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"Time for a shakedown."

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This article was last edited by Ruwbz on 07-Nov-2023 13:47.

▶️  "Behold, the might of the Shadow Isles."
Hecarim Hecarim
Separator

The land now known as the Shadow Isles was once a Blessed Isles Crest icon beautiful realm, but it was shattered by a magical cataclysm. Black Mist permanently shrouds the isles and the land itself is tainted, corrupted by malevolent sorcery sorcery. Living beings that stand upon the Shadow Isles slowly have their life-force leeched from them, which, in turn, draws the insatiable, predatory spirits of the dead. Those who perish within the Black Mist are condemned to haunt this melancholy land for eternity. Worse, the power of the Shadow Isles is waxing stronger with every passing year, allowing the shades of undeath to extend their range and reap souls all across Runeterra.


Lore[]

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. Helia, the capital of the Blessed Isles, was filled with renowned archanologists, astronomers, and scholars of every conceivable discipline, while the common people lived peaceful lives of pastoral simplicity in the surrounding countryside.

The Shadow Isles were once a beautiful realm, long since shattered by a magical cataclysm. Now, Black Mist permanently shrouds the land, tainting and corrupting with its malevolent sorcery. Those who perish within it are condemned to become part of it for all eternity... and worse still, each year the Mist extends its grasp to reap more souls across Runeterra.[2]

Champions of the Shadow Isles[]

Other Related Champions[]

History[]

Birth of the Blessed Isles[]

Shadow Isles The Blessed Isles

Helia of the Blessed Isles

Long before the Ruination, a chain of islands that would one day be called the Blessed Isles Crest icon Blessed Isles erupted from deep beneath the ocean. With its creation, the nature spirit Maokai Maokai was born, taking the form of a treant.

Maokai wandered the isles in search of life, until on a hilly isle covered in soft, rich soil, Maokai sensed boundless magic deep beneath the ground. He plunged his roots into a spring of magical, life-giving water and drank deeply. From these Waters of Life, he grew hundreds of saplings and planted them across the islands. Soon the land was covered with wonderous flora, all steeped in wondrous magic. Nature spirits were drawn to the lavish vegetation, and animals reveled in the fertile greenery.

When humans from an ancient culture expanding westward eventually came to the islands, they formed an enlightened and rich society of scholars devoted to studying the world's mysteries. Though Maokai was wary of their presence, he saw their respect for the deep magic within the woods and occasionally revealed himself directly to those he trusted and blessed them with knowledge of the verdant isles, even revealing the Waters of Life to some.

Eventually Vesani scholars from Ionia Crest icon Ionia would arrive on the Blessed Isles, intrigued by the Hallowed Mist protecting the island. Seeking to research the mist, the residents allowed them to stay and aided in constructing their vault. The Vesani would research the effect the mist had on memories and were able to use its power to enchant golems. During their time on the island, they would befriend Maokai and be spied on by a connving warden warden.

From Grief to Ruin[]

Shadow Isles The Ruination Blast

The Ruination Blast

"The powers that govern life and death are not to be trifled with. The Shattered Crown is a king's reward for defying the shadows' embrace. I believe we are meant to ponder mortality through poetry and verse, not enslave it to our will."
— Ionian storyteller, The Wonder Above
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In an empire that none now recall, resided Kalista Kalista, a general and niece of the king king. She lived by a strict code of honor, serving the throne with utmost loyalty. When the king's enemies sent an assassin to slay him, Kalista saved his life - but in doing so inadvertently sent the venom-coated dagger at the queen. The greatest priests and surgeons were summoned, but none could draw the poison from her body. The king dispatched Kalista in search of a cure. Hecarim Hecarim, who had recently become the commander of the Iron Order through a gruesome betrayal known only to himself, took Kalista's place in her absence.

Kalista traveled far, consulting learned scholars, hermits and mystics... but to no avail. Finally, she learned of the Blessed Isles and set sail on one last voyage of hope.

The guardians of the capital city, Helia, saw the purity of Kalista's intent, and parted the Isles' protective mists to allow her safe passage through. She begged them to heal the queen and managed to sway the masters of the city to her cause. While the queen lived, she could be healed in the Waters of Life. Kalista was given a talisman that would allow her to return to Helia unaided, but was warned against sharing this knowledge with any other.

