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What happened to the rest of the Darkin?

ChuShoe·12/15/2017, 9:37:58 PM·3 votes·945 views

With Vaarus' new lore, it turns out the Darkin don't come from runeterra, similar to how void ceatures don't come from runeterra. Maybe it's not an entirely different dimension/plane, perhaps just another planet of some sort, but we know that because of this paragraph in Varus' new lore.

> The mortal mages of Runeterra wielded wild magic, heedless of the consequences beyond their own world. Their reckless use of magic attracted the hunger of the darkin, who sent their fiercest warriors to conquer this new world. Varus traveled to Runeterra with the second wave of invaders, and with his crystalline bow, he assassinated enemy commanders and champions, helping the darkin defeat the mortal armies with ever greater ease.

Note, this in particular

> attracted the hunger of the darkin, who sent their fiercest warriors to conquer this new world.

and then it describes the warrior queen that destroys the bridge between worlds.

> loosing the last bolt that broke the bridge to the Darkin world forever.

Which means there are still more darkin out there, right? Living on their home world? Well, except for Aatrox's lore

> Aatrox is a legendary warrior, one of only five that remain of an ancient race known as the Darkin.

So what happened to the rest? What were their customs? Their society? What led to it's collapse and eventual extinction after being isolated from Runeterra?

Please rito let us know, this is interesting.

7 Comments

Furor Nexis12/15/2017, 11:01:05 PM7 votes

The part about Aatrox implies that he's one of the five still alive in Runeterra.

I'd wager that the Darkin world still exists, as only their warriors were sent forth, a series of invasion forces. Tactically this is something people did during times of new discoveries; especially during the enlightenment period i.e the Dutch conquest of Indonesia. The only thing we know about the five Darkin warriors is that well, they're warriors. Bloodshed and battle is their forté and all they have known for centuries. They're soldiers. However we do know that the Darkin culture seems to consist around a desire for dominance. They instantly wanted to dominate the strong magics of Runeterra after being alerted by the magic emanating from there. This can further go on to elaborate that the Darkin have a culture of war. Through that you can assume they also have a hierarchy of power. It's noted that after Aatrox's fall, the Darkin forces seemed to weaken and be beaten back - so this point can reinforce their hierarchy of power structure. They also brought blood magic to Runeterra, setting the scene for Noxus' hemomancers which means they would have an acute understanding of magic, also because they could detect the magic from Runeterra itself.

As a warring culture it would mean they also have technological advancements. Socially, it appears that the Darkin also have great affection and admiration / respect for one another. As blunt and as rustic as Varus is, his primary objective is two-fold:

Unite the five remaining Darkin.
Take vengeance on the mortal world.

His current objective is leading him to look for his missing 'sister'. This implies that the Darkin care for each other. You might make the point of Rhaast wanting to overtake Aatrox based on his quotes towards the Darkin blade, but I feel that Rhaast wants to become Aatrox by taking his place. He's jealous of him and admires him at the same time. Aatrox was a significant leader during the Darkin War, so it makes sense for Rhaast having the duality of jealousy and respect for him. Rhaast is also arrogant about his abilities, which he shares with Kayn, who also wants to replace Zed as the leader of the Order of Shadows, but yet they have great admiration for their respective leaders. Kayn beleives he can lead the Order of Shadows into a new era, thinking Zed may be holding them back, and I'd guess that Rhaast also wants to do that for the remaining Darkin on Runeterra, as he probably views Aatrox's fall as a sign of weakness and holding him responsible for the loss the Darkin suffered.

Ebonmaw Dragon12/15/2017, 9:43:13 PM3 votes

Humans killed them, a Fire Haired Queen in particular or something like that if i remember correctly.

... I guess that when Riot and the lore talks about only 5 remain, i guess that they are talking about Darkins from Runeterra...Unless the space Targonians killed them in their homeworld... or Aurelion... or the void... or aliens... or a meteor.

DariusDemiurge12/15/2017, 9:48:16 PM2 votes

Inb4 darkin are from the void.

Blaiz Fenix12/15/2017, 10:56:36 PM2 votes

Humans killed them I believe. And the more powerful ones like Rhaast and Varus were captured and sealed away. I assume they have some quality to make them harder to kill but I don't know for sure.