Nyroth Interactive Lore Event III

Please note that this is a draft. Indeed, a major objective for this event will be to give greater flexibility than in the past. So if there’s something you want your faction’s leader to consider doing, that isn’t mentioned here, speak up! (Same goes for requesting changes, or objecting to what’s currently here.) This event is being posted in “discussion only” mode to start with, and the actual poll will only go up tonight, i.e., Tuesday night.

To give Naggarok a bit of a break, I’m taking over the World Systems rolls this week. As discussed, I’m going to try something a little different. I’ve mixed all the World Systems issues, and some more, into a combined lore event. Part of this experiment will be adopting a more “old school” approach, with less minutiae and ultra-fine control and more emphasis on the big picture.

(A summary of the results is available here.)

What this represents

This lore event represents two main things in-universe: first, the leaders of the factions consulting the Summoners they’ve hired for this dispute as to what to do next, and second, it also somewhat reflects how those leaders themselves are going to act. Your vote symbolizes both what your Summoner urges and how Nami and company are feeling today. It generally does not symbolize a literal in-universe vote: very few factions operate that way.

The more Summoners vote in a given poll, the greater weight it will have.

How to vote

To vote in this event, you’ll need to sign up for the Factions forum, and request access to your faction’s private subforum. We place the polls in these hidden subforums so that we can include within them a link to the results so far, and to encourage members of each faction to talk the options over with one another. We apologize for the inconvenience of registering.

Sign up using your Summoner Name. Post in “Join Your Faction’s Subforum” to gain access to your faction’s hidden subforum, where the polls are posted.

Note that CrazyMLC has to manually add you to your faction’s user-category. It may take a little while.

We’ll take the poll results, filter them through your faction’s leaders’ perspectives, and consult with your faction mentor. (That’s 501st Big Mike for Shadow Isles, Revoluxionist for Ionia, RustSka for the Freljord, and Companion Prism for Bilgewater.) Votes will be the main determinant, but we’ll also read the discussions on the forum to try to better understand what each faction is going for.

Nyroth—Where we are now

Nyroth is the sixth Factions arc. It centers around the exploration of Nyroth, a mysterious continent discovered to the west of Valoran. The continent itself consists of a mainland and ten islands, spaced in a strangely regular configuration around the mainland. (Valoranian scholars believe that it represents a leyline convergence, with the nexus on the mainland pulling ten “sub-nexuses” into its orbit and creating the ten islands.) It was once home to a glorious civilization, destroyed a thousand years ago by a thaumic shockwave radiating from Valoran during one of the great Rune Wars. The mainland now radiates energy which has no apparent ill effects on Valoranians but which kills native (organic) Nyrothians in minutes. The only Nyrothians left live on the ten islands and in a floating city above the center of the mainland.

For most of the arc, Bilgewater has held first place and the Freljord has held second place, with Ionia and the Shadow Isles holding steady at third and fourth, respectively. After the first tournament Until recently, the four factions have largely operated independently of one another. The major exception came on Krocylea.

Krocylea

On Krocylea, the Shadow Isles summoned Aatrox and launched an attack on one of the local Nyrothian civilizations. By invoking the avatar of war, the Isles declared that they intended to rely on force of arms to secure their objectives on Nyroth. Both the Isles and the Freljord resorted to dangerous rune magic in the ensuing battle, causing tremendous damage to Krocylea (and perhaps to Nyroth as a whole); the Freljord’s invocation opened a Void rift that threatened to devour the entire island. The four factions contending over Nyroth joined forces to close the rift, but the Shadow Isles then turned on the remaining Krocyleans. Ionia and the Freljord placed their armies in between Aatrox and his targets, while Bilgewater opened fire from the ocean with a naval bombardment. In the end, the Shadow Isles were driven back, and the Krocyleans were saved. The League then immediately imposed a peace edict while the matter was investigated: warfare among the factions on Nyroth is merely discouraged, not outright forbidden, but this went too far.

Major topics

Here’s a run-through of the major topics up for decision.

The fate of Nyroth

It’s starting to become more clear how the Nyroth situation could play out. We’ve decided not to put this on the polls, to save space, but you should start thinking about this.

The first question is: who should ultimately decide this matter?

• Nyroth. We can advise and encourage them, but this is something that they need to figure out themselves. We’re inclined to respect their decision.
• The victor of the League dispute. Nyroth is effectively under Valoran’s control. What the Nyrothians think is not irrelevant, but we shouldn’t turn control over to them.

As for the broken nexus in the center of Nyroth: should it be repaired to render the mainland inhabitable to Nyrothians again, or should it be left as-is?

• Restore the nexus. Restoring the nexus would cleanse the mainland of the thaumatoxic surges that render it uninhabitable by native Nyrothians. (Valoranians seem to be immune. Non-organic life also seems to be safe.) There would be a risk to trying to work such large-scale magic: it could in theory make the situation worse. It might detonate the nexus, sinking the mainland beneath the waves; it might randomly pull in one of the subnexus resonances, which might be bizarre (Kibu) or horrifying (Daeyux). It might in fact shift the entire mainland and its islands into the Void. Of course, one would presumably take one’s time studying it first, minimizing the risk…but there would be some chance of disaster, no matter what precautions are taken.
• Do not restore the nexus. Leaving the nexus alone would make the mainland inhabitable only by Valoranians and non-organic Nyrothians, such as the automata. This would arguably make it more useful for Valoran. Then again, we’re not completely sure that there are no harmful effects on Valoranians in the long term.