Meanwhile, as the kingdom began to decline due to the king's spending and seclusion, its inhabitants began to protest his obsession. Mad with grief, Viego raged at those he believed were trying to separate him from his dying wife, dispatching Hecarim to quell dissent throughout the kingdom. The Iron Order burned towns and villages. Hundreds were put to the sword.

When the queen died, the king locked himself away with her corpse, falling deeper into madness. Hecarim chose to sour the king's grief into hatred, seeking to lead the Iron Order into foreign lands. He would avenge her death, while earning yet more dark renown for himself.

But before they could ride out, Kalista returned. When the king learned of this, he demanded to know what she had found. She admitted that the cure she had found would be of no use. Viego would not believe this, and imprisoned Kalista as a traitor to the crown.

Intrigued by what he had heard, Hecarim visited her cell, and they spoke of the pale mists that protected the islands from all invaders... and also of the inhabitants' immense wealth, including the legendary Waters of Life.

Knowing only Kalista could lead them there, Hecarim eventually persuaded her to guide the king's fleet through the veil that concealed the Blessed Isles, taking advantage of her love for her uncle by arguing that if they traveled to the Isles, Viego could finally find peace. Hesitantly, Kalista agreed.

And so the king set out with a fleet of his fastest ships, bypassing the mists in his desperation. However, when they were met by Helia's masters, they were not allowed pass. Death, they insisted, was final. To cheat it would be to break the natural order of the world.

Viego flew into a fevered rage, and commanded Kalista to slay the guardians. She refused, and called on Hecarim to stand with her... but instead he drove his spear through her armored back.

The Iron Order joined him, piercing Kalista's body a dozen times more as she fell. A brutal melee erupted, with those devoted to Kalista fighting against Hecarim's knights, but their numbers were too few. As she watched her warriors die, Kalista swore vengeance with her final breath.

Shadow Isles Ruination 03

Ruination of the Isles

Hecarim then ordered his knights to ransack the city, looting its vaults of arcane treasures. Amid the chaos, a lowly custodian lowly custodian agreed to grant the king access to the Waters of Life—but not even this distracted Hecarim from the revelry of bloodshed, and so the Ruination of the Blessed Isles would take him almost completely by surprise.

The King brought the corpse of his wife to the sacred waters. True to their nature, they brought Isolde back to life...but she arose as a horrifying wraith of shadow and rage, and in her pain, her anger, her confusion at being ripped from death, she took Viego’s own enchanted blade and thrust it through his heart.

The magic of the waters and the ancient sword clashed, and the chamber’s energy erupted. A blastwave of magical force tore across Helia, shattering every last building and leaving the fragments suspended in searing un-light. In its wake came the Black Mist, a billowing hurricane that dragged every living creature it touched into its shrieking, roiling embrace. Hecarim tried to rally the Iron Order, hoping to make it back to their ships, but the mist claimed them one by one as they fled.

When Hecarim was taken by the mist, he and his mighty steed were fused into a monstrous, spectral abomination that reflected the darkness in Hecarim's heart—a brazen creature of fury and spite, as one with the Black Mist and yet utterly enslaved by it.

The Undead Rebirth[]

Thresh OriginalSkin

Thresh, the Chain Warden

Thresh Thresh was among the first to be claimed by the Black Mist, but while others screamed in anguish at their fate, he reveled in it. He arose from The Ruination as a spectral monstrosity, relishing the chance to torment others without fear of reprisal, and unfettered by the limits of mortality.

Over the centuries that followed, his supernatural appearance slowly changed to match his malice and cruelty. Thresh came to realize most other spirits trapped within the Black Mist retained only fragments of their former selves—even the strongest of the foreign invaders, such as Hecarim Hecarim or Ledros Ledros—while his power continued to grow.

Even Kalista herself was not spared from undeath. When next Kalista opened her eyes, they were filled with the dark power of unnatural magic. She had no idea what had transpired and tried to cling to those fragmented memories of Hecarim's monstrous betrayal; they have slowly faded in all the centuries since, and all that now remains is a thirst for revenge burning in Kalista's ruined chest. She has become a specter, a figure of macabre folklore, often invoked by those who have suffered similar treacheries.

These wretched spirits are subsumed into hers, to pay the ultimate price—becoming one with the Spear of Vengeance.

