Kayn
Shieda Kayn is a master of deadly shadow magic, unmatched by his peers. His relentless battles are driven by a singular goal: to ascend to leadership within the Order of Shadow and usher in a new era of Ionian dominance. In his hands is the sentient darkin weapon Rhaast, which slowly corrupts both his body and spirit. The outcome of this dangerous alliance is stark: either Kayn will subjugate the weapon to his command, or the malevolent blade will ultimately consume him, heralding the ruin of all Runeterra.
Opening
Welcome back, lore-lovers! Today on Liandrug, we dive into the shadowy depths of League of Legends lore to explore the enigmatic figure of Kayn. Join me as we unravel the tale of this peerless practitioner of lethal shadow magic and his relentless pursuit of destiny within the Order of Shadow.
Champion's story
Born in Noxus, Shieda Kayn was among many children conscripted into the brutal ranks of child soldiers, a sinister strategy favored by the most cunning commanders in Boram Darkwill's empire. After the catastrophic battle at the Placidium of Navori, the Noxian invasion tactics shifted to exploit Ionian compassion as a tactical weakness. The invaders turned the conflict into a prolonged war of attrition, counting on the Ionian warriors' reluctance to harm supposed innocents.
On the shores of the Epool River, near the province of Bahrl, the Noxian forces made landfall. Kayn and his fellow conscripts reluctantly took up the front line, facing off against disorganized bands of local defenders fiercely protecting their homeland from the returning invaders. As chaos ensued and young soldiers fell or fled, Kayn displayed an unexpected bravery. Discarding his cumbersome sword, he seized a fallen sickle and defiantly confronted the astonished Ionians just as Noxian regulars surged in from the flank.
The scene of devastation was harrowing. Farmers, hunters, and even a few vastaya--all lay slaughtered without mercy.
Two days later, news of the massacre reached the southern provinces, drawing the attention of the Order of Shadow. Zed, their leader, understood that this brutal act held no strategic value; it was a ruthless message from Noxus, signaling their merciless resolve.
Amidst the grim aftermath, Zed's gaze was caught by a glint of steel. A mere child, barely ten years old, lay in the mud, defiantly pointing his broken sickle at the master assassin. Despite his youth, the boy's eyes burned with a deep-seated pain and fury that surpassed his tender age. Zed recognized in this resilient Noxian survivor a raw potential--a weapon waiting to be honed against those who had sent him to die.
Extending his hand, Zed welcomed Kayn into the Order of Shadow, seeing not just a survivor, but a formidable ally forged in the crucible of tragedy and loss.
Acolytes traditionally devoted years to mastering a single weapon of their choice, but Kayn defied convention by mastering them all. To him, weapons were mere extensions of his own lethal capabilities; armor, a cumbersome hindrance. Instead, he embraced shadows, relying on swiftness and stealth to dispatch foes with chilling efficiency, leaving survivors to tremble in fear.
As Kayn's renown swelled, so did his pride. He harbored a deep conviction that his power would one day surpass even Zed's.
Driven by this arrogance, Kayn undertook his ultimate trial: retrieving a recently unearthed darkin weapon in Noxus to prevent its use against Ionian defenders. Without hesitation, he accepted the task, never questioning his selection. While others would have destroyed the sentient scythe named Rhaast, Kayn claimed it for himself.
The moment Kayn grasped Rhaast, corruption seized them both in an unyielding struggle. Rhaast, eager to reunite with its darkin brethren and unleash chaos upon the world, sought domination. Yet Kayn refused to yield. Returning to Ionia victorious, Kayn was convinced Zed would anoint him as the new leader of the Order of Shadow. Now, his ambitions are big, we shall see in the future if Kayn will be the new leader or if his behavior will mark him as unstable, since he is in a constant battle for control over his own body. Let's now see what happened when Kayn was on his final mission, to retrieve the darkin weapon, in the story "The Blade of Millenia".