If the nexus is repaired, there should theoretically (scholars say) be two main options.

• Restore it to its pre-cataclysm state. It could be restored to how it was before the cataclysm, with no particular inclinations toward any of the craziness of the subnexuses.
• Apply subnexus resonance. It might also be possible to replicate the resonance from one of the subnexuses on the islands, making the mainland take on its properties. For example, applying the Daeyux resonance would likely turn the entire mainland into an undead realm with a high-powered anti-life field.

And, of course, who should rule Nyroth when this is all over?

• Give power back to the Nyrothians. It’s their land. They should rule it.
• Keep the islands, give back the mainland. Nyroth can govern the mainland, but the Valoranian factions that claimed the islands should be allowed to rule them, as distantly or as closely as they decide.
• League protectorate. The League as a whole could take on Nyroth as a protectorate, exercising indirect control over its governors. It’d be vaguely like Shurima. (The Council received a lot of raised-eyebrow glances when it slid this one across the table. Hey, can’t blame a Summoner for trying!)
• Valoranian rule. The victor of this dispute should hold power over Nyroth.

Champion selection

We recently changed the method of Champion selection. Previously, Champion recruitment was connected to League petitions. We’re now moving to a “flat” system, where each faction gets the same opportunities to recruit Champions, without any rolls being involved.

In this event, each faction may make two Champion selections. The first selection must come from the Core/Secondary categories. (The Shadow Isles have already used this selection, gaining Aatrox.) The second selection may come from any category. Since this is the last Champion selection opportunity of the arc, we’ve put every plausible Champion option on the table here.

Sanctions for the Shadow Isles and the Freljord

Having known the scourge of the Rune Wars in our own lifetimes,
and being resolved that future generations should be more fortunate,
we commit ourselves to this great task, upon which our shared future depends:
…to turn the magic that nearly destroyed our world to her protection,
…to seek peace and knowledge by which all nations may together prosper,
…to ensure that the calamity that has been foreseen shall not come to pass.
(Preamble to the Summoner’s Oath, as referenced by Summoner Paddo.)

The League of Legends was founded because unchecked warfare between the factions of Runeterra threatened to quite literally destroy the world. (Indeed, a shockwave from an ancient Rune War was what destroyed Nyroth in the first place, a thousand years ago. You’re looking at the aftermath.) Some people say that the League of Legends exists to ensure peace, and many idealistic Summoners and Champions repeat that, but it’s not strictly true. The fundamental purpose of the League is to prevent another Rune War. Maintaining the peace, and imposing laws of war on conflicts that do arise, is simply a means to that end.

On Krocylea, both the Shadow Isles and the Freljord chose to invoke magic about as close to “true” Rune Wars magic as one can get without being expelled from the League. By wrenching the island’s leylines loose from the nexus, they gained access to power orders of magnitude greater than ordinary magic, and used it to inflict tremendous damage on each other. The magical foundations of the island were also badly broken, and it may be centuries before all the consequences of that damage are finished playing out. Most immediately, the Freljord’s invocation opened a Void rift that almost consumed the island of Krocylea and its people. The Shadow Isles had also just summoned Aatrox, the embodiment of war, and attempted to slaughter the eastern Krocylean kingdom; once the Void rift was closed, the Isles immediately turned on the other factions and launched an all-out assault on the gathered Krocylean armies, with the intent of massacring them all.

The League is furious. It immediately imposed sanctions on both the Freljord and the Shadow Isles, and High Councilor Kolminye nearly had their delegates clapped in irons when they started arguing about whose fault it was. It imposed a temporary peace edict over all of Nyroth:

Hear ye, and be warned! This affront to the peace of Runeterra shall not abide.
The Council so declares on this sixth day of December, 24 CLE: that all member-states of the League of Legends are hereby ordered to refrain from the initiation of any hostilities against one another, or against the peoples of Nyroth, in order that the calamity witnessed on the island called Krocylea may be investigated, and Runeterra secured against further danger.
Let the word of the League be as Law, lest all the powers of Runeterra arrange themselves against ye. There may be no appeal.
(Published by the Summoner’s Herald in a rush dispatch.)

and dispatched a joint Demacian–Noxian task force to Krocylea to ensure nobody tried anything funny.

The current sanctions give opponents of the Shadow Isles and the Freljord one ban per match, with the Isles and Freljord being allowed to “shield” one Champion per match from this ban. (This applies in both pick-up matches and Featured Matches.) The matter is being investigated further, and it is predicted that revised sanctions will soon be imposed. Bilgewater and Ionia may decide to remain neutral in the matter, or intervene either to defend or condemn either faction.

The final form of the sanctions will depend on what Bilgewater and Ionia decide to do. Either defending or condemning will burn 25% of the faction’s current Favor, as they call in favors and pull strings to influence the League and its member-states. It will consume one of their two petition acts for this week.

