beside the jungles of shurima(ex. k6 and rengar) and mt. targon where they fight the void monsters.

Another personal theory of mine that there is a place like this: http://imgur.com/a/y23co

this is where the dragons take place. shyvanna's hometown. as i can say this is also close to demacia because j4 and shyv. another is that demacia is close to freljord so i think this is also the place where braum fights dragons. there are also volcanoes here because we don't have a volcano yet in runatera. and imagine the dragon X skins takes place here.

NOTE: Time after time, i will update this post :D so keep updated. and thanks for reading.

84 Comments

RiotBioluminescence40 votes

Oooooh, maps - I adore maps. :D

I love the thought process you've put into this - really good to read the reasoning behind the positioning of all the locations.

I'm quite interested in some of the geographical quirks you've got going on there - especially the channel between the two largest land masses of Ionia, and the channel around the are you've labelled the jungles. How do you imagine those would have formed? (Obviously, "Magic!" is a possible response, but I'm interested to know if there were traditional geological processes that suggested it to you?)

Wonderful work all round, Killaburn!

Krabohod3 votes

I am bit full of critique about the fact that Shuriman continent is connected with Valoran at 2 points. One is where Piltover/Zaun stands and the one where Demacia linked to Mount Targon. I do not think that the second one is true. It's also making the sea left of Piltover is in-land. Is that canon? And i missed it? or Shuriman continent and Northern continent (Valoran?) are connected only where Piltover stands?

Also: I know, that it's bad thing to do at boards, but, Bio, you never answered in my post about "Vindor/Uindor" and that made me very sad :(

RiotBioluminescence6 votes

{quoted}

I am bit full of critique about the fact that Shuriman continent is connected with Valoran at 2 points. One is where Piltover/Zaun stands and the one where Demacia linked to Mount Targon. I do not think that the second one is true. It's also making the sea left of Piltover is in-land. Is that canon? And i missed it? or Shuriman continent and Northern continent (Valoran?) are connected only where Piltover stands?

Also: I know, that it's bad thing to do at boards, but, Bio, you never answered in my post about "Vindor/Uindor" and that made me very sad :(

Nothing about the coastline west of the Medarda Heirloom map has been revealed - there's no player facing information about whether that body of water is a sealed off sea, opens to ocean, or anything else. You haven't missed anything :) This is me specifically not saying whether Killaburn is correct, a little bit wrong, or all kinds of wrong.

Sorry I made you sad about Vindor! I didn't mean to. I just felt that there wasn't much for me to add. There's lots of ways we could 'excuse' the mistake on the map by blaming Jago - but generally I feel doing so is a little disingenuous when the mistake was actually mine.

There was an amusing follow up on our end, however - turns out the map IS correct. The font is terrible and the V and the U are almost identical in shape - what the EU translated maps had done was use a completely different typeface/font that had a different uppercase V, and use that instead. Faced with either being "technically correct" with our crappy V/U similarities, or being helpfully wrong with an alternate font, we're choosing the latter. At some point, once it's gone through the localization and publishing process, the maps will be updated to have a new (fake) V for Vindor. Hopefully that'll help avoid confusing people in the future!

Killaburn3 votes

OMG!!! thanks for that wonderful response Ms. Bioluminescence :D I'm so happy right now. As to your question, yep its MAGIC jk haha. I just made that by myself lol I just visioned/imagined runaterra in my head with a bit chunks of the new lore and the canon maps. Sad to say there were no traditional geological processes that suggested to me.

Another question is that will you still acknowledge kumungu jungle as a faction in the future because i love kumungu and i hope you could introduce another new champ from that place like another vastayan or hunter(cough rengar's master cough) because i love kumungu and i hope nida,zyra and specially gnar( because gnar in freljord is a big no no ) should be retcon there haha

PeponiPoro3 votes

Rengar has no master, he killed his father and became leader of his tribe. I guess maybe you mean the hunter who begrudgingly gave him food when he was first exiled from his tribe, and that eventually got mad at him?

Killaburn2 votes

yup haha i forgot that he just help rengar and not his master

Hyrum Graff4 votes

{quoted}

Mr. Bioluminescence :D

FYI, Bio is female.

Recons14 votes

I'm not OP, but this is how I see it. Mount Targon serves as a natural humidity barrier, blocking rain from falling over the Shuriman desert, as humid sea winds hit the sea-facing side of the mountains they heat up and are lifted into the atmosphere, bypassing the desert and eventually precipitating over the Eastern coast.

The Eastern coast is home to jungles because of the additional precipitation from Mount Targon's deviation and the natural humidity provided by the east seas, this ends up creating lush jungles, and swamp lands, which is why the Kumungu jungle is divided by a waterway. The Kumungu jungle is actually sinking into the sea slowly just like Venice.