Twisted Treant[]

Maokai OriginalSkin

Maokai, the Twisted Treant

When the ruination struck, Maokai plunged his roots deep into the ground and drank of the Waters of Life. Before the cursed water reached him, Maokai withdrew his roots. He howled in rage as the sacred reservoir he had entrusted to men was fully corrupted – the spiraling coils churning underwater until nothing pure remained.

Moments later, Maokai watched in helpless agony as all he knew twisted into wretched shades. His fury grew; the great beauty he had cultivated from tiny saplings fell to ruin in an instant at the careless hand of man.

The Black Mist coiled around Maokai. His body shuddered and contorted into a mass of gnarled roots and tangled branches as the mist leached life from him. But Maokai's heartwood was saturated with the precious waters of life, saving him from the terrible fate of undeath.

Maokai realized the force of his blows could shatter the cursed spirit to dust. He flew at the breathless shapes in a frenzy, but hundreds more overwhelmed him, and eventually he was forced to retreat.

Now Maokai fights with furious vengeance against the Fallen. Some days, Maokai subdues the mist and its deathless spirits, breaking their hold on a grove of trees or a small thicket. Though new life has not bloomed in such cursed soil for an age, Maokai strives to carve havens, however temporary, free from regret and decay.

He was once tempted to try and escape the nightmare of the isles. But he knew he couldn't leave the Isles, for as long as Maokai continues to fight, hope remains. For steeped within his heartwood are the uncorrupted waters of life, the last remaining chance of restoring the isles. If the land returns to its joyous state, Maokai, too, will shed his twisted form. The nature spirit brought life to these isles long ago, and he refuses to rest until the isles bloom once more.

Shepherd of Lost Souls[]

Yorick OriginalSkin HD

Yorick, Shepherd of Souls

Since he was a small child, Yorick Yorick was always able to commune with spirits and ghosts. This ability would give him a better understanding and respect for life after death.

Tales of Yorick's visions soon spread beyond his village, and drew the attention of a small order of monks who dwelled at the heart of the Blessed Isles. Its envoys traveled to Yorick's island, believing he could become an asset to their faith.

When the Ruination ran across the Blessed Isles, Yorick watched as his order was swallowed whole by the destructive magic of the Black Mist that was consuming the land. His brothers - the monks he had grown up with - were compelled, as if under control of an unknown being, to remove the holy vials around their necks and leave themselves to the mercy of the Mist, which killed and consumed them where they stood. And though the voice of the mist voice of the mist called to him and commanded he do the same, he refused - pouring every last bit of his self-restraint in keeping himself alive as death danced around him.

The Mist clung to him, and when he awoke after the Cataclysm had resided, Yorick discovered the Blessed Isles as a wasteland of decay, despair and rot. He searched for survivals as the Mist held on to him, though the holy water in the vial around his neck kept it from devouring him. Realizing he was the only survivor of the destruction, Yorick felt horror draw upon him. He tried to communicate with the spirits around him, rising from the bodies of the dead, and discovered he had control control over them. Though nothing but the hollow husks of beings he once called family and friends, Yorick made his resolve - to defeat the Black Mist; he would use it to his own whim, and destroy the curse with its own power.

Return of the King[]

Viego OriginalSkin HD

Viego, the Ruined King

With the liberation of Senna Senna, Viego Viego was awakened by Thresh Thresh and Gangplank Gangplank. The two plotted to use the Ruined King's power to subjugate Bilgewater, but interlopers interrupted their plan. Viego overwhelmed Gangplank and possessed the pirate, unleashing him against Ahri Ahri, Braum Braum, Illaoi Illaoi, Miss Fortune Miss Fortune, Pyke Pyke and Yasuo Yasuo, while he headed to Bilgewater to search for his queen. The champions of Bilgewater used Viego's own memories against him and sealed him within a Buhru artifact, hidden by Illaoi. Viego would eventually break free from his prison and resume his search. A fragment of Isolde's soul was trapped within Senna and he was determined to reunite with her no matter the cost. He began a series of Harrowings in search of her. Viego eventually encountered Lucian Lucian and Senna on a remote island and unleashed Harrowings in Demacia Crest icon Demacia, Ionia Crest icon Ionia and Noxus Crest icon Noxus. Viego partially removed the fragment of Isolde's soul within Senna and attempted to kill her before they escaped.

