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Taliyah Universe Background
Taliyah
Taliyah (Universe)Taliyah (Universe)
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Taliyah (Trivia)Taliyah (Trivia)

Taliyah Taliyah is a nomadic mage from Shurima Crest icon Shurima, torn between teenage wonder and adult responsibility. She has crossed nearly all of Valoran on a journey to learn the true nature of her growing powers, though more recently she has returned to protect her tribe. Some have mistaken her compassion for weakness and paid the ultimate price—for beneath Taliyah's youthful demeanor is a will strong enough to move mountains, and a spirit fierce enough to make the earth itself tremble.


TaliyahSquare"This world is a tapestry of our own making."  Taliyah
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Background

Early Life

Taliyah was born in the south of Shurima, near the border of Icathia. Her tribe, the Naasaj, were nomadic weavers and herders. Though Taliyah was always taught to appreciate the desert's beauty, she was always most interested in the rock that lay underneath.

After she turned six, Taliyah set off to find a young goat her father - the master shepherd and tribe chief - had placed in her hands. She followed the goatling through the night to a sheer cliff where it had become stuck. The stone of the cliff called to her as she lay a hand upon it, then erupted, bringing both goat and canyon wall down upon her. Her father brought her back to the camp and put her under the care of Babajan, the tribe's grandmother. Days later, she was finally able to explain what had happened, how the stone had called to her, but didn't mention that she had allowed it to fall. Babajan concluded that the Great Weaver watched over Taliyah, telling her parents that there was no reason to worry.

Once a child came of age in the Naasaj tribe, they performed a dance under the full moon - the face of the Great Weaver - to determine what their path in life would be based on their talents, and to apprentice them to a teacher. Taliyah, believing her power to be a curse, watched others use their own skills. When her time to dance finally came, she did not choose to become a weaver like her mother or herder like her father, instead closing her eyes and dancing with the stone. It rose up from the earth in a pillar, evoking startled cries from her kin. Her will broken, the rock crashed to the ground, cutting Taliyah's mother as she rushed to protect her daughter. To Taliyah, this was proof that she was indeed dangerous to everyone around her, and so she ran out into the night.

Her father found her eventually, and Taliyah finally admitted her ability to shape the stone. Instead of being scared or revolted, though, he told her that she needed to face her power, not run from it. She returned to the circle with open eyes. This time, she wove with purpose, creating a memory of those she loved. When it was time for her mentor to stand, the entire tribe did, ready to stand with her. But Taliyah knew that her true teacher was not among them, and so she headed out into the world, promising to learn to control her power.

Travelling the Runeterra Crest icon world

By now in her mid-teens, Taliyah headed west towards Targon, drawn towards the mountain by her natural affinity for stone. However, while in northern Shurima, it was a band of Noxians who discovered her. They promised her that Noxus celebrated such power, that she would find a teacher there. Raised to be trusting, Taliyah followed them, into the heart of Noxus. The endless political games were claustrophobic to her, until one captain promised to take her to Ionia, a place where she could practise her magic freely. But when they docked near a village and she was told to bury the inhabitants in their homes, Taliyah refused, and was tossed overboard to drown, which gave her a lifelong fear of drowning.

After escaping the Noxians, Taliyah came across Yasuo Yasuo, meditating in a shrine. She accidentally brought down an avalanche upon him, but managed to save him and bring him to a cave. He asked her why she had chosen such a path, causing her to leave the cave in frustration. While outside, Taliyah came face-to-face with an Ionian mountain lion. Learning a lesson from a little bird, Taliyah leaned into her power and crumbled the rock beneath both her and the lion. Yasuo saved her, becoming her unlikely mentor in the process. They had another harrowing encounter when some soldiers found them in an inn, accusing Yasuo of murder. With Taliyah's help, he fended them off and they escaped. Not long afterwards, they parted ways, but not before Yasuo told Taliyah to travel to the Freljord.

Return to Shurima Crest icon Shurima

Taliyah Style Test

Taliyah rushing home at the sight of The Sun Disc

Taliyah returned to Shurima at around 17 years of age, passing through Bel'zhun and stopping in Vekaura. Outside the city, however, she found a dying Sivir Sivir, and decided to help her before going to find her family. While there, an army led by Xerath Xerath attacked Vekaura, looking for the heir to Azir's lineage - Sivir - in order to kill her. Nasus Nasus, who was also looking for Sivir, found them both and gave Sivir an amulet which would keep her hidden from Xerath, before going to fight the rogue Ascended. Taliyah managed to escape Vekaura with Sivir, but also protected Nasus and the survivors of the attack from Xerath's arcane missiles.

