Piltover



Piltover is a thriving, progressive city whose power and influence is on the rise. It is Valoran's cultural center, where art, craftsmanship, trade and innovation walk hand in hand. Its power comes not through military might, but the engines of commerce and forward thinking. Situated on the cliffs above the district of Zaun and overlooking the ocean, fleets of ships pass through its titanic sea-gates, bringing goods from all over the world. The wealth this generates has given rise to an unprecedented boom in the city's growth. Piltover has - and still is - reinventing itself as a city where fortunes can be made and dreams can be lived. Burgeoning merchant clans fund development in the most incredible endeavors: grand artistic follies, esoteric hextech research, and architectural monuments to their power. With ever more inventors delving into the emergent lore of hextech, Piltover has become a lodestone for the most skilled craftsmen the world over.

Lore


Piltover, also known as the City of Progress, is the leading center of ecologically-minded techmaturgical research and mercantile trade in Valoran. The city's great academies and their contributions to science are known across the land, rivaled only by the eccentric colleges found in Zaun. A coastal nation, the denizens of Piltover are utilizing the liquids and gases emitting from the nearest marsh as a viable source of energy in order to power the city.

Locations
Piltover is a city-state between northern and southern parts of Valoran. The current well known locations (not counting Zaun) encompassing Piltover are:

Ezreal's house
One of the cities most famous residence, the house houses a large assortment of artifacts found by the explorer himself. One of such artifacts are from an.

First Assemblage of the Glorious Evolved
Located at the end of the Boarder Markets in the Southern part of Piltover, the Church the main location where worshipers of the Glorious Evolved from both Piltover and Zaun come to worship their deity, The Gray Lady. Its is also a place where the disenfranchised come to seek refuge, and where the criple come from techmaturgical miracles.

Heimerdinger's Laboratory
The main lab of the famous Yordle inventor, many inventions have been imagined, created, and tested in this work environment. The laboratory contains various power conducts, transformers, Tesla Coils, a testing area, and a work station housing a large super computer.

Jayce's Laboratory
The main lab of the cities famous guardian, lab is the place where he himself made his famous Mercury Hammer, which was later used against.

Piltover Customs


Desiring a more suitable location to construct his techmaturgical vehicles, Heimerdinger built a new expanded workshop outside his Yordle Academy. The workshop, called Piltover Customs, has gone off to become the most successful transportation customization and modification enterprise on Runeterra.

The co-owner and chief mechanic,, enjoys tinkering with all the hextech gizmos that are regularly brought to him. He and the company provides a tour for the shop by special request only cause why not?

Piltover's illustrious Bluewind Court
The most influential individuals of Piltover are part of the Illustrious Bluewind Court located in the Northern part of Piltover. The north of the city is where the bulk of the clans have their mansions and heavily guarded workshop compounds, such as the mansions of Clans Medarda, Ferros, Arvino, and Cadwalder.

Piltover Police Department
The Main organization tasked in keeping the peace in the city, Piltover Police Departement is one of Runeterras most modernized law enforcements, being able to deal with techmaturgical crimes.

Piltover's treasury
Piltover's treasury is located at the Southern part of the city. While also housing vaults, it is also the cities main Bank. Clockwork Vault is one of the treasuries most impenetrable vaults, only ever cracked by the infamous and, and even recently attacked by.

Piltover City Zoo
The Piltover City Zoo houses a large assortment of flora and fauna from across Runeterra. Such animals are rhinos and Plague Jungles Monkeys. It has been recently vandalized by.

Reveck's house
Reveck's house is the previous residence of Corin Reveck, the cities infamous techmaturgical inventor. It is here where he constructed the robot known, after the tragic loss of his daughter.

Sun Gates
The most important location of all of Piltover, the Sun Gates separate the North and South of Valoran and are the primary gates between East and West. The Sun Gates were constructed as a necessity of the city, but due to its construction a massive cliff was created due to geological instability of the Gates construction, which sunk large chunks of Zaun into the sea. In Piltover, Progress Day marks the moment the Sun Gates opened for the first time, allowing trade to pass easily between the east and west of Valoran. Below in Zaun, it is a day to remember those lost in the geological upheaval that created the east-west passage and submerged entire districts underwater.