• If condemned by both sides: This faction’s opponents gain one ban against them in all matches. Their opponents gain a second ban against them during the opening round of the Nyroth dispute’s final tournament (scheduled for December 13). One of the islands currently held by this faction will be placed under League jurisdiction.
• If condemned by one side: This faction’s opponents gain one ban against them in all matches. They will lose access to one randomly selected Summoner spell in each match of the final tournament.
• If neither condemned nor defended: This faction’s opponents gain one ban against them in all matches.
• If defended by one side: This faction’s opponents gain one ban against them in all Tournaments and Featured Matches for the remainder of the arc. They may shield one Champion per match.
• If defended by both sides: This faction’s opponents gain one ban against them in all Tournaments and Featured Matches for the remainder of the arc. They may shield two Champions per match.

If Bilgewater and Ionia both intervene on opposite sides as to a given faction, we’ll use a Favor roll to decide who wins. (They’ll gain the usual boost from the burned Favor; they cannot burn additional Favor on this check.)

Petitions

Factions also get one last round of League petitions. It can use this opportunity to do damage to another faction or promote its own causes. Once the petitions are decided, we’ll give each faction an opportunity to support or oppose the petitions made by others.

A few notes on how these petitions may apply to the tournament this weekend:

• By default, any reference to “Featured Matches” will encompass this tournament. (e.g., a disqualified Champion will be DQ’d for this tournament.)
• Note: The support/oppose mechanic provides a natural check against petitions that really tick off other factions. If you try to ban Flash for all other factions, you are likely to get slapped down by the others. This means that sometimes going straight for the jugular may backfire.
• Substitution of Field: Will only affect the first day of the tournament, and only matches in which the petitioning faction is involved. Only the Howling Abyss and the Crystal Scar will be permitted choices.
• Disqualify Champion: Works as indicated.
• Impose spell-block: Works as indicated.

Espionage

Factions can engage in espionage missions against one another. This can range from sneaking into forbidden ruins to taking an enemy Champion temporarily out of action with an assassination (attempt). The Freljord is terrible at espionage (“I’ll run at them with my axe and yell until they confess their secrets”) and Ionia is amazing at espionage (ninja), while Bilgewater (sneaky pirates) and the Shadow Isles (Evelynn?) are both pretty average. Espionage can be very powerful, though failure can bring a backlash, of severity proportional to what you were trying to do. (For example, botching an assassination attempt on a Champion will likely result in a ban against you.)

Here’s a list of the basic espionage options.

• Counter-espionage. Increases chances of catching enemy agents, at the cost of refraining from an active mission.
• Sabotage research. Slip Ionia some books. Sets the target back, and may trigger a disaster.
• Steal research. Swipe something that will increase your research rate.
• Pilfer assets. Steal valuables.
• Seek forbidden lore. Sneak into the League’s dark archives or otherwise pursue that which man was not meant to know. (Urgot/Nidalee slashfic is a different kind of forbidden lore.)
• Expose secret. Some factions have skeletons in their closet—with the Shadow Isles currently winning the prize for that category in both literal and figurative interpretations. (They have to keep them somewhere.) A “Secret” in Factions is “something that a lot of people suspect, but can’t yet be proven, and would be damaging to their reputation if proven”. This mission seeks to find that proof.
• Muckraking. This basically creates Secrets.
• Bombing. This is a psycho option: detonate a bomb inside the target faction’s territory, or otherwise trigger a deadly disaster.
• Assassinate VIP. Does Desmeya tick you off? Why not shoot her? (Takes an NPC out of action for a few weeks.)
• Assassinate Champion. Trollpole away from this, Fizz. (Takes a target Champion out of action for a couple weeks—here, pretty much the rest of the arc.)

For starters, we’ll get some information about whom they’re willing to target, and what their objectives are. We’ll use that to come up with some discrete mission options, which you’ll be able to vote for when you make your support/oppose votes for petitions. (This means you’ll also get a little more information about who’s doing what before you pull the trigger.) Rather than sticking to textbook options, my plan is to spice things up a little and use those basic options as templates for concrete proposals: less formulaic, more of an old school approach.

Commerce

Commerce is a flexible, consumable resource that represents wealth and commercial power. It can be spent to give a temporary boost to any area: hiring mercenaries, buying magical artifacts, winning over reluctant allies in the League, and so on.

Rewards from Krocylea

The factions are each due some rewards from Krocylea:

• Bilgewater gained one Major reward and two Minor rewards. (Defeating the Void, sort of helping stop the Shadow Isles.)
• Ionia gained three Major rewards and one Minor reward. (Defeating the Void, stopping the Shadow Isles, fixing the nexus.)
• the Shadow Isles gained two Major rewards and one Minor reward. (Defeating the Freljord in the opening battle; defeating the Void.)
• the Freljord gained two Major rewards and two Minor rewards. (Defeating the Void, stopping the Shadow Isles, helping a bit with the nexus.)

Here are the basic categories of rewards. (We’re modifying the particulars on some of these to account for the end of the arc, e.g. giving flat bonuses instead of “per week” bonuses.)

