#a simple question but not for Syndra

[deathdxnces]

am curious. how would irelia feel about knowing kayn is born noxian?

or in other words, what's her opinion about nature vs nurture.

— @axewhirl

GOOD QUESTION, IT LIVES IN MY HEAD RENT FREE THANKS FOR GIVING ME AN EXCUSE TO SHARE MY THOUGHTS ILY REY

so. irelia's feelings about noxus and noxians are very simple, of course — they deserve to die. i've spoken before about the dehumanization of the enemy and how it was also a coping mechanism to her, but when it comes to long-term effects, it definitely impacted her ability (and willingness, perhaps more importantly) to show them any sympathy. they're not people. she's content to look at them as barely human, in a way. of course it's not that easy, but she had no reason to challenge that notion so far (except, perhaps, during the sentinels event with riven but... bleh i don't like how anything about irelia and being a sentinel was handled).

which is an overly rambly prologue to get to the real question. how would she feel about learning kayn is noxian? i think there's no ultimate answer for that, because to a point it depends on her relationship with kayn. were she to see him as an enemy, wouldn't it be simple to blame how awful he is on his noxian birth? but i personally don't think an enemy is ever what she sees in him; she doesn't look down on the yanlei as much as many other ionians, because she is well aware their origin as an order and her own path aren't that unlike. they chose to fight. they did things considered extreme. so did she — even if not to the same extent, and even if there are things she disagrees with them greatly, such as the matter of wild magic.

in game, her interaction with kayn is the same as for other 'ionian villains' (zed, syndra and jhin iirc). she wants to believe there's good in him, as she wants to believe there's good in any of the others. would she still be as hopeful if she knew he was noxian? honestly, without a personal connection, maybe not. but i'm inclined to say regardless of having any sort of relationship with him, knowing he's noxian by birth wouldn't ultimately result on her regarding him as a lost cause. because despite everything, kayn is ionian in every way that matters. he was raised as ionian for a good portion of his life, he fights for ionia too. he hates noxians as much as she does. how can she possibly just throw him along the rest of them?

so, yes, i think despite her views on noxus as a whole, she wouldn't think he's fated to be just like the other noxians because he's noxian by birth. of course, that might force her to question some of her other stances towards noxians, who she'd have dismissed as all being the same (because if he is not, others may be different too — and he wasn't even raised as ionian from early infancy, so when does one draw the line? when do they become irredeemable?). it's something else to consider whether or not she'd want to make that distinction for other cases. personally i think she'd be content to just make him an exception (because that's easy, and comfortable, and she would have seen him as ionian well before she saw him as noxian; it's easier to ignore the other implications), rather than truly let that change her outlook on things more broadly.

i think the moment she learned about it, it'd be a shock (because, like i said, her view of noxians is really black and white; they're evil, they're monstrous, they deserve to die). immediately, there's no way it wouldn't have an impact because i don't think irelia would know how to feel about it (but the extent of that impact depends on how much she cares about him, too; like with cyn's kayn, where there is a relationship, then she obviously cares more, and in turn it is more of a shock to learn that he was born noxian than in a situation like canon, where they haven't really interacted). still, i don't think the confusion would manifest as aggression or rejection, and that it'd be pretty short-lived (both in the sense of an immediate reaction and in any lingering, posterior doubt). kayn may have been born noxian, and he may have spent the first years of his life a noxian, but he has long since left that behind. zed took him in and kayn embraced his new life, a life he leads as an ionian. if she accepted him as that before, knowing he was born noxian wouldn't change she accepts him as that still. knowing he was born in noxus doesn't change what he is or what he does now.

[teeto-peteto]

Okay, stranfe question, but SG verse, what kind of students do you think Ahri’s team would be?

dont know if i understood the question well so i apologize deeply if i misreaded it im freezing cold my brain is not functioning.

Ezreal -> basic blonde schoolboy. Wants to be cool and ends up answering wrong to the question the teacher made. Type of guy that would be with his feet on the table on the library when everyone else in the team is studying and he's like 'Nah, i got this'. He doesnt but yeah at least he can blame being a Star Guardian for his exam fails.

Ahri -> i mean she's literally based in Regina George... I dont think she's a spawn of satan (like Regina) but will be mean towards a lot of the students or just pure basic teen sass, saying stuff like 'Well our presentation is a lot better than yours.' she does the powerpoints, she's the design girl. Has a lot of sticky notes, the shaped ones, like hearts and butterflies, cute stationery stuff overall. Will probably cheat on the exam.

Miss Fortune -> probably has bad grades but always ends up passing by the end of the school year with a lot of work and anxiety. Type of person that munches on her pencils and pens, she's most likely not paying attention in class but she's also thinking that she's caving her own tomb for not paying attention, type of person that would play mobile games under the table. She's stressed as fuck in the library studying and rants about it when she's anxious.

Syndra -> Type of flawless student that brags about having a photographic memory and just passes the exams with great grades, either way you can see her studying in silence with a little smile cause she enjoys both studying and bragging about having good grades, she's sassy. Wont cheat on the exam but knows a lot of tricks so everyone begs for her to help them cheat. If you ask her a question during the exam to copy her, she will give you a wrong answer purposefully. Oddly enough all her stationery is simple but always purple, if its not purple she doesnt want it.

Soraka -> Probably pays attention on class but ends up daydreaming and looking at an empty spot for the rest of the class and then wakes up by the bell and says 'i cant believe this has happened again.' she still gets good grades, not perfect, but good nonetheless as she spends time on studying, probably in silence by Syndra and they only talk if Soraka has a question. Type of person that wakes up an hour earlier to make her luch for the highschool, always has spare money for a water bottle or a soda can if anyone needs it and its out of money.

Anyway i believe there is situations where they are all at the library and Miss Fortune is stressed cause she doesnt understand something after reading 10+ pages and Syndra starts getting angry and they both fight like 'Its literally written right there, you idiot.' while Soraka contemplates in confusion and goes to her book cause she doesnt know wich page they are on now. In the meantime Ezreal is just scrolling on instagram and Ahri is filming or taking pictures of the scene.

[transcendent-power]

„Mundo never seen woman like you before! Is purple and powerful! But what is the ball thing?“

The Sovereign stood confused for a second from the question that was directed at her, most knew well enough to keep away from her and the unlucky ones that didn’t mostly learned that lesson the hard way.

Three of her dark spheres hovering around her as she stood midair, yet still in the air the figure of the humanoid creature was still massive, the way it spoke being of a simplistic nature but what it could lack in intelligence it would cover with its muscle, if it got close it could be dangerous for the dark mage.

Different scenarios passed through Syndra’s mind to be certain that she is prepared for a fight if it came to that.

“ People and animals alike usually tend to walk away from danger yet here you stand...” The woman replied, her voice filled with arcane energy,directing her right hand to point at him, an amethyst dark sphere forming at the tip of her index finger.

“ But to answer your question they are dark spheres that i choose as a form to manifest my arcane powe-, ‘magic’“ Syndra added in the end hoping that the questioner would understand.

The amethyst orb at her finger forming amethyst spikes around it like lightning, its core never filling void that would captivate one’s eyes if it was looked upon for too long, a pure form of destructive energy.

@airheadsadist

[fatebreaking-a]

Sorry to bother you but i am out of the loop. What did Riot do with seraphine?

// @crying-elf-lass // First of all - excellent choice in pfp, Marcille is great.

Now, trying to keep as much bias out of my post as possible... ( though there will be some, and I will miss some things! )

There are three parts to consider. Gameplay, narrative, and niche in the world.