Yordle Academy of Science & Progress
There is a significant yordle population that resides in Piltover. , had an allure to science that he could not resist, and wanted to make his mark on the City of Progress. Before leaving Bandle City he gathered like-minded Yordles to join him in his quest to Piltover, thus forming the backbone of the now famous Yordle Academy of Science & Progress. Since then, his academy has become one of the leading institutions in all of Valoran. It has pioneered many new scientific achievements, delving deeper and deeper into the field of techmaturgy. The more interesting contraptions Heimerdinger and his colleagues have put together are on permanent display at the academy, with tours being granted nearly every day of the week. Its library houses one of the largest assortment of books found on Valoran.

Zindelo's Incognium Runeterra
The Zidelo's Incognium Runeterra is located in the Incognia Plaza connected to the Sidereal Avenue in the Southern part of Piltover. Zindelo’s great sphere sits inactive as it has done since the inventor’s mysterious disappearance years ago.

Culture
General= Trade is the lifeblood of Piltover, and its command of the main sea-route between east and west has seen its coffers swell with gold. A consequence of this has been the rapid expansion of the Noxian empire, whose armies and supplies can now travel the length and breadth of Valoran with relative ease. It has also allowed Bilgewater to prosper as a haven for pirates and reavers who prey on ships traveling to and from Piltover. The climate around Piltover is generally balmy, but when the temperature changes rapidly, sea fogs often envelop the docks and warehouses. The quaysides of Piltover are always busy, and anyone with a strong back and the will to work can easily find employment. A hundred accents are heard on the wharfside streets at any given time, and scores of ships from every port pass through the Sun Gates every day.



The cosmopolitan nature of Piltover makes its inhabitants as varied as their city, but there remains a particular character to its people. A citizen of Piltover is typically self-reliant, does not expect handouts, and always aspires to do better. They are averse to meddling from outsiders, and see an open and free market as essential to the city's continued prosperity. As much as the citizens of Piltover and Zaun like to pretend they are separate entities, both are far more intertwined than they might openly admit, having strong biological and cultural ties to one another.


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Clothing
Fashions quickly rise and fall in the salons of Piltover, and while most tastes tend toward formal and functional, there are those who push the boundaries of good taste and common sense with their overly elaborate displays of wealth. There are also those that augment their bodies ether from necessety or for showcasing their progressive and/or wealthy status in the community. There is a distinct difference between the appearance of Piltover and Zaun augments. Piltover's are more flamboiant in their craftmanship, often adorned with elements of gold and blue arcane crystals, while Zaun's are were born more of the neceessity and practicality of its environment and often have crude details, with the elements of toxic green colours heavily featured in the most augmented individuals. For those that live in the city for a very long time, its easy to distinguish true augmented individuals from those that arent. The non-augmented individuals are refered to as "fleshies" by the followers of The Gloriously Evolved.

Currency
Wile the nation trades with all kinds of currency from all corners of Runeterra, it also mints its own currency within the city region. The main currency of Piltover are Golden Hexes (the name originates from the word Hextech), and Silver Cogs. Due to the cities importantce as a trade hub, the currency has a very strong economic power around the world.

Hextech
Hextech is the newly emergent fusion of magic and technology used to create exquisite artifacts that can be wielded by anyone, not just those few with a natural aptitude for the arcane. It harnesses the magical power contained within extremely rare crystals, and its power is limited only by the imagination of their users. It is capable of amazing feats, from powering machinery to creating beams of light capable of cutting the strongest steel. The process of crafting hextech is a closely guarded secret, and no two artificers work to the same methodology. As such, each item of hextech is a unique artifact of rare beauty, a bespoke creation that will likely have taken years to craft.

