The land now known as the Shadow Isles was once a 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. 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.
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.[1]
Long before the Ruination, a chain of islands that would one day be called the Blessed Isles erupted from deep beneath the ocean. With its creation, the nature spirit Maokai was 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 this potent liquid, he grew hundreds of saplings and planted them across the islands. Soon the land was shawled 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.
From Grief to Ruin
The Ruination Blast
Main article: Shadow of War
Main article: Spear of Vengeance
“
"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."
In an empire that none now recall, resided Kalista a proud general and niece of the king. She lived by a strict code of honor, serving the throne with utmost loyalty. When the king enemies sent an assassin to slay him, Kalista saved his life.
But her act brought the venom of the blade into 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, who had recently become the commander of the Iron order though a gruesome betrayal known only to himself, taking Kalista place at her ausence.
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 mists to allow her safe passage. She begged them to heal the queen, the masters of the city agreed. While the queen lived, she could be healed on 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.
Mad with grief the king 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, Hecarim chose to sour the king’s grief into hatred, seekingto 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. Due to his madness, the king locked himself in his tower with the queen’s festering corpse. When he learned of Kalista’s return, he demanded to know what she had found. She admitted that the cure she had found would be of no use. The king would not believe this, and condemned 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 arguing that if they traveled to the isles her uncle could finally find peace. Hesitantly, Kalista agreed.
And so the king set out with a flotilla of his fastest ships. However, when they were met by Helia masters, they were not allowed pass. Death, they insisted, was final. To cheat it would be to break the natural order of the world.
The king 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.
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 agreed to grant the king access to the Waters of Life—but not even this distracted Hecarim from the revelry of bloodshed, and so it was that the Ruination of the Blessed Isles would take him almost completely by surprise.
The King brought the corpse of his wife to the sacred well, but when the queen returned to life she was a horror of decayed meat and maggot-ridden flesh who begged to be allowed to die once more. Repulsed at what he had done to his beloved wife, the king enacted a spell to end their lives and bind them together for all eternity. His conjuration was successful, but unwittingly empowered by the many potent magical artifacts stored on the island, its power was increased a hundredfold.
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, at one with the Black Mist and yet utterly enslaved by it.
The Undead Rebirth
Main article: Chain Warden
Thresh, the Chain Warden
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 or 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
Main article: Twisted Treant
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 couldnt 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
Main article: Shepherd of Lost Souls
Yorick, Shepherd of Souls
Since he was a small child, 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 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 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.
Locations
Black 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 another 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. Harrowing can happens 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 Flooded Docks
Helia Ruins 1
Helia Ruins 2
Helia Ruins 3
Library Keep (Ruins)
Helia's Library (Ruins)
Vaults of Arcana (Ruins)
Grand Gallery Of Ancient Artifacts (Ruins)
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Helia Of The Blessed Isles
Architectural Puzzles 1
Architectural Puzzles 2
Hidden From Outsiders
Blessed Isles Bridge
Fertile Lands
Celestial Vaults
Helia's Library Interior
The Hall Of Conjunction
Radiance Of Alignments
The Athenaeum Of Light
1/11
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 Runeterras 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 an area where Helia's Library was located, after the Ruination is a mount of destroyed landscape with uncontrolled arcane energy.
Helia's Library: Helia's Library was once the largest and most significant 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 scrives
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 the most important archival buildings on the Shadow Isles. After the Ruination it ended up becoming a massive crater or 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 Demisphere.
Hall of Conjunction: The Hall of Conjunction, through which all seekers must pass. It 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 Conjuction, 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.
Undead Wilds
The Twisted Treeline
Undead Wilds 1
Undead Wilds 2
Undead Wilds 3
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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 forrested area houses to spirit altars and lair of the Vilemaw.
Arachnids, also known as Spiderlings, are the giant spider children of Elise and Vilemaw and reside in both Noxus and the Shadow Isles. Large dark spiders with red highlights, they feast upon living the 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. It is virtually extinct except for a few who bushes that are cared for in 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.
Treants
Treant Maokai 1
Treant Maokai 2
Seedling
Overgrown Snapvine
Blighted Caretaker
Barkbeast
Thorny Toad
Deadbloom Wanderer
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Treants are are a fusion of nature spirits (or any sapient species) and plantlife. One such species was the Omikayalan God-Willow, which essence was later transferred to the Freljordian warrior Ivern. Other example is Maokai, a nature spirit fused with the plantlife and natural magicks 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 and have lost most of their sapience due to the Ruination. Maokai is among the being the very few Blessed Isles treants that survived such a fate.
