Shadow Isles
The Blessed Isles
Summary
This cursed land was once home to a noble, enlightened civilization, known to its allies and emissaries as the Blessed Isles. However, more than a thousand years ago, an unprecedented magical cataclysm left the barrier between the material and spirit realms in tatters, effectively merging the two… and dooming all living things in an instant.
Now, a malevolent Black Mist permanently shrouds the Isles, and the earth itself is tainted by dark sorcery. Mortals who dare to venture to these dismal shores will slowly have their life force stolen away from them, which in turn attracts the insatiable, restless spirits of the dead. Those who perish within the Mist are condemned to haunt this nightmarish place for eternity—worse still, the power of the Shadow Isles appears to wax stronger with every passing year, allowing the most powerful specters to roam farther and farther across Runeterra.
History
Events
The Shadow Isles were once the radiant Blessed Isles, a land of beauty and magic, home to the thriving Kingdom of Helia. Renowned for its mastery of arcane secrets, Helia safeguarded its powers responsibly, ensuring the balance between the mystical and the mortal. At the heart of the Blessed Isles lay a sacred Healing Pool, famed for its restorative properties but revered and protected by the Helians, who understood its true purpose and limitations.
Far from the Blessed Isles, in the distant Kingdom of Camavor, King Viego was consumed by grief over the death of his bride-to-be, Isolde. When word of the Healing Pool reached him, Viego led his armies across the sea, determined to harness its magic to bring Isolde back to life. The Helians solemnly warned him that the pool could not restore the dead, but a deceitful Helian named Erlok Grael exploited Viego's desperation, falsely claiming the waters could fulfill his wish.
When the Helian leaders refused to grant him access, Viego declared war, laying siege to the City of Helia. His Legionnaire, Kalista, loyal to Camavor but torn by her conscience, ultimately chose to defend Helia, leading her forces against Viego's relentless army. Despite her valiant efforts, Viego broke through the city’s defenses and reached the Healing Pool.
Upon immersing Isolde’s body in the waters, she was indeed revived—but not as Viego had hoped. She returned as a wraith, a twisted and tormented echo of her former self. In her anguish, Isolde lashed out, pulling Viego into the pool. The clash between the magic of Viego's sword and the sacred power of the pool triggered a catastrophic explosion of magic, unleashing the Black Mist across the Blessed Isles in what became known as the Ruination.
The Ruination obliterated the Blessed Isles, transforming them into the cursed Shadow Isles. The Helians and Viego’s invading army alike were consumed by the Black Mist, their bodies and souls twisted into monstrous horrors. Many became mindless wraiths, doomed to wander the ruins of their homeland in endless torment. Others adapted to their ghostly existence, though most remain trapped in confusion and despair. A rare few thrived in the Mist's corruption:
Erlok Grael, the Helian whose deceit led to the Ruination, was transformed into Thresh, the Chain Warden. Now a powerful and sadistic specter, Thresh collects souls, relishing their torment.
King Viego, shattered by grief and madness, became the Ruined King. Caught between consciousness and obsession, he roams the Shadow Isles and beyond, endlessly seeking his lost bride and destroying all who stand in his path.
In response to the spreading corruption of the Black Mist, the Sentinels of Light emerged—a sacred order dedicated to containing the Mist and combating its horrors. Armed with ancient relics and unwavering resolve, they strive to protect the living, repel the Mist’s encroachment, and ultimately destroy both King Viego and the Black Mist.
The once-beautiful Blessed Isles now stand as the Shadow Isles, a realm of decay and eternal suffering. The legacy of Helia and its people has been swallowed by the darkness of the Ruination, leaving only tragedy and haunting echoes of what once was.
Culture Heritage
Before their transformation into the Shadow Isles, the Blessed Isles were a place of unparalleled beauty, wisdom, and magical innovation. The culture of the ancient Kingdom of Helia revolved around a profound reverence for balance, the responsible use of magic, and the sanctity of life.
The Helians were renowned for their mastery of magic. They safeguarded powerful artifacts, ancient knowledge, and the power of the World Runes. After the Ruination, all that remains of Helia's culture are the towering structures built across the Shadow Isles. The World Runes they safeguarded were lost into the world and would spark the Rune Wars, causing unprecedented destruction.
Additionally, the armies of the Kingdom of Camavor still roam the Isles with visages of foreign weaponry and armor as well as the fragmented memories of their homeland and language.
Geography
Landscape and Climate
The terrain of the Shadow Isles is warped and corrupted. Craggy cliffs, jagged coastlines, and barren hills dominate the region, with warped trees and skeletal vegetation dotting the land. The soil is blackened and lifeless, incapable of sustaining normal flora or fauna.
The remains of the Kingdom of Helia's grand cities and temples can still be found, though they are crumbling and overrun by the Black Mist. Towering spires, shattered statues, and eroded bridges evoke the grandeur that once defined the Isles.