• Research. Rewards may take the form of sudden flashes of insight achieved during the crisis, or the new friendship of a mage or scholar thankful for your help, or artifacts uncovered through the adventure. This accelerates progress on your faction’s Research projects.
  • Bilgewater is about to select a new project. It could theoretically finish it before the arc ends.
  • Ionia is investigating The Clockwork Monastery, one of Ionia’s ancient mysteries.
  • The Shadow Isles are nearing completion of Night Terrors. Nocturne might start spooking enemy Summoners before important matches, causing their spells to fizzle. (Roll a d6 before each Featured Match or Tournament match. On a 6, ban a Summoner Spell for the enemy team.)
  • The Freljord has asked Lissandra and her Frostguard to look into some ancient texts concerning World Runes, which may allow them to better control the wild magic of Nyroth and manipulate its peculiar multi-nexus alignment. Lissandra promises to do her best, though she says she’s reluctant to delve into those particular tomes, some of which reference the Watchers. But if Ashe insists…
• Industry. This might include materials or manpower. It will speed up your Industry projects, which can include resupply tasks that replace lost military units.
• Commerce. Gain wealth and profit opportunities.
• Favor. Doing heroic things generates good will in the League. Increases odds of success on petitions.

By default, we’ll allocate rewards to those categories. You can instead opt for some extra Champion pickups. A Major and a Minor reward can be spent to gain an additional Secondary Champion in this final round of recruitment, and two Majors and a Minor will get an extra Tertiary. (If necessary: a Major reward is worth about three Minor rewards.)

By the way, here’s the current progress on those Research projects.

Island revisits

There are some partially complete island adventures. For example, Bilgewater never did quite figure out what was up with Aeaea. (In other news: Bilgewater vows to get to the bottom of whatever makes poros so cute. Could it be the Void?) As promised, we will try to allow the factions to revisit said islands. Especially for islands where investigation isn’t likely to require more than shipping a few Summoners over to poke around, we might just do quickie rerolls on checks and post a combined update. There are also places like Daeyux, that really would be a new adventure.

We don’t want to over-complicate this poll, so we’re mostly pushing this forward. However, we promise we haven’t forgotten.

Relations

There are also some general questions about other factions of Runeterra. (That page is a little out of date.) These are mostly just to provide us with more information on how you see the other factions.

At the request of other Summoners, I’ve added a question about Azir. This is a good time as any to talk about Azir at this point in the Factions storyline. The main thing: he has not created his giant floating mega-city just yet. As far as anyone knows, he’s another crazy animal-person from Shurima, like Nasus and Renekton, who’s joined the League as an independent Champion. He’s not keeping it a secret that he’s from SHURIMA and is the EMPEROR OF SHURIMA, and that was probably written down by a Summoner trying very hard to keep a straight face, but few take him seriously. It’s not that people doubt he was once Emperor of Shurima: it’s just that, well, there are a lot of people with grandiose backstories in the League, and in practical terms, all people see when they look at Shurima is sand, poverty, pyrikhos, Zaunite mines, and some weird old ruins.

 

As far as anyone knows, he spends most of his time going around Shurima, talking with spooky types. He’s tried to gain access to some of the floating pyramids, but so far, he’s been denied by the League each time. He just doesn’t have the pull needed for something like that, and many are wary of letting an ascended Shuriman who isn’t Nasus get his hands (talons?) on such things. One Nefara is enough, thank you.

Still, you could try to help him out, just as an initial interaction. It might go well or poorly for you, but the stakes would almost certainly be rather small in any event.

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Next, here are the decisions for each faction.

Bilgewater

Bilgewater appointed Nami its leader from the start. Under her leadership, Bilgewater has built a strong reputation for loyalty to allies and kindness to outsiders, even those not well positioned to repay it. For example, it liberated Avalon, and chose to use the advantages gained on Emain Ablach to produce food for Nyroth rather than to increase its profits with cash crops. The major deviation from this trend was its choice to support Noxus in asserting its right to dispose of Demacian prisoners from the Battle of Shurima. Noxus prevailed, and Bilgewater ended up being seen as complicit in Swain’s power-play, whereby he forcefully demonstrated his control over the League and Demacia’s inability to prevent even egregious and reprehensible acts. Nami appeared personally shaken by this rough introduction to the vicious hatred that permeates the ancient Demacia–Noxus conflict, which tarnished her idealistic image. Bilgewater partially regained its reputation on Krocylea when it deployed its fleet to help Freljord fight back the Shadow Isles, saving the Krocyleans from massacre.

Its victory in the first tournament of the Nyroth dispute has granted Bilgewater the status of Valoran’s emissary pro tempore to the Nyrothians. This gives it the ability to make certain important decisions concerning Nyroth on Valoran’s behalf.

Though Nami has completed the quest that brought her to the League in the first place—forging a new moonstone and saving the Marai and the Atlanteans from the beasts of the deep sea—she has discovered a greater purpose. She now strives to bring the Marai fully into the international community, as equal partners in a grand alliance encompassing the Atlanteans and the land-walkers of Bilgewater as well as themselves.

Leadership

So far, Bilgewater’s Summoners have enthusiastically supported Nami as their leader in Nyroth. She says, though, that if they’d rather be led by someone else, she’ll willingly step down.

Champions

Bilgewater can select a new Secondary Champion, as well as a new Champion from either the Secondary or Tertiary categories. It can also convert some of its rewards from Krocylea into an additional Champion pickup, if it so chooses.

Secondary Champions

Bilgewater may recruit a Secondary Champion.

• Lulu appeared out of nowhere during Kibu and said something trippy and weird before indicating she wanted to join Bilgewater.
• Talon has been moved from Tertiary to Secondary status due to Bilgewater’s support of Noxus. (Also, because Katarina DuCouteau can order Talon to get her coffee anytime she wants.)
• Speaking of House DuCouteau, Kat says her ugly sister Cassiopeia would probably be down to join Bilgewater for this.

