Primordial_Ant

Primordial_Ant



21 Sep

Comment

Originally posted by gwenn18

I loved this book to pieces! i think it didn’t have any questions left unanswered except for this one (for me): why did the Blade of the King choose Viego?

We are talking about a sword that, which I understood, would literally kill a Camavoran heir the moment they showed a sign of not being worthy, no matter how small it was.

So what did the sword see on Viego that was so worthy to the point of ignoring his obvious bad traits (that would eventually lead him to destroy to countries in one shot).

I mean, I don’t want to question the Blade’s judgements but I’m curious.

Hi there!

I don't think anyone in Camavor really knows why someone gets chosen by the blade while others get obliterated. I could see them building up a whole mythology around it without really having any idea how it works--it didn't come with an instruction manual. And I'd say it depends on what exactly the blade looks for in a wielder. The previous owner, the Lion of Camavor, was probably not the finest example of humanity in many ways, but he was a strong leader intent on conquest and violence - so it probably wasn't looking for character flaws. And if the blade is assessing potential owners for violence and the potential for conquest? Viego probably fit the bill pretty well, actually.


18 Sep

Comment

Originally posted by Rockinrussomano

I honestly just want to say thank you to all of you for an AMAZING book. I loved every page, all of you are awesome.

Huzzah!

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Originally posted by Faithdiana

Hi, Ant. I came to this book for Kalista but was amazed by your expansion on Ryze. May I ask if his entire story arc, mainly his connection with Grael, determined back when he was reworked or did you come up with it while writing the book? What thoughts did you have about him while writing?

His development here was pretty much new stuff for the book - it felt right for him. It was really enjoyable getting to see him (and many of the other characters) in a much earlier era, when he had a very different outlook on the world.

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Originally posted by trickyderpy

Any plans to write the whole shurima history?

I mean, I'd love to. I really enjoyed fleshing out a tiny bit of Renekton/Nasus's backstory, some years back, as well the really small amount of work I got to do around Azir's story, and what it all could mean going forward for Sivir, etc. Maybe one day!

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Originally posted by tossingbeavers

When starting a novel, you need to do a lot of research... So I was wondering (especially since Riot has so many lore existing IP's launching at disjointed times) how much of the world was revealed to you before starting the project? Is there a giant lore lexicon somewhere in Riot that you can refer to when talking about characters? There was a lot of unexpected lore drops we got (Like clan Ferros interaction and some Bhuru stuff!) and it all seemed to flow cohesively in the universe.

I guess it's easier since this is hundreds of years before contemporary timeline, but how difficult was it making sure that research aligned with what's current?

Thanks again for all your work and best wishes!

Well, I've been working at Riot on the narrative/lore/worldbuilding side of things since 2014, which certainly made this easier. Had I been an outside writer, I would have needed to lean really hard on my editor (or rather, even harder) to make sure things were lining up, to give me 'insider' info on the world and champs, spent considerable time doing my research, etc.

Comment

Originally posted by Papuchochoe

My other questions are;

  1. Promotion; were you considering making a Human Kalista or Hecarim skins to come out together with King Viego? Was there any chance they were supposed to come out with the book as a free extra for purchasing it?
  2. Illustrations; was there any more planned illustrations? Especially since the trailer contains some not present in the book etc..
  3. Story; was Hecarim's horse a mare or stallion? >! was the one from the start of the book the one that merges with him?!<
  4. The Ruined King game; I'm a bit sad we didn't get any Vesani mention in the novel, since they were so important in the book, was it intentional?
  5. How long have Viego and Isolde been married? 1 year, more or less?
  6. Were Vennix and Jenda'kaya a thing? 👉👈❤️
  7. Sorry, I want to ask more questions... I know you already said you wanted to add Vlad but couldn't fit him in the narrative, but were you considering ad...
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Hey there, sorry you missed the live AMA, but I wanted to jump in and give you some answers. I'll answer the ones that are my department:

  1. I did consider giving his steed a name and bit of its own 'history/mythology' (like Bucephalus, Alexander the Great's horse). If it was more Hecarim's story, I might have explored that, but I felt it would have been a bit too much of a tangent off Kalista's story. Also, I'm not sure Hecarim is the person who would have love for an individual horse - I could see him viewing them as just a tool for him, and not having any real affection for them, just wanting a well-trained, big, aggressive warhorse, but not really caring which one it was, so long as it served his needs. (Though I did joke at one point that the man's name could be "Hec" and the steed "Arim", so when they get spiritually merged, it forms the full name).

  2. Partly due to the timing of things. I wrote the first draft...

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Comment

Originally posted by Papuchochoe

Hello! I loved the book a lot!

My biggest question, I wanted to ask for a while is; was it intended to so heavily hint that Viego may have BPD? His behavior checks pretty much all the boxes, and people who have it, just feel like he's so BPD-coded too, I was wondering if it was the intention or just something accidental? Is it okay to assume he has BPD?