While outrunning a sandstorm, Taliyah ended up right outside the Great City of Shurima, which had risen from the sands. She was ushered into the city to escape the sandstorm, which seemed too dangerous to withstand with the old Shuriman traditions. As she rested, she put a hand out to touch a city wall and was suddenly overwhelmed by memories locked within the stone. There was intense pain seared into the rock by tens of thousands of voices, the city's previous citizens. Azir's failed Ascension and Xerath's betrayal had killed all of them, in the same catastrophe which buried the city millennia ago.

Taliyah spent a while in the desert, travelling with a group of other Shurimans whose families or homes had been destroyed by the Void, including LoR Non-Champion Non-Spell Indicator2 Rock Hopper, LoR Non-Champion Non-Spell Indicator4 Desert Naturalist and LoR Non-Champion Non-Spell Indicator3 Sai Scout. She considered them her new family. Her quest to find her tribe was complicated by the fact that the seasonal waters no longer flowed, so she could no longer predict their location. The group had decided to travel north to Xolun, a place they believed would be a safe haven from the Void.

Reclaiming Xolan

Kai'Sa Taliyah Hollowspun

Kai'Sa meets Taliyah

When she sensed a person travelling underneath the earth, Taliyah resolved to follow and help them if she could. The person turned out to be Kai'Sa Kai'Sa, who had been tracing a massive tunnel bored into the earth by an unknown voidborn. Taliyah managed to save Kai'Sa from a group of Lamplights, though didn't destroy them, and a pit collapse. They returned to Taliyah's camp to rest and eat, but Kai'Sa left the next day to continue following the tunnel underground, warning that the Xer'Sai would stop them before they got to Xolan. In fact, their route lay directly above the tunnel, and a little while later it collapsed into a massive pit, taking Samir (the LoR Non-Champion Non-Spell Indicator2 Rock Hopper) with it. Taliyah got the other travellers to safety before diving in to save Samir. She found him, and helped Kai'Sa defeat the Lamplights using Kai'Sa's speed speed and her minefield of stone minefield of stone. Thanks to the other travelers, all three made it out alive. Kai'Sa was angry with Taliyah for not taking her advice earlier and pointed out that if the tunnel aligned with the route to Xolan, the town was likely already destroyed. Taliyah argued that they had managed to defeat the Lamplights together. They decided to try and reclaim Xolan from the Void, and so they parted ways with the group of travelers.

Taliyah and Kai'Sa arrived in Xolan to find the town abandoned and destroyed. They were then attacked by a group of Xer'Sai, but fended them off before a sinkhole appeared in the ground. Rek'Sai Rek'Sai emerged from the pit, and Kai'Sa lured her back underground. This allowed Taliyah to bring the statue of Xolaani, the 'faceless god', over the sinkhole to prevent Rek'Sai from re-emerging.

Appearance

Taliyah wears a red and gold Ionian coat with long sleeves over her lavender tunic, and a golden crown which keeps her hair in place. This crown was lost or destroyed during her travel to Xolun. She has brown eyes, thick eyebrows, light brown hair tied in a ponytail with two protruding strands braided, fringe, and a wide nose.

Personality

Taliyah is a kind, compassionate young woman with a strong will. She is deeply devoted to her homeland and the people in it, dedicating herself to protecting them from both Shuriman and outside threats. Her confidence was bolstered by Yasuo, as he taught her how to control her power over stone. Her Myers-Briggs personality type is ENTJ ('the Commander').[2]

Abilities

  • Magical: Taliyah was born with natural magical ability, which can grow the more she trains and expand her knowledge about magic. Her powers were originally out of control until she learned with Yasuo how to master them.
    • Earth Magic: Taliyah has a natural affinity for Stone Magic, the magic of the Earth and the elements within it, that allow her to mold the earth with her mind alone. Even as a child, Taliyah had a connection to the rocks around her, collecting and sensing a energy in them. Some years later, with the help of Yasuo, Taliyah's control over the element has grown greatly, allowing her to perform feats of immense power. Having grown up in a tribe of weavers, she moves stone as if she were weaving a tapestry. She can create massive stone structures and walls in an instant, travel quickly using the stone travel quickly using the stone, cause quakes of varying size and even partially collapse mountains. Additionally, she can sense to some extent past events locked within the stone.
  • Athletic abilities: Taliyah is a skilled dancer, singer and runner.
  • Multilingual: Having travelled over much of Shurima and Valoran, Taliyah knows several different languages, including modern Shuriman, conversational and Ur-Noxian, and some Ionian, as well as some ancient Shuriman symbols.

