Who they are
Mel Medarda is the presumed heir of House Medarda, a politician with an uncanny gift for reading others' emotions. Exiled to Piltover, she rose to its Council and championed hextech.
Her abduction by the Black Rose revealed her latent solar magic. She returned to Noxus to face her mother's secrets and the group that hunted her family.
Their story belongs to Noxus and also touches Piltover. An empire that rewards strength, wherever it comes from.
Their story, step by step
- Step 1
A Medarda heir
Mel was born in Rokrund Citadel to the general Ambessa Medarda and her husband Azizi, a merchant. Her real father was Rudo, a Targonian sun-worshipping painter, though this was hidden. Ambessa trained her in the family's ideals of the cunning fox and the ruthless wolf. At fifteen she saw her mother behead the captured Ionian Lady Mion despite Mel's plea for mercy, a memory that stayed with her.
- Step 2
The succession war
After her great-grandfather Menelik died with no named heir, House Medarda split into factions. Mel secretly got golden Targonian sun tattoos from Rudo, stayed in the city against orders and built her own alliances, including a friendship with Tivadar Medarda. Azizi died in a carriage accident that may have been sabotage.
- Step 3
Exile to Piltover
Ambessa had Tivadar killed even after Mel arranged a deal with her. When Mel confronted her, Ambessa called her compassion weakness and sent her to Piltover with her companion Elora. There she built House Medarda's trade power, became the city's richest resident and won a seat on its Council.
- Step 4
Champion of hextech
She backed Jayce Talis and Viktor in their hextech work and helped them past Heimerdinger's objections. The Hexgate made Piltover a trade hub. She later helped bring Jayce onto the Council and, as their partnership grew into a romance, supported removing Heimerdinger.
- Step 5
The Black Rose
When Ambessa came to Piltover demanding hextech weapons against an unnamed threat, Mel refused and broke with her. The Black Rose then abducted her and killed Elora. In captivity her latent solar magic woke, and a sorceress later revealed as LeBlanc offered her a place in the Black Rose, which Mel ultimately refused.
- Step 6
Back to Noxus
After the fighting in Piltover, Ambessa died in Mel's arms, telling her she was the Wolf. Mel left the Council, took her mother's battle mask and warband and sailed for Noxus to learn her family's secrets. She vowed to change Noxus without giving up mercy.
Turning points
- Watching her mother execute Lady Mion
- Being exiled to Piltover
- Backing hextech and Jayce
- Refusing LeBlanc's offer
- Taking her mother's mask and returning to Noxus
Where their story stands now
Mel is in Noxus as the presumed heir of House Medarda, with solar magic and her mother's forces. The Black Rose and LeBlanc remain dangerous, and her brother Kino's death, Rudo's whereabouts and her broken bond with Jayce are all unresolved.
Who they are tied to
- Ambessa →Ambessa shaped Mel with harsh lessons, exiled her, then died in her arms after naming her the Wolf, leaving Mel to carry on while rejecting her bloodlust.
- Jayce →Mel promoted Jayce within Piltover's Council and they became partners, but he left after discovering her magic, and they are not reconciled.
- Viktor →Mel supported Viktor's work but opposed him when his transformation turned threatening, and she helped destroy his machine puppet.
- Heimerdinger →Mel overruled Heimerdinger over hextech and later backed his removal from the Council, so their alliance was uneasy.
- Caitlyn →Mel defended Caitlyn from execution during the fighting in Piltover.
- LeBlanc →LeBlanc, disguised, offered Mel a place in the Black Rose after her abduction, and Mel refused and destroyed LeBlanc's shadow.
- Alistar →A minotaur warrior who escaped Noxian gladiator slavery and now fights for the oppressed.
Where this fits in the story
- Noxus · step 1
From tyranny to tribes
Before Noxus existed, the Immortal Bastion belonged to Mordekaiser, whose reign is remembered as the Age of Tyranny. After the Rune Wars the Noxii tribes took the fortress and founded modern Noxus.
- Noxus · step 2
The rivalry with Demacia
Noxus and Demacia fought on and off for centuries. Sion's killing of King Jarvan I is the war's most famous moment.
- Noxus · step 3
The invasion of Ionia
For about five years Noxus invaded Ionia, conquering territory and taking magical artifacts. The campaign finally failed, and Irelia led the Ionian resistance.
- Noxus · step 4
The Trifarix
Around 990 AN Swain overthrew Emperor Darkwill and a council of three replaced the emperor. The wiki describes a second invasion of Ionia as looming.