This means the Shuriman desert, and the jungles are actually closer to the Equator line of the planet. Leading me to believe the existence of a southern continent, not yet discovered, which prevents humidity from the south ocean to provide precipitation to the Shuriman desert.

Killaburn2 votes

thank you very much haha we both visioned it that way because we applied logic or science to it too haha with geological blah blah blah :D

Recons3 votes

What do you think of the way it arches? And the dimensions?

EDIT: hand on paper sorry for low qual

Runeterra concept based on Killaburn https://imgur.com/gallery/zdyOz

Killaburn2 votes

i think its great and the dimensions seems realstic :D and actually i like your concept too. I wish we could contribute too at riot specially world building hehe because i like to work at riot in some point but that seems impossible to me because i'am just an 18 y/o boy, incoming 3rd year college student BSIT major and PS: I don't even live in the US and this account is not mine, i just use this to communicate in the boards because in my country we use GARENA to open LOL and the boards there doesn't even care for people like me to share fantastic ideas to contribute to LOL community. Sometimes i relay on reddit but i don't get enough attention there so i like to post here :D sorry for my story telling.

RiotBioluminescence11 votes

{quoted}

I'm not OP, but this is how I see it. Mount Targon serves as a natural humidity barrier, blocking rain from falling over the Shuriman desert, as humid sea winds hit the sea-facing side of the mountains they heat up and are lifted into the atmosphere, bypassing the desert and eventually precipitating over the Eastern coast.

The Eastern coast is home to jungles because of the additional precipitation from Mount Targon's deviation and the natural humidity provided by the east seas, this ends up creating lush jungles, and swamp lands, which is why the Kumungu jungle is divided by a waterway. The Kumungu jungle is actually sinking into the sea slowly just like Venice.

This means the Shuriman desert, and the jungles are actually closer to the Equator line of the planet. Leading me to believe the existence of a southern continent, not yet discovered, which prevents humidity from the south ocean to provide precipitation to the Shuriman desert.

Is it ok if I love you a little bit? Just a tiny smidge?

Killaburn1 votes

I have another question to you bioluminescence, is that will you still acknowledge kumungu jungle as a faction in the future because i love kumungu and i hope you could introduce another new champ from that place like another vastayan that see's itself as an animal other than its race or the great hunter(cough rengar's lore cough) because i love kumungu and i hope nida,zyra and specially gnar( because gnar in freljord is a big no no and maybe an ice age with true ice occurred in the past and gnar was trap in a cave(sealed in true ice) in the jungle until he broke free from the ice) should be retcon there haha. peace. and i love you even if you dont love me back :')

RiotBioluminescence5 votes

{quoted}

I have another question to you bioluminescence, is that will you still acknowledge kumungu jungle as a faction in the future because i love kumungu and i hope you could introduce another new champ from that place like another vastayan that see's itself as an animal other than its race or the great hunter(cough rengar's lore cough) because i love kumungu and i hope nida,zyra and specially gnar( because gnar in freljord is a big no no and maybe an ice age with true ice occurred in the past and gnar was trap in a cave(sealed in true ice) in the jungle until he broke free from the ice) should be retcon there haha. peace. and i love you even if you dont love me back :')

Aaa, Killaburn.

The reason I didn't respond the first time (because trust me, I read every post in a map thread) is because I can't say much or anything on the jungle question. I certainly don't have input over what the next champions will be.

I think others have addressed that if Gnar is still in True Ice, in a glacier, then that reduces the number of places that he could have emerged - BUT that doesn't mean that Gnar couldn't have moved around since then. A lot about Gnar isn't player-facing yet, so I can't say either way.

Basically, I couldn't say anything helpful, so I didn't say anything at all :(

Recons3 votes

Yes, I'll allow it [zombie-nunu-hearts]

Recons3 votes

To expand, the mountain range of Targon would also deviate wind currents southward, like a funnel, which would mean the southern continent is affected by heavy crosswinds, and high-humidity, which would potentially develop into hurricanes and other natural wind phenomena.

This unknown southern continent would most likely have a tropical-esque nothern coast, which is abated by storms constantly, these created from the heat of the Shuriman desert, the aforementioned cross-winds, and the colder southern part of the continent. All these factors combine perfectly into low-pressure systems traversing from the middle sea into the northern area of this continent. Think of the Atlantic and how storms come from the Saharan desert into the Caribbean.

Based on the aesthetic of the northern continent, and assuming Runeterra undergoes the same geological processes Earth undergoes, tectonic plates on the southern continent should be collapsing. Since the ones in the northern continent are undergoing divergence.

