#space queen syndra

[notoriouslydevious]

Goodbye & Good Luck Riot KateyKhaos

Yesterday Katey posted to her twitter saying that next thursday will be her last day at Riot (so most likely Sept 16th, 2021). 

She was known as the Nami-Mommy throughout most of the community and worked on a BUNCH of skins.  She posted this on her Riot anniversary on June 30th of all the skins she worked on: 

Since it's pretty hard to read from the picture, I'll do my best to list them all: 2014: Reaper Soraka Victorious Morgana Battlecast Kog'maw Captain Volibear Constable Trundle Winter Wonder Orianna 2015: Wild Card Shaco King of Clubs Morde Order of the Lotus Irelia Prehistoric Cho'gath Pool Party Rek'sai Pool Party Draven Captain Fortune Battle Boss Blitzcrank Arcade Riven Project: Yi Project Fiora Championship Kalista Warden Karma Warden Jax Marauder Alistar Marauder Olaf Marauder Ashe Marauder Warwick Demon Vi Slayer Jinx Void Bringer Illaoi Snow Day Syndra Blood Moon Elise Challenger Ahri DJ Sona Firecracker Jinx Sweetheart Annie Debonair Galio Headhunter Akali Urf the Nami-tee Archduke Nasus Definitely Not Udyr Order of the Banana Soraka Guardian of the Sands Rammus Arclight Vayne Risen Fiddlesticks Queen of Diamonds Syndra Ace of Spades Ezreal 2016: Challenger Nidalee Lunar Wraith Morgana Sweetheart Sona Heartseeker Orianna Death Blossom Kha'zix Hextech Ward Mecha Zero Sion Mecha Zero Ward Super Galaxy Kindred Super Galaxy Fizz Freljord Taliyah El Leon Gnar El Macho Mundo Deep Sea Nami Star Guardian Jinx Mechs and Minions Ward Victorious Maokai Elementalist Lux Elementalist Ward 2017: Heartseeker Quinn Love Dove Ward Festival Queen Anivia Dragon Sorceress Zyra Moo Cow alistar Dreadnova Darius Cosmic Blade Master Yi Cosmic Dawn Rakan Pulsefire Caitlyn Pulsefire ward SKT T1 Nami SKT T1 Syndra Pentakill Kayle Star Guardian Ahri Star Guardian Miss Fortune Star Guardian Soraka Beekeeper Signed Arclight Yorick Death Sworn Katarina Death Sworn Viktor Death Sworn Zed Mecha Rengar 2018: Sweetheart Rakan Sweetheart Xayah Lunar Empress Lux Lunar Guardian Warwick Lunar Guardian Nasus Dragon Master Swain Resistance Illaoi Pizza Delivery Sivir Dark Star Cho'gath (I went to HS with Brian, the guy they made this skin for ♥) SSG Ezreal SSG Jarvan SSG Xayah SSG Rakan SSG Gnar SSG Taliyah Pool Party Zoe Pool Party Caitlyn Pool Party Gangplank Mafia Braum (or now "Crime City" Braum) High Noon Thresh High Noon Urgot Divine Sword Irelia Enduring Sword Talon Infernal Amumu Count Kledula Trick or Treat Ekko Program Nami Victorious Orianna Pajama Guardian Soraka Pajama Guardian Miss Fortune Pajama Guardian Ezreal Pajama Guardian Lux Pajama Guardian Lulu Ice King Twitch Frozen Prince Mundo Winter Wonder Soraka Hextech Renekton 2019: Blood Moon Pyke Blood Moon Aatrox & Prestige Blood Moon Sivir Firecracker Vayne & Prestige Firecracker Sejuani Coin Emperor Tahm Kench Heartpiercer Fiora Heartbreaker Vi Papercraft Anivia Papercraft Nunu Arclight Brand Pretty Kitty Rengar Fuzz Fizz Corgi Corki Meowrick Dunkmaster Ivern Hextech Jarvan IG Leblanc IG Camille IG Fiora IG Kai'sa Dark Star Shaco Dark Star Karma Arcade Kai'sa Arcade Caitlyn Battle Boss Yasuo Demacia Vice Garen Demacia Vice Lucian Dragon Oracle Udyr Hextech Rammus Elderwood Ahri Elderwood Nocturne Elderwood Veigar Championship Ryze Valiant Sword Riven Majestice Empress Morgana Splendid Staff Nami High Noon Ashe Witch's Brew Blitz Bewitched Miss Fortune Count Kassadin Dawnbringer Karma Dawnbringer Nidalee Nightbringer Vladimir Nightbringer Lee Sin 2020: Mecha Kingdoms Garen Heartseeker Jinx Heartseeker Yuumi Furyhorn Cosplay Veigar Pajama Guardian Urgot Coven Zyra Coven Leblanc FPX Malphite FPX Vayne FPX Lee Sin FPX Thresh Spirit Blossom Yasuo Spirit Blossom Cassiopeia PsyOps Master Yi PsyOps Ezreal PsyOps Pyke PsyOps Viktor Championship Leblanc K/DA All Out Seraphine Cosmic Destiny Nami Battle Queen Janna Elderwood Xayah Elderwood Rakan 2021: Ruined Karma Ruined Shyvana Ruined Draven Space Groove Lux Space Groove Nasus DWG Jhin DWG Nidalee PROJECT: Sejuani Sentinel Irelia It honestly scares me that not one, not two, but now THREE people in the skins department are leaving back to back (Stellari, Zeronis in October of 2020 and now Katey.. like what the fuck is going on??? At least Steve Zheng is still getting commissioned.. I think). I will certainly miss Katey wherever she flips her fins. 🧜‍♀️♥