Inventions
Examples of Heimerdinger and his academy's many inventions include:


 * Seven Lenses of Insight: one of a kind goggles given to, allowing him to see across a wider range of the spectrum than normal people see.
 * Star Rods: hextech devices which emit light and are used to illuminate the streets of Piltover.
 * Reconnaissance Operations Front-Line Copter: an aerial vehicle which has become the backbone of the Bandle City Expeditionary Force (BCEF).
 * Patrol Rescue Bot: an automaton deployed by the Piltover Patrol in order to search for missing individuals.
 * Drain Out Of Mana Machine: the "D.O.O.M. Machine" was an experimental device that was capable of extracting magic from its surrounding area.
 * ': portable and collapsible stationary automatons capable of continuous rapid-fire of techmaturgical bullets and unleash concentrated laser beams after a brief charging time. This semi-intelligent contraption requires a spotter for accuracy and relies on nearby remote power source to function. Advanced protocols allow the deployment of ' which is a heavier armament version capable of collateral damage-shells and stronger laser strikes before its batteries give out.
 * ': unguided mini-warheads capable of striking multiple enemies or single-target concentrated fire, making up for its relatively smaller damage compared to standard warheads with sheer numbers. Enemies of high priority can be eliminated swiftly with the ' protocol, firing wave after wave of micro-rockets with superior munitions.
 * ': explosive electro-grenades that, when tossed on target, emit electrical shockwaves which impairs sensory capabilities and neural overload that effectively damage and shut down enemy's response rate. For crowd control, the ' protocol allows the use of the bigger and superior version which feature wider area of disruption and "bounces" over solid surfaces for up to thrice times.
 * : self-operating, semi-sentient nano-machines capable of administering swift repair to nearby mechanical devices and wounded friendlies.
 *  / : Transforming weapon created by in order to assault  laboratory and retrieve the hextech crystal he stole.
 * : Heavy gauntlets modified by from mining equipment to escape a collapsing mine shaft, later used to break open bank vaults until given a deal by.


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The Gray Lady
The Church of The Glorious Evolved is celibrated in both Piltover and Zaun. The Glorious Evolution, a possible sub-group led by, views of flesh as inferior to that of steel and metal, has gathered most of the followers among the people of Zaun and has spread among other nations. An amalgamation of flesh or the total replacement of it had marked his works, incorporating techmaturgy to purge the weakness and inefficiency of the flesh. For as long as they exist, the day of the world replaced by beings of weaponized steel and metal becomes clearer with each passing day.

Non-augmented individuals are forbidden to step foot onto their sacret grounds, but the Glorious Evolved often took in the sick, seeing the removal of dying flesh as a key to transforming a person’s life and faith through technology.

The Gray Lady is the patron saint of this religion. Her stained glass window is the main focalpoint of the First Assemblage of the Glorious Evolved, where The Gray Lady’s cloak is a mosaic of ash-violet glass, oxidized cogs, and blackened pistons. Her epithet was often invoked when an inventor felt at a loss due to inability or failure. Hers was a blessing that often required sacrifice. The Glorious Evolved celebrated the old Zaunite tradition of sacrificing something personal for Progress Day in the hopes the next iteration of invention would be better. It was a practice that could be traced back to the old days of the city, when the people of Zaun had to face rebuilding their lives after the devastation of “the incident.” The wealth and growth of Piltover on top of those scarred ruins served as evidence to many that the tradition had merit.
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Festival of Flight
The Festival of Flight is an annual festival between Piltover and Zaun. The Main focus of this event is to showcase each cities technological supremacy through peaceful means like The zeppelins races have been occurring officially for at least 16 years.

Progress Day
Progress Day is an annual festival of Piltover and Zaun respectively. The Main focus of this event is the celebration of the cities technological progress. On this day, many awards and promotions are given to the brightest minds from all across Runeterra who are willing to contribute to the advancement of the city, as well as the showcase of new innovations all across the city.

Progress Day is viewed very differently down in Zaun, which was known as the original City of Progress before Piltover came along. Above, Progress Day marks the moment the Sun Gates opened for the first time, allowing trade to pass easily between the east and west of Valoran. It also marks the moment when taxation on that trade turned the trickle of gold entering the city’s coffers into a fast flowing river. Below in Zaun, it is a day to remember those lost in the geological upheaval that created the east-west passage and submerged entire districts underwater.