Relations

Yasuo Yasuo

Yasuo became the teacher Taliyah had been looking for, as her people didn't understand her power, and Noxus sought to use her as a weapon. Before parting ways, Taliyah gave Yasuo the thread of handspun Shuriman wool with which he ties his hair back in-game. As an only child, Taliyah sees Yasuo as the older brother she never had.[3]

Omah Azir Omah Azir

Having heard only rumors of both the Ancient Shuriman capital and Azir's Azir's rise from the sands, Taliyah is convinced he is a threat to her family and her homeland when nothing could be further from the truth the truth.

Sivir Sivir

On the way to find her family, Taliyah encountered a wounded Sivir Sivir and nurtured her.

Nasus Nasus and Xerath Xerath

Nasus Nasus encountered both of them when looking for Sivir Sivir in Vekaura. Taliyah was at first suspicious of his motives but later came to trust him. When Xerath Xerath and his army came to decimate the place and find Sivir Sivir, Nasus Nasus bought time for Taliyah to help others escape.

Kai'Sa Kai'Sa and Rek'Sai Rek'Sai

After her return to Shurima, Taliyah met Kai'Sa Kai'Sa and they fought the Voidborn together, including some of Rek'Sai's Rek'Sai's Xer'Sai. Taliyah parted way with the group she travelled with to join Kai'Sa Kai'Sa in search of the mythical paradise, Xolan.

Read More

Biography

Taliyah OriginalCentered
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Biography

The Stoneweaver

By Ariel Lawrence

Starring Champion

Shurima Market Of Illumination
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Short Story • 36 Minute Read

Bloodline

By Graham McNeill

Taliyah had almost forgotten how much she'd missed the furnace heat of Shurima – the sweat and crush of hundreds of people pushing, cursing, haggling and speaking with such passion and speed that outsiders often thought they were fighting.

Shurima Zoantha Cascade 01
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Short Story • 4 Minute Read

Echoes in the Stone

By Ariel Lawrence

Taliyah was outrunning the sandstorm when she first noticed the water. In the beginning, it was faint, just a cool dampness she felt as she lifted the stones from deep beneath the sand. As she drew closer to old Shurima, wet streaks dripped from each new stone as if they were weeping. Taliyah knew the rock had stories to tell as she sped across the desert, but she didn't have time to listen, to hear if they were tears of joy or sadness.

Kai'Sa Taliyah Hollowspun
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Short Story

Hollowspun

By Dana Luery Shaw

Kai’Sa peers out from the mouth of the tunnel and feels like she’s standing at the edge of the world.

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Video

Homecoming

Taliyah Promo
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Short Story • 19 Minute Read

The Bird and the Branch

By Ariel Lawrence

A young stone mage from Shurima encounters an unlikely mentor in the mountains of Ionia.

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The Call

For the fallen. For the deserted. For the downtrodden. And for those who will rise again.

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Take the first step and begin your climb.

Mentioned Champion

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Orchid's Bloom

By Michael Yichao

Jing breathed deep.

Bel'Veth Kai'Sa Pinwheel
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Pinwheel

By Jared Rosen

“Okay,” Kai’Sa pants...

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Roots of a Poisoned Tree

By Graham McNeill

Dust hung in veils as Shoorai followed the mechanical-limbed form of Tunnel-Chief Hewlett deeper into the mine shaft.

Ruined King Promo 01
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Game

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By Airship Syndicate

Rise Against Ruin - Unite a party of League of Legends Champions, explore Bilgewater and set sail for the Shadow Isles to uncover the secrets of the deadly Black Mist in this immersive turn-based RPG.

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The Battle Mistress

By Rayla Heide

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By Ariel Lawrence

Alternate Universes

Star Guardian 2022 Promo 01
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Another Sky

By Jared Rosen, Taylor Dinwiddie, Ty Sheedlo

As a new generation of Star Guardians prepares to fight back the forces of chaos, rising star Akali finds herself wracked with doubt. Does she have what it takes to be a Star Guardian? Or will the darkness she senses inside spell doom for her and her friends?

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Music Video

Everything Goes On

By Porter Robinson

Together with some familiar faces, a new generation of Star Guardians ascend to battle a looming threat. But even when confronted with eternal darkness, their hope burns brighter than fear.

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Music Video

RISE

By Numerous creators

Reaching the peak takes more than skill. Only those with the ambition to RISE above all others will know its height.

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Shadow of a Doubt

Star Guardians have a brilliant light, but some stagger in the darkness. Can Akali escape her own nightmares?