The Black Mist is omnipresent, flowing like an unnatural fog that blankets the Isles. It obscures the landscape and seeps into the ground, making navigation treacherous and amplifying the sense of dread. The Mist often radiates out to nearby lands, bringing death and corruption with it. Once crystal-clear, the waters surrounding the Isles have turned dark and ghostly, glowing with an eerie greenish hue. The ocean itself seems tainted, and ghostly ships and specters rise from its depths.
Twisted and petrified trees fill the Isles' forests, their gnarled branches clawing at the perpetually darkened skies. The forests are teeming with restless spirits, making them perilous for the living.
Natural Resources
Much of the Isles has been withered by the Black Mist, leaving only what was left behind or what was tainted for the living to scavenge for.
The ruins of the Blessed Isles hold ancient artifacts, scrolls, and enchanted items that predate the Ruination. These relics often retain some of their original power, though they are frequently tainted by the Black Mist. Some plants, like Shadowthorn, Cryotbloom or Mistbane Mushrooms, have adapted to the Isles’ corrupted environment. These flora are toxic to the living but are valuable ingredients in potions or poisons.
Demographics
Population
The Shadow Isles, once home to the thriving and prosperous people of the Helia, are now inhabited by the cursed remnants of their population and the invading forces of Camavor, all transformed by the Ruination. The population is diverse in its forms of undeath, ranging from mindless wraiths to powerful spectral beings. While some retain fragments of their former selves, others are wholly consumed by the corruption of the Black Mist.
The inhabitants include former citizens of Helia, Camavorian invaders, and unfortunate souls drawn into the Isles by the Mist over centuries. This mix of origins creates a chaotic and varied population.
Religion
The Helians believed the soul was eternal and interconnected with all life. They practiced rituals to honor the dead, guide spirits to rest, and maintain harmony between the living and the afterlife. Only Yorick is left of the Helian culture that attempts to continue this tradition, shepherding souls to the afterlife however he can.
The Isles are rife with dark rituals that mirror the Helians’ former ceremonies but are corrupted to enslave souls, manipulate the dead, or amplify the Black Mist’s power. Many inhabitants, particularly the semi-conscious specters, are trapped in a state of spiritual despair. They mourn their lost faith, unable to reconcile their existence with the teachings of their past.
Government and Politics
Political System
Before the Ruination, Helia was a kingdom with a powerful and influential arcane class of mages. Many of the lost souls that wander the Shadow Isles hold to their traditions they held in life and in the confusion of death many have fallen in line with King Viego to mimic their once great kingdom. Viego leads his ghostly subjects on a constant quest for Isolde and never rests.
Leadership
King Viego is the powerful figurehead most spirits follow, either by force or reluctant familiarity. Among Viego are his cavalry commander Hecarim, who has become a specteal centaur bent on leading his horsemen to conquest, as well as Thresh. Thresh, while the man in Viego's ear for decades, is strictly independent and leads his own agendas while manipulating the Ruined King for his own goals and ambitions.
Blessings of the Past
Hidden from outsiders for many centuries, the Blessed Isles enjoyed a golden age dedicated to knowledge, philosophy, and the safeguarding of magical artifacts from across Runeterra. The capital city of Helia was filled with renowned arcanologists, astronomers, and scholars of every conceivable discipline, while the common people lived peaceful lives of pastoral simplicity in the surrounding countryside.
Fertile Lands
Architectural Puzzles
The greatest repositories of Helia were architectural wonders, containing innumerable secret - and sometimes dangerous - treasures. Certain vaults, their decoration laden with hidden meaning and symbolism, would open only at specific phases of the moon, angles of the sun, or alignment of the stars.
The White Mist
The lands surrounding the capital were incredibly fertile, and the towns and cities were designed to be secure without giving the appearance of being fortified. Thanks to the confounding magical mist that shrouded the Isles, turning unguided travelers away, there was little need for any standing army.
Hidden From Outsiders
Blessed Isles Bridge
Library Interior
The Radiance of Alignments
The Athenaeum of Light
Wherein the litanies of the Sentinels are graven on wall and floor
The Celestial Vault
unlocked by the revelations of the Lunatropic Demisphere
The Hall of Conjunction
through which all seekers must pass
Citizen of the Blessed Isles
The Ruination
Far, far from the Blessed Isles, a king and queen ruled over an empire whose name none now recall. When the queen was poisoned, the king sent his best warriors to search for a cure. One of his generals returned with the means to part the white mists of the Blessed Isles, home to the legendary Waters of Life.
Unfortunately, this news reached the king too late. The queen was already dead.
Driven mad by grief and unwilling to listen to reason, the king set out in force for distant Helia. He immersed the corpse of his wife in the healing waters, unleashing a magical cataclysm, that laid waste to the Blessed Isles. Every living thing was cursed, transformed into roaming, ravenous spirits caught somewhere between life and death, and the white mists that had once protected them turned black and predatory.
