Helia (pronounced /ˈhiːliə/) was the former capital of the Blessed Isles, reduced to ruins on the Shadow Isles after the Ruination.

Lore[]

Helia, the capital of the Blessed Isles, was once regarded a center of knowledge and learning, in part due to its large archive of Runeterra's artifacts, both dangerous and benign. The city was located on the coast and encompassed several small islands connected through bridges built over waterways. As a result, many parts of the city were flooded after the Ruination.

Champions of Helia[]

Other Related Champions[]

• Hecarim joined Viego's invasion of Helia alongside the Iron Order, slaughtering the natives and looting their treasures. Since the Ruination, he roams Helia's ruins as an undead wraith.
• Kalista visited Helia in an attempt to obtain the Waters of Life to revive Queen Isolde. During the Camavoran invasion, she tried to protect the natives of Helia from the Camavoran forces, only to be killed by Hecarim and his men. Since the Ruination, she roams Helia's ruins as an undead wraith.
• Karthus gathers souls from Helia's ruins.
• Ryze visited Helia as an apprentice alongside his master Tyrus, a Helian native. When the Ruination began, he rescued a handful of survivors on Helia by teleporting them to safety.
• Viego led his fleet to invade Helia to revive his wife Isolde using the Waters of Life. Led to the vault containing the Waters of Life, his failed attempt to revive Isolde indirectly resulted in the Ruination, transforming it into the Shadow Isles and leaving most still inside as undead wraiths.

Locations[]

Very little is left of the city after its flooding and destruction; the following are notable locations that its remaining inhabitants or related individuals remember.

• Blessed Isles Bridge: The major Blessed Isles Bridge, a majestic and geometrically-designed civilian structure that acted as a crossroad between isles over each water channel.
• Library Keep: The general area where Helia's Library was located, now consists of ruined mounts and craters in destroyed landscape that emanate incontrollable arcane energy.
  • Helia's Library: This was once the largest and most significant archive that ever existed on Runeterra, and part of a larger research area that housed all the dangerous artifacts of the world. These artifacts included Runic scriptures and magical tomes. Its scribes worked tirelessly to study, maintain and protect them from Runeterra.
• Scintillant Tower: The main tower that landmarked the city of Helia. In this building most of the vaults as well as important administrative chambers were housed. It was under this tower that the Ruination was unleashed.
  • Well of Ages: A body of water that lay beneath the Hall of Conjunction, hidden from most of Helia. This well had the extraordinary ability to trap the spirits of the dead in the physical realm, as well as heal any wound and extend once life. This phenomenon was caused by an unstable World Rune resting at the bottom of the well.
  • Hall of Conjunction: The landmark through which all seekers of knowledge must pass in order to reach Helia's many Vaults. It was once the greatest repository of the Blessed Isles, and one of many architectural wonders containing innumerable secrets and dangerous artifacts.
    • Radiance of Alignments: The Radiance of Alignments, Located within The Hall of Conjunction, functions as the vault entrance to the Athenaeum of Light. The knowledge within these hidden vaults would only reveal itself at specific phases of moon, angles of the sun, or alignments of starlight. The Radiance of Alignments begins the journey to enlightenment.
    • Athenaeum of Light: A tall chamber within the Hall of Conjunction. The Litanies of the Sentinels are engraved on the walls and floor of the great Athenaeum.
  • Vaults of Arcana: An architectural center that housed some of the most dangerous artifacts on Runeterra. After the Ruination, it became a confluence of dark magic.
    • Grand Gallery of Ancient Artifacts: The primary archival building on the Shadow Isles.
    • Celestial Vault: These vaults could only be unlocked by the revelations of the Lunatropic Demisphere.
    • Vesani Vault: A vault constructed for the Vesani scholars, functioning as their primary laboratory. Memory-powered golems guarded the vault.
      • Buhru Forge: An ancient forge of the Buhru people, its entrance located deep within the Vesani Vault.
• Labratory of the Schools of Geo-Thaumaturgical Sciences: A building dedicated to the study of Geo-Thaumaturgical Science, or in other words, the study of relic stones.
  • Sentinels of Light Workshop: A workshop for the Sentinels chapter of the Fellowship of Light. It was notably much smaller than the rest of the chapters of Geo-Thaumaturgical Sciences as the Sentinels were seen as redundant. The interior was a combination of a blacksmith’s forge, an alchemist’s laboratory, and an armory.

Wildlife[]

Fallen[]

Souls claimed by the Black Mist are known to some as the Fallen. While usually corporeal, they can be harmed with the right tool, such as magic, silver, or even sunlight.

Nightbloom[]

Nightbloom is a rare, flame-red petaled flower native to the Blessed Isles. It is virtually extinct, except for a few who bushes that are cared for in Vladimir's garden within his mansion in Noxus. If any of petals are plucked, the remaining ones immediately curl inwards and the stem bends away, as if expressing fear. On the Blessed Isles, they blossomed on the evening of the summer solstice; by morning the flowers wilted, leaving only blackened petals never to be seen again until the following year. For that single night however, they illuminated the forest with blazing crimson.

Treants[]

Treants are a fusion of nature spirits (or any sapient species) and plant life. One such species was the Omikayalan God-Willow, whose essence was later transferred to the Freljordian warrior Ivern. Another example is Maokai, who is a nature spirit fused with the plant life and natural magicks of the Blessed Isles.

Relations with Ixtal[]

Ixtali culture is part of an older and westward great diaspora that gave rise to civilizations, one of which formed the magnificent Helia of the Blessed Isles. No further substantial contact between the two nations was re-established after the Ruination.

Trivia[]

• See 5 Vaults of Helia and Echoes of Helia.

Media[]

See also[]

• The Princeling's Lament

References