Trivia

  • Ṭaliyah טַלְיָה (Hebrew: [a'lija:]) means "young ewe",[4] from Proto-West-Semitic *ṭalay-at.[5]
    • In English localizations, her name is pronounced [tɐˈli:ʲɐ:] TaLEEyah with second syllable stressed[6] like in Hebrew; in other localizations, the stress may fall on different syllables or no syllable is stressed at all.
    • Originally, her name was spelled Taalea.[7]
    • Another inspiration is Arabic Tāliya تَالِيَة ~ Tāliyatun تَالِيَةٌ "reciter", feminine active participle of root t-l-w "to recite".[8]
  • She's portrayed as being about 16 years old,[9] but several timeline inconsistencies gradually arose after her release and made it clear that she is canonically older than that. Scathlocke has stated that she is 23 as of 996 AN.[10][11]
    • She was 6 years old when she became a Stoneweaver.
    • She was likely in her mid teens when she was conscripted by Noxus Crest icon Noxus
    • She was likely 16 years old during the events of The Bird and the Branch.
    • She was likely 17 years old during the events of Bloodline.
  • Yasuo Yasuo dubbed her 'Little Sparrow'.
  • Her tribe is called the Nasaaj, meaning "weaver",[3] from Arabic نَسّاج nassāj < Semitic n-s-k[12] < s-k-k "to weave".[13]
    • Just as Semites formulate surnames from information about the bearer's progenitors, occupation, or origin, whether ethnic or geographical, Taliyah would most likely introduce herself as Taliyah of the Nasaaj.
  • Taliyah's family is part of one of many nomadic tribes that formed after the fall of Ancient Shurima by Xerath's Xerath's hand.
  • Taliyah's tribe worships "the Great Weaver," a force of nature said to govern the tapestry of fate and life for every individual.
  • ThermalKitten, Taliyah's writer, shared several details about her on the boards:[3]
    • Taliyah stands at about 5'9"/175 cm tall.
    • She is a Virgo. ThermalKitten initially placed her birthday in "mid to late September" but later mentioned it on Twitter as being September 22.[14]
    • She was canonically named after a specific, lavender-colored, five-petaled, star-like flower that grows in the rocky foothills near the Icathian border. It's called ta'liyah, "the rock that flowers."
    • From ThermalKitten on her sexuality: "I think Taliyah is someone who is the midst of finding out who she is and figuring out who you're attracted to is certainly part of that. I'm sure she would find some people more physically attractive than others, but I think the thing that would draw her to someone would be who they are on the inside." In short, Taliyah is still figuring out her sexuality, but personality is more important to her than looks.
    • Her favorite ice cream flavor is rocky road.
    • Her favorite animals are goats, especially fluffy goats.
    • Her favorite color is indigo.
    • Her favorite time of day is dawn.
    • In the real world, she'd enjoy indie/electropop music, Western movies, romance novels, frappucinos, red velvet cake pops, and pineapple and pepperoni pizza. Her favorite subjects in school would be geology, astronomy, and biology. Her favorite Pokémon would be Rockruff.
  • DanielZKlein additionally mentioned that Taliyah is left-handed.[15]
  • Freljord Taliyah Freljord Taliyah was originally intended to be her canon appearance in the Freljord Crest icon Freljord.[16] However, due to the reason behind her dramatic appearance changes (contact with True Ice) being unlikely at the moment, the skin is now likely only a nod to her time in the Freljord. As of right now, it does not show up in the client's Freljord set alongside Freljord Sylas Freljord Sylas which is a canon skin.

Change log

Character blurb
Added.

References

  1. Taliyah's age
  2. Taliyah Q&A
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Thermal Kitten Q&A
  4. Mishnah Menachot 13:7 text: טָלֶה וְטַלְיָה taleh vetaliyah "a he-lamb and a ewe-lamb"
  5. The Semitic Languages, ed. S. Weninger, p. 206, 166
  6. Taliyah pronunciation
  7. https://nexus.leagueoflegends.com/en-us/2017/12/naming-new-champions/
  8. Badawi and Abdel Haleem (2008). Arabic-English Dictionary of Qurʾanic Usage. p. 136
  9. Taliyah Q&A
  10. Scathlocke on Taliyah's age 1
  11. Scathlocke on Taliyah's age 2
  12. A. Murtonen, Hebrew in Its West Semitic Setting; Part I, p. 284
  13. J. Huenergard, Proto-Semitic Language & Culture, p. 2076
  14. Thermal Kitten Twitter
  15. Daniel Z. Klein Ask.fm
  16. Thermal Kitten on Freljord Taliyah's appearance

See also

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