Tertiary Champions

Bilgewater may also select a Tertiary Champion.

• Janna is a reform-minded Zaunite who commands the winds.
• Twitch is…okay, I’m just going to admit that this is a vague reference to “bilge rats” and “rats from a sinking ship”. Let’s say Bilgewater once rescued Twitch from a shipwreck.
• Viktor has been added as a Tertiary Champion by the completion of its Forges of Avalon project, wherein it reactivated the automata factory on Avalon. Viktor seeks entrance to the dispute so that he may travel personally to Nyroth and begin spreading the Glorious Evolution.
• Dr. Mundo excited by exciting opportunities for exciting research with exciting Nami. Mundo thank Nami for support of Zaun against stupid Piltover. Mundo has made big profits on pyrikhos futures contract. Mundo will buy house and then burn house down, creating further employment opportunities.
• Zac is a Zaunite superhero who thinks these Bilgewater guys are alright.
• Sivir is a merc.

Demacia and Noxus

Bilgewater has become closer and closer to Noxus of late. (Some speculate this is due to the large number of Noxian and Zaunite Summoners pledged for Bilgewater in this dispute, tugging the impressionable Nami toward their cause.) Nami is increasingly uncomfortable with this. After a talk with her pal Jax, she’s decided that both Demacia and Noxus are dangerous to Bilgewater in the long term. She is personally revolted by the brutality both have shown toward one another, and has no desire to be crushed in the middle of their endless war. She believes Bilgewater needs to stand first and foremost for itself, and to refrain from further meddling in great power politics.

Research project selection

Bilgewater has reactivated the automata factory on Avalon. It can reallocate its sagely types to another task now. Each project would, if completed, make an equal contribution to Bilgewater’s strength, albeit in different ways. (We have a point system that we use to allocate benefits from Research projects.) Decide based on which direction you want Bilgewater to go, or just what sounds cool.

Reformist Bounties

Help Swain round up the last of the Reformists in Noxus.
Grand General Swain is attempting to root out the last of the Reformist resistance in Noxus. (Reformists are those from Riven’s camp; they oppose the ruthless “victory at all costs” approach of the New Noxus under Swain. The Reformists are more about evil axe-knights and “the struggle to survive”, while the New Noxus types are known for industrialized warfare and slaughtering civilians with gas bombs.) He believes that they are using sea routes to smuggle artifacts and personnel in and out of the city. Bilgewater’s bounty hunters may be able to track these Reformists down and bring them before the High Command to answer for their treachery.

Letters of Marque

Attack Demacian/Ionian merchant vessels and sell the plunder to Zaun.
Certain Zaunite megacorporations have noticed increased trade between Demacia and Ionia. However, with the Demacian navy largely held in harbor by the sanctions that followed the Battle of Shurima, these fleets are poorly defended. Though Ionia’s ever-changing trade routes are well-guarded secrets, if they were to be decoded, Bilgewater’s pirate fleets could secure a great deal of plunder by intercepting these ships. Zaun would be pleased to buy these goods. The League has not historically been aggressive about policing such small-scale naval engagements, as they pose little threat to Runeterra as a whole.

Pyrikhos Smuggling

Smuggle pyrikhos to Piltover, bypassing Zaun’s embargo.
Piltover has been largely cut off from the pyrikhos supply since the Battle of Shurima. In a rare show of unity, Zaun’s megacorporations have steadfastly refused to sell pyrikhos to Piltover. Bilgewater could procure some and smuggle it to the City of Progress, for which it would be handsomely rewarded; it would also greatly improve Bilgewater’s relations with Piltover, while running a risk of angering Zaun should this smuggling be exposed. The first step is concocting a plausible research project that would involve large quantities of pyrikhos.

The Fae Realm

Explore crazy extradimensional fae theory.
Bilgewater’s success on Kibu, combined with its increasingly positive ties to Zaun, have opened the door to studying the alternate dimension whence originate the pixies found on Kibu. It appears distinct from both the Void and whatever celestial plane people like Demacian clerics and Soraka draw their power from.

New Marai Republic

Build up the Marai civilization.
The Marai are safe thanks to the new moonstone, but there is much rebuilding to do. With Bilgewater’s help, and with a few strings pulled to gain access to some important Nyrothian archives, the Marai could not only rebuild but expand. This would make the Marai more powerful, and (independent of Nami) give them an important role in the developing new Bilgewater.

Skyships

Build skyships for exploration.
Both Piltover and Zaun have constructed large aircraft that rely upon pyrikhos fuel. Pyrikhos, however, is an increasingly rare commodity, and pyrikhosian engines inexplicably fail when one ventures out into the sea to the east of Valoran. Bilgewater could attempt to devise a new model of engine that does not rely on pyrikhos.

Industry project selection

There’s also the question of what to build on Nyroth. Here, we’ll just ask what you think the priority should be.

• Military: Increase the amount of military force Bilgewater can bring to bear on Nyroth.
• Lunari: Build a Moon Temple on Nyroth for Diana and her acolytes.
• Something else. If you’ve got another idea for what they should be building on Nyroth, tell me before the poll goes up.

Commerce spending

Bilgewater’s got a lot of gold stashed away. (Some pirate stereotypes just keep asserting themselves.) It can be spent. All of these options (save the last) have the same cost. You can select more than one option.