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First, we need to talk about the history of Sona in League of Legends.

Narrative & Niche: Sona, as a champion, has existed for many, many, many years. Her lore was 2 paragraphs and she had no short story. Her canon appearances ( excluding an Odssey short story which I will take about later ) were limited to other champion’s stories ( her adoptive mother, Lestara, helped Quinn to become a ranger-knight, she helped Ryze secure a World Rune in Call of Power ). Several years ago, Riot changed the lore of Demacia ( Sona’s current home ) to be one that denies magic. With the addition of petricite, a magic nullifying material, and several changes in lore, Demacia became the host of several magical problems ( dragons, Evelynn, Nocturne, Fiddlesticks ) and a unit of anti-magic specialists ( mageseekers ).

Throughout that time, up until 2 months ago, Sona’s lore did not receive a single meaningful change or update. This is a period of over 5 years, in which one of Demacia’s only mages / magical creatures ( Poppy, Lux, Sona, Shyvana, and later Sylas ) did not get any sort of answer as to what is happening with her. Several other champions did get an explanation of sorts, with some manner of handwaiving - for example, minotaurs are part of the Demacian army, so magical creatures are not out and out excluded. Yordles are known to be seen differently by different people, so Poppy’s existence is also possible to explain ( we learned this with an interaction between Ziggs and Jinx in Zaun ).

This left Sona writers in a general state of confusion. Is Sona in jail? Is Sona a registered mage? Not to mention that Sona left Ionia ( where a war between Noxus and Ionia occurred ) and the timing of that was unspecified.

Which led to a giant gap in terms of “what is this champion doing and what is her situation”. And each of us tried to fill that gap in our own ways. Some of us had Sona leave Demacia, some had her retreat into her mansion and play less music, some had her be defiant, and so on. Because the last thing we learned was that she was in Ionia, helping Ryze with the World Rune, some people put her in Ionia semi-permanently.

And we also had to contend with the existence of Sylas, who flipped Demacia on its head and caused something of a mage hunt. The finer details of that I exclude, it’s enough to say that certain mages were rounded up and put in prison where once they were exiled, and Lux helped some magically inclined individuals escape. There’s a nuanced conflict there between several members of Demacia ( Garen, Jarvan, Lux, Xin Zhao, Tianna, etc ) but getting into that is not the point of this.

We still didn’t know anything about Sona. So Sona writers and players and enthusiasts tried their very best to fill in the gap with what we did know, often incidentally. We did know that Sona was once in Ionia, that the Ionia-Noxus war happened, that she moved to Demacia, and that she is a famous musician with a magical instrument. Prior to the removal of the Institute of War ( a part of lore which said that ‘summoners’ were real and nations used Summoners + Champions to settle conflicts ), Sona was known globally and was basically Runeterra’s #1 musician when it comes to the etwahl, perhaps more. We also know that Sona is an extremely empathetic person, and her music is borderline spellbinding, to the point where it was easy to guess that she could affect people’s emotions and was an empath. None of that was out and out confirmed, but it was easy to make that logical conclusion.

Very recently, Sona’s lore changed. In it, a lot changed. We learned that she left Ionia with others, rather than just alone and with her etwahl, and it was to escape the Ionia conflict ( not because Lestara, her adoptive mother, wished to possess the fabled etwahl ). Essentially, this new lore painted Sona far more as a war refugee, and painted Lestara in a far better light as well. Along with this lore update/rework, we also got a short story ( that still left what she’s doing now up in the air!) 

However, this came after a several year wait. And in that time, Sona enthusiasts had no choice but to come up with answers to all their burning questions by themselves. One Sona writer followed the ‘Sona is the aspect of harmony’ track, another followed the ‘music as a means of community togetherness’ track, another put her as an oversensitive empath who uses music to heal the pain of her people - and we all tend to agree on one point - Sona is an extremely empathetic person who uses her music for the good of others.

And as we waited, several other champions appeared, some of them overlapping with Sona’s music theme. Bard, the wanderer who listens to the songs of creation itself. Jhin, the murderous theater performer and assassin who believes the world his stage. Rakan, the battle dancer who uses the songs and rhythms of people to fight and move before they do. And Sona’s niche, what was unique about her, grew smaller and smaller.

Finally, we had something that felt unique about Sona.

Gameplay & Design: 

Sona as a champion has existed a very long time... And is the aura and music champion. Her q does some damage, her w shields and heals ( and reduces damage with her passive ), and her e speeds people up ( and slows with her passive ), while her r is a rectangular ult wave - thinner than Nami’s, but still relatively wide. The kit as a whole is pretty simple, but it has a history.

Sona players are... innovators. They like to do things like buy Kirchei’s shard because it’s most efficient, or take Sona mid, top, jungle, and adc. And over the last two years, Sona has received nerf after nerf after nerf saying, “No, stay in the support role”. You can still pull off certain lanes, but it’s extremely difficult because her aura abilities give you mana back if you tag an ally... making them difficult to use in a solo lane, or to roam alone.

Also, as one of the older crew of champions ( pre Jinx when Riot started using other body types for women ), her figure is... well, she’s got an hourglass figure, and her dress does not hide her breasts much at all. And it’d been like this for ages and ages, which meant that in League’s toxic culture, being a Sona one-trick led to a variety of hateful comments which I won’t repeat here.

Sona has a history of being treated like either an overpowered support or a terrible one, in part because she lacks any form of CC before 6 ( barring her e chord passive ).

So if you’re a Sona enthusiast, a big part of you wants Sona to have agency and not just be a pretty face damsel in distress. Even I, who have a second blog where I write Sona as an extremely soft character, don’t have her be a damsel in that interpretation of her. This is made worse by the community and a lot of art that ships her with men who treat her badly, along with an endless slew of adult images that degrade her, and often make fun of her disability - that she can’t speak. It’s sad and it’s degrading. And even within the last few years, she was written in a story in the Odyssey skin line...  as a prize for Kayn to take. That is an official Riot story which essentially treated her like a prize to capture for Kayn’s own goals - not as a person, but as a carrier of a key, as an object, and she lacked agency. Thankfully over the last few years, Riot has started giving women more agency, but... it’s been a problem for a long time.

Recently, along with the lore rework, we got Sona in a skin that makes her look and feel like a badass - PsyOps, her legendary skin. She breaks free of her confines and rages against those in her way in a very Syndra-like fashion, uncaged. And this was very cool.

And now, we have Sona where she is now.

---------------------------------------------------

Seraphine as a champion has recently been revealed, along with her abilities and lore.

Narrative & Niche: 

Seraphine’s lore is essentially this.

She, born of Zaunite parents, went up to Piltover. She was able to hear the souls and songs of people ( magical empath ) and hoped to unite those around her with her music. Then, she went down to Zaun, a city full of impoverished and disenfranchised peoples, to try and do the same thing.

In other words, “This champion uses music as a means of bringing people together. She aims to aid the disenfranchised.” There is nuance there, and it’s not the exact same as Sona, but the similarity is striking.

Furthermore, several key points in her lore are things that Sona writers have already imagined for themselves. A hypersensitivity to others, for example. Having such a strong sense of hearing that she can hear things others can’t. Sona is known to be able to essentially echolocate ( or at least, she had been known to do so in her older lore ). 