Rise of the Sentinels[]

Vex OriginalSkin HD

Vex, the Gloomist

Viego realized he needed more power to scour the lands to search for the fragments of Isolde's soul. Fortunately, he soon encountered a depressed Yordle Yordle who followed the Black Mist through a portal and was enamored by the darkness of the Shadow Isles. Seeing her unique ability to spread despair, making people more vulnerable to Harrowings, the two struck up an alliance and plotted to plunge the world into darkness. With aid from his new ally, Viego was able to unleash a global harrowing across Runeterra. With an overwhelming amount of Black Mist spread across the world, Viego set out to find his lost love.

During the global harrowing, the other denizens of the Shadow Isles enacted their own plans. Hecarim Hecarim and his knights set out to pillage and plunder the lands of Runeterra, able to reach lands much farther thanks to the Black Mist. Thresh Thresh begins to siphon the rampant Black Mist, while feigning loyalty to Viego.

As Viego collects more and more fetters of Isolde's soul, he also gains more allies, corrupting Draven Draven, Karma Karma, Miss Fortune Miss Fortune, Pantheon Pantheon and Shyvana Shyvana to his cause. One of these fetters manifests into Gwen Gwen, whom aligns herself with the Sentinels of Light Crest icon Sentinels of Light and works with them to repel Viego's attacks across Runeterra. After Viego secures most of the fetters, the Sentinels of Light plan one last assault against Viego and the Shadow Isles. Yorick Yorick offers them the last of the Waters of Life and the final fetter: the Maiden the of the Mist. Viego gains the upper hand in the battle and takes the fetters to Camavor to revive Isolde. The Sentinel Akshan Akshan follows him to Camavor and kills Isolde again and soon Viego is left defeated and restrained by the Hallowed Mist. Thresh Thresh soon reveals that he has been absorbing the Black Mist and is now unbound from the Shadow Isles and able to harvest souls across Runeterra.

Locations[]

Black Mist[]

Shadow Isles Exposure To The Mist

Exposure To The Mist

The Black Mist is a thick shroud that covers the Isles and the surrounding seaside. Before the Ruination the White Mist was merely a natural magical enchantment protecting the Isles of anyone trying to trespass on them. Only its denizens and certain outsiders knew how to navigate through the mist. Thanks to the confounding magical mist that shrouded the Isles, there was little need for any standing army.

After the Ruination, the Black Mist became a prison of souls, trapping any living being it touches in the moment of death, only the strongest of souls who retain their personality and desires can escape its grasp. But the manifestations of those souls who escape the Mist can be killed with the right tools or by other spirits. They are doomed to return to the mist, sometimes staying there for centuries, other times just some days. Manifested spirits can use the Black Mist to travel anywhere it touches, even though stronger spirits may venture beyond the isles without a Harrowing.

When a Harrowing happens, weaker spirits are able to manifest and the Black Mist travels beyond the Isles allowing legions of souls, most forming the Mist itself, to hunt the living. Harrowings can happen anywhere, but they happen most often on Bilgewater. Harrowings tends to last only one night as the souls of the damned are also vulnerable to sunlight and pure light. One of the few known ways to truly free a soul from the grasp of the Black is through the power of Nagakabouros.

Helia[]

Helia, the capital of the Blessed Isles, was once regarded the as a center of knowledge and learning, in part due to its large archive of Runeterra's artifacts, both dangerous and benign. The city was located on the coast and encompassed several small islands connected through bridges going across sea canals. As a result, many parts of the city were flooded after the Ruination.