• Spend on hiring mercenaries.
• Spend on accelerating Research.
• Spend on gaining Favor with the League. This isn’t bribery: it’s using money to fund the League, rebuild Krocylea, buy mittens for tiny yordle orphans, and otherwise improve Bilgewater’s (already pretty stellar) reputation.
• Make sure those petitions pass. This is bribery, focused on making this last round of petitions go through. It’s not really legal, but it’s not a shocking crime against humanity, either; if caught, Bilgewater will most likely get a wrist-slap.
• Donate some to another faction.
• Buy Demacian prisoners. Some Bilgewater Summoners are having second thoughts about throwing in their lot with Noxus, at least under Swain. One way to back out of that messy business would be to buy the Demacian prisoners’ freedom. Swain would not agree to simply release them to Demacia in exchange for payment, in part because that would restore Bilgewater to Demacia’s good graces too completely—a significant objective behind Swain’s theatrical pronouncements of torture was to destroy Bilgewater’s image in Demacia. What he would accept would be an agreement whereby the prisoners are thoroughly interrogated, abused, and humiliated, then sold as indentured servants to Bilgewater to toil in their shipyards and docks for five years, after which time they would be freed. This would be much, much better for them than what they’re currently facing (life imprisonment at best, death by torture at worst). This would effectively restore Bilgewater to a “neutral” status vis-a-vis Demacia, and would give a small Industry bonus (about half as efficient as buying Industry normally). It wouldn’t save everyone: Swain will insist on making an example of a select few, particularly the Demacian admiral who ordered the attack on the fleet.

For all but the last option, Bilgewater will automatically spend half of its Commerce buying as much of that as possible. If multiple options are chosen, we will divvy it up accordingly.

The prisoners have a flat cost of 50 Commerce. Steep, isn’t it? Well, Swain’s got an army to rebuild.

Espionage

Here are the basic options for Espionage.

• Counter-espionage. Defend against espionage by other factions.
• Gain Research. Go snooping around where you’re not supposed to be in order to gain valuable research information.
• Hinder opponent. Do something that will hinder an opponent faction’s chances on the Fields of Justice.
• Sabotage. Do something even more aggressive toward another faction: planting bombs, for example.

Petitions

Bilgewater may make petitions to the League. Nami and her staff can come up with the particulars. Here, your task is to decide on priorities.

• Macro-benefits for Bilgewater. Focus on getting help for Bilgewater’s economy, research, and so on.
• Increase match strength. File petitions that will give Bilgewater an edge on the Fields of Justice, or hinder their enemies.

Sanctions

Both the Freljord and the Shadow Isles were sanctioned for what happened on Krocylea. The current version of the sanctions gives these factions’ opponents one ban per match (both pickups and Featured Matches/Tournament matches), with the factions being allowed to “shield” one Champion per match from this ban. Investigations are still underway.

Sometime this week, it is expected that (if nothing changes) the sanctions will be made still harsher, such as by removing the “shield” rule. (This is partially because it’s a hassle in pickups, and partially because by then they’ll have had a chance to, e.g., recruit another ADC.) Bilgewater could intervene in either direction for either faction.

• Defend. Argue in the defense of the faction, and pull some strings to try to lessen the impact of the sanction (or at least keep the “shield” element).
• Condemn. Argue that they deserve even harsher sanctions than they got.

The final form of the sanctions will depend on what Bilgewater and Ionia decide to do. Either defending or condemning will burn 25% of the faction’s current Favor, as they call in favors and pull strings to influence the League and its member-states. It will consume one of their two petition acts for this week. If a faction is only defended, they’ll benefit. If a faction is only condemned, they’ll suffer. If one faction defends while another condemns, those two opposed factions will have a contest of Favor rolls to see who wins.

It should be noted that the Shadow Isles has invoked Aatrox and committed itself to a strategy of destruction and violence. In theory, it could start being nice, but it just tried to massacre an entire island full of people. Nami vehemently argues against further pursuit of an alliance with the Isles: it might have made sense when it was in something of a gray area, but now this would commit Bilgewater to the support of atrocities.

Krocylea

Bilgewater is emissary pro tempore to Nyroth, and has some say in what happens with Kroyclea.

• Give it to the Freljord.
• Give it to the Shadow Isles (if they promise to be nice). (Note: There could be a clause allowing Bilgewater to revoke the Isles’ ownership if the cease to be nice, but…this could get very messy indeed.)
• Give it to Ionia.
• Take control of it ourselves.
• Keep it under League jurisdiction. (Favor bonus.)

Krocylea may be a mixed bag. Whoever controls it will have additional opportunities, but will also face additional challenges.

Nami recommends turning it over to Ionia or the League. The latter would be the safest option. On the other hand, Ionia is perhaps the most enthusiastically pro-League state out there, and an Ionian regime is likely to be about the same as League governance.

Vote here

Click here to cast your vote. (You’ll need to be logged in and registered for Bilgewater. If you’re not registered, do that, and then post in the “Join your faction’s subforum” thread.)

Ionia

Ionia entered this dispute with a pledge to protect Nyroth from the fate it suffered at the hands of Noxus. It dramatically upheld that vow when it committed its troops to defend the Krocyleans from the Shadow Isles. It has held at third place for most of the arc, but took second place in the first tournament, and may be on the rise. Ionia has been an enthusiastic supporter of the League since its entrance as a member-state, and Karma is known as a masterful diplomat who has been able to make many important gains for Ionia in the Institute’s halls, despite Ionia’s relatively middling status as a world power. It has been cooperating closely with Piltover of late.

