Who they are
Bard is a celestial being who experiences the universe as music rather than sight. He travels between worlds protecting powerful artifacts and keeping the cosmic harmony intact.
He built a physical form from instruments and trinkets and is followed by small helpers called meeps. He steps in only when events threaten the larger balance, not for ordinary mortal troubles.
Their story belongs to Wanderers. Demons, spirits and ancient survivors that belong to no single place.
Their story, step by step
- Step 1
Music before the world
Bard is a Celestial who existed before the physical world and drifted without purpose. When Aurelion Sol made the first stars, Bard heard it as a symphony of creation, and that sound taught him to sense the universe through music rather than sight. Small helpers called meeps gathered around him, born from the leftover inspiration of the star-making.
- Step 2
Noticing Runeterra
He later sensed Runeterra, whose chaotic music clashed with cosmic harmony even though he found it beautiful. To reach the material world he built a body from instruments and trinkets taken from an Ionian shawm-player's wagon.
- Step 3
Bard Mountain
During the Noxian invasion of Ionia, mortals found a celestial artifact of great power. A village sage used it against Noxian soldiers and the blast split a mountain. Bard took the artifact to the celestial realm, and his presence left a three-pointed constellation, after which the mountain was named.
- Step 4
A distant guardian
Other accounts describe strangers meeting him, such as a Freljord balladeer turned briefly into a meep and a man called Old Gaff who saw a vortex of meeps at a temple. Bard guards dangerous artifacts and ignores events with no cosmic stakes, such as the Watcher invasion, the fall of Shurima and the ruination of Helia.
- Step 5
Looking at Xolaani
Most recently he has watched Xolaani, a Darkin who has taken a new host, though why is not stated.
Turning points
- Hearing the first stars being made
- Building a physical form to enter Runeterra
- Taking the artifact from Bard Mountain
Where their story stands now
Bard keeps guarding artifacts and watching for a cataclysm that the lore does not name. Why he is watching Xolaani is unexplained.
Who they are tied to
- Aurelion Sol →Aurelion Sol's creation of the first stars awoke Bard's sense of music.
- Ryze →Riot's lore says Bard and Ryze likely share work protecting powerful magic like the World Runes, but notes it is unclear whether they have met.
- Soraka →Fellow celestial
- Ivern →A gentle tree-like spirit who tends life across Runeterra, redeeming his past as a warlord.
Where this fits in the story
- Wanderers · step 1
Demons of fear and misery
Evelynn and Nocturne are demons that came to life during the Rune Wars, Fiddlesticks is a very old demon of fear, and Tahm Kench travels the waterways feeding on bad bargains. None of them is tied to one kingdom.
- Wanderers · step 2
Spirits and celestials
Kindred are twin spirits of death, Lamb and Wolf, who shepherd souls onward. Bard is a celestial being who travels between worlds protecting powerful artifacts.
- Wanderers · step 3
Survivors of older ages
Aatrox and Zaahen were Ascended warriors of Shurima who became Darkin. Jax and Zilean come from Icathia, which fell when the Void was unleashed. Ryze hunts World Runes, fragments of primordial magic, to keep them from being misused.
- Wanderers · step 4
Travellers with a cause
Alistar escaped Noxian gladiator slavery, Nami left her underwater tribe to save it, Shaco is a marionette turned jester, and Senna turns the Black Mist against itself to free trapped souls.