Viego
Long ago, Viego ruled a forgotten kingdom. When his beloved wife died, he sought to defy death itself. But his desperate act unleashed the Ruination--a disaster that shattered magic and life alike. Consumed by grief and transformed into a spectral being, Viego rose as the Ruined King. Driven by obsession, he commands the Harrowings and unleashes the Black Mist across Runeterra, laying waste to all in his relentless search to bring her back.
Opening
Welcome, lore-lovers, to Liandrug, where we dive deep into the stories that shape the worlds we love. Today, we're unraveling the tale of Viego, the Ruined King, whose obsessive love shattered a kingdom and unleashed a dark fate on the world. Let's explore his tragic journey together!
The Chronicle
Far to the east, beyond distant seas, stood a kingdom now erased from memory, its name scattered like the ruins that line its forsaken shores. Few recall its fate, and fewer still the name of the young king whose heart, ruled by love, brought about its end.
His name was--still is--Viego.
Born the second son of a powerful monarch, Viego was never destined to wear the crown. His early life was one of luxury, untouched by duty or responsibility, shaping him into a man both selfish and complacent. But fate turned cruel and swift; his elder brother's sudden death forced Viego into a role he neither desired nor was prepared for.
He approached the throne with indifference, disconnected from the weight of his station--until he met Isolde, a seamstress of no noble blood. Struck by her beauty, he offered her his hand in marriage, and in doing so, one of the most powerful rulers of the time took a peasant girl as his queen.
Their love was nothing short of a fairytale. Viego, once absorbed only in himself, found in Isolde a reason to change. He adored her wholly, rarely letting her out of his sight. She became his constant companion, the focus of all his attention and affection. Lavish gifts followed wherever she walked, and when she spoke, the world around him seemed to fade.
Viego's court grew restless. His advisors, unable to draw his focus from Isolde or the affairs of state, watched as the kingdom slowly fractured under his neglect. Discontent festered in the shadows, and whispers of betrayal began to rise. Beyond the kingdom's borders, enemies sensed weakness, and moved to exploit it.
One day, a blade found its way through the palace defenses--not to Viego, but to Isolde. The assassin's dagger, laced with poison, missed the king and grazed the queen instead.
The venom coursed through her quickly, casting Isolde into a deep, unshakable torpor. Viego, powerless to stop her decline, watched helplessly as her life withered before him. In desperation, he emptied the royal vaults, sparing no coin or resource to save her.
But his efforts failed. Isolde died, and something within Viego shattered.
Madness overtook him. He refused to believe she was truly gone. His obsession with reversing death consumed him. The wealth of the realm was poured into forbidden knowledge and arcane pursuits, as the kingdom crumbled in his absence. Alone with her body, Viego grew twisted--furious, vengeful, lost to grief.
Then word reached him of the Blessed Isles, where sacred waters were said to cure any affliction. Viego led his armies across the seas, descending upon the peaceful land with fire and steel. None were spared. Through blood and ruin, he carved a path to the heart of the Isles, and there, in the depths of their sanctuary, he placed Isolde's body in the hallowed waters.
He would see her return, no matter the desecration. No matter the price.
And for a fleeting moment, his wish came true.
Isolde rose--not as she once was, but as a wraith born of agony and shadow. In her torment and confusion, torn from the peace of death, she seized Viego's own enchanted blade and drove it through his heart. The sacred waters collided with the cursed magic of the sword, unleashing a violent surge of power. The chamber exploded in a wave of dark energy, sweeping across the Blessed Isles and binding all it touched in cursed, eternal undeath.
Viego remembers none of it. His kingdom fell, forgotten in the wake of cataclysm. Ages passed, empires rose and crumbled, and his name faded from history. Until, a thousand years later, Viego returned.
Twisted by the same obsession that consumed him in life, he rose as something more--something worse. Driven by a deranged, unwavering devotion, every act he commits is to reclaim Isolde. The Black Mist flows endlessly from the wound in his heart, devouring life wherever it spreads. Through this mist, Viego searches unceasingly, seeking any means to bring her back.
Where he walks, death follows. The slain rise to serve him. Entire lands vanish into shadow. And for each joyful memory the world stole from him, he demands a thousand lives in return.
He sees nothing but her.
His reign is dread.
His love, undying.
And until Isolde breathes again, none shall stand before the Ruined King.
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Champion's relations
Let us now turn from the tale of Viego's descent into madness and ruin, and speak of those who walked beside him--willingly or not. These are the ones tied to his tragic legend, whose fates were forever bound to the Ruined King.
