Who they are
Maokai is the nature spirit who created the islands' original beauty. He fights to reclaim the land using the Waters of Life held in his heartwood.
Their story belongs to Shadow Isles. Once the Blessed Isles; now a land of mist, wraiths and the ruined.
Their story, step by step
- Step 1
A spirit of the Blessed Isles
Maokai is an ancient treant, born in an age long before Noxus. He began as a peaceful nature spirit of the Blessed Isles and lived there in harmony for thousands of years.
- Step 2
Cataclysm
A magical catastrophe destroyed his home. Maokai tried to save the sacred waters of the islands by drawing them into his roots. He escaped to the coast and founded a settlement with the water he saved.
- Step 3
Undeath and vengeance
The Waters of Life soaked into his heartwood and kept him alive through undeath. He is now an enraged, towering treant who fights the unnatural horrors of the Shadow Isles.
Turning points
- Gathering the sacred waters into his roots as the islands were destroyed
- Founding a settlement on the coast
- Becoming an undead slayer through the Waters of Life
Where their story stands now
Maokai fights to restore the Blessed Isles to what they were and seeks Viego, the Ruined King, whose actions Riot's lore ties to the cataclysm. The fate of the remaining plants and animals under his care is not clear, and Riot's lore leaves much of his background open.
Where this fits in the story
- Shadow Isles · step 1
The Blessed Isles
Before the Ruination the Blessed Isles were a center of learning and magic, with a city called Helia and the sacred Waters of Life.
- Shadow Isles · step 2
Viego and Isolde
Viego took his dead wife's body to the Waters of Life. She came back as a wraith of shadow and rage, and her anguished magic clashed with his enchanted blade, causing the blast that destroyed the kingdom.
- Shadow Isles · step 3
The Black Mist and the ruined
The Mist turned the islands into a cursed place. Thresh embraced undeath, Hecarim was fused with his steed and enslaved to the Mist, and Kalista, his betrayed general, became a spirit of vengeance.
- Shadow Isles · step 4
The Harrowing
Every so often the Black Mist spreads beyond the isles, letting weakened spirits manifest and hunt the living. Bilgewater is a frequent target.