Resembling that of an arachnid spider whose grotesque mass is furred and scabbed with wet, mutant growths. 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 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 into its servants. It uses its servants to gather fresh food.
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.
Arachnoid Horror, some malevolent spirits take inspiration from local fauna, twisting the familiar into the nightmarish.
Chronicler of Ruin, there was a time when she sat with her father--a lord curator--as he studied the dusty tomes. He hoped one day she would take on the mantle. But not like this.
Curse Keeper, an undead weighed down by the sins of his life. If his sins escape they become the Escaped Abomination.
Darkwater Scourge, a large undead kraken. Some fleeing the Ruination tried diving beneath the waves, believing the corruption wouldn't seep into the depths, only to be taken by the Scourge.
Eternal Scrivener, or Scribe of Sorrows, many of the humble scribes and archivists of Helia perished at their lecterns, unaware of the disaster that had just befallen them. This lost soul now feverishly scratches descriptions of its torment on an endlessly unraveling parchment.
Ethereal Remitter, a scholar of the Blessed Isles until the Ruination.
Hecarim, the Shadow of War, was once a mortal knight of the Iron Order, known for his cruelty and cold, distant behaviour, before travelling to the Isles, where he cast his final betrayal and was cursed to become a half-man, half-horse abomination.
Iron Harbinger, in death, as in life, he bellows the twisted, dark command. And in death, as in life, Hecarim's loyal knights answer, charging forth to slaughter.
Kalista, the Spear of Vengeance, served the same king as Hecarim, and was instructed with the task to discover an antidote for the King's dying wife, poisoned by an assassin. She searched across the lands until discovering the hidden Blessed Isles, where endless life-bearing magic flowed through the waters and the earth. She travelled back to her King, who demanded she bring him in order to revive the Queen, who had since died. Upon arrival, the King demanded the people of the Isles to revive his wife, and Kalista stood between him and the locals - until Hecarim struck her down, stabbing her in the back.
Ledros, former Commander of the Ruined King and lover of Kalista. Most spirits lost themselves as the passing years eroded their memories. But anguish anchored Ledros to his past. Some things, even time cannot absolve.
Mistwraith, these specters of the Isles shed their identities long ago to become amalgamations of pure, unappeasable hunger.
Phantom Prankster, her cruelest trick wasn't slaughtering the soldiers who trusted the cries of a little girl, but sowing doubt in the survivors so they were sure to ignore the cries of their own daughters.
Rhasa, the Sunderer, one of the strongest spirits on the isles, being able to beat the entire platoon of Demacia soldiers that arrived at the isles.
Ravenous Butcher was once a meat butcher before the Ruination.
Rekindler, a former candle lighter before the Ruination.
Scuttlegeist was once a beast of burden for a kingdom long forgotten, this monster now scavenges across forgotten battlefields, adding scrap to its shell, and the souls of the dead to its core.
Shark Chariot, a former chariot rider before the Ruination that is rode by undead sharks.
Stirred Spirits are spirits of people who were hit by the Ruination when they were present in one of Blessed Isles taverns.
Soulgorger, one of the strongest spirits on the isles, being able to beat the entire platoon of Demacia soldiers that arrived at the isles.
Soul Shepherd seeks to keep weaker spirits safe from predatory specters.
Spectral Matron, the Ruination corrupted all those caught in its path. The kind became cruel. The brave became brutal. Reason gave way to resentment.
Spectral Rider, no longer bound by flesh, rider and beast became one, determined to race mindlessly into battles they no longer understood.
Thresh, the Chain Warden, was once a mortal in service to an unknown order. An eerily sadistic man in charge of various artifacts in the depths of the order's chambers, buried underground. In this tomb, he guarded the chambers housing these unknown magics, until they lured him in to discover their secrets. He learned dark secrets and his own sinister capability, to which he fully embraced until the Ruination cast over the Isles, reincarnating him as a wretched wraith.
Tortured Prodigy, a talented musician before the Ruination. The spirit did not notice the cataclysm, being so focused with his work.
Undying, the old martyr remembered rallying his comrades to their doom. But it had been years since he could remember why.
Wraithcaller, she appears without a sound. The terrors that follow her are far less subtle.
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.
Yorick, Shepherd of Souls, is the last survivor of a long forgotten religious order. Trapped in the Shadow Isles, both blessed and cursed with power over the dead, his only companions are the rotting corpses and shrieking spirits that he gathers to him. Yorick’s monstrous actions belie his noble purpose: to free his home from the curse of the Ruination.