Kalista, Viego's niece and trusted general, shared a deep bond with him, more like siblings than kin. Their connection weakened as Viego's obsession with the throne grew, but Kalista remained loyal. When an assassin targeted Viego, it was Kalista who intervened, but the blow struck Isolde instead. In search of a cure, Kalista returned too late, and was imprisoned for her failure. Persuaded by Hecarim, she led Viego's forces to the Blessed Isles. When Viego ordered the slaughter of the island's defenders, Kalista refused, and for her defiance, she was slain by Hecarim's blade.
Hecarim, master of the Iron Order, led the king's enforcers with cold efficiency. Though sworn to serve Camavor, his loyalty to Viego was not born of honor, but of ambition. When unrest threatened the throne, it was Hecarim who silenced dissent. When Viego marched upon the Blessed Isles, it was Hecarim and his knights who razed the sacred grounds, plundering as the king sought the forbidden waters. Hecarim's heart was void of reverence; he followed Viego not out of fealty, but for the license to spread terror and feed upon the spoils of the Black Mist.
From distant Camavor came Vladimir, whom Viego called uncle--though their blood ties were faint. A scion of the same ancient line, Vladimir had long since fallen under the sway of his Darkin master, and watched the world through eyes that no longer aged. He sent yearly letters to his homeland, ritual gestures of courtesy to a crown that no longer knew him. After Isolde's poisoning, Vladimir's words went unanswered--Viego, shattered by grief, never knew that his distant kin possessed the very power that might have saved her.
Isolde, Viego's tragic love, was a seamstress before becoming the center of his world. Beautiful and kind, she was suffocated by Viego's possessive love. He saw her not as an equal, but as something to perfect, lashing out when she failed to meet his impossible ideals. His obsession, twisted by a belief she was his to own, consumed him. When Viego brought her back from death, she rose in agony and struck him with his own sword, causing the Ruination. When revived again, she rejected him, horrified by the destruction he caused. In the end, she allowed herself to be killed by Akshan's Absolver, her soul helping Gwen and Senna weaken Viego.
Gwen, a doll brought to life by Isolde's magic, knew Viego only as the source of her pain. She held within her a shard of Isolde's soul, and with it, a deep sorrow. She stood against Viego, joining the Sentinels of Light in defiance of his madness, wielding the threads of memory and spirit to mend what had been torn asunder.
It was Thresh who led Viego to the Waters of Life, the cunning jailer who had long plotted from within the Shadow Isles. Together with Gangplank, he woke the slumbering king, hoping to use him to seize Bilgewater. But Thresh's schemes ran deeper still--for while Viego spread the Black Mist, Thresh secretly siphoned its power to loosen the chains that bound him to undeath.
Senna bore a shard of Isolde's soul, and with it, the burden of being hunted by the Mist. Trapped within Thresh's lantern for years, she learned the truth of Viego's obsession. When she was freed, she and her husband Lucian resolved to end Viego's reign. Upon confronting her, Viego attempted to pull Isolde's soul from her, but failed. In the final battle, Senna joined Gwen, Akshan, and a new Sentinel to defeat Viego and bind him in the Hallowed Mist.
During the Rise of the Sentinels, Vex, the melancholic yordle, aided Viego in his global Ruination. Drawn to his despair and darkness, she found purpose in his desire to drown the world in sorrow. But once she saw that his motivations stemmed not from true nihilism, but from love, she abandoned him, disillusioned.
As Viego spread his ruin, champions rose to confront him. Maokai and Yorick hunted him to restore the Blessed Isles. The Maiden of the Mist carried a fragment of Isolde's soul. In Ruined King, Ahri, Braum, Illaoi, Miss Fortune, Pyke, and Yasuo sailed to the Shadow Isles to stop him. He tempted Miss Fortune with offers of power and resurrection--but she rejected him and sealed him within a Buhru artifact. But Viego would escape. The harrowings he unleashed spread like wildfire across Runeterra. Darius, Karma, Poppy, Samira, and Vayne rose to repel the darkness. And as his influence grew, he corrupted champions like Draven, Pantheon, Miss Fortune, Shyvana, and even Karma. In response, the Sentinels of Light rallied their might--Diana, Graves, Irelia, Olaf, Pyke, Rengar, Riven, and more stood against the tide.
The world stands still in the shadow of the Ruined King--his love undying, his madness without end. Until he sees Isolde again, all who stand before him shall be swept away by the tide of the Black Mist.
Closing Words
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