I will admit that the idea of ‘hypersensitive hearing or empathy’ is not the sole domain of Sona writers. Athena Cykes of Ace Attorney has a similar problem ( as revealed in her backstory ). And similarly, she wore a special device to help her filter that out. It’s not a completely unique idea, but again - the problem is striking. Sona, a highly sensitive and empathetic person, was often interpreted to be too sensitive to others. And now it’s on Seraphine, in her lore.

Seraphine’s whole lore is that she’s essentially an extremely popular and famous musician who brings people together with music... and that’s what Sona was.

She was all those things.

So to some people ( myself included ) it feels as though Riot has reworked Sona’s lore so they can give some of the overlap to Seraphine. Empathy / soul-seeing ( a Morgana, Kayle, Neeko, and Sona special... ) and the whole music thing...

And this is leading people to say, repeatedly, “This is just Sona 2.0.”

For Sona enthusiasts who have been waiting for Sona to get content or lore for years and years, this feels like a slap in the face.

Gameplay & Design:

Seraphine’s abilities are as follows.

When she uses 3 abilities, her next ability is empowered with additional effects ( essentially repeating ). Her q does damage ( based on missing health ) and is a skillshot, her w shields and speeds up people ( and heals herself if she’s already shielded ), and her e slows people ( and roots if they’re already slowed ), while her R is a rectangular ult that charms those hit and makes them walk towards her briefly.

That’s really similar to Sona.

When Sona uses 3 abilities, her next auto-attack is empowered with additional effects. Her q does damage. Her w shields and heals people ( and reduces damage output from an enemy if her passive is up). And her e speeds allies up ( and slows an enemy if her passive is up ). And her R is a rectangular ult that stuns those hit and makes them dance in place.

The similarity is striking. Seraphine does lack the ability to heal allies ( on first glance, I may have misread ), but she looks extremely similar to Sona... which is a frustration.

This year, we got Yone, Yasuo’s brother. And the reasoning behind this, when most other champions are written to give unique inputs/outputs, is that this is an alternative choice for Yasuo players when Yasuo is banned and will improve game health.

However, I suspect the same logic does not hold for Sona and Seraphine. Sona is in a class of enchanters, where several champions can do things similar to what she does already ( with some differences, of course! ). If you can’t play Sona, you can play Karma, you can play Taric, etc - not the same, but similar. It’s my suspicion that with the introduction of Seraphine, we will instead have the problem of Akali/Diana several years ago - these champions are so similar that whichever one is stronger will be played while the other one will be ignored completely.

Furthermore, Seraphine got a lot of attention. A lot of attention. She has a fake twitter account. 

And she is releasing with two skins, one of which is an ultimate. Release. For Sona players who only just got their legendary ( with the understanding that DJ Sona exists ), this feels like a slap in the face. It’s easy to feel overshadowed, and as much of the community is saying right now, this is ‘Sona 2.0′

Now some people are saying, ‘maybe Sona gets reworked’, but that will not be a great answer. If you like playing Sona’s current playstyle, swapping to Seraphine because Riot changed Sona completely will be alienating, and only exacerbate the feeling that Seraphine is replacing and overshadowing Sona.

But it gets a little worse than that too. Seraphine is designed for mid/support, to be played in both lanes. However, Sona enthusiasts have received nerf after nerf to Sona in other lanes, which only makes this hit that much harder. There’s a theory that Seraphine’s kit is essentially a scrapped Sona rework kit. If Seraphine’s build is the same as Sona’s, it will be... tragic. It will be disappointing...

And it’s already exhausting.

Neither Sona nor Seraphine enthusiasts are without the metaphorical gutpunch, and this is likely to divide the community even further. And heaven forbid you like both.

For Sona enthusiasts, this is a slap in the face. Our favorite champion being overshadowed and overhyped by another who gets so much on release, when we’ve longed for content for years is hurtful. 

For Seraphine enthusiasts, this is a punch in the gut, for seeing their champion essentially be treated like a clone of another is unkind. Any nuance or effort put into Seraphine will be drowned underneath ‘Sona 2.0′. And the overlap between both champions and their respective abilities and character traits will wear anyone out.

And that’s not fair to anyone.

( Disclaimer: I wasn’t able to stay 100% unbiased, but if you read all of that, thank you. )

[expirator]

“is that an invitation?” / syndra, canon probs

“That’s for you to decide.”

A question had been brewing in Zed’s head ever since the day the last Noxian ship had left their shores. What did the Order need to become complete? What did it lack? They were strong, fearsome. A resolve honed in the vagaries of war and forged by the necessity of survival was unmatched by nearly any other group in Ionia.

Magic. The answer was simple - almost too simple. The First Lands’ very claim to fame was a power the Order could not harness to its full potential. There was barely more than a handful of magically gifted men and women among their ranks. Magic was infinite in its potential, if not in its scope of power. Entire countrysides burned when Noxus ran over the land with its war machines. How much more raw power could a font of magic, channeled by the right mage, create?

He could see why the Rune Wars were as catastrophic as they were.

In Syndra, he had a potential answer. And Zed was determined to pursue it.

“Consider it a trial,” Zed said. “Come with me for this mission, and see if you agree with the vision we’re working towards.”

[ascendantblades-blog]

@auspicium:

  “It’s hardly a castle, Irelia. I am no ruler.”

  She might have the same greed for power as your average monarch or elder, but Syndra hardly cared for anything bigger than that - no love for her people or her country, that’s for certain.

  The rigidness that anchors Irelia’s fingers to the table crawls up her spine, forcing Syndra to hold her back painfully straight. Outwardly she hopes it appears as confident posturing and a superior glare down her nose. Tension does not befit one who is in complete control of the situation.

  Which Syndra was beginning to think was never really the case when it came to Irelia.

  “Is that supposed to mean something to me?” she asks, quite softly but terribly laced with malice. The weight Irelia claims to have shed stills hangs over them - it always has, always will.

  “You forsake them by coming here, and you forsake me by returning to them. Does spurning every manner of vow you have ever made never get tiring, Captain?”

  She poises it as a real question, but an impatient wave of Syndra’s hand cuts off any chance Irelia had at a response. She matches Irelia’s stiff pose, fingers splayed flat across the table she now leans over, her spheres hovering behind her shoulders, reminiscent to Master Lito’s blades.

  “You cannot keep this up forever,” she hisses. “Pick a side, Irelia.”

  Syndra will never be rightfully regal, but she was born to be commanding.

  “And pick it soon.”

    And here Irelia withholds “playground disguised as fortress”.

    For a moment, she says nothing and uses the silence to study Syndra. Veteran of countless diplomatic word-wars that had now started to rival Irelia’s experience on genuine battlefields, she’s learned that her greatest asset is not in a moving tongue, but an idle one.

    What does Syndra want? -- that, blessedly, is simple. The Council dead and the rest of the Elders scattered and weak; the only real survivors, Irelia figures, would be herself and Karma. Then the Order of Shadow would then be poised to seize the opportunity and she is uncertain if her Guard could repel them long enough for the Placidium to recover under a new government. And if that were to pass...

    Irelia seems unbothered by the trickle of blood that runs down her knuckle following her fingernail.

    “You’re right,” she says finally. “But I can’t play messenger if I’m dead, Syndra.”

    Her voice is dull, flat, removed of any inotation-- all the cylinders firing in Irelia’s mind make sure of it. Syndra would like Karma to know, too, Irelia assumes. She won’t get it if I die.

    “Both of us want a new Ionia. And I think our ideas of one can coexist with time and negotiation.”

   From electric blue the onus flares into a brilliant, bright red. One by one Master Lito’s blades are summoned, keeling over Irelia’s head and shoulders.

