#outofpower

[infinite-xerath]

Announcement

Hey guys. It's been a minute. I'm just going to be real with you all: I think I need to put this blog on a semi-hiatus. Let me be abundantly clear: I have no intention of shutting down or archiving. I enjoy roleplaying as Xerath far too much to ever give it up.

That being said, this community really isn't what it once was. League RPers are a rarity nowadays, and the few who are left seem more interested in aesthetic posts or casual threads within their friendgroup than long-term collaborative storylines. The occasional new blog I do see cropping up seems to shut down almost immediately, and I think that's partially because the community has devolved to a point where it's hard for people to feel welcome. I've been doing this for over ten years now, and even I feel like an outsider at times...

So yeah, I think I need to just officially announce that I'm taking a break from it all. Maybe a week or two, at most. To the handful of you who are still around and still willing to actually write with me: thank you, truly. I cannot say how much it genuinely means to me. I'll respond to any and all threads I owe when I get back into it.

For the time-being, though, I'm officially putting Xerath to side. It's just painful to see how far things have fallen. No one really sends asks or prompts, hardly anyone seems particularly committed to threads, and the vibe just isn't as fun anymore. Sorry if this sounds overly-pessimistic, but it's how I genuinely feel.

Anyways, I'll be back. I promise you that. In the meantime, have a good one.))

[infinite-xerath]

I remember a common sentiment in the fanbase is that the Kindred may have little to no presence in Shurima, given how badly the Ascended/Darkin have mucked up the natural order of things. If anything, Nasus might be closer to a Shuriman death deity these days, especially since he's been in isolation long enough for legends and rumors about him to run rampant.))

With the release of 'Chosen of the Wolf Kindred' on PBE, I just have to say that in my personal opinion, Kindred are probably the best champion design in League of Legends? And I don't say that to demean any other champion, there are some amazing heavy hitters like Jhin too, but Kindred positioned as the embodiment of death in Runeterra are surprisingly flexible and they tell us so much about the culture by way of how it depicts them.

The 'Main Kindred' we see are the Freljord depiction of them, more Primal and older than other depictions (as we've been told), and their design matches that age, essentially just two figures, one black with a bit of white, and one black with a bit of white.

Then we got 'Spirit Blossom', and unlike the simpler designs, they are much more ornate and decorated. It also shows just how much the story can change, with them being a Child and her fellow Dog companion, yet remain the same, still two which are one.

And just recently we got 'Chosen of the Wolf', the Noxian interpretation of Kindred, and they are so War-like as a nation, that even the Lamb has Wolfish features, to Noxians there is no peaceful acceptance of death, you must always fight against the dying of the night.

They are just...it's just such a malleable and interesting concept! There's so much to learn and analyze from what the different regions see. I want more! I want to see how Piltover and Zaun see them, how Shurima sees them, how Ixtal sees them, and the rest! Not just read a blurb, I want to see and learn.

[limitlesspossibilities]

//Since I beat P5 last night I am sliding a new muse onto the blog while I work on catching up in replies-

[mutantmuses]

thank you everyone for putting the spoilers for the new deadpool movie in the read more thingy. i won't be able to see the movie until Friday. ;3

[empowerxd]

I'm alive!

Sorry for not being around lately. Between surgery, being super sick and work, I haven't really been able to be on. I'm going to try and change that since it's the weekend.

Thanks to everyone for your patience! I really appreciate it!

[infinite-xerath]

Nith's an absolutely fantastic artist, guys. Consider giving her a shot!))

Save a Bun from cutting her own tail!

Hello, usually I'm not open to asking for help but this time I'm really REALLY on a big rush. Life has hit me once more with very heavy stuff. PLEASE, please... help me pay my grandfather's funeral. I have done everything possible in my power to try and cover the expenses, yet, I'm short on 300$. Please, I really need help this time...

My commissions are open, you can find the information here.

Any donation is also welcome, I have Paypal and Ko-fi.