[infinite-xerath]

Regional Magic

So I’ve thought the magic in Runeterra quite a bit lately, and last night I had a bit of a revelation: what if the nature of the arcane itself actually changes from place to place? It might explain some of the differences and slight inconsistencies with how spells seem to work in different areas of the world. Below are my observations about how magic seems to work in different regions of Valoran.))

Shurima: We’ll start with perhaps the most obvious one. Shuriman magic, due to the region being based off of Egypt (and perhaps a few other surrounding nations) appears the most ‘supernatural’ in nature. Now, obviously, magic itself is somewhat supernatural, but Shuriman magic seems to be especially so. Thus-far, Shurima seems to contain the highest number of ‘curses’ we’ve seen in the lore so far; Xerath cursed the queen so she couldn’t have another healthy child, Nasus can curse people to age or “WHITHER!” as he calls it, and Cassiopeia was transformed due to a curse put upon her by the snake statue. There’s also Amumu, who was resurrected through a curse that seems to be different from typical necromancy.

Furthermore, Xerath is revealed to be able to call forth great storms by ‘calling forth spirits in the depths of the desert,’ and Azir is able to resurrect things by manipulating sand. The magic of Shurima certainly seems to take a lot of inspiration from the Egyptian aesthetic it was based on.

Ionia: Now let’s look at an example of magic that is perhaps the most contrary to the others. Ionian magic seems to be rather spiritual in nature; the most obvious example of this is Karma, who quite literally wields the power of her spirit, an ability she apparently gained through ��enlightenment.’ Of course, there are other examples, such as Shen, who wields magic in the form of his spirit blade used to combat demons, and Zed, who summons shadows born of an unknown power he stole from his master. Yasuo can manipulate the wind, but he does so in a matter quite obviously different to how Janna does it, using his sword to stir up the air around him. Irelia controls blades through sheer will, and characters like Yi can heal themselves or move at immense speeds through sheer concentration.

Ultimately, Ionians seem to harness magic through their martial arts, developing fighting styles based around their power, and using it more to compliment their skills in other areas rather than focus heavily on magecraft (Syndra being the obvious big, floating exception.)

Noxus: This one’s a little trickier, since Noxian magic doesn’t seem to have an obvious theme at first when looking at its mage characters (Swain, LeBlanc, Vladimir, etc.) However, it can certainly be said Noxians are known to use magic that would be rather deadly on the battlefield, such as necromancy to raise up defeated soldiers, blood magic to sap their enemies’ vitality, or rune magic to strengthen their weapons (see Riven.) LeBlanc’s illusion magic could make it easy to disorient the enemy and confuse them, and Swain... Well, he’s getting a rework soon, so I’ll leave him alone for now.