Government
General= Piltover has a very empathic and progressive governing body. It is indicated that the citizens of Piltover collectively elect their representatives, who are referred to as statesmen. In order to improve the city-state's social and environmental well-being, statesmen constantly strive to implement their nation's rapid scientific innovations. Piltover is also one among Valoran's least militarized city-states, and also one of its most trusting. Despite that, the city boast a warship squadron for the protection of the Sun Gates.
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The Piltover Patrol


With the goal of using their combined knowledge to give aid to others as quickly as possible, the city's officials created multiple search and rescue teams that can be mobilized across Valoran at a moment's notice. The teams, referred to collectively as the Piltover Patrol, serve to assist anyone in dire need. Each member is highly trained to handle different levels of emergencies. When searching for missing individuals the rescuers deploy the Piltover Rescue Bot, a recent prototype created by the famed inventor, to hover over and scan large areas of land. Should an individual be found severely sick or injured, the rescue teams are capable of swiftly transporting them back to Piltover. The individual is then treated as a patient by the city-state's top medical staff and is cared for around the clock.

There are also Sentry Bots patrolling the city streets, insuring constant safety of residence, though they have proven to be no match against the criminal known as.

Bandle City
Many of the most ingenious minds of Bandle City go to attend the University in the heart of Piltover from mechanical masterminds to tinkering excellency; the most obvious display of Yordle power in Piltover University is. Piltover has gotten the attention of many yordles and taken attention to many also such as and. Military weaponization for Bandle City is largely produced in Piltover; examples would be the Yipsnakes aircraft and the city's defensive outpost walls and turrets.

Bilgewater
As Runeterra’s biggest black market Bilgewater trades all manner of illicit hextech pilfered from Piltover.

Demacia
Piltover and Demacia may have their differences, but the two nations are on relatively friendly terms. Scientists from the City of Progress are usually welcomed inside Demacia. However, should the scientists wish to perform experiments there, they must first get clearance from Demacian officials.

Noxus
As the strongest nation on Runeterra, Noxus heavily relies on the crutial trade rout of Piltover for controling its vast lands in the Northern and Southern parts of Valoran. Due to the importants of the location, many Noxian shadow agents have infiltrated all levels of Piltovers society in order to prepare the Empire for a possible future invasion of the city.

Zaun
As the two leading city-states in the development of hextech, Zaun and Piltover have a deep competitive rivalry, both vying to be the ones directing the future of techmaturgy on Runeterra. There are frequent smuggling campaigns orchestrated by zaunite thieves, valuable technologies are then later sold on the blackmarket all across Runeterra. They also share deep historical, social, and cultural connections, having Piltover (literally and figuratively) rise from the foundations of Zaun.

The Grandmaster Explorer of Piltover


A large network of the intricate tunnels can be found underneath Piltover, and for years they were long thought to be unnavigable. This was until the tunnels were fully mapped out by. The quality of his work was so remarkable that the Piltover government purchased his maps and commissioned his services as the city-state's Grandmaster Explorer in archaeology. Since then Ezreal's countless adventures have been romanticized and published by the city. He also occasionally brings back many he finds to Piltover further study.

Missing Piltovian Boy Found
The Piltover Patrol found a young inventor from Piltover who was previously reported missing for the last three months. Piltover officials mobilized all available rescue teams to recover the well-known 14-year-old prodigy of techmaturgy. He was discovered afflicted with a withering disease and close to death in the northern jungles of Kumungu. The rescue team quickly transported the boy back to the city-state, and he was quarantined to prevent spreading the disease. The medical staff raced to save his life, though a source within the Patrol described the boy's status as worrisome. The source explained that the strange disease was ravaging the boy's body, and even with the advanced state of Piltover's medical care, the disease was spreading too quickly for his young body to cope with. His name was withheld because he was a minor.