[ofthecontinuum]

Mobilr today and wanna do things! Only logged on here though so:

•like for an ask

•comment and @ URL if for a sideblog

•also comment w/character name if you want one of the babes I’m tryna do from @stellaeluceat (or any other muse)

• ☺️

[poisonouslightslayer]

https://www.cbr.com/fairy-tail-anime-villains-erza-beat-fight/

Bullshit and complete fake! Erza would be slayed by Grimmjow without even knowing he was there. Fairy Tail characters do not have reistsu so they can not see the dead however there is an exception if a mage is close to death they can see them, but at that point they would be killed in the blink of an eye so would it really matter? Get your facts straight. Do not compare the World of Bleach to Fairy Tail. Grimmjow is on a higher level being an arrancar, an espada sixth in the ranks back then compared to a regular human with magic. Also Erza and non slayer type mages would not be able to replenish their etherno containers without being in Ishgar so in her case once her magic is depleted she is a sitting duck and would be killed instantly. Holders types like Lucy would be worse off having to rely on an outside source of where the magic is contained and summoned through. Take away their items no magic = dead mage.Only slayer types like dragon slayers, demon and god slayers would stand a better chance because they can consume their element(s) to replenish their magic more quickly, don't have to rely on etherno in the air to only fill up their magic containers as long as they still have etherno inside of them and thus would have a better chance of survival, but in the end their chances would be slim.

[infinite-xerath]

MY BIRTHDAY HAS ARRIVED

I'll see if I can get some owed replies done a bit later, but for now I'm taking the day to enjoy myself.))

[infinite-xerath]

Figure I may as well share this here as well.))

[infinite-xerath]

Better names for 2XKO:

-Runeterra Rumble

-Champion Showdown

-Arena Legends

-Doublekill

-League of Fighters

-Champion Tag Battle

You're welcome, Riot.))

[infinite-xerath]

On another note, before I fully commit to the semi-hiatus, I'm thinking about working with an artist to create my own fan Viktor VGU. Would anyone be interested in that? Feel free to reply to this post or message me in IM's if so.))

[infinite-xerath]

I'm putting this blog on a semi-hiatus. I don't expect it will last too long, but the League community is kind of on fire right now as we try to sort out what's even considered canon in the wake of Arcane. I mean, I don't plan on changing anything about my blog regardless of what Riot says at this point, but the discourse makes it really tough to get back into the swing of things.

Anyways, I expect to be back by the end of the week.))

[infinite-xerath]

See, you make a lot of valid points, and I can’t deny any of them. Strategically speaking, trying to conquer the Freljord really isn’t particularly beneficial for Noxus in the long-run because of all the reasons you said. However, as I pointed out in my initial reply: that doesn’t really matter.

Noxians are FANATICAL in their beliefs. They really, truly think that their “strength above all” mentality is the objectively correct way that a nation should be one and they want the entire world to follow this model as well. Darius says as much himself:

I mean, just consider the Ionia campaign. Noxus was so desperate to conquer the island that they started relying on chemical weapons that poisoned the land itself and burned entire villages to the ground. They even readily, willingly sacrificed their own troupes en masse if it meant killing more enemies soldiers than their own.

And yet, despite all of that, Noxus was beaten back at the Battle of the Placidium. They LOST their initial invasion of Ionia, and only succeeded in taking a section of the coast for all their efforts. In spite of that, we know that Noxus is currently trying to invade Ionia AGAIN, because like you said: they don’t want to admit defeat to a people they view as lesser.

So yes, despite the myriad of reasons why trying to conquer the Freljord is a faulty endeavor, Noxus doesn’t care. There are people there, so the Noxian empire thinks it must rule over them. It’s sort of like Manifest Destiny; how the United States expanded further and further west in a delusional belief that it was somehow divinely ordained to do so.

Noxus wants to rule the world, and the Freljord is part of the world, so they’re going to keep trying to push north until they piss off someone/something they really shouldn’t, and the consequences of their actions will surely be glorious to behold.))

@infinite-xerath Honestly it's fairly simple: if there are people, Noxus wants to conquer them. It doesn't matter how bad the environment is. It also helps that Noxus doesn't seem to know about the literal gods and Eldritch horrors waiting for them, beyond probably dismissing them as local legends. It is telling that the Shadow Isles are apparently the one place that even Noxians want nothing to do with.))

Yes, but trying to conquer a frozen wasteland is leagues more difficult than trying to take over already developed territory. I know that in universe it was probably sold as 'oh we'll just go and beat them and they'll join us' but conquering a wasteland after you just sued for peace in two other conflicts strikes me as a tad unwise?

Because while I am not particularly up to date on my Demacia or Ionia lore, I am fairly certain there are things like roads and farms and the like, an ability to live off the land, so to speak. You take it over, make it yours, and then put it back to work doing what it was already doing.

The Freljord seems to survive on raiding? Mostly? And the things and places that don't are not particularly easy to get to?

To use a real world example, there's a reason why the vikings settled where they raided and not the other way around. There's a reason why the romans only made it halfway through Britain and to the Rhine, because at some point the ability to sustain a population of a certain size is impossible without endless amounts of moved materials.