  • Blessed Isles Bridge: This Bridge was once an impressive geometrically designed civilian bridge going across the small sea canal between Blessed Isles islands. It was destroyed after the Ruination.
  • Library Keep: Previously an area where Helia's Library was located, after the Ruination it is a mount of destroyed landscape with uncontrolled arcane energy.
    • Helia's Library: Helia's Library was once the largest and most significant of libraries on Runeterra. The Library was part of a larger research area housing all the dangerous artifacts of the world. From Runic scriptures to magical tomes, its scribes
  • Vaults of Arcana: Previously a group of buildings housing one of the most dangerous artifacts on Runeterra, after the Ruination it became a confluence of dark magic.
    • Grand Gallery of Ancient Artifacts: The Grand Gallery of Ancient Artifacts was once one of the most important archival buildings on the Blessed Isles. After the Ruination, it ended up becoming a massive crater of uncontrolled arcane energy.
  • Celestial Vault: One of many Vaults located previously on The Blessed Isles, these vaults can only be unlocked by the Revelations of the Lunatropic Demi-sphere.
  • Hall of Conjunction: The Hall of Conjunction, through which all seekers must pass, was one of the greatest repositories of the Blessed Isles; they were architectural wonders, containing innumerable secrets and sometimes dangerous artifacts.
    • Radiance of Alignments: The Radiance of Alignment, Located in The Hall of Conjunction, is a large vault entrance to the Athenaeum of Light. The knowledge within these hidden vaults would only reveal itself at specific phases of moon, angles of the sun, or alignments of starlight. The Radiance of Alignments begins the journey to enlightenment.
      • Athenaeum of Light: A place within the Hall of Conjunction, The Litanies of the Sentinels are engraved on the walls and floor of the great Athenaeum.
  • Vesani Vault: A vault constructed for the Vesani scholars and their primary laboratory on the island. Memory-powered golems guard the vault.
    • Buhru Forge: An ancient forge of the Buhru people, it's entrance is within the Vesani Vault.
  • Thresh's Sanctum: Thresh's personal castle. Here he has imprisoned numerous souls and keeps them around to torture.

Undead Wilds[]

An area once teeming with natural magic and life, it has since been twisted and rotted into grotesque imitations of the original entities inhabiting it.

  • Twisted Treeline: The Twisted Treeline is located somewhere in the Shadow Isles. It forested area houses to spirit altars and lair of the Vilemaw Vilemaw.


Wildlife[]

Arachnids[]

Arachnids known as Spiderlings Spiderlings are the giant children of Elise Elise and Vilemaw Vilemaw and reside in both Noxus Crest icon Noxus and the Shadow Isles Crest icon Shadow Isles. Large dark spiders with red highlights, they feast upon the living flesh of humans and other large prey. Living in groups, they gained a hive mind with each other as well as their Spider Queen Elise.

Fallen[]

Souls claimed by the Black Mist are known to some as the Fallen. While usually corporeal, they can be harmed with the right tool, such as magic, silver, or even sunlight.

Nightbloom[]

Nightbloom is a rare flame-red petaled flower native to the Blessed Isles Blessed Isles. It is virtually extinct except for a few who bushes that are cared for in Vladimir's Vladimir's garden in his mansion in Noxus. On the Blessed Isles they blossomed on the evening of the summer solstice. By morning the flowers wilted, leaving only blackened petals, not to be seen again until the following year. But for one night, they illuminated the forest with blazing crimson. If the flowers petals are plucked, the remaining petals immediately curl inwards, the stem bending away as if it can express fear.

Poros[]

01SI037-full

A particularly LoR Non-Champion Non-Spell Indicator1 sinister Poro.

Poros Poros, while native to the Freljord, have since spread to every region on Runeterra. At least one Poro has been found on the Shadow Isles.

Shadow Citrus[]

▶️  "Shadow Isles Crest icon Shadow citrus. Care for spikes."
LoR Non-Champion Non-Spell Indicator6 Citrus Courier
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The Shadow Isles are home to their own variety of Citrus fruit, likely similar in appearance to an orange, but with the notable distinction that they have dangerous spikes present. These fruit were likely to have been corrupted by the The Ruination.

Treants[]

Treants are a fusion of nature spirits (or any sapient species) and plant life. One such species was the Omikayalan God-Willow, which essence was later transferred to the Freljordian warrior Ivern Ivern. Other examples are Maokai Maokai, a nature spirit fused with the plant life and natural magics of the Blessed Isles. Besides treants that share humanoid physical and sapient characteristics, there are those that take animalistic forms and behaviors such as those that take form of felines, lizards, or toads. A vast majority of these treants are corrupted by the undead magics of the Shadow Isles Crest icon Shadow Isles and have lost most of their sapience due to the Ruination. Maokai is among the very few Blessed Isles Crest icon Blessed Isles treants that survived such a fate.

Vilemaw[]

01SI027T1-full

Vilemaw Vilemaw

Resembling that of an arachnid spider whose grotesque mass is furred and scabbed with wet, mutant growths; and adorned with venomous fangs and colossal legs used to heave its corrupt body; this unearthly horror is a monstrous creature that looms in the darkest pits beneath the Shadow Isles. The true origin of Vilemaw Vilemaw is completely unknown, save for the assumption that the voracious spider god is an otherworldly life-form not originally from Runeterra.