    “I ask you, Syndra, which Ionia would you prefer-- a lifeless husk of volcanic ash and cinder, or a country of men and women who would never seek to chain or use you?”

    She evens out her gaze and the blades flick from side to side, rotating to point for a sphere, and then Irelia sighs.

    “The first is what you’ll have by force. The second by talking with me.”

    Irelia opens her hands, the blood of her scratching now dripping from her palms.

    “You and I have both bled, been misled-- what I plan to do here is make sure that we’ll still have a home to return to after it’s over.”

[truthwished]

♕ ZED.    /     @expirator​    ——    from here.

“That’s for you to decide.”

A question had been brewing in Zed’s head ever since the day the last Noxian ship had left their shores. What did the Order need to become complete? What did it lack? They were strong, fearsome. A resolve honed in the vagaries of war and forged by the necessity of survival was unmatched by nearly any other group in Ionia.

Magic. The answer was simple - almost too simple. The First Lands’ very claim to fame was a power the Order could not harness to its full potential. There was barely more than a handful of magically gifted men and women among their ranks. Magic was infinite in its potential, if not in its scope of power. Entire countrysides burned when Noxus ran over the land with its war machines. How much more raw power could a font of magic, channeled by the right mage, create?

He could see why the Rune Wars were as catastrophic as they were.

In Syndra, he had a potential answer. And Zed was determined to pursue it.

“Consider it a trial,” Zed said. “Come with me for this mission, and see if you agree with the vision we’re working towards.”

❛    A trial? How diplomatic of you, Zed.    ❜    Syndra’s response is delivered with a raised eyebrow & some amusement as she humors the other, answering coyness with coyness. 

It’s clear to see the strength of the Order but even with all of its shadows, their weaknesses cannot be obscured. Of course, there’s the source of their ability to manipulate the darkness, lying at the heart of the establishment. But as Syndra hovers before Zed, her face just out of the reach of a lantern, she senses no great magical ability here, hardly comparable to the mages she’s personally encountered & certainly insignificant when compared to her own prowess. ( An unsurprising fact / once again she is peerless ) 

Finally, she moves closer & into the light before she speaks again.    ❛    I will make my decision after you tell me more of this mission.    ❜    The sorceress would be lying if she declines Zed’s offer out of disinterest. In fact, the consequences of staying put may be greater than if she simply agreed & simply back out later if things get messy. Syndra had already decided that having the Master of Shadows on her side would be in her best interests in the long run    ——    she finds him fascinating after all. But if that vision of his conflicts with her own, she knows what she’ll choose.

[ladybuvelle]

where do you see Sona's story going? If you were to write her narrative as a book or a movie, how would it end? What sort of conflict would it focus on?

Meta? | Accepting

Given Riot’s recent lore directions, particularly with how they decided to make Demacia, that’s a really tough question. Sona’s current character and overall story is broken. It just doesn’t make any sense for 1) a Demacian noblewoman to somehow catch word about a magical instrument all the way in Ionia while living in a kingdom that doesn’t openly trade with outsiders, 2) for said noblewoman to set out and find said instrument, potentially during the Noxian invasion on the southern provinces, and 3) find Sona and decide “Hey you know what lemme adopt this mage girl and her magic instrument and bring her home to my country that hates magic!”.

I have no idea what they have planned for her, if anything at all. Sona’s been constantly overlooked lately. She has no dramatic tension. She has no conflict. She has no real enemies, even. You could say Jhin is, but honestly? He’s not. She probably doesn’t even know he exists. His “killing” her was just a fantasy. He’s all about that Shen and Zed life. Sona has no rival, no friends, no political intrigue, no student, no teacher, no nothing. Who even knows if Lestara will be alive or not? I’m betting she will be, honestly. And that leaves her arguably with even less to work with as far as character development and drama, imo.

I wouldn’t even be surprised if when the Ionia update eventually comes, Sona will be left out again. Because there are more “intrinsically Ionian” champions that need lore updates. Karma, Irelia, Syndra, Akali, KENNEN for christ’s sake. And all the rest of them! I wouldn’t be surprised if they turned around and said “Oh, well, Sona lives in Demacia now so we didn’t include her”. She’s just not important. I’d be really shocked if they gave her anything at this point. They’ve had every opportunity to, and every time they’ve opted to not. Tahm Kench has no offers for her. Jhin treats her as a nuisance. I thought Gatekeeper Galio had a line for her and was all excited, but no. Turns out it was for Sejuani. Rakan and Xayah have nothing to say about her - not even quips about magic or dancing or anything. Ivern says nothing. Urgot makes a joke but not a lot else. Kayn? Nothing.

And again, I get it. Sona is a very “normal” character compared to just about every other champion. Worse, she’s mute and a musician. Writing or drawing representations of music and songs can be one of the hardest things to express, because there really is nothing compared to just hearing it. You can write the lyrics to a tune, but unless you know the tune it has very little impact. So not only does Sona have no dialogue, but everything she is and does has to be expressed and assumed. Her actions and motivations can wind up seeming vague. Hell, I write her constantly and I still have a hard time with it sometimes. I can only imagine a professional trying to package in something meaningful for Sona in an essay!

But all that said, I do appreciate Sona’s “normal”ness. I think it makes her unique compared to the woman who can become a cougar, or the man who can turn into a pool of blood, and so on. Without the Etwahl, Sona is just a mute woman living out her daily life. She has dreams and goals and enjoys other hobbies and studies. She’s not hunting demons or evading the law or playing politics or fighting wars. She’s just being herself, and sometimes she picks up her instrument and does amazing things. She’s unassuming that way. She’s very powerful, but humble.

Overall I would like to see a greater destiny for Sona. There’s the running theory (due to Ryze being listed under her related champs) that the Etwahl might be some sort of powerful rune magic. In her old League judgement, it was said to be “the key to unlocking the world”. Maybe this small, unassuming character is really the person who can ultimately save everyone from themselves? Maybe she can stop the Void? Maybe she can bring about world peace? Or be the one who unites the world’s major superpowers to fight together to stop some greater evil? I really don’t know, and I know some people might look at these trope-y sort of ideas and roll their eyes; but screw you, I like happy endings.

But I think if you were to take Sona and make a book about her character and have an arc and all, I would focus it around her own self discovery. Where did she come from? Who is she really? Why is she so different? Who made the Etwahl? Who were her parents? Is she really a celestial reborn? Or maybe some kind of fairy creature in human form? Eventually I’d like her to find those answers, come to terms with them, and then truly become a strong woman with clear personal goals and ambitions. Maybe she’d end up wanting to just live a simple life. Get married, have children, live the kind of life she wants since she can. I’d like to bring home the point that you can be a remarkable person and still enjoy a “normal” life. That a “normal” life can be remarkable, too.

[syndra-x]

“Come sit in my lap.” :^)

Syndra sat at the vanity table, brushing her long silver hair, she was dressed in a simple silk dress that reached just above her knees that served as her pajamas. Her violet eyes caught sight of the virtouso seating himself at the edge of her bed and patting his knee gently. She thought about questioning him but instead decided to humor him. She stood up slowly, keeping her eyes on him while making her way over, hips swaying almost seductively. She turned and settled her slender frame right on his thigh, resting her hands on her knees while looking to him with sultry hinted in her eyes. "Yes?"

[wishingforahome-blog]

Royal Never Give Up de la graine de haut serrer dans 2018 mondes du groupe B après l'tiebreaker: jour 5 Recap

Royal Never Give Up a obtenu la première graine du groupe B du Championnat du monde de League of Legends 2018 après avoir joué un bris d'égalité contre le g-24, concluant une journée bouleversée.