The story starts with Kayn standing beneath the looming Noxtoraa, surrounded by the fallen, Kayn smirked at the bitter irony. These dark stone arches, symbols of Noxian might and dominance, now stood as grim tombstones marking the hubris of their vanquished foes.
Kayn reveled in the fear that emanated from these once-proud warriors. Fear was his ally, a weapon as potent as any blade wielded by his Order brethren.
Yet, amidst the familiar soil of Noxus and amidst the chaos of battle, an unsettling unease crept upon him, like a gathering storm awaiting release.
Nakuri, another acolyte of the Order, poised for a personal confrontation, attempting to mask his trepidation. "What will it be, brother?" he challenged, the tremor in his voice betraying his nerves.
Kayn remained silent, hands casually at his sides, exuding confidence. Despite his control, a fleeting sense of dj vu gripped him, a sensation akin to a distant dream that flashed briefly before fading.
A voice, laden with darkness and ancient malice, erupted from the void between them, challenging them both with haunting echoes of a thousand battles past.
"Who will prove worthy?"
Back in time a bit, Zed summoned forth his greatest student. Reports from Order spies confirmed the unsettling truth: the Noxians had unearthed a darkin scythe of formidable power, its crimson eye radiating malevolent allure. None who dared wield it had survived its insidious influence; hence, it was encased in chainmail and cloth, safeguarded on its journey to the Immortal Bastion.
Shieda Kayn understood the weight of his final trial.
As he approached the coastal city of Vindor, the audacity of his mission dawned on him. Striking the enemy within their own territory was daring, but so was Kayn himself. Zed's trust in him was unwavering; Kayn was the only one capable of this task, destined for greatness.
Before sunset, Kayn laid his trap near the noxtoraa. In the distance, the approaching caravan stirred dust into the orange sky--a harbinger of the impending clash. This was the moment to dispatch the three guards and seize the darkin scythe.
Silent as the lengthening shadow cast by the archway, Kayn stalked his prey. As the first guard patrolled, Kayn melded with the black stone wall, summoned by his mastery of shadow magic. From his concealed vantage point, he observed the guards' vigilant stance, gripping their pikes tightly.
Emerging swiftly from the shadows, Kayn extinguished the second guard's life with a lethal grip. Before the third could react, Kayn dissolved into tendrils of darkness, darting across the cobbled road to reform before his next victim. In a fluid motion, he swiftly dispatched the guard, effortlessly snapping the man's neck.
The sound of lifeless bodies hitting the ground alerted the remaining guard, who turned towards Kayn.
With a chilling smile, Kayn savored the fear that gripped the soldier. "It paralyzes, doesn't it?" he hissed from the shadows. "The fear..."
Rising from the soldier's own trembling shadow, Kayn continued, "This is the part where you run, Noxian. Tell others what you witnessed here."
The terrified soldier dropped his pike and fled towards Vindor, but his escape was short-lived.
Nakuri, dressed in dark robes akin to Kayn's, emerged suddenly and fatally intercepted the fleeing soldier with a swift strike of his katana. Locking eyes with Kayn, Nakuri's words dripped with disdain for Noxus' vaunted strength.
Kayn's frustration simmered beneath his calm exterior. "I knew you were impetuous, brother," Kayn spat. "But this? Following me all this way, hoping to share in my glory?"
With the approaching caravan audible, Kayn instructed Nakuri to conceal himself. "Get out of sight, Nakuri. I will deal with you later. If you survive."
As twilight cast its long shadows, concealing the fallen guards, the approaching soldiers drew near the grand arch.
"Hold!" shouted the lead outrider, unsheathing his sword. "Fan out! Now!"
Confusion rippled among the soldiers as they dismounted, revealing their cargo for the first time to Kayn's eyes--a package, as Zed had described, swathed in chainmail and sackcloth strapped to a sturdy Vindoran steed.
Impetuously, Nakuri lunged at the nearest soldier, but Kayn remained composed, selecting his target with precision. He swiftly dispatched the lead outrider, using the soldier's own sword against him.
