Who they are
Jayce Talis is a councilor of Piltover and, with Viktor, a pioneer of hextech.
Their story belongs to Piltover. The city of progress, built on top of the city it ignores.
Their story, step by step
- Step 1
A toolmaker's son
Jayce was born into House Talis, a family of toolmakers, and lost his father early. As a child, he and his mother were caught in a snowstorm and rescued by a hooded mage who gave him a runic crystal. That meeting inspired his life's goal of shaping magic through science, which became hextech.
- Step 2
The Academy and the fall
He left the family business to study at the Piltover Academy, where Professor Heimerdinger and Clan Kiramman backed him. His unauthorized hextech research ended when thieves broke in and an unstable crystal exploded, destroying his building. He was expelled and the Kiramman family cut him off.
- Step 3
Partnership with Viktor
Viktor, Heimerdinger's assistant, had been moved by Jayce's speech at his trial and helped him stabilize the crystals. Together they made their first working hextech experiment in Heimerdinger's lab. Their partnership produced many inventions, including the Hexgate, which made Piltover a global shipping hub and earned Jayce the name Man of Progress.
- Step 4
A seat on the Council
At the Progress Day celebration Jayce was chosen to give the main speech, and he followed Heimerdinger's advice to be cautious. After a hextech gemstone was stolen, Councilor Mel Medarda proposed creating an eighth Council seat for him. The Council agreed unanimously, putting Jayce in a role of real political power.
Turning points
- Was rescued as a child and given a runic crystal
- Was expelled after his hextech workshop exploded
- Built the Hexgate with Viktor
- Became a Councilor of Piltover
Where their story stands now
The League sources used here describe Jayce as a Piltover councilor and Viktor's hextech partner. Where his story goes beyond this point is not covered here.
Who they are tied to
Where this fits in the story
- Piltover · step 1
A port destroyed and rebuilt
Around 772 AN a canal project went catastrophically wrong and destroyed an old port city. Piltover was rebuilt above, and Zaun below.
- Piltover · step 2
The Sun Gates
The opening of the Sun Gates around 789 AN made merchant clans rich and set the pattern of wealth in the north of the city.
- Piltover · step 3
Hextech
Jayce Talis and Viktor turned research into hextech, and Piltover became a global center for innovation.
- Piltover · step 4
From the Day of Ash to open war
The Day of Ash was a massacre that followed undercity revolutionaries' push for independence. Years later Jinx attacked the Council, Piltover occupied the undercity and a brutal war followed. It ended in an uneasy new arrangement that gives Zaun representation.