La décision de Royal Never Give Up de démarrer mlxg sur Karsa pendant les deux derniers matches a été déterminante dans leur qualification, car Karsa a été choc de deux défaites d'affilée, et comme le style chaotique de mlxg s'adapte à 2, 22 et Gen. g mieux (comme en témoignent les luttes du général contre L'équipe vitalité, et comme en témoigne son jeu déclencheur-heureux pour permettre Xiaohu contre

RNG a rédigé une composition lourde escarmouche avec de puissantes capacités de début de partie et une mise à l'échelle de jeu en fin de partie pour répondre à la composition de Cloud9's de combat d'équipe orientée milieu de jeu. Le jeu se balançait dans le début du jeu, comme Cloud9's 2-pour-0 contre une plongée RNG (minute 8) a précédé une série de Mid/jungle Duo escarmouches, y compris un autour de Rift Herald à la 9:45 Mark (1-pour-1) et un autre près de Drake (1-pour-1).

Champions du monde de défense Gen. G éliminé de 2018 Championnat du monde. Cependant, la hiérarchisation de RNG de jeu de voie forte a mis la scène pour une reprise lente et graveleuse, avec le Lucian d'Uzi retenant un avantage 30CS sur le Xayah de Sneaky. Les escarmouches continuaient à couler, mais RNG resta sans phase et fut capable de se bloquer assez longtemps pour que Uzi fasse tomber la tour du bot et les voies d'échange, ce qui conduisit à même des escarmouches des deux côtés en commençant la marque de 20 minutes.

Cependant, une plongée sous-zélée de 25 minutes par la marque a été suivie d'une tentative de baron Nashor tout aussi ambitieuse de la part de Royal Never Give Up, avec le seul syndra de Xiaohu survivant au décollage du baron et à l'effondrement du s. À partir de là, le capitaine a pris une avance de tempo qui a frappé trois tourelles. Tout est descendu à un combat de 38 minutes au baron Nashor, où l'Aatrox de LetMe a commandé la présence de ligne de front assez longtemps pour le nocturne de Mlxg et le syndra de Xiaohu pour démolir le Xayah de Sneaky, une question qui a conduit à un As de 5-pour-1 et la victoire à la marque de 39:03.

Pour une fois au cours de la journée, les n-1 ont été incapables de convertir leur plomb dans une victoire. Cependant, ils ont converti un jeu solide et des brouillons surprenants (Hecarim dans Aatrox, un rappel au gant de LCS nord-américain; ainsi que Zilean Mid, une spécialité de Jensen) dans un 3:0 pour sécuriser le brise-bris. L'équipe nord-américaine a obtenu leur droit de jouer le bris d'obstacles quand ils ont emporté sur l'équipe vitalité (2:1 le jour 5) dans un jeu largement décidée par les ultimes Zilean et nocturne/Singed plongées sur le DRAVEN mortelle d'Attila-un Pick qui semblait aussi dangereux que jiizuke Ekko, qui a également fait connaître sa présence.

YamatoCannon a des mots forts d'encouragement pour G2 eSports, fnatic En savoir plus Les deux équipes occidentales ont envoyé un message fort à la communauté mondiale de League of Legends: la notion d'un fossé entre les équipes de LCK non nommées KT Rolster et les équipes occidentales a disparu, avec Gen. G terminant dernière mort dans le groupe B à un standing 1:5. En fait, si Gen. G a prévalu contre RNG, l'équipe chinoise aurait joué Vitality pour la deuxième place.

Au lieu de cela, la vitalité de l'équipe a pris fin en troisième place, manquant de justesse sur les quarts de finale après avoir battu Royal Never Give Up de façon spectaculaire (un Pick de Draven AD Carry sur Attila et plusieurs victoires de combat d'équipe) et Gen. G (un Stomp simple conçu par Cabochard). La communauté applaudi pour les deux équipes occidentales de sortir de la phase de groupe, mais la victoire Cloud9's et la défaite subséquente du général G les a envoyés hors de la concurrence (et a envoyé la communauté en deuil).

Le Championnat du monde 2018 est loin d'être terminé, et G2 eSports ont la possibilité de frapper un billet quart de finale s'ils exécutent de manière identique aux jours précédents, battant afreeca Freecs et Flash Wolves sur le chemin d'un 2:1 debout. Vous pouvez les regarder en direct à partir du 15 octobre à 10:00 HEC/17:00 KST/1 a.m. PT en direct sur le Hub Worlds!

[earthenthoughts]

My side project for story/lore updating Syndra

Envisioning a Sovereign

I legitimately thought I put this on my blog at some point, but evidently not. Some months ago I started a side project centered on updating Syndra's Lore and Voice Over, chiefly to correct the flaws I saw with her and build upon her strengths. An Art update is somewhat planned for, but as I'm still looking around for a suitable artist, that is much more out of my immediate control. You can find my public documents in their second draft iteration below. Third draft is currently being worked on; I'm largely happy with the Lore section, but the Voice Over may/will need a magnitude more work spent on it. It's worthwhile to point out that as I go on to describe this project, there will be a great intermixing of my views, ideas, and overall goals with the current existing canon. So, if you don't read it on Syndra's Champion biography, it's very likely that is something I've changed or influenced in some degree and not a Riot change.

  Lore: Here

Voice Over: Here

  Also, it helps if you read, or at least have the Lore section open, as the below is written from a design perspective rather than directly pointing to individual lines and the like.

Painting the picture of this project is a bit of a jumble as there are so many moving motivations involved with it. The core idea that would setup for the others, however, was my intense dissatisfaction with how much Syndra is portrayed in the fan community. For the vast majority of work you might see, Syndra herself was often portrayed as: crazy, insane, megalomaniacal power hungry, a girl-child in a woman's body, and various other de-empowering, dehumanizing, or outright demonizing characteristics. I do not mean exaggeration when I say it is hard to find any pieces that actually treat Syndra as a character and not a useless archetype.

My grievances with this problem rose to the point that some of my followers asked, 'Why not show us what you want, then?' and so, I did.

  Small beginnings, greater endings

The immediate plan was to keep as much of her original personality intact as possible, but reshape it in a more humanizing way. Core principles I identified consisted of: extremely personally motivated, disregarding of 'oppressive' cultural norms, separated from the world with her unfathomable magic, haughtily arrogant yet not foolishly or idiotically so. As I worked on the story, I looked for ways to inject 'humanity' into the equation to make Syndra more a person than a Dungeons & Dragons sheet of features and personality quirks. Where does she begin to get where she is now?

One idea that arose above the others as the 'most relatable, with potential', was crafting Syndra as a peasant-born farmer. She has a few brothers, is the only daughter, and is the youngest child, and her entire family is mundane. No royal blood, no 'rulers in hiding', no ancient prophecies or godlike machinations. Thus, her birth, and the incredible magic she arrived to the world with, stunned everyone, and all of them her believed that she was some sort of great sign. This sky rocketed her family into prominence in her village when she was still less than a year old, and this great fortune would come to play a heavy burden on her throughout her traditional life.

Now, let's look at her homeland, Ionia. Built upon Asiatic principles, I often view the massive island continent with a vague feeling of pre-Imperial China. Capable, and with a mastery in some arts foreign even to the Valoran city-states, Ionia never really formed a strong central government. Their pacifist ways and pursuit of spiritual enlightenment motivated closer, more regional styles of governance where individual schools of thought may come to dominance. One of the few global ideals that would arise between all Ionians, however, was the pursuit of 'Balance'. In simple terms, a life in absolute harmony with the elements and world, with excess in either direction cut out. While it would be crude of me to say, you would find analog concepts in Buddhism and Taoism.