Basically, you could probably station the entirety of Noxus' army in say, Demacia. Demacia has farms, the population that was fighting is now not fighting and replaced by Noxians who are in those jobs. But you could not do the same thing in the Freljord, because the Freljord has no way to sustain a giant army like that if it's just sitting there. It can't live off the land, the land is barren. It can't extract tribute, everyone can just get up and leave to other parts they don't control. They could try to build permanent things there, like roads and garrisons and the like, but those things are entirely dependent on aid from Noxus proper and if that doesn't come the whole thing falls apart?

And there's no way Darius, being a war genius, wouldn't know all of this? Unless his entire plan hinged on defeated the Freljordian armies in battle and capturing their leaders and making them submit. Or, it's an invading russia in winter situation, where there's just... endless expanses of nothing for hundreds of miles and it never gets any better.

Here's the other reason I can assume that either LeBlanc or Swain wanted him dead: not only was Darius defeated, he was captured, as was his son, who died against Sejuani's forces.

So Darius is defeated and captured, his son died there, and basically every time they lead an expedition into this place everyone dies horribly.

But the thing is, it's this endless attrition and stalemate that causes Darius to return and end up part of the council that now rules, because the Freljordian conflict is such a catastrophe. And yet, even still, he sends more expeditions to try and reclaim what little they built there, only now all the various scattered tribes are united either under Ashe or Sejuani.

So as far as I can tell, the opinion in Noxus should be that the Freljord is an icy deathtrap with nothing of value in it, except snow and angry tribesmen. Darius of all people should know that, he couldn't win against them and lost his son to them, and he apparently thought so poorly of the conflict that he turned him to overthrow the leadership with Swain and Leblanc.

The only thing that makes sense to me is that Noxus can't admit it got beaten by tribespeople and poros and beast men. So it has to say the conflict is ongoing so they don't lose face. But this is clearly not a conflict Noxus is winning, mainly because they destabilized their entire country in their biggest attempt at victory.

[infinite-xerath]

Legal   Name:   Xerath

Nicknames:

The Magus Ascendant

He Who Felled The Sun

Clever Devil

Usurper of the Empire

God-Emperor (self-appointed)

Probably a bunch more we don't know about yet.

Date  of  Birth:   ???

Gender:   Male

Place   of   Birth:  Saikhal, Shurima

Currently   Living:   Nerimazeth, Shurima

Spoken   Languages:

Ancient Shuriman

Modern Shuriman

The "Common Tongue" of modern Valoran

Runespeak

Education: 

Xerath is pretty-much entirely self-educated. He learned basics mathematics and language from his mother, then to the architect he was apprenticed to. After that, he and Azir sort of taught each other in their youth, before Xerath took to entirely independent studies (most of which were secret.) He is versed in math, a degree of science, astronomy, multiple languages, architecture, a degree of philosophy, history (mainly Shuriman) and of course, magic.

Physical   Characteristics:

Hair   Color:   N/A

Eye   Color:  N/A

Miscellaneous: Entire body is comprised of magical energy

Height: 6'8 by default, approx 30 feet when fully Ascended.

Weight:   Nothing, as he's made of energy.

Relationships:

Azir (former best friend, now number 1 enemy)

Renekton (former enemy, now turned unwitting puppet/weapon)

Nasus (enemy)

Cultists (allies, or the closest thing to them)

Orientation:

Asexual / Aromantic

Relationship   Status:

single

tagged   by:  @madamescissors

demanding:  @songofsilentechoes, @the-storm-chaser and anyone else who wants to do it.

[infinite-xerath]

Arcane spoilers below the cut.

You know, I can't help but wonder if Caitlyn might be playing Ambessa as much as Ambessa thinks the reverse. That flashback scene revealing that it was the Noxians who organized the attack on the memorial feels kind of... Deliberately placed. I can't help but wonder if that might be Cait putting the pieces together.

Like, the Caitlyn we know in the main canon is supposed to be this master detective: a female Sherlock Holmes with a sniper rifle. Her mind is supposed to be about as sharp as her aim. One of Cait's short stories, Progress Day, is all about foiling a Noxian plot in Piltover. While everyone else is buying into Ambessa's speech, Caitlyn may be the only one who remembers that this is a foreign general forcefully inserting herself into Piltovan politics.

Maybe I'm giving the writers too much credit, because it's highly probable that Caitlyn is genuinely too blinded by anger and grief to think clearly, but I think it would be a rad reveal if it turned out that Caitlyn was only pretending to go along with Ambessa and the Noxians. Like, she's already figured out who gave Zaun the info needed to attack the memorial and is now just waiting for an opportunity to turn the tables.))