This Week in the Institute, Episode 2

by ChroniclerC

Hello Runeterra!  From minion to master, from tavern to Targon, welcome to This Week in the Institute!  Once again, I’m your host, Lien Keysmith, snoop extraordinaire!  Exciting things are afoot and afin in the Guardian’s Sea, so let’s dive right in.

Featured Match results, June 4th/5th—Split on the Rift

Weekends prove to be an important time for the Fields of Justice.  Last weekend saw all four factions duking it out on the Rift, and this weekend will be no different.

Last Saturday had Bilgewater and Bandle City fighting over the rights to a device found within a temple to Nagakoboros.  While the Yordles put up a good fight, Bilgewater’s 2-1 victory means the machine is declared a relic of of the church.  However, rumors from the Institute claim that it will have to remain open to the public, and thus available for study.  If true, I’m sure the famously-secretive church of Nagakoboros will not be happy about this turn.

And after that on Sunday, Icathia and the Freljord battled it out over legal jurisdiction over the murders of Summoners Miriam DesChamps and Gregor LaRue of Noxus.  After their crushing defeat to Bilgewater the previous week, Icathia was looking to be the underdog, but they pulled a stunning 3-0 victory out of their Deathcap, ensuring them complete and total jurisdiction.  Sources close to the investigation tell me that the Icathian investigators will likely first turn their yellow eyes to Freljordians close to Summoner DesChamps.

Featured Match setup, June 11th/12th

This weekend, the Fields of Justice will be surprisingly civil, although no less important, as allies take to the Fields against each other to decide claims.

On Saturday, Bandle City will face off against Icathia.  Both seek to petition the League for aid, but will need the backing of their ally to ensure success.  Bandle City is seeking an education grant for their kin on Nyroth, while Icathia is pursuing the release of Jane “Korzari” Bluefield from Institute custody.  They only have the time and resources to pass one of these petitions at the moment.  Battle on Summoner’s Rift will decide which matter they will present to the League.

On Sunday, the Field belongs to Bilgewater and the Freljord.  The church of Nagakoboros recently revealed to Runeterra one of their most holy sites, Tinak Ime, the Endless Waterfall, whose waters hold miraculous properties for healing and cleansing.  The maritime leaders of Bilgewater would like to use the waters to destroy the Blackwater, a monstrous oceanic phenomenon that has swallowed many ships, especially of late.  The three leaders of the Freljord tribes seek the waters as a final ingredient in princess Lissandra’s “Draught of Eternity”, a potion of potent restorative qualities, if its elemental properties can be stabilized.  The church of Nagakoboros has agreed to allow one, and only one, of these groups to use the waters of Tinak Ime, and the League has allowed the use of the Fields of Justice to test whose will is truer.

Joining the Fight!

This past week, the Insitute allowed each nation in the conflict to recruit an additional Champion to their roster, which each nation of course did.

Freljord elected to recruit Trundle, the Troll King, thus adding the trolls to the ranks of their united tribes.  Trundle himself seeks to find superior figures of worship for his people, potentially elevating their status in the afterlife.

For Icathia, Varus, the Arrow of Retribution has elected to join them on the Fields of Justice.  He claims to be following a prophecy since the discovery of Nyroth to the West, and has now turned to the seas of the East.  In exchange for his aid, Icathia has promised to help him find what he seeks.

Bandle City has extended a paw of friendship to Amumu, the Sad Mummy.  The friendly Yordles will once again attempt to overpower the poor lad’s curse with friendship and cupcakes, and he will return their friendship on the Fields of Justice.

And lasty, Bilgewater will be joining forces with Nautilus, the Titan of the Depths.  Tales of a dark monster have reached the Titan’s ears, a beast cloaked in inky blackness not unlike what he was discovered in.  Nautilus declined to comment, but I suspect he intends to confront the phenomenon.

Conflict in the Zone

We’ve had several exciting reports from the Conflict Zone, with each nation facing a difficult choice.

After Bilgewater ensured the freedom of Zomo of the Coral Temple, he immediately returned to the site of his great battle with Kozari.  Absent from her interference, he was able to banish the darkness there and speak with his ancestors.  He claims that he was instructed to reclaim the city of Muranar, lost to monsters when the last Moonstone had begun to fade.  The Champions Nami and Nautilus have both expressed interest in going, but only one can wield Zomo’s moonsilver sceptre against the beasts that lurk there.

Above the Guardian’s Sea, the nameless crystalline spire that Icathians have been using as a base of operations finds itself in peril.  It appears that the tower’s alien arcanostructure has resonated with a potent strand of death magic.  This fact had gone unnoticed without the expertise of Kozari, who remains imprisoned in League custody.  This has had the unforeseen effect of summoning vengeful phantoms of those slain by servants of the Void.  The Summoners and mages trapped in the tower are currently waging battle with these void-touched wraiths, either to destroy or dominate them.

Reports have come in from the expedition to the iceberg containing the shard of True Ice that Bandle City won the rights to.  The Argyran Yordle, Timi’u, accompanied the crew, bearing his precious “Quadronic Scanner”.  Within the shard lay a peculiar device and, upon extracting it, the Yordles present were granted a vision of their Mothership traversing the stars and the skies of Runeterra.  The device contained a memory chip for the Quadronic Scanner, allowing it to vastly expand its potential for certain times.  The Bandle elders are currently debating what to use it on, when this time comes.

Lastly, we have a report from outside the Guardian’s Sea, on the Nyrothian island of Argye.  The Lanpoa has requested a meeting with “the human leader of the land of ice”.  However, this is trickier than it first sounds, as it could refer to Queen Ashe, Warlady Sejuani, or Princess Lissandra, and deciding which of them is the “leader” is the easiest way to get Freljordians arguing.  The Lanpoa has never before communicated directly with a human, so correctly interpreting its request will be vital for the Freljord to avoid a costly political snafu.

The Week that Was

And before we leave, I’d like to wish a grand happy birthday to Chancellor deLain of records-keeping, who turned a mighty [long censor bar] years old this week!  That’s a lot of candles, better get Brand in order to light ‘em all!

Everyone else, thank you for tuning in!  As always, I’m Lien Keysmith, and I’ll be back next time for another This Week in the Institute.

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