Turning back towards the Vindoran steed, Kayn's heart sank as he realized the darkin scythe was no longer there.
"No," he muttered, refusing to accept failure.
"Kayn!" Nakuri's urgent cry snapped Kayn's attention back. The acolyte was cutting through the soldiers, each strike calculated and deadly. "Behind you!"
A desperate Noxian soldier had seized the darkin scythe, its crimson eye blazing with inhuman rage. The soldier, clearly losing control, swung wildly at his own comrades, unable to release the weapon's grip.
The rumors were indeed true.
Drawing on his mastery of shadow magic, Kayn plunged into the writhing Noxian soldier corrupted by the darkin entity. In that fleeting moment, he glimpsed through the eyes of an ageless, tormented being--a specter of enduring pain and malevolence. This creature embodied pure evil, a force that demanded to be halted.
Erupting from the fractured remnants of the Noxian's transformed flesh--now hardened scales shattering into dust--Kayn confronted the dormant darkin scythe, its crimson eye closed. As Nakuri dispatched the final foes, he implored Kayn to destroy the weapon.
"No," Kayn asserted firmly. "It is mine."
The tension mounted between them as warning bells echoed beyond the city limits, signaling approaching danger. The standoff stretched in silence.
Nakuri readied his blade, pressing Kayn for a decision.
Then, the darkin scythe spoke--a haunting echo within Kayn's mind that widened Nakuri's eyes in realization.
"Who will prove worthy?"
Kayn conjured tendrils of darkness that lifted the scythe into his grasp, feeling an undeniable kinship with the weapon. With practiced ease, he aimed the blade at Nakuri's throat.
"Do what you must"
Champion's relations
Now let's see what kind of relations Kayn has and with whom, the obvious one is with Zed, his master. As a young child soldier, Kayn's potential caught Zed's discerning eye. The master assassin took him under his wing, providing sustenance, shelter, and purpose within the Order of Shadow. Over time, Kayn became Zed's favored and most loyal disciple, entrusted with valuable secrets and envisioned as a potential successor should Zed ever fall.
Despite pressure from Kusho to betray Zed, Kayn remained resolute in his loyalty. Zed had rescued him from despair, granting him a new life and purpose that Kayn could not overlook.
Yet, as Kayn's skills and confidence swelled, so did his arrogance. He began to believe that with the power of Rhaast, he could surpass even Zed himself--an ambition that simmered beneath his unwavering loyalty.
Kayn's fixation on wielding Rhaast stems from his belief that it is his destined path, even if it means risking the Darkin's corrupting influence to unlock his full potential. Despite Rhaast's attempts to manipulate Kayn towards violence, Kayn resists, locked in a relentless battle for control over his own body. Kayn's ultimate goal is to dominate Rhaast completely and harness the dark power for himself.
During an encounter with Jhin, Kayn, Zed, and other members of the Order of Shadow faced a perilous attack, further highlighting the dangers they confront in their shadowy world.
There are hints that Kayn may hold romantic feelings towards Akali, though she views him as attractive yet too unpredictable for her liking.
Kusho, once a manipulative figure in Kayn's life, sought to exploit Kayn's loyalty by ordering him to betray Zed. However, Kayn remained steadfast in his allegiance to Zed, whom he regards as his mentor and savior.
Royce, another former child soldier of Noxus, shares a unique bond with Kayn, seeing him as a comrade with a shared past marked by hardship and conflict.
In pursuit of power, Kayn clashed with Master Yi and his Wuju disciples to secure the Darkin Bloodletters, a testament to Kayn's relentless ambition and determination.
Closing Words
And that concludes our exploration into the intriguing lore of Kayn, the Shadow Reaper. For all you lore-lovers out there, we've delved into Kayn's complex journey from a child soldier to Zed's favored disciple, grappling with the allure and peril of the darkin scythe, Rhaast.
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Until next time, may the shadows guide your path. Thanks for watching!
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