Toady, none but the mostly desperate scavengers and treasure hunters dare to visit the ruins of Helia, in search of the countless arcane treasures that must surely remain buried there. Some mortals have even learned to live close to the shadows and decay... though who can even begin to guess what horrors they might witness there?
Restless Sprits
Strong Willed
The spirits of the dead are often mournfully referred to as "the Lost." For the most part, a dead soul trapped in the Shadow Isles will slowly diminish, forgetting who it was in life. However, the most powerful specters appear to have retained much of their personality and desires even after the Ruination, stalking the weak and vulnerable for all eternity.
Soul Shepherd
The Ruination struck without warning, as farmers tilled their fields and children played games with friends. Some of the spirits fractured during that event were distilled down into echoes of the last emotions they experienced - fear, protectiveness, or the madness of losing one's identity. The Soul Shepherd seeks to keep weaker spirits safe from predatory specters.
Eternal Death
While some spirits are entirely ethereal, and relatively easy to bind or destroy, the most powerful beings of the Shadow Isles have proved themselves to be essentially immortal. Over time, these spirits' appearance will likely change to reflect their most essential qualities.
Eternal Scrivener
Many of the humble scribes and archivists of Helia perished at their lecterns, unaware of the disaster that had just befallen them. This poor soul now feverishly scratches descriptions of its torment on an endlessly unraveling parchment
Like Attracts Like
Any mortal who sets foot upon the Shadow Isles will attract the spirits of the fallen. Many of the Lost are not aggressive or predatory. For instance, an innocent with a good heart who lands on the Shadow Isles may be met by a spirit with a benevolent or empathetic nature, who will try to lead the person to safety.
Similarly humored spirits sometimes merge to form powerful entities - these five angry souls cling to their hollow existence by clinging to one another, for only the most strong-willed and resilient are able to retain something of themselves in isolation.
Widow of Forgotten Songs
The Widow of Forgotten Songs was a collector of birds who tried to free them when disaster struck. She now wanders aimlessly, listening for the songs she can no longer recall.
An Insidious Presence
The Sundered Vault of Arcana
A mortal who sets foot upon the Shadow Isles will attract spirits that reflect their own emotional state...or those that prey upon it. An individual filled with rage and anger will find themselves beset by screeching, howling wraiths, while someone with uncertainty in their heart will likely encounter only those that seek to feed on fear.
The Library
Upon arriving in the Shadow Isles, the victim may feel anxious and worried, as if they are being followed.
Anxiety increases into paranoia, The victim may think they see or hear things that are simply not there.
Library Keep
Abstract noises and visions often begin to take on the forms of people the victim knows to be deceased.
The victim is set upon by one or more leeching entities, until their own spirit cannot go on.
The victim continues to weaken until their material from wastes away, or becomes a mere vessel for another entity to inhabit.
The Crater
That was once a grand gallery of ancient artifacts at the heart of the Shadow Isles
Flooded Cities
Helia, the capital of the Blessed Isles, was located on the coast. As a result, many parts of the city were flooded after the Ruination.
Thresh, The Chain Warden
The man who would one day be known as Thresh was once a lowly member of an order devoted to the gathering and protecting of arcane knowledge. The masters of this order acknowledged his long years of service, and tasked him with the custodianship of certain hidden vaults. He was methodical and resolute, which , made him well suited to such work, but he hungered far greater recognition. When the Ruination struck, the inhabitants of the Blessed Isles had their spirits torn from their bodies. Thousands screamed in terror and anguish, but Thresh reveled in the undoing of all around him. He rose from this cataclysm as a spectral abomination - unlike many who have passed into the world of shadow, he did not lose his sense of purpose. Now, unbound by mortal concerns, Thresh is free to pursue his cruel ambitions of all eternity.
Hecarim
The Harrowing
It is worse than we feared. We know that when the Black Mist reaches across the seas, the spirits of the dead go with it. This Harrowing strikes most frequently in Bilgewater. Living beings that find themselves caught within slowly have their life force sapped from them, until they are nothing but lifeless husks. A truly horrible end, for those slain during a Harrowing are damned, their souls dragged back to the Shadow Isles when the Mist recedes.
Now, it is becoming clear—with every new soul the Black Mist claims, its reach extends.
Also, while the weaker spirits of the Lost may only be able to manifest during a Harrowing, it seems more powerful entities may be able to manifest elsewhere in the world at will.
Thankfully, just as these spirits are many and varied, so too are the ways they can be banished or destroyed. Some are bound to a physical anchor—their armor, a book, or some other talisman, for instance. Destroy that item, and in most cases, the entity too will be destroyed. Sorcery and heatech are known to harm them, as are weapons that are made from silver, blessed, or infused with arcane power. Many can be harmed by fire and direct sunlight.
Think on this. We will speak more when next we meet.
Beyond the Isles
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