It has great physical strength as well as magical, being able to transfigure willing humans willing humans into its servants. It uses its servants to gather fresh food.


Culture[]

The Lost[]

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 retained much of their personality and desires even after the Ruination, becoming predatory spirits who may stalk the weak and vulnerable for all eternity. Any mortal who sets foot upon the Shadow Isles will attract the spirits of the fallen. However, many of the Lost are not aggressive or predatory. 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.

While some spirits are entirely ethereal, and relatively easy to bind or destroy, the most powerful beings on the Isles have proven themselves to be essentially immortal. Over time, these spirits' appearance will likely change to reflect their most essential qualities. This ultimately means that the most powerful spirits can only be vanquished by eliminating the source of their power, the Black Mist.


Shadow Isles Flooded Cities

Flooded Cities

Immigration to the Isles[]

Some deviant few willingly make the dreaded islands their home. His perverse obsession with death naturally led Karthus Karthus, the Deathsinger, to willingly join the unliving. Elise Elise, the Spider Queen, traveled there for religious reasons. She worships the Spider God, Vilemaw Vilemaw.[3] Every year she returns to the Isles with a select few disciples. She then feeds them to their god in exchange for a youth-prolonging gift of venom. She would return to Valoran preaching her deity and leading a pilgrimage again by the end of the year.

Architecture[]

▶️  "Shadow Isles... All that black mist has got to be protecting something really valuable."
Ezreal Ezreal
Separator

The realm now known as the Shadow Isles was once replete with gardens, libraries, universities, and houses of learning. The architecture of the Blessed Isles was laden with hidden meanings and symbolism. Geometric designs, similar to those found in Piltover, were the main architectural movement on the Isles. However the Isles inhabitants incorporated other ornate elements into their constructions. With large statues, ornate buildings, The Blessed Isles was also a confluence of different creative ideas and engineering from across Runeterra. Materials such as marble, gold, plaster, granite, limestone, and clay were used in construction of its buildings. Cities were designed to keep their inhabitants safe. Because the Isles were surrounded by white mist that led unguided travelers astray, there was no need for an army. The natural magic of the Blessed Isles made its landscape incredibly fertile.

  • Vaults: The greatest repositories of the Blessed Isles were architectural wonders, containing innumerable secrets and sometimes dangerous artifacts. The vaults themselves were the most secured areas of the Isles, being protected on top of large complexly built gateways only unlockable through certain means and times of the year. After the Ruination, many vaults were destroyed due to the arcane shockwave that destroyed much of the isles constructions.

Clothing[]

The people of the Blessed Isles were one of the most diverse groups of people of Runeterra during the height of the Isles existence. A myriad of different Runeterran cultures and customs shaped the islands clothing designs as well as it inspiring others later on. Just like the Isles architecture, geometric designs were a popular element in clothing designs. Regular inhabitants would wear more subdued colors and designs while the isles scholars and leaders would have far more outlandish designs. After the ruination, what remains of now undead inhabitants wear gross approximations of what they once did.

The Harrowing[]

The Shadow Isles were once a beautiful realm, long since shattered by a magical cataclysm. Now, Black Mist permanently shrouds the land, tainting and corrupting with its malevolent sorcery. Those who perish within it are condemned to become part of it for all eternity... and worse still, each year the Mist extends its grasp to reap more souls across Runeterra.

On certain nights, a tide of hungry spirits swells the Black Mist. It carries them across the seas to prey on the living, and feed the growing darkness with foul new unlife. The harrowing strikes most frequently in Bilgewater. Those slain by the spirits during the Harrowing are damned, their souls dragged back to the Shadow Isles when the Black Mist retreats.

While weaker spirits may only be able to manifest during a Harrowing, more powerful entities can always do so, sometimes even venturing beyond the Shadow Isles.


Government[]

Unnamed Order[]

In the Blessed Isles resided an ancient order whose mission had been to gather and protect arcane knowledge and the most dangerous artifacts in Runeterra. These artifacts were stored in hidden vaults beneath the city of Helia. They were decorated with hidden meaning and symbolism, and some would only open at specific phases of the moon, angles of the sun or alignment of the stars. Both Tyrus of Helia and Thresh Thresh were once part of this order. The most senior members of the order were permitted to enter the hidden catacomb that housed the sacred spring of the Waters of Life. The order had knowledge of the dangerous World Runes, and tried, unsuccessfully, to keep them a secret from the rest of the world. Tyrus left the Blessed Isles in search of the dangerous World Runes.