Where does this land Syndra in such a world? Undoubtedly while her magic would be seen as a gift, such cautious people would be quick to temper it however they could. The whole of their nation believes in Balance, and so Syndra would inherit that thinking like any other. She may even be harder on herself than others because she has that gift, and see it as a personal burden to bear. It would still be used, but always under scrutiny and scorn, on top of all the other normal womanly concerns that would befall her. After all, being a family's only daughter, and with such a prestigious tag attached, desirable suitors would do well to securing her family and herself for life.

And with this framework, we have our extraordinary-trying-to-be-ordinary Syndra, facing a childhood of profound dilemmas no one would eagerly embrace. All the while she's trying to keep a grip on things, the world around her is weighing heavier and heavier. Her magic is always growing, always finding new heights as an athlete training day-after-day would. In this, I make a very targeted and specific rule. Syndra's magic is powerful, but it is a part of her–it is not some thing, some other identity. She is seamless with it, and it is always in her control. At no point anywhere in her life does her magic not behave as she would want it to, even when in the deepest fits of rage, sorrow, or happiness. By implementing this rule, we establish that at no point is her personal agency ever in question. One does not get to make her a victim of herself just because she is 'all powerful'.

What's the powder keg for her? With her great power, and the weight of her culture upon her, it stands that something would push her to explode, even just once. And so, as she grew into young adulthood, and suitors came for her, the once wild and hardworking Syndra found herself being chased after. She didn't care for such things, for she is far too busy working and helping others, and most of her suitors fell off as a consequence. One particular man, however, simply never gave up, and one could imagine his pursuit turned into dogged chasing. Her family, elders, and what few 'friends' might even pressure her into accepting him, though she never would at all. Does she make the sacrifice for the greater good?

In a fresh design, this kind of 'chaos point', or period where anything could happen, is often subject to greater design concerns. In most of my small writings, I'm quite fond of using dice rolls to decide where any particular point goes from a list of possible outcomes. However, as we need to fit Syndra into her rebellious older self, this one is kind of determined already to have a 'bad time'.

She doesn't, and eventually his increasing pressure finally boils her stress over. I'm specific in mentioning that while the man doesn't die, he'll come out of the first 'offensive' use of her magic rather crippled for life. The event, and rejection of a 'normal marriage proposal', kicks off her village elders into a frenzy. They're all very afraid Syndra has finally done the unthinkable, has become too deviant or wild, or some other 'all consuming concern'. Through their own work, they find a tutor capable of teaching her magic 'properly', something that Syndra herself is quite glad to finally have.

This is another small, but critical detail, I strive to maintain. Syndra is a good woman–she wants to help her family, village, and lead a good life with the gift she has. The world around her, however, is constantly stabbing and needling at her every day. She's stressed in ways no one would want ontop of a full, 24/7-no-days-off workload. Thus, she's very glad to have a teacher who can help her become 'proper', at least in a way others might finally stop fearing/hating her so much. We are, at this point, still dealing with a normal person with an extraordinary gift. Those of you with any familiarity to the X-Men series may have an appreciation of what this angle entails.

With mixed feelings, Syndra leaves her small village life with her newfound tutor, and journeys to a monastery in the mountains. Here she learns, becoming quite educated in not only mundane arts and knowledge, but magical as well. She has her ups and downs, magic certainly comes easier to her with her innate relationship to it, though. Other teachers come and go, but for the most part it's almost exclusively Syndra and her one teacher, who I often call the 'Old Monk'. Over the years, they work and train together, and the raw peasant girl that was Syndra is shaped into a lady of considerable teaching and capability, all with that spitfire personality bubbling beneath the elegant restraint she learned. And yet, there was always this uneasy feeling with her, and as the years progressed, Syndra's health began to deteriorate.

Life is peachy and everything is going well, at least, as far as her duties are concerned. Yet, the start of what would catalyze Syndra into who she would become began on the very first day she arrived at the monastery. The truth would not come for many years, and that alone would drive the deepest dagger into her heart.

When her health hit its critical point, Syndra pressured her teacher into helping her. He would reveal to her that he had been siphoning her magic away for years, trying to keep it contained/under his control while she trained. This revelation utterly stuns Syndra, as he demonstrates in a simple conversation what years of (literal and emotional) agony have wrought on her. He never trusted her, despite saying so, and would go as far as invade her very person because he believed it right of him to do. An emotional battle of words follow with Syndra pleading her case, and the Old Monk never budging on his position. The end of the discussion comes with his ultimate threat: to strip the magic out of her completely, forever.

While the severity of 'magical severance' can be argued up and down, I often equate it to a sort of soul destroying experience. The body may be alive, but the person–particularly a mage–will never be wholly functional again, as so much of them will simply be 'gone'. Thus, such a threat might understandably be seen as a fate worse than death and characterize Syndra's horrific fear. Let's frame that, now. 'Hardworking, always trying to do what others say' Syndra is being told to bend the knee or get magical lobotomy done to her by the one person she came to trust the most. On top of years and years, almost her entire life in fact, of emotional and physical abuse and exhaustion. Nothing physical, mind you, she isn't beating beaten or tied up or anything, but the people around her are certainly fine with her working herself to death every day for no thanks. The Old Monk isn't some monstrous villain, at least as one might imagine a demon or other simple idea. His position will become clear in a little bit. Let's go on a joy ride, kids.

Unwilling to give in or let anyone else threaten her like that again, Syndra finally boils over completely, and she annihilates the Old Monk. In one fell stroke, she destroys the one person she trusted so much, all her faith in Ionia, all the dreams she had for her village and family–everything. She stands alone, apart from the world she grew up in, for the first time. Her health restores itself as her stolen magic returns, all but rejuvenating her to greater heights she would've obtained without the interference. With some thinking, and realizing she had nowhere else to go, Syndra draws upon her power and tears the entire monastery from the earth. The whole place, plus most of the mountain it was on, and lifts it right up into the sky.

This transition probably sounds a little sketchy or absurd, but it is a fun and strong detail for Syndra. If we frame her now floating fortress with the sort of mindset Ionians would have, she might even appear 'divine'. After all, how many people, save the Gods/Goddesses, could lift such a massive piece of land into the very Heavens? This'll play an important part later, but let's get back to the ride.

Furious and fraught with the pain of such betrayal, Syndra goes searching for answers. Pillaging her mentor's old study and hidden spots, she finds enough information to locate other monasteries. To her horror, they sound all too much like her own in their secretive, prison-like nature. She ventures forth, and over some years, investigates these monasteries, finding other people like her. While none of them came close to her in sheer power, they all possessed magical talent of some sort, and all their teachers kept them under invisible shackles. I leave it to others to decide what Syndra did to these teachers and the monasteries, but she ultimately ended up freeing many, many mages she ran across.

Here's an important part that helps characterize Syndra's behavior. She frees a lot of people, but notably doesn't free everyone. I often prefer to think of her finding people who are literally too dangerous to let out. Either because they are quite dangerous, as a person, or their magic is so unstable/problematic that the prison is the only way they can survive. This distinction builds a very potent gray morality, as it indicates Syndra can agree with the imprisoning reasons some of the time, but not all of the time. Consequentially, this also establishes the Old Monk as a sort of 'jail warden', responsible for keeping dangerous magic users under control. How or why is a point of intrigue that will drive her story later on, but the Old Monk did not make his magical severance threats because he himself was malicious. He was simply doing his job.