The Festival of Flight
Tensions between Piltover and Zaun renewed as the 16th Festival of Flight race drew near, marking the beginning of the annual Techmaturgical Conference. The city of Zaun had been named victor of the symbolic event for the last four years running, though they showed a great deal of trepidation towards the upcoming match after Piltover publicly unveiled their new state-of-the-art Zeppelin. While it's difficult to classify any dirigible as small, the appropriately named “Tailwind” aircraft was a record-breaking length of 27 meters. Not only was it the first Zeppelin to meet such small size constraints, but it also pioneered the utilization of Piltoverian Chrono-Technology. The new prototype “Chrono-propeller” engine, which received tremendous design contributions from, was rumored to manipulate time itself to reach speeds that would otherwise be impossible under Valoran’s constantly changing atmospheric conditions. The Zeppelin would be piloted in the race by, who was once one of Zaun’s most promising mage talents before defecting from the city-state several years ago.



Piltover Wins the Annual Zeppelin Race
Janna’s record-breaking Zeppelin "Tailwind" defeated the Zaunite flagship "Lead Zeppelin" at the annual Techmaturgical Conference in Piltover. Zaun's "Lead Zeppelin" had maintained a strong lead from the race’s start in Piltover. The Zaunite flagship, a powerhouse of black metal and Zaunite techmaturgy, had claimed victory at the Conference for the past four years. As the two Zeppelins crossed the Bluewind Bay, however, Tailwind’s chrono-propeller engine allowed the craft to navigate through the bay's storms utterly unfettered, securing Piltover’s victory.

The Hexplosives Expert


Some time after, accidentally blew up the wall of the Academy, Zaunite agents infiltrated Piltover and kidnapped the yordles. The Piltover military tracked the hostages to a Zaunite prison. They tried to break them free but to no avail, their weapons proved useless against their fortified walls.

Ziggs then came to the scene with his new and improved bombs he lovingly calls "hexplosives". Ziggs used his most powerful bomb, the Mega Inferno Bomb, to destroy the reinforced walls. Once the smoke diminished he lashed out at the guards with an array of unique hexplosives, broke the yordles' cell and led them back to Piltover.

The Defender of Tomorrow


A friendly visit from the Zaunite scientist,, quickly turned into an all-out assault of lab in a successful attempt at stealing the arcane crystal. Piltover officials refused to attack Zaun to prevent the thievery from escalating into an all-out war between the two city-states. With no response from the officials, Jayce chose to seclude himself inside his lab. Rumor spread he was developing a powerful weapon for an assault against the Zaunite scientist.

After many restless day and nights, Jayce finally made himself public again, carrying with him the supposedly rumored weapon, the Mercury Hammer. With this, Jayce assaulted Viktor's lab, defeated him and his acolytes and destroyed the crystal. On his return, the citizens of Piltover showered him with adoration. But with his actions he knew that Zaun would soon act again and try to wreak havoc in Piltover. So he made a solemn vow to defend all of Piltover from any danger that comes.

Get Jinxed!


Ever since, Piltover has been known as the City of Progress for the many technological advancements it has made, but when the mad girl,, had first attacked the city, its progress had stopped. Now the city is a cesspool of chaos, buildings crumbling, people dying, painted animals running rampant and the city in constant gunfire. Piltover's Finest, and, have been trying to track her down but to no avail.

As Jinx's rampage escalated, the Sheriff had declared a city-wide manhunt for her. Jinx responds to this by marking the treasury with a challenge to Vi, telling that she would attack the place during the time and date she had written there. When the time had come, she did turn up and began to wreak havoc. Vi began chasing her, smashing through every wall she comes through, and, finally, when Jinx was cornered, Jinx let loose a barrage of rockets, destroying the building. When the officers had awoken, all the gold still remained and Jinx had spelled out something in the sky using the city's lights, "YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME!".

Trivia
General=
 * Piltover was inspired by and  fantasy genres.
 * Most of Piltover's interiors have a distinct style to them, while the exterior architecture is a mix between Art Deco and Steampunk. This mix between artistic styles can clearly seen on the crest of The Piltover Police Department.
 * Other video game cities that share the same fantasy genres and similar designs are and . Both of which are from the.
 * The Debonair skin line (which mostly consists of Piltover champions) reflects this artistic design choice. It is also noted that follows this trend as well.
 * ,, , and were designed in Piltover.
 * Some of Zaun's citizens refer to Piltovians as "Pilties".
 * Piltover's crest resembles the crest from.


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Media
Themes=
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