Flooded Cities
Immigration to the Isles
Some deviant few willingly make the dreaded islands their home. His perverse obsession with death naturally led Karthus, the Deathsinger, to willingly join the unliving. Elise, the Spider Queen, traveled there for religious reasons. She worships the Spider God, Vilemaw.[2] 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
Helia Of The Blessed Isles
Architectural Puzzles 1
Architectural Puzzles 2
Hidden From Outsiders
Blessed Isles Bridge
Fertile Lands
Celestial Vaults
Helia's Library Interior
The Hall Of Conjunction
Radiance Of Alignments
The Athenaeum Of Light
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“
"Shadow Isles... All that black mist has got to be protecting something really valuable."
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
Citizens Of The Blessed Isles
Soul Shepherd
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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 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 ware 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 Harrowing In Bilgewater
Beyond The Isles
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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.
The Sentinels of Light are an ancient sacred order that could be traced back its origins to the Blessed Isles, where the Black Mist originated. Currently residing in Demacia their task is to help and defend Runeterra from the undying spirits of the Shadow Isles. Each hunter of the order is given a relic-stone pistol as their main weapon for hunting. A Sentinel uses the weapon, by channeling their souls into light. While inside Thresh's lantern, 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.
Ixtali culture is part of a older great westward diaspora that gave the rise of civilizations such as the magnificent Helia of the Blessed Isles. No further substantial contact between each nations was re-established after the Ruination of the Isles.
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
"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
The quote of the western altar; "I serve you because I must, Mordekaiser."; and the eastern altar"I serve you gladly, Mordekaiser.", Mordekaiser holds some rank in the Shadow Isles, further confirmed by his lore which states "Mordekaiser has since carved out his own empire upon the Shadow Isles, enslaving a growing army of the dead."
The quote of the western altar; "Mordekaiser is not to be trusted, Hecarim!", taking in count that Hecarim fights just for the sake of killing.
The quote of the western altar; "Are you also a prisoner, Mordekaiser?", likely means that Mordekaiser's's affiliation to the Shadow Isles is forced, and he fights this by following his personal objectives, not of the Isles. It was later disproven by his lore, which says "Unlike the lesser spirits, Mordekaiser is not bound by the Black Mist – he is too powerful for that – yet its baleful energy grants him considerable power. For now at least, the Shadow Isles serves as the perfect place to build his strength."
After the Full Relaunch, Mordekaiser lost any known connections with the Shadow Isles.
The quote of the western altar; "Remember who you once were, Hecarim.", suggests that Hecarim was once human.It was later confirmed in his lore.
In Season Nine, the ranked emblems for the League system were redesigned. Shadow Isles represents the emblem for the Platinum rank.
Hecarim marches across Valoran in the name of the Shadow Isles.
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, Haunted Maokai, and Underworld Twisted Fatechampion skins were released to celebrate the remake of the Twisted Treeline map. A poll[3] 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.[4][5]
As Indicated by the Black Mist map, the next target of the Mist after Bilgewater is Piltover and Ionia.
Certain kinds of Poros reside in the Shadow Isles. They were most likely betrayed or dead.
Due to the actions of a foreign 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.
Shadow Isles.
Hecarim
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.
Blessed Isles erupted from deep beneath the ocean. With its creation, the nature spirit 
Maokai was taking the form of a treant.
Kalista a proud general and niece of the king. She lived by a strict code of honor, serving the throne with utmost loyalty. When the king enemies sent an assassin to slay him, Kalista saved his life.
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 it was that the Ruination of the Blessed Isles would take him almost completely by surprise.
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.
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.
Spiderlings, are the giant spider children of 
Elise and 
Vilemaw and reside in both Noxus and the Shadow Isles. Large dark spiders with red highlights, they feast upon living the 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.
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.
Ivern. Other example is 
Shadow Isles and have lost most of their sapience due to the Ruination. Maokai is among the being the very few 
stabbing her in the back.
Yorick, Shepherd of Souls, is the last survivor of a long forgotten religious order. Trapped in the Shadow Isles, both blessed and cursed with power over the dead, his only companions are the rotting corpses and shrieking spirits that he gathers to him. Yorick’s monstrous actions belie his noble purpose: to free his home from the curse of the Ruination.
Karthus, the Deathsinger, to willingly join the unliving. 
Ezreal
Demacia their task is to help and defend Runeterra from the undying spirits of the 
relic-stone pistol as their main weapon for hunting. A Sentinel uses the weapon, by channeling their souls into light. While inside 
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.
Platinum rank.
Sentinels of Light · 
