TALES OF RUNETERRA: IONIAN
THE DARK SOVEREIGN SYNDROME
My potential knows no bounds. I won't be shackled.
Syndra was a brave wizard from Ionia with extraordinary powers. As a child, he surprised the village elder with his reckless wild magic. He is sent to learn how to master it, but one day he learns that his teacher is holding back his powers. Feeling betrayed and hurt he unleashes a ball of dark energy, Syndra vows to destroy anyone who tries to control her.
...SYNDRAE...
...THE DARK SOVEREIGN'S...
As a young Navori-born child, Syndra's attention was easily distracted. He often gets lost in the magical beauty of the shadow-obstructed pool, or the trail of sugar beetles climbing the wall. Whenever her homework was not completed, she was scolded by her mother for the lack of focus she had. Syndra was even blamed when their milk became stale, or when another misfortune befell his family.
Her brother, Evard, teases her most. Syndra often flees to her favorite hideout—the ghost-willow, a sacred tree for her villagers. Alone there, he whispered to the tree for hours, seeking tranquility. Unbeknownst to him, one warm night, Evard and his friends follow him secretly. They laughed at her childish tears. His shame and anger grew as he tried to ignore their insults, until one day one of them threw a lump of earth at his head.
Syndra is no longer able to control her emotions. His entire rage exploded, in the form of a burning dark ball, heavy with great fury.
The magic ability had been asleep until then. The ball lit up with an unstable power, it gave up magic all around it, absorbing the ghost-willow life essence. Evard and his friends escape as the ancient tree dries up, and blackens.
Fearful of seeing the ghost-willow condition, the villagers worry that their relationship with the Spirit of Ionia has been severed, and the Syndra family is blamed. Forced to go looking for a new home, everyone is afraid of the magic.
After walking for months, they arrive at the beach and meet a hermit priest named Konigen. He recounts his home on the island of Fae’lor, where he thought it was a place for those who wanted to learn wild magic, and the Syndra family didn't know any other options. The young Syndra climbs the steep cliffs of the temple, which were forged in antiquity from black rock, and overlooks the sea. Despite longing for his old life, he tried to accept his teacher's teachings, and put all his determination on his emotions.
Syndra feels more betrayed than ever. Konigen tried to calm him down, but it strengthened his anger instead.
The foundation of the temple trembled. The morning light looked pale. Syndra floated off the floor, as anger peaked from within his body. He took a ball of darkness from the air, and threw it through his teacher's body, forcing him to feel all his anger as he died.
The roof collapsed, ruins fell, burying the sacred garden with dust. Syndra directs its power at whatever is left of the temple, sends shock waves throughout Fae’lor, and absorbs the raw magic from the island.
Never before had such huge negative energies accumulated in one place, and the bloated Spirit of Ionia in that place fought against it. The earthen slab under the Syndra opened, dragging it underground which deep-roots— pulled it into living water to withstand its power, and imprisoned it in a state of miraculous sleep.
Syndra dreams forever. Most of the world forgets its existence.
The war against the kingdom of Noxus divided the Ionians, and Syndra was woken up by those who once guarded Fae’lor. Many came to kill him, and many hoped he would help him in the fight against Noxus, but he unleashed destruction on them. He refuses to be a pawn in other people's games. He razed the walls of the fortress built on his prison island, he raised the largest tower into the sky to take it away.
He doesn't want to be controlled. No more.
***