  The Sovereign of Ionia

As Syndra frees these wayward mages, she takes them into her floating fortress, granting them safety in the upheaval of their liberation. Her growing attacks gain her renown over the years, making these monasteries fear her as much as disparate villages petitioned to take their own mages to safety. The loosest form of her rulership begins to establish, largely on the fact Syndra is simply the greatest mage (in both power and often teaching) amongst her followers. This turns into a pivotal moment for her, as Syndra, while distant from the mages she saves, feels an inkling of kinship born of their mutual plight. A new dream starts to form, one of a place where people like her are free to be themselves. Free to be and trusted, each of them understanding of how the other works. No more hiding what they can do, no more longing for someone who knew what it was like.

Syndra's motivations in her original canon are lacking, in simple terms. She pursues her own power and sees the traditional leaders of Ionia as her natural enemies. Otherwise, she has no real relationship with the rest of her nation. There's no cause to fight for but her own, no rule or government for which to be called a 'sovereign'. Saving others who suffered as she did, however, and with the educated teaching to lead (if lacking in the experience), the first formations of a new power emerges.

With the grip on their lands somewhat secure, Syndra and her mages turn inward, building their own arcane schools and philosophies without the burden of Balance. Aware of the dangers of magic, perhaps better than anyone else, they construct seemingly bizarre rules and customs, but these ultimately facilitate safe usage of their natural gifts. Migrants are attracted somewhat freely, though many adhere to Balance, the chance to work and live with magical lands proves a lucratively tempting offer. Notably, Syndra exerts much of her early rule expunging undesirables, especially criminals and other problems that seek to use magic in terrible ways. She and her people suffer for this early on, but perseverance pays off.

I specifically include Syndra's curation of people in her lands to demonstrate her own understanding, and willingness, to police (magic). She is not suddenly throwing off the rules of all her life and pursuing great gifts with wanton abandon, but she is certainly open and willing to giving it a try. Just because one is a rebel does not necessarily mean they forsake literally all the values that helped to shape them as a person, and I do imagine even Syndra has some lingering fear over what she can do. She wants to use her magic in its totality but cautiously so, because it could do so much if she doesn't keep it in control. Thus, even though from a design perspective Syndra never loses control, one of her human fears is that she might. This in turn tends to rationalize much of her other actions and behaviors.

As her grip solidifies and her concerns with the rest of Ionia take a back seat, Syndra hears word of invaders from beyond the oceans. Noxus' great black ships, sick silver steel armor, and terrible smoke-spewing machines slam upon Ionian shores. With the many martial schools and other skilled arts, she brushed off these supposed invaders, finding the normal Ionian Guard sufficient for handling them. Freljordian raiders were not unheard of, nor the pirates from Bilgewater, however foreign they may be. The months dragged on, and what she thought would be a simple problem turned out to be far worse. Refugees started flooding into her lands, and the many councils of Ionia, once reluctant to talk with her, now sent emissaries with frightening messages and pleas.

By design, I often paint Syndra and her political faction having their lands somewhere in the north, north-eastern, part of Ionia. While there are some greater cultural contexts for this, a large reason is that this puts her away from the south-western part of Ionia that Noxus would invade later. Thus, in the early stages of the war, Syndra is reclused and generally unaware of the extent of what is happening for quite a while. This in turn dramatically changes the political playing field she arrives upon, and influences the future she sees.

Through crude, yet effective, political maneuvering, Syndra secures the councils' recognition of her rulership. She artificially constructs her heightened position, 'the Sovereign of Ionia', and assumes grand political control over Ionia. Despite this, the support she receives is only in fighting the war, and virtually all the lands outside of her own resist her decrees and influence where possible. While the war is going, they won't openly rebel as Noxus is the greater threat, but Syndra's rule is not solidified. This picture takes a bit of a turn as the peasantry gradually warms up to her and her work, even as the ruling class continues to stand against her.

Sure is painting the picture for a civil war, isn't it?

With the vast array of magic and mages at her command, as well she herself, Syndra enters the war theater, and her contributions prove punishing in shoving back the once unstoppable Noxian hordes. Where it goes from there, anyone could say, for the war is still being waged …

Here we arrive to the 'present time', all caught up. Syndra's efforts have snowballed into a place of potential power greater than just her magic. No longer constrained to just her lands, the fervent pleas from the rest of Ionia has handed her the keys to possibly reshaping her entire nation into something she desires. Whether or not she will succeed in doing so, whether or not Noxus is repelled, and an ever growing list of other problems, all stand to her as questions to be solved. These earthly concerns are only the first problems she has to attend to, after all …

  Faith, Humanity, and Transcendence

One of the key design points I base a lot of my considerations on is Syndra's humanity. Absolute/ultimate power, by itself, is intrinsically boring. You can copy+paste that type of idea ad nauseum and not see much of a difference between characters. But, take that idea, and mix it with very human concepts, and suddenly ordinary questions carry unbelievable weight to them. What does she do when she's angry? How does she handle it? What kind of force does she leverage in conversation? Is she more disrespectful of others or not? If so, why? We have yet to even touch upon grander ideas, like Syndra saving (or not) a village about to be flooded. The choices she makes tells us the story we want to read. That's where all the interesting, juicy bits come from. Suddenly, you can take this 'infinite power' idea, and every character you put into it will give you a different story.

  Faith

The order of Heaven and Earth is a very Asiatic concept, often a guiding one that can be found in many of their religions/philosophies. Given Ionia's steep belief in Balance, it stands to me that such a similar 'natural order' would be in place. Mortals do not interfere with the Goddesses, and the Goddesses deign to intervene as they see fit as the world falls out of order. Spirits may flirt around between either, seeking to tempt people and the world one way or the other. Ionians, I suspect, would have a more uniform interaction with their world, the afterlife, and mysticism than we might in ours. Magic, ethereal as it is, is a tangible force and through it the doors of many secrets could be opened. Whether or not great powers like Goddesses would be magical, or something else, is a question answerable in a different design document … but, magic might bring humans close to it. Or even surpass it.

For Syndra, she would be born and grow up in a rural/semi-rural farming village, concerned with the temperaments of the Goddesses and weather. Bountiful harvests, or ruinous rain, might spell the end of many things in her life at that point, and so faith in ritual and belief would be paramount. Would she pray to them as any other would, burdened by her gift? Would she seek out in her faith to find a Goddess or spirit that understands her plights? Does she hold them in contempt or reverence as they interfere with life and the lives of those around her? To me, I would see that she has a reverence to them in her early life, perhaps even believing herself challenged by the Gods to bare the burden of her magic. Yet, as she would grow up, this belief would change.

If the Goddesses her younger self trusted did nothing for her, would she abandon them, or come to realize of their more exacting nature? Might she fashion herself as a divine being, able to do what they do with such frightening ease? It doesn't strike me as wholly believable she might immediately consider herself god-like, but certainly more powerful than those around her. As her capabilities grow, Syndra will struggle to find her actual place in any world as an increasing divide drives her away. Atop her mountain of power, alone, would she seek the Goddesses to find a refuge from the lonesome existence such a thing might beget? What parts of her soul would she keep, or throw away, as the world(s) bent to her ever growing power? Would she seek the faith of others to still retain a purpose of her own to keep?