Ionia has pretty much exhausted its Champion list, which is kind of astonishing. I’ve decided to put a few more Champions on the table, based on rewards Ionia’s won from recent islands and their general behavior. (I’m being more free with this than usual, because the arc’s about to end and they’ll only be able to pick one of each anyway.)

Leadership

Karma has led Ionia on Nyroth to date, more or less by default, given her immense stature in Ionia and before the League. There has been no special appointment: everyone has simply assumed that Karma would lead them. She has caused a bit of a stir by putting forward a suggestion to formally appoint a Nyrothian delegate for the remainder of the dispute. She did not object when her own name was proposed, but had two others.

• Karma is the current de facto leader of Ionia on Nyroth. She is an ingenious political strategist greatly respected in the League. She sees the big picture and acts accordingly.
• Irelia is the Captain of the Guard and a fierce warrior. She’s often disagreed severely with Karma on political matters, and is less willing to trust in the League or diplomacy.
• Shen is one of the leaders of the newly re-established Kinkou Order. He would pursue the Nyroth matter carefully, resorting more to stealth and intrigue than open displays of force. He is less interventionist than Karma.

The choice of leader will have various predictable impacts, along the lines drawn above.

Champions

Ionia may recruit one Secondary Champion and one Champion from either the Secondary or Tertiary categories. It can also convert some of its Krocylean rewards to an extra pickup (maybe two).

Secondary Champions

• Lucian is impressed by Ionia’s victory over the Shadow Isles on Krocylea, and knows that further warfare with the Isles is coming. He would join as a full Champion, available in all matches (not merely against the Isles).
• Xin Zhao has fought for Ionia before. Jarvan III has heard of Ionia’s defense of Krocylea, and has ordered Xin Zhao to offer his services to Ionia on Nyroth.

Tertiary Champions

• Ezreal is available as a Tertiary Champion due to Ionia being nearly half-finished with the Clockwork Monastery project. He also did fight for Ionia in Shon-Xan. He’s also a highly mobile ADC who isn’t Varus, and fits well with Ionia’s high mobility strategy.
• Vayne is another undead-fighting Demacian whose attention has been drawn to Ionia after Krocylea.
• Yasuo is still a wanted man, but he helped Ionia during its hour of need in Shon-Xan. Many would rather have him in Nyroth than roaming around Ionia.

Commerce spending

All of these options have the same cost. You can select more than one option.

• Spend on hiring mercenaries.
• Spend on accelerating Research.
• Spend on gaining Favor with the League.
• Donate some to another faction.

Industry

Is there something they want to build in place of more Military? Pitch your ideas if so.

Espionage

Here are the basic options for Espionage. With the completion of its previous Research project, Ionia has rebuilt the Kinkou Order, and is very good at Espionage missions overall.

• Counter-espionage. Defend against espionage by other factions.
• Gain Research. Go snooping around where you’re not supposed to be in order to gain valuable research information.
• Hinder opponent. Do something that will hinder an opponent faction’s chances on the Fields of Justice.
• Sabotage. Do something even more aggressive toward another faction: planting bombs, for example.

Petitions

Ionia may make petitions to the League. Karma will decide the particulars.

• Macro-benefits. Focus on getting help for economy, research, and so on.
• Increase match strength. File petitions that will give Ionia an edge on the Fields of Justice, or hinder its enemies.

Sanctions

Both the Freljord and the Shadow Isles were sanctioned for what happened on Krocylea. The current version of the sanctions gives these factions’ opponents one ban per match (both pickups and Featured Matches/Tournament matches), with the factions being allowed to “shield” one Champion per match from this ban. Investigations are still underway.

The final form of the sanctions will depend on what Bilgewater and Ionia decide to do. Either defending or condemning will burn 25% of the faction’s current Favor, as they call in favors and pull strings to influence the League and its member-states. It will consume one of their two petition acts for this week. Sometime this week, it is expected that (if nothing changes) the sanctions will be made still harsher, such as by removing the “shield” rule. (This is partially because it’s a hassle in pickups, and partially because by then they’ll have had a chance to, e.g., recruit another ADC.) Ionia could intervene in either direction for either faction.

• Defend. Argue in the defense of the faction, and pull some strings to try to lessen the impact of the sanction (or at least keep the “shield” element).
• Condemn. Argue that they deserve even harsher sanctions than they got.

If a faction is only defended, they’ll benefit. If a faction is only condemned, they’ll suffer. If one faction defends while another condemns, those two opposed factions will have a contest of Favor rolls to see who wins.

Vote here

Click here to visit the forum thread with the voting link.

The Shadow Isles

The Shadow Isles has been in last place for most of the arc. Even after having recruited Kalista, its greatest triumph on the Fields was a third place showing in the first Tournament. Tiring of these games, it has summoned Aatrox and committed itself to war. The Isles’ Summoners are not stupid enough to violate the League’s peace edict, but it knows it will soon be lifted, and when it does, it will be ready.

Leadership

With the invocation of Aatrox, the Isles are effectively being led by the avatar of war and Mordekaiser. Summoning Aatrox alters your destiny as he brings you victory, and this essential reality cannot be easily discarded. Still, you may be able to exert some measure of influence here.

