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Shadow Isles Crest icon

Biography

The Shadow of War

By Graham McNeill

Biography[]

Born into an empire long since gone to dust and forgotten, Hecarim Hecarim was a lieutenant of the Iron Order—a brotherhood sworn to defend their king's lands.

As Hecarim won victory after victory from the back of his mighty warhorse, the commander of the Iron Order saw in him a potential successor... but also a growing darkness. His obsessive hunger for glory was eroding his honor, and over time the knight-commander came to realize this young lieutenant must never lead them.

When he was told this, Hecarim was furious. Even so, he bit back his anger, and continued in his duties.

When they next rode to war, the commander found himself surrounded by enemies, and cut off from his fellow knights. Hecarim, seeing his chance, turned away and left him to die. At battle's end, the Iron Order, oblivious to what Hecarim had done, knelt on the bloody ground and swore allegiance to him.

Hecarim rode to the capital to take his formal oaths, and met with Kalista Kalista, the king's king's most trusted general. She recognized his prowess and leadership, and when the queen was wounded by an assassin's poisoned blade, Kalista was comforted to know the Iron Order would remain with the king while she sought a cure.

Gripped by paranoia, and seeing new threats in every shadow, the king raged at those he believed were trying to separate him from his dying wife, and dispatched Hecarim to quell dissent throughout the kingdom. The Iron Order earned a dreadful reputation as ruthless enforcers of the king's will. Towns and villages burned. Hundreds were put to the sword.

With grim inevitability, when the queen died, Hecarim chose to sour the king's grief into hatred, seeking sanction to 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. She had found what she sought upon the distant Blessed Isles Crest icon Blessed Isles—and yet it was now too late. The king would not believe this, and had Kalista imprisoned as a traitor. 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 from mortal sight.

They landed at the city of Helia with the queen's body in solemn procession. The Iron Order led the way, only to be met by the city's masters, who now refused to help. Enraged, the king ordered Kalista to kill them, but she refused, and Hecarim smiled as he made the decision that would damn him for eternity. He drove a spear through Kalista's back, and ordered his knights to ransack the city, looting its vaults of arcane treasures.

Amid the chaos, a lowly custodian lowly custodian agreed to grant the king access to the Waters of Life—but not even this could distract Hecarim from the revelry of bloodshed, and so it was that the Ruination of the Blessed Isles would take him almost completely by surprise.

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.

Alone, and defiant to the end, the knight-commander was taken by the shadows. 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.

Bound forevermore to these Shadow Isles Crest icon Shadow Isles, Hecarim has spent centuries in a sinister mockery of his former life, cursed to patrol the nightmarish lands he once intended to conquer. Whenever the Black Mist reaches out beyond their shores, he and the otherworldly host of the Iron Order ride out to slaughter the living, in memory of glories long passed.

Change log[]

The Shadow of War
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Born into an empire long since gone to dust and forgotten, Hecarim was squired to a legendary company of knights known as the Iron Order, a brotherhood sworn to defend their king's king's land. There he endured the harshest training imaginable, a punishing regime that schooled him to be a formidable warrior.

As Hecarim grew to manhood, he mastered every form of combat and war-stratagem with ease. He quickly outstripped his fellow squires in mounted warfare, and the Knight Commander of the Iron Order saw greatness within the young man and recognized a potential successor. But as the years passed and Hecarim won victory after victory from the back of his mighty warhorse, the Knight Commander finally recognized a growing darkness within his lieutenant. Hecarim's thirst for wholesale slaughter and obsessive hunger for glory was eroding his honor and the Knight Commander knew the young knight must never become the master of the Iron Order. In his private chambers, he told Hecarim that he would not be his successor and though his lieutenant was furious, he bit back on his anger and returned to his duties.

When the Order next rode to war, the Knight Commander found himself surrounded by enemies and isolated from his fellow knights. Only Hecarim could ride to his aid, but in a moment of rancor, he turned his mount away and left the Knight Commander to die. At battle's end, the surviving knights, oblivious to what Hecarim had done, knelt on the bloody ground and swore to follow him as their master.

Hecarim rode to the capital, and met with Kalista Kalista, the king's general. Kalista recognized his exceptional nature, and when the king's wife was wounded by the poisoned blade of an assassin, she tasked the Iron Order with staying at the king's side while she sought a cure. Hecarim accepted, but being given what he perceived to be a menial task planted a seed of resentment.

