Vol. VI, Iss. 1—Published at the Institute of War on 1 May, 27 CLE
REVOLT IN QA’HHAR
Rebels oust Noxian governor, attack nearby Zaunite refinery; Zaun initiates police action, clashes with Noxian legion
BREAKING NEWS FROM QA’HHAR—The Herald has received and partially confirmed reports of a battle in the Noxian city of Qa’hhar, fought between Noxian legionaries from the city’s garrison and a Zaunite HexKorps tank division stationed in a neighboring pyrikhos refinery. Readers are cautioned that this is a rush report on a developing situation. —Herald Staff
The brief but destructive conflict came in the wake of a violent insurrection by rebel forces, who drove the Noxian garrison out of the city and then attacked a Zaunite pyrikhos refinery just across the border, doing considerable damage before they were repelled and fled back to Qa’hhar. As Noxian Governor Sorinius Felk rallied his troops to reclaim the city, an armored HexKorps division was dispatched to enter Qa’hhar to execute a police action pursuant to the League Charter. Breaching Qa’hhar’s eastern wall with hexplosive ordnance, the Zaunite troops pursued the rebels into the city, but were swiftly set upon by Felk and his soldiers, who had just re-entered from the northern gate. There are reports of both sides being attacked by Shuriman rebels even as they fought one another.
Fortunately for all involved, the fighting lasted barely more than five minutes. Viktor, Champion of the League, was in the city meeting with local converts to the Glorious Evolution movement, and hastened to the scene with the aid of a Summoner’s Ghost spell. Exemplifying the highest ideals of the League of Legends, he used his tremendous power to prevent further bloodshed, initiating an incredible “gravity field” effect that brought combatants on both sides to the ground. There are further reports, yet unconfirmed at press time, that Felk was about to order a counterattack when he was stopped first by an aide to Cassiopeia he had been meeting with, and then by Talon, who appeared from the shadows to reinforce the aide’s position with a more pointed threat.
In the aftermath of the clash in Qa’hhar, Noxus and Zaun have jointly petitioned the League to take jurisdiction over the matter. The Council has announced it will form a provisional Qa’hharian government for the duration of the dispute.
(1 May, 27 CLE)
PROCLAMATION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE LEAGUE OF LEGENDS
Published by order of the Council of the League of Legends.
Hear ye and be warned!
The Council of the League of Legends, final arbiter among the nations of Valoran, guardian of Runeterra’s peace, hereby accepts the petition of THE NOXIAN IMPERIUM and THE TEKNOPOLIS OF ZAUN, and takes jurisdiction over the matter of QA’HHAR and the interpretation and application of THE ACCORDS OF QA’HHAR signed by the parties-disputant in the 25th year of the Common League Era.
Hear now the allegations and demands of the parties-disputant.
- THE NOXIAN IMPERIUM ALLEGES that it holds sole authority over the administration of the city of Qa’hhar, FURTHER ALLEGES that Zaun’s increased industrial activity has produced pollution that has encroached upon its territory and harmed its subjects, and therefore DEMANDS that Zaunite pollution be restrained, with due compensation made to Noxus by Zaun from the profits arising out of the polluting activity.
- THE TEKNOPOLIS OF ZAUN ALLEGES that it holds a beneficial interest in the city of Qa’hhar, which it developed with Noxus, FURTHER ALLEGES that Noxian trade policy constitutes a breach of the Accords of Qa’hhar, and therefore DEMANDS the freedom to produce and sell techmaturgic devices and products without undue interference from Noxus.
THE COUNCIL THUS DECLARES that contests of arms are to be conducted upon the FIELDS OF JUSTICE concerning:
- Which of the parties-disputant shall administer Qa’hhar, and under what terms
- In what manner the production, use, and sale of pyrikhos-based techmaturgy shall be restricted, or expanded, in relation to the Noxian province of Aqora
- Such other related matters as the Council shall deem it proper to consider.
THE COUNCIL FURTHER DECLARES that a PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT shall be established to oversee Noxian rule in Qa’hhar for the duration of the dispute, and that NEITHER NOXUS NOR ZAUN SHALL MAKE ANY FURTHER DEPLOYMENT into the region pending completion of the dispute.
THE COUNCIL ENTIRELY FORBIDS any other nation from interference in this dispute, which shall be finally resolved by order of the Council in the month of July, in the 27th year from the founding of the League of Legends.
Let the word of the League be as law, lest all the powers of Runeterra arrange themselves against ye. There may be no appeal.
(1 May, 27 CLE)
Summoner’s Briefing
In the wake of these alarming developments from Qa’hhar, the staff of the Herald have prepared companion pieces to inform and educate our readership.
The views expressed herein belong solely to their authors, and represent neither the position of the Herald itself nor of the Council of the League of Legends.
War. Is it good for anyone?