In this, especially for a culture steeped in tradition and mysticism, Syndra resolving the discrepancy in her faith(s) will color the grandest extent of her ambitions. She might stop before, at, or after a Goddesss' level of power, depending on the answer she finds.

  Humanity

From humble beginnings to an existence beyond even our own contemporary understanding, Syndra is on a troubling road. She might very well eat, bathe, dress, and conduct herself as you or I do, yet everything is framed by the power all others have scorned her for having. The ordinary life she tried to have never worked, and the people she wanted to trust her never did. In the end, only her magic was still there, the very thing all others hated her for. And so, she took it, made it her own, gave herself to pursuing it whole heartedly so that all her suffering would mean something in the end. If she didn't, all her life might very well have been for nothing, as far as she is concerned.

How does she conduct herself, then? Does her magic flow freely? Does the slightest argument with someone make her 'lean' on them with her awesome presence? What of the peasantry she very well lords over? In this series of questions, we figure out how Syndra brings herself to the human social contract. She simply will not let her power take a back seat, and all her interactions with others will gravitate around that fact. The lowly might worship her as much as they fear her, while others will cautiously tip-toe around her as one would a great lord. Indeed, I can see her leveraging great influence in all the things she does with her magical might, yet tempering it just enough to only be threatening. For, if she wanted to harm or destroy, she could do so easily, and perhaps even struggle not to because it is so easy.

Where others might pursue diplomatic and political recourse, Syndra forces her will above all others. The world and its people will have to bend to what she wants, but reality itself often sets issues not even the most subservient people can sidestep. Would she care about that at all, or keep pressuring to get her way? Is she kind or considerate, and if so, in what ways? Perhaps she gives more to the peasantry than any other, oft remembering her own upbringing and the people she worked with. Indeed, I would say she might scorn the ruling class particularly hard, especially where they inadequately take care of 'her people'. The political game is uninteresting to her, though she can play it as one plays Chess with the board sitting on the barrel of a shotgun.

What of love and family? Could she content herself with any mere relationship, or scorn the idea in its entirety? What of the afterlife, and a soul as powerful as hers? Can she proclaim friendship with anyone when she is so very different, even if she desperately wanted such a thing? Would she care, or be content to her solitary existence? How would she stand up to her parents and family, after all she had done and will do? Would she even want to see them, or care to, at the end of her life?

In this, as the stress of leadership and her own life ever wears on her, I think Syndra will be burdened by what choices she can make. Her awesome power will not always be the correct answer–often, one could say. How far is she willing to play the human game in pursuing mundane problems before wielding her true might? What will she gain, or lose, as she does so? How will her rulership change as Syndra delves into her power, gaining more and more and diverging farther and farther away from the rest of humanity (or, perhaps, closer)? I would say a very real fear of hers would be what she could become, and what might happen on the road to that.

  Transcendence

What would Syndra do, with the very nature of her humanity in question as she reaches ever higher?

Spiritual enlightenment is seen through many different lenses and eyes, though all of them seek a change within regardless. For some, it's the harmony of all their parts summed up together. For others, it's divining a new state of existence with unflinching clarity. Others might seek the answers to impossible questions through a singularity of the soul. You will find that for as many examples as there might be, more will crop up, for enlightenment is a fundamentally subjective idea. Yet, they are all seeking a higher state, something greater than themselves, be it in the answers they find, or else.

Martial artists, warriors, monks, and all sorts of professions have their own ways of pursuing this. For Syndra, the very real reality of something totally unknowable stands before her. Her endless magic responds to her will, and as her capability increases, more power comes to her. At what point does she become simply so powerful the ordinary rules of reality no longer apply? Might she become immortal, even by accident, in reaching further and further? Where does the distinction of being 'human', and becoming 'other', occur?

I might think her to be as excited as terrified of the prospect.

Who could she turn to for guidance, if she wanted any at all? Where does she see herself at the end of the world … or, at least, as far forward as she could see? Would she dare step into the realm of the divine, or go beyond it? The unknown is a terrifying prospect, even with one's own searching questions. The tragedy of her early life might almost recklessly compel Syndra forward, seeking more of what she could be to justify all she had been through. To look deep inside, to find a peace of mind she struggles to have otherwise, perhaps in simply realizing what her 'true self' is. Yet, in doing so, what would she possibly lose as much as gain? Would she take the leap for the next step, knowing that very same step might be one she can never come back from?

I speculate many questions, for this is a truly open ended idea. Transcendence is in the eye of the seeker, and any answer you or I might find is as valid as the next. I can only wonder aloud what might be the most 'interesting' story to tell. Or, at least, the most workable one. For now, I cannot divine which way this road will take her, but the journey will be a great struggle for Syndra to reconcile who and what she is, and where she will be going. One might imagine she could very well 'stop', and be satisfied with what she has, and that is the end. She may never stop, and the human Syndra as we know her will cease to be one day.

One does not simply seek more powerful for the sake of having it. It is always used for some goal or idea, so what is the one you would say is at work here?

  Closing ideas

With this rambling writing, I hope to paint the framework I've approached Syndra's character with. Overall, I found the largest appeal with the tagline 'an ordinary woman, pushed to extraordinary lengths'. By contextualizing this idea with her incredible power and the strict, arguably 'oppressive' Ionian culture, she's set for the stage of a revolutionary, though not one that even remotely imagined doing so as a child. The world constantly pushed, demanded, and decreed with her, and she tried giving it what it wanted. It was never enough, no matter how she tried, and there is only so much any person can take with that kind of abuse.

I considered, at some point, various archetypes relating to royal blood, ancient prophecies, and other 'grander than life' type affairs, but it all felt uncanny and damaging to her character. "Why," I asked myself, "in a world of fantastical possibilities, there's never anything starting with an ordinary person?". I suppose you say her being born with incredible magic is itself entirely uncommon, but if the magic is simply there as a product of indiscernible 'chance' … well. Ordinary people do win the lottery, for nothing more than the fact they did. This is a concept I've gone back and forth with quite a number of people on, though I feel the direction I've chosen has tenable merit. Whether or not it's friendly to the market or consumers at all is far beyond my skill to see at the moment. I wouldn't be at all surprised to walk into a group design session and then get mass voted off the table for proposing it.

Still, the effort should be made. I'm supremely leery of putting any kind of influence on Syndra's magic other than 'it is there', because it risks seriously invalidating her entire character. The moment a higher power, or anything, is capable of influencing her in that way, her personal agency is almost entirely stripped away. The only option a story writer can pursue is Syndra 'rebelling against their control', but that is already being done against Ionian culture as a whole. Throwing another rebellion ontop of that just dilutes both ideas into a weaker presentation. Otherwise, if you don't have Syndra be her own person, she ends up a useless tool of whatever controls her magic, so her character is functionally dead. Coincidentally, this is why I laugh my face off every time I see one of these 'Syndra gets shackled with an anti-magic plot device'! It's not interesting. It's just short circuiting her character that you might as well create a Faceless Goon to fulfill.

Now, putting the stress of her moral and ethical thinking into the equation where the seeming answer might be 'dont use her magic', you start to build intrigue. Maybe she does, maybe she doesn't. The choice she makes, and the consequences she must learn to live with, is where all the good stuff happens. As a final thought, while this exposes the design thinking, ultimately I refer to the Lore/VO as written to demonstrate them. Theory is great and all, but if you can't get your idea to translate on paper for others to understand, the whole thing fails.

My side project for story/lore updating Syndra was originally published on Earthen Thoughts

[syndra-x]

"When did you stop loving me?"