Hecarim remained with the king as he descended into grief-induced madness. Gripped by paranoia, the king raged at those who sought to separate him from his dying wife and despatched the Iron Order to quell what he saw as dissent throughout his kingdom. Hecarim led the Iron Order in bloody suppressions of discontent, earning a dreadful reputation as a ruthless enforcer of the king's will. Villages burned and the riders of the Iron Order put hundreds to the sword. The kingdom was in darkness, and when the queen died, Hecarim spun falsehoods around the king, speaking of how he had uncovered the truth behind her death, seeking sanction to lead the Iron Order to foreign lands and earn yet more dark renown.

Before he rode out, Kalista returned from her quest. She had found a cure for the queen's malady upon the legendary Blessed Isles, but was too late to save her. Horrified at what had become of the kingdom, Kalista refused to share what she had discovered and was imprisoned for her defiance.

Hecarim saw an opportunity to win yet more favor and visited Kalista's cell. Promising to keep the king from any rash actions, Hecarim persuaded Kalista to reveal what she knew. Kalista reluctantly agreed and guided the king's fleet through the glamours veiling the Blessed Isles from sight.

Hecarim led the ruined form of the king to the center of the magical island, where he met with its guardians and demanded their aid. The guardians offered their sympathies, but told the king his wife was beyond their help. Enraged, the king ordered Kalista to kill the guardians one by one until they relented. Kalista refused and stood between the king and the island's inhabitants. Hecarim recognized a crossroads in his life and made a decision that would damn him for eternity. Instead of supporting Kalista, he drove a spear spear through her back and commanded the Iron Order to slay the inhabitants of the Blessed Isles. Hecarim and his warriors slaughtered the guardians until a lantern-bearing lantern-bearing wretch wretch finally led the king to what he sought - the secret to resurrecting his wife.

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 hurricane of black mist surrounded the king, spreading across the island and killing everything it touched. Hecarim abandoned the king to his doom and led the Iron Order back to their ships, killing all in their path as the spirits of those slain by the black mist arose as undying wraiths. One-by-one, the knights were dragged down into undeath until only Hecarim remained. As uncontrolled sorcery filled him, he and his mighty steed were fused together in a monstrous abomination that reflected the true darkness of his soul.

Howling in rage, the titanic beast known as the Shadow of War was wrought in an agonizing transformation, a brazen monster of fury and spite. The sins of his former life were heightened by the maelstrom of dark magic, birthing a creature of endless malice and terrifying power.

Now Hecarim is bound to the Shadow Isles, patrolling its nightmare shores and killing all before him in a mockery of his former duty. And when the Black Mist reaches beyond the Shadow Isles, he and the spectral host spectral host of the Iron Order ride with him to slaughter the living in the memory of glories long passed.
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Hecarim Render
"You don't understand... the shadows will consume us all... " - Former Demacian Commander

Since his first sighting on the northwestern shores of Valoran, the towering, armored specter known as Hecarim Hecarim struck a chilling fear into the hearts of all who laid eyes upon him. No one had ever seen anything like his titanic, ethereal form before, and the mystery of his sudden arrival was deeply unnerving. When Hecarim began to march eastwards, leaving a trail of desolate, lifeless ground behind him, the villagers of the plains fled their homes for the safety of nearby Demacia.

In the city's now-overcrowded taverns, rumors about this inhuman phantom spread in hushed whispers. Some claimed that he was the vengeful shade of an ancient warrior, intent on destroying all living beings; one man insisted that they had seen him leading an entire legion of spectral cavalrymen spectral cavalrymen; others still believed him to be the creation of some hateful necromancer.

One Demacian commander, seeking to dispel the terror that had gripped the city, assembled a few of his finest soldiers and rode out to turn back or destroy Hecarim. The commander led his soldiers to stand in Hecarim's path and braced for his assault.

As the apparition bore down on them, an overwhelming sensation of dread gripped the warriors. The men, frozen in fear, could only scream as the ghostly titan ran ran them down, tearing tearing them apart and trampling them beneath his iron hooves hooves.

Hecarim turned to the crippled, cowering commander and uttered a chilling statement: "This is merely the beginning. No mortal army can withstand the might of the Shadow Isles". With that, Hecarim departed, resuming his grim march. Driven to insanity by his nightmarish experience, the commander stumbled back to Demacia, where his dire warnings were dismissed as the ravings of a madman.

While Hecarim's origin and intent were still a mystery, his destination became clear when he reached the Institute of War and, in a voice both ominous and commanding, demanded entry into the League of Legends.


References

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