Hey there,

I can't speak for the League champ team, who did the heavy lifting on developing Viego's personality, so I'm genuinely unsure. From my side of things, I didn't consciously say "yeah, this guy has BPD" - but did pinpoint many of the typically associated behaviours and traits as things I wanted to portray in my depiction of him in the book.

Comment

Originally posted by CocaineNinja

u/Primordial_Ant Not really a question, just wanted to say that I loved your 40K work!

Ha! Thank you!

Comment

Originally posted by Antergaton

Literally did this while I was sleeping, sad times. Good reading through the comments and questions though, thanks for your time.

Sorry 'bout that! We (the folks doing the AMA) are in different time zones ourselves, so it wasn't really possible to find a time that worked everywhere. Hopefully in future we can vary the time to let folks from different parts of the world participate.


16 Sep

Comment

Originally posted by SaucesOfFieri

What other champs did you consider putting in there that weren't previously related to the Ruination? (like Ryze and Soraka)

Teemo, obviously. ;)

Comment

Originally posted by Regular-Poet-3657

So what happen to the rune? And is what happen to the rune a consequence of what happens if other rune get shattered? And what happen to Vladimir?

The POV characters in the book didn't get to see exactly what happened to the rune, so it wasn't something the book needed to focus on. I have my ideas, but not sure that needs to be completely defined at this point - someone else at Riot might have a better idea (or maybe I'll have a better idea), so sometimes it's nice not to commit publicly to a direction if we don't need to.

As for Vlad? I'd have liked to have him appear, but I think I'd have need considerably more pages in the book than I had to do him justice. This was Kalista's story, really, and we needed to be fairly ruthless to keep it focused.

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Originally posted by Eloquent44

What has writing this book taught you about approaching the lore for the mmo?

Hmm, I'm not sure specifically. Probably more just a reinforcement about how big and beloved this IP is, and how important it is to treat our champions (and our regions, cultures etc) with deep respect. Every champ is someone's favorite, and every part of the world is someone's favorite, so I think approaching everything with a certain humility and respect it really important.

Comment

Originally posted by refuse_2_wipe_my_ass

what is the name of the continent that camavor is shown on in the map included with the book?

another rioter on here, i believe it may have been reav3 (not 100% sure) once said we were previously only seeing about 1/6th of the world with just the continents of valoran/shurima/ionia. are there current plans to expand the lore of this new continent past this book and nilah (assuming kathkan is one of those “independent kingdoms” on the map)? or any other continents and societies besides the ones we’re already so familiar with?

Currently undefined, I believe, or at least there has not been a product shipped that needed to define it. I'm sure more of Runeterra will be explored in the future, but it's hard to say exactly where, or when (or how). Not he most satisfying answer, sorry!

Comment

Originally posted by Hypernova749

Hey guys, I was wondering what you could share about future lore releases. Are there more shorts and novels on the horizon? Which stories/regions are the most interesting for y’all to explore? Thanks doing this AUA!

I'd love to see more stories, for sure, but I'm slightly biased!

I love Noxus, and the Freljord, in particular... oh, and Zaun. And Demacia. Oh, and... I guess I just like them all, really.

Comment

Originally posted by GammaRhoKT

Outside the scope of the book perhaps, but is there any trace in cultures between the familiar regions of the western continents Valoran/Shuriman and Camavor? Something that can directly be attributed to the latter, perhaps through immigrant?

Quite possibly, but that's not been explored as yet.

Comment

Originally posted by astormintodesert

I wish I could read/comment but I haven't read it yet - I've got my copy though and looking forward to it, so thanks!

I hope you enjoy it! :)

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Originally posted by CelioHogane

i just really want to learn about sand trolls.

I have no idea what this is referencing but I too now want to learn about sand trolls.

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Originally posted by FujiwaranoMoko

Hey, a bit of a more personal question, but how exactly does one get into an industry where they can write canon novels for a company? Been studying to become an author, but struggling to get my foot in the door.

Hone your craft, write, write, write, and try to get your work published, wherever you can. Generally a company would want to know someone can write to high quality, to deadline, is good with taking feedback, etc etc, and that generally means a proven track record. But everyone starts somewhere, even if that can seem a little daunting to begin with.

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Originally posted by noahkennedy1111

Hey there! I just bought the book to read in Chicago during finals weekend (TL refugee fans Sadge), and I've loved it so far! I was wondering if any of you could share wether or not Riot intends on coming out with more books like this? I love the idea of companion books (Realms of Runeterra), but I'd LOVE to see more stories told like Kalista's in this novel. Thanks again!!

I'd personally love to see us do more books! Fingers crossed.

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Originally posted by clg_wrath2

I am not sure. He wasnt really a good advisor in Ruination.

*if you know you know

Ha! Nice.