Caught between the rebels and foreign forces, refugees from northern Shurima have grown weary of the endless conflict in the sands.
There has been a growing concern amidst the people living outside the capital of Shurima thanks to the current events, which mark the third consecutive conflict since the Hextech Revolution in the land of the Sun Disc.
With the recent conflict in Qa’hhar brewing, countless rural communities and smaller cities inside Noxian territory have been driven out of their homes yet again by a war none of them asked for. Waves of Shuriman refugees look to get away from northern Shurima and into the sovereign controlled south. Only Dar’khos has accepted to take in refugees while Bel’zhun and the capital are hesitant to let the bulk of them inside under the threat of accidentally letting Noxian and Zaunite spies in.
Some of them, already weary of constant war in their homeland, decide to leave Shurima altogether. The few wealthy among them take the Velocitronic Rail to Piltover from Dar’khos. For the rest awaits a long trek towards Bilgewater, the closest nation accepting refugees.
“Ever since they found that Void sand in our home, it’s been nothing but chaos for us out here year after year,” reports an old artisan travelling south with his family. “The road out of here is very dangerous, but a lot of people we knew died in the crossfire last war. So it’s better to take our chances out of there.”
The trek across the treacherous Xer’sai mounds, The Floating Pyramids, the Voodoo Lands and the territories of the River King would be impossible if not for the efforts of international activists, Summoners, a very few Nxian volunteers and of Champions willing to aid like Taliyah, who defend and protect the caravans from danger.
“Shurima will always be my home…but I understand why people would want out. So many broken promises. It’s as if people outside the capital didn’t truly matter to him…” Taliyah says with a sad intonation in her voice. “These are good people, they don’t deserve to suffer.”
Rammus was also among the volunteers, but he offered no comment on the situation beyond silent nods and concerned grunts.
Many have pointed out a distressing similarity between the ongoing conflict in Shurima and the Kalamanda Incident roughly six years ago, including the struggle for strategic resources, political intrigue and the League’s inability to maintain lasting stability in the region. This has emboldened an already vocal anti-league movement to make public protest against what they perceive as The Institute of War’s corruption and ineptitude making matters worse, demanding the dissolution of the organization altogether.
“Peace is neither easy nor quick. These are attributes not of peace but of war, the false virtues of violence,” responds High Councilor Kolminye to this dissent. “Peace is not easy, and it is not quick, but we the people of Runeterra committed ourselves to this hard, slow path twenty-seven years ago, with the founding of the League of Legends. It was Viktor and Talon, Champions of the League, who stopped the bloodshed in Qa’hhar today minutes after it began, and it was the League of Legends that started the process of building a lasting peace. This must not be taken for granted.”
When asked specifically about the comparison to Kalamanda, High Councilor Kolminye answered, “It is very like the Kalamanda Incident I remember, in which Demacia and Noxus came to the brink of a new Rune War, and the League, which at the time was frequently accused of being little more than a puppet of these two founding members, came between them to prevent that catastrophe. It is quite different from the Kalamanda Incident that person seems to remember, in which the League failed. If the League had failed at Kalamanda, there’d be no one left to have this conversation. As far as I’m concerned, the League’s greatest failure to date is that it was not founded a thousand years before it was.”
Asked if this was an allusion to the devastation of Nyroth by Rune Wars fallout, the High Councilor answered, “It was an allusion to a great many terrible things that transpired before the founding of the League. Students of Shuriman history can name a few, to be sure.”
As of now, public approval of The League of Legends is still high, but it remains to be seen how much political pull the anti-League movement develops in the near future.
Why here? Why now?
For those newer Summoners, and other members of our readership not fully versed in the histories of the many factions that have come together in the halls of the Instiute of War, here is a brief synopsis of the events leading up to the Qa’hhar Revolt.
Many moons ago, almost exactly three years to be precise, an unstable substance found in the sands of Shurima was finally brought to light by the renowned Yordle Physicist and Thaumatologist Prof. Merricurry. Merricurry discovered how to use pyrikhos, or Void Sand, and integrate the abundant, though unstable substance, into hextech devices, lowering costs and the rarity of the devices. While traditional hextech requires specialized components, pyrikhos can be used as a universal techmaturgic power source, enabling the mass production of such devices and bringing about what has been called the Hextech Revolution.
A year after that, Noxus, Piltover fought with the rising of Shurima over control of its vast sandy deserts. Noxus gained control over the majority of the desert country, with Piltover gaining a railway linking them to Bandle City and Shurima maintaining some vestige of independence in some areas.
However, in recent years as the demand for Pyrikhos grows Zaun has been making aggressive inroads into Noxian territory. The confusion between Pyrikhos rights granted by the Hextech Revolution and territory rights granted by the Lines in the Sand dispute has brought tensions between these two allied behemoths to a head.
FACTIONS 