As a whole, Noxian magecraft appears to have evolved primarily to be useful in combat and warfare, and they’re willing to harness whatever dark or immoral powers they deem fit for the sake of victory. After-all, the Black Rose is apparently harboring tons of artifacts from the Shadow Isles, thanks to Elise.

Demacia: Needless to say, Demacia doesn’t have much in the way of magecraft, since they’re a nation founded on the idea of fearing magic. They use things like petricite to dampen magical powers, or Demacian steel to ward of the undead. The only real examples of characters with a somewhat arcane nature in Demacia are Lux (the only real mage we know of in the nation), Poppy (her hammer is enchanted), and Galio (he’s made of petricite, but can come to life when he absorbs magic for some reason.) It’s tough to really narrow down a theme, but there are two possibilities to discuss:

First is the obvious idea of elemental magic, which is, of course, primarily made obvious by Lux and her affinity for wielding light magic. Of course, there’s her skin which has her wielding several elements as well, but seeing as how that’s not entirely canon, we can’t really rely on it too much. The other possibility is that, just as Noxian magic has evolved to be aggressive and brutal on the battlefield (as expected from a nation of conquerors), Demacian magic might be centered more around protection and defense. After-all, Poppy’s hammer can only be wielded by a true hero who stands up for justice (supposedly), and Galio’s job is literally protecting people from enemy mages. This would fit well with the theme of Demacia seeing themselves as the Vanguard of Valoran, after-all.

Freljord: Now this one is probably the hardest to get a firm grasp on. The only true ‘mage’ character from the Freljord is Lissandra, who wields the power of her corrupted True Ice. Indeed, perhaps one could argue that True Ice is simply the over-all basis for magic in the Freljord, since plenty of people seem to enchant their weapons with the stuff. However, if one looks closer, one can see an almost shamanistic style of magic-wielding from the northerners, even if it’s scattered somewhat loosely. Sejuani and Olaf both received prophecies from seers, which could be false, but we know that seers are at least a thing in Valoran thanks to Malzahar’s lore. There’s also Gregor, whose spirit is bound to the Howling Abyss, surrounded by large stone tablets with markings on them.

Last but not least is Udyr, who can call upon the power an ancient spirits; a skill that he, in-part, learned to harness on a trip to Ionia. One could also bring up the Primordials (Ornn, Volibear and Anivia), however they seem to be more along the lines of ‘embodiments of natural forces’ rather than full-on magic users.

Bandle: Alright, there’s a lot about Yordles that still hasn’t been revealed to us just yet, so I’ll refrain from touching on this one too much. All I’ll say is that their magic is blatantly styled after faeries, with their glamours (which may or may not be partially science-based?), and of course Lulu’s whimsical, nonsensical spells. I’ll wait until Riot gets to revamping Bandle’s lore properly before saying anymore.

Targon: And finally, let’s examine the last major location on Runeterra with a heavily magical presence: Mount Targon. Needless to say, though the ordinary mountain dwellers don’t seem to have much in the way of magical skill, the beings that reside at Targon’s peak (and beyond), wield magic that is very-much celestial in nature. They can harness the power of the sun (Solari), moon (Lunari), the stars (Taric and the Protector), and... Uh... War, I guess? IDK Pantheon’s the odd one out, not having an obvious space theme, but he has a star dragon at his beck and call, so... That sorta counts, right? Anyways, yeah, Targon seems to harness the power of the cosmos itself when channeling magic.

So yes, it seems that magic and how it’s wielded by mages actually evolves differently depending on different regions and environments, much like how humans do. Each area of Valoran seems to have its own unique set of rules for how spells can operate, which might explain why you don’t see Noxians conjuring up storms, despite how powerful such an ability could be (you’d think somewhat else would have figured it out after Xerath), or Freljordians incorporating a touch of magic into their fighting styles like the Ionians do, despite both seeming somewhat spiritual in nature.