Sentinels of Light[]

Sentinels of Light Crest icon

Sentinels of Light Crest

The Sentinels of Light are an ancient sacred order that could be traced back its origins to the Blessed Isles Crest icon Blessed Isles, where the Black Mist originated. The Sentinels are likely what became of the unnamed order mentioned previously. Currently a group of individuals that defend Runeterra from the undying spirits of the Shadow Isles Crest icon Shadow Isles. Each hunter of the order is given a 01DE018-full relic-stone pistol as their main weapon for hunting. A Sentinel uses the weapon, by channeling their souls into light. While inside Thresh's Thresh's lantern, Senna Senna freed some Sentinels souls, who possessed lost knowledge of the Ruination's origins, and of her curse. Now, their goal is to find the Ruined King and stop him at any cost.

Brethren of the Dusk[]

Yorick Update Teaser

Spade of the monk Yorick

The Brethren of the Dusk were a small order of monks from the Blessed Isles. Every monk carried a spade as a symbol of their duty to conduct proper burial rites, which ensured souls would not lose their way, and they each wore a vial of water drawn from the Isles' sacred spring. These Tears of Life represented the monks' duty to heal the living. This order is also likely tied to the unnamed order, as the symbol from their spades can be seen in some of the hidden vaults and they had access to the sacred Waters.

Relations[]

Bilgewater Crest icon Bilgewater[]

Bilgewater of the Blue Flame Isles is closer to the Shadow Isles than anywhere else, and the first to be enveloped by the yearly Harrowing.

Demacia Crest icon Demacia[]

In recent years, the Harrowing has attacked Demacia and the area around it a few times. A Demacian expedition looking to purify the Shadow Isles would later be sent at some point, but eventually got defeated and suffered heavy loss.

Trivia[]

Shadow Isles profileicon
  • Blessed Isles architecture was inspired by real life Carthage, Ancient Alexandria and Rome (mainly Mediterranean architecture).
  • On the Shadow Isles, there is a saying, "Death is but a new beginning."
    • "As the fog parted and I first beheld the Shadow Isles, I sensed immediately that something was amiss. From the mysteriously placid waters of the bay to the dead calm of the night air, an eerie stillness gripped the place – even the sea and sky. Even as I made ready to go ashore, the crew begged me to return at once to the mainland." - Elise Elise
    • "Despite its size, the immense forest loomed like a sepulcher around us, and the dank air and unnatural stillness bred increasing feelings of paranoia and dread. My companion begged me to turn back, but some primal yearning spurred me onward, deeper into the gloom." - Elise Elise
  • The Twisted Treeline was initially described as the last living forest of Zaun but was retconned to be a location in the Shadows Isles.
  • Headless Hecarim Headless Hecarim, Haunted Maokai Haunted Maokai, and Underworld Twisted Fate Underworld Twisted Fate champion skins were released to celebrate the remake of the Twisted Treeline map. A poll[4] was conducted to allow the community to decide if these skins would be limited edition, permanent additions to the store, or legacy skins. At the end of the poll, it was decided that the skins were to be available for a short time as Legacy Skins.[5][6]
Wild Rift Emerald rank
  • In Wild Rift icon Wild Rift, a new ranked emblem for the games League system was introduced. Shadow Isles represents the emblem for the Wild Rift Emerald rank Emerald rank.
  • Certain kinds of Poros reside in the Shadow Isles. They were most likely betrayed or dead.
  • Due to the actions of a foreign king king. He defiled the sacred pools (Waters of Life) from the Blessed Isles when attempting to resurrect his corpse wife, creating an unholy cataclysm that killed all life on the Isles.
  • The Black Mist can manifest anywhere in Runeterra, commonly referred to as the Harrowing. But due to its proximity to the Shadow Isles it strikes Bilgewater most.
  • The Blessed Isles were once home to an ancient society of scholars who gathered (dangerous) magical artifacts and history records from across Runeterra.
  • The waters of life– an underground spring that could heal mortal wounds. Have existed beneath the Isles for a long time, longer than Maokai Maokai.

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