This would create a mountain range where the plates are converging, potentially housing a volcano. However, since I don't have any more information regarding this continent that may or may not exist, I can't theorize very well. I would need to know the rate of convergence of the plates, geothermal processes of the continent, how big are the landmasses, and all of these are left up for writers to come up...

Sorry for the long read.

EDIT: Unknown southern hemisphere continent**

Killaburn2 votes

OMG!! we should really work on this and let's not put our talents in to waste. Addition to what you've said, the northern coast of the southern continent for example is zaun/piltover hence storm/typhoon activities are active which support this theory into janna's lore which she protects/guides people from storms etc. which makes people believe she exist whist this is only a natural phenomenon. Good Job!! and since the ones in the northern continent are undergoing divergence does my Land of the dragons count?? this should be a great topic :D

Recons2 votes

Oh I meant a continent other than the ones you illustrated! Since the Shuriman desert and the Jungles are equatorial, then there's a southern hemisphere with a high likelihood of also having landmasses, as for the winds in Zaun it's easily explained by the water body in between, since it serves as a convection point, especially at night, when the water maintains heat more than the earth does, leading to winds rushing in-land at day and outwards to sea at night.

Chazual Fridays3 votes

I like you.

That is all.

Lady Faceless8 votes

I upvoted this.

Well-made, you took already existing information and this is give us a better way to imagine Runeterra.

However, I would take Bandle City out, since it isn't possible for the human counterpart to reach it and it is probably in another dimension/realm as well (something like the Spirit world).

Killaburn1 votes

haha thanks :D nice points too and we have similar theories too in mind like the dimensions like in the forest of my map there is portal of a dimension/realm. inside of the portal where yordles come and the yordles make a city around it but as time flies by the portal slowly begins to fade and the yordles living in runatera were stuck forever in runatera. this yordles are magical beings too and ordinary people sought them as an ordinary people aswell when they encounter them and for whatsoever reason the forest became magical place where humans cannot go through unlike yordles where they can come or go (maybe veigar has something to do with this). the human speculate it as a hunted forest specially it is beside demacia which they are paranoid about magic and an anti-magic people and as time flies by the rumors wildfired in the land of runatera and they now avoid the place and yordles became a myth in runatera.

Lady Faceless3 votes

Yordles use glamour, so humans don't see them like they are really are and they can only see through it if they have innate magic or they share the same ideology. (Source: Sharjo) I personally think we could get one day a map of the spirit world, there could also be the location for the Bandle City. Since Yordles currently more like spirit, I think they can always reach Bandle City if they want to.

Where is Sharjo when you need him? But he probably isn't allow to answer this question anyway.

Also, you could also name the continents for the map. The top one is Valoran, we have also Ionia and the Shurima one still hasn't a name. (I asked Sharjo last week about it).

Bilgewater and the Shadow Isle/Blessed Isle don't belong to any continent as well.

Killaburn1 votes

hehe thanks for the response and yep where is sharjo when you need him ahaha. As for bilge and the shadow isle i don't know what continent will they be so i randomly selected valoran haha and wow idk that yordles are spirits and its fascinating :D

Lady Faceless3 votes

Sharjo canonily stated they don't belong to any continent. Gimme a second, I dig the source.

Nobody knows there Bandle City is Shurimas continent still hasn't a name Neither Bilgewater nor Shadow Isle belong to any continent

6FlagsFunnelCake7 votes

Actually the Kumungu Jungles are still canon. Not too sure if Rengar comes from there, but Ivern confirms the existence of the Kumungu due to how he mentions some "Kumungu Affair" which may be some animal activist movement. Nidalee and Zyra are also still the only two champions that have a connection to that place.

Killaburn1 votes

thanks for the info and i hope riot should should acknowledge kumungu jungles and introduce another new champ from that place like another vastayan or hunter(cough rengar's hunter cough) because i love kumungu and i hope gnar should be retcon there because gnar in freljord is a big no no haha

PeponiPoro2 votes

How else would you have a Yordle frozen is True Ice if not in Freljord? He is an ancient Yordle, and that is the way he was canonically preserved, so why are you opposed to Freljord?

Killaburn2 votes

maybe some years ago the ice was was spread across runaterra like the ice age with some true ice on it and after some years it melted except some true ice until some melted separately like gnar in the jungle cave(i think).