• ENEMIES! WE NEED ENEMIES! The default option. The Isles have incredible power: use it. Mordekaiser, Hecarim, and Aatrox will lead the legions of the dead forth to seize Nyroth for the Isles. Stop trying to play nice with other factions: they should obey out of fear, not love. This option would lock in the military dominance of the Isles.
• Karthus. Power could be shifted away from Mordekaiser and Hecarim, and toward Karthus. Aatrox would still lead the armies, and no one, not even Karthus, can control Aatrox. There would be more restraint, but less power overall.
• Banish Aatrox. This is an extreme option. The Isles could banish Aatrox and forsake his bloody ways. This would remove Aatrox from the roster, and the Isles would no longer have the enormous power he grants on the battlefield. Many bridges are already burned, and this wouldn’t change that. This is almost certainly a Very Bad Idea, but you can argue for it if you want.

No commitment on particular details yet, but yes, the first option would provide more Military strength than the Karthus option (or, obviously, the “banish” option).

Champions

The Isles may recruit any one Champion, in addition to their Aatrox pickup last week.

Secondary Champions

• Shaco is a scary demon clown.
• Sion is undead.

Tertiary Champions

• the Shadow Isles and the Void joined forces during Discord. If the Isles recruit a Void Champion to its roster, Kassadin will become freely available to all other factions in matches against the Isles.
• Vladimir and Warwick are a vampire and a werewolf. They’re also from Noxus and Zaun, which the Shadow Isles just supported. (I’ll be honest: I was just thinking vampire and werewolf when I added them.)

Commerce spending

All of these options have the same cost. You can select more than one option.

• Spend on hiring mercenaries.
• Spend on accelerating Research.
• Spend on gaining Favor with the League.
• Donate some to another faction.

Industry

Is there something they want to build in place of more Military?

Espionage

Here are the basic options for Espionage.

• Counter-espionage. Defend against espionage by other factions.
• Gain Research. Go snooping around where you’re not supposed to be in order to gain valuable research information.
• Hinder opponent. Do something that will hinder an opponent faction’s chances on the Fields of Justice.
• Sabotage. Do something even more aggressive toward another faction: planting bombs, for example.

Petitions

The Shadow Isles may make petitions to the League. Its Favor is pretty tanked right now, but it might get lucky.

• Macro-benefits. Focus on getting help for economy, research, and so on.
• Increase match strength. File petitions that will give the Isles an edge on the Fields of Justice, or hinder its enemies.

Vote here

Click here to cast your vote. You’ll need to sign up for the forums and get confirmed as SI there.

3 a.m. summary: “The Freljord opened a Void rift. Why did you do that, Freljord? The Freljord is very cold and very poor. Ashe is leading them, although Sejuani keeps saving the day when the dice hit the table. The Freljord likes bears, cold, furs, snow, and kennings.” That was scribbled down while I was trying not to fall asleep onto my keyboard, but I have to say, it gets the essentials across.

Leadership

Ashe has led the Freljord on Nyroth since the beginning. There is one final chance to change horses (boars? bears?) mid-stream.

Ashe is the balanced, diplomatic option. Sejuani is more aggressive, and while she has strong principles, she’s not one for political niceties or lofty ideology. Lissandra, as we all know, is the kindly leader of the Frostguard, a wise sage who works hard to bring peace between the volatile forces of the Avarosan and Winter’s Claw.

Champions

The Freljord can select a Secondary Champion for its first pickup, and then a Secondary or Tertiary for its second.

Secondary Champions

• Jarvan IV was moved to Secondary status after the completion of Frostgem Mines, which further strengthened Freljord–Demacia relations. I promise a whimsical update that involves Jarvan IV and Quinn visiting the mines, being attacked by a bear, and Jarvan punching out the bear with a haymaker before laughing boisterously.
• Olaf is somehow still not on the Freljord’s roster. People who know how to play this game tell me it’s because he sucks.

Tertiary Champions

• Galio and Garen are two more Demacians brought in by the alliance Ashe is developing with Demacia. Remember that 501st Big Mike is on the Shadow Isles, though. Then again, maybe he’ll be too heartbroken to play against you if there’s a Galio on your team.
• Gnar is an option after the Freljord found the splinter yordle civilization on Argyre.

Commerce spending

All of these options have the same cost. You can select more than one option.

• Spend on hiring mercenaries.
• Spend on accelerating Research.
• Spend on gaining Favor with the League.
• Donate some to another faction.

Industry

Is there something they want to build in place of more Military?

Espionage

Here are the basic options for Espionage.

• Counter-espionage. Defend against espionage by other factions.
• Gain Research. Go snooping around where you’re not supposed to be in order to gain valuable research information.
• Hinder opponent. Do something that will hinder an opponent faction’s chances on the Fields of Justice.
• Sabotage. Do something even more aggressive toward another faction: planting bombs, for example.

Petitions

The Freljord may make petitions to the League, with all that Favor they don’t have. (Hey, there’s a wild die system. They could succeed.)

• Macro-benefits. Focus on getting help for economy, research, and so on.
• Increase match strength. File petitions that will give the Freljord an edge on the Fields of Justice, or hinder its enemies.

Vote here

Click here to vote. You’ll need to register.