Krabohod4 votes

Rengar comes from Eastern Shurima - that part is full of savannahs

Núll4 votes

[deleted]

Killaburn3 votes

thanks :D . why i posted it here is because its the map of runatera and it has theories/stories unlike the concepts and creations where they just bring their concept of skins/champions. Not to be rude or something but the story,art and sound has many audiences unlike the other one which my creations wouldn't be notice and also some people post here also with the same topic as concept/creations :D

ModThe Djinn5 votes

{quoted}

thanks :D . why i posted it here is because its the map of runatera and it has theories/stories unlike the concepts and creations where they just bring their concept of skins/champions. Not to be rude or something but the story,art and sound has many audiences unlike the other one which my creations wouldn't be notice and also some people post here also with the same topic as concept/creations :D

I think you made the right choice. This is fantastic Story, Art, and Sound content, and I love the amount of effort you put into figuring this stuff out. :)

Whyte Lyon4 votes

A few months back I did my own illustrations for faceless lore characters the likes of which will never get their own official reveal.

I planned to share and complete a lot more sketches but I gave up on the Concept & Creations community. Not that they were bad and didn't share any support. But I got the feeling none of them understood exactly who or why I was drawing those characters. I realized that although I'm not so talented like most fan artists, my work wasn't going to be any where near appreciated unless displayed in Story, Art & Sound. But they were just sketches.

Yago & Saito in case anyone is interested.

Lady Faceless2 votes

Should be fine, since he actually used canon information for his map and this is a big boon for us lore nerds.

mkyner4 votes

That's pretty cool. Nice insights. Glad to see at least one possibility for how all the lore locations are finally falling into place.

Some years ago, I made a 3D satellite style map based on the old, circular map of Runeterra. https://i.imgur.com/n8BHI4K.jpg

This was before a lot of the recent lore changes, of course.

Mind if I use your outlines above to make a new one?

Killaburn4 votes

i wouldn't mind and i would appreciate the offer :D but just credit me ok :D thank you very much for liking my work.

mkyner1 votes

Definitely. Thanks!

Killaburn2 votes

[slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

mkyner1 votes

Hey, quick questions. Just to make my life a little bit easier for tracing, do you have the original line file for the map? And I'm curious: what program did you use for making your maps?

Thanks!

Killaburn2 votes

Yep i have. Actually i draw the original concept in my tablet months back but I didn't prioritize it because of school. But last Thursday, by bluethooting the pics to my laptop, I began to finalize it using photoshop cs6. Then, I traced it with my mouse(yup i used my owned mouse because i don't have a graphics tablet lol) with minor and major tweakings.

PS: Can't wait for your work and please notify me when you're done. More love and power :D

EDIT: this is my pre-runeterra map before i edited it in PS cs6. Sorry if it is bad http://imgur.com/a/6hynP

Eeyore4 votes

I don't think the Bandle Lands is actually a location on Runeterra. I think it's similar to the Veil of Shadows from D&D, or The Upside Down from Stranger Things. It's a parallel realm of existence that Yordles can walk between. Yordle lore has always implied the no-one has even been able to intentionally find it, but people from all over the place have been there.

ZaneShadow4 votes

One critique, which is more a stupid preference thing, is the boarders around Noxus and Demacia. These (before reboot) were the largest countries. Honestly their location is fine, is just draw the boarders so the touch (hence their arch rivalry). Might help the viewer also understand the countries location a bit better.

So I can't possibly express how amazing this is enough. Great job and as I cycled through all the lore I knew it jives pretty well.

Jackom13 votes

So the magma chamber was hiding just east of demacia!

Killaburn2 votes

om... we should retcon magma chamber too :D

Velzard of Koz2 votes

I didn't know Ionia was continent. Always imagined it as northern island. Lol. Underestimating a little.

PSOCALY2 votes

I can't wait until Riot gives us more lore on the Void, Mogron Pass, Urtistan, The Crystal Scar, and The Glade explain where Shaco Aatrox Fiddlesticks and Nocturne come from what kind of creature Amumu is

morris15 votes

In a recent-ish patch Riot updated all yordles to only have 4 finger hands, Amumu was included too.

PSOCALY2 votes

His lore doesn't really go much into detail to explain whether Amumu is a yordle, human, or another being [zombie-brand-clap]

Killaburn2 votes

i hope riot could explin the spirit realm actually specially the spirit demons like tahm,shaco,noc,brand and fiddle

Lintu Puck2 votes

Nocturn and Fiddle we actually (kind of) updated this year (2017) Fiddle got a new story (him watching over a field and brutally killing anything that trespasses with his murder of crows) and Nocturn had his "debut" in modern Runeterra back in Lux & Garen'ss shared story as the demon of the tomb that possessed the child and haunted the nearby village the child called home. Shaco has always been a mystery. Aatrox is actually the sword based on information in regards to Raahst the Darkin Scythe, leaving the only questions about Aatrox being "who/what was the host" and "how long has Aatrox been using that host?" time will tell.

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