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- For information about the Cinematic, see Ruination (Video).
- For information about the Book, see Ruination (Novel).
The Ruination was a historical event that resulted in the destruction Helia and the rest of the 
Blessed Isles as well as the subsequent fall of the 
Kingdom of Camavor. In its destruction, the 
Shadow Isles were born, haunted by Wraiths of its former residents, forever trapped and unable to move on to the Spirit Realm.
Lore[]
- These snippets are from the Noxian Calendar from Realms of Runeterra. However, they may be incorrect or biased due to the Noxian point of view or the old age.
- 25 BN — The Ruination
A terrible accident occurred in the arcane vaults beneath the city of Helia, hidden away on the 
Blessed Isles. With the barrier between the material and spirit realms shattered, the souls of the dead were trapped in eternal torment within the coiling Black Mist, and the newly dubbed Shadow Isles were abandoned by all right-thinking mortals.
[1]
History[]
Assassination Attempt on the King[]
- 27 BN - 25 BN
Shortly after the death of the latest Camavoran king, Alvaro, The Lion of Camavor , his second son, 
Viego, would succeed him as the next in line for the throne. The newly coronated king would soon fall in love with a humble seamstress named 
Isolde. The king and the seamstress would have a whirlwind romance and quickly wed. Viego would dote on his queen's every whim and begin to neglect his kingdom. Unable to interest himself in governance and his nation beginning to unravel under his questionable leadership, Viego's enemies plotted in secret to end their new king’s reign. They would employ an assassin to snuff out the young king's life and nearly succeeded, if not for the speed of general 
Kalista. However, in saving the king's life, the assassin's blade would poison the queen instead, dooming her to certain death. Viego summoned the greatest scholars and doctors of the land to cure his queen, but to no avail. Having read rumors of the Blessed Isles that housed the Waters of Life, enchanted water that could cure any ailment, the young king, dispatched Kalista to the presumed location of the isles, with 
Hecarim replacing her role in her absence.
Journey to the Blessed Isles[]
- 25 BN
Sailing across the Eternal Ocean, Kalista and Vennix, the captain of their ship, the Daggerhawk, approached the mist rumored to shroud the Blessed Isles, endeavoring to breach its mystical barrier. Despite their repeated attempts, the magical mist steadfastly returned them to their original position each time they tried to penetrate its barrier. Abandoning their efforts to breach the barrier, they resolved to seek guidance from the inhabitants of the neighboring Serpent Isles.
However, the 
Buhru, the indigenous tribe residing there, had no knowledge to offer concerning the mysterious mist. Dejected and desperate, they reluctantly turned to a dubious trader from 
Oshra Va'Zaun named Rhadu Ferros, hoping he could lead them to 
a seer residing on the Serpent Isles. Upon reaching the seer's alcove, the seer imparted to Kalista a cryptic message, foretelling that a golden maiden would be her guide through the mist. Dismissing the seer's words as mere nonsense, Kalista rejoined Vennix, only to discover Rhadu's treachery: his cohorts had slaughtered all of Vennix's crew who had accompanied them to the Serpent Isles. Fleeing for their lives, they leaped into a nearby sinkhole, narrowly escaping harm. With heavy hearts and a sense of failure looming over them, the two women returned to their ship and set sail homeward, their quest seemingly thwarted.
During their journey homeward, they stumbled upon a ship under siege by a war party of Crimson Razorscale Vastaya. Swift to act, Kalista and Vennix, along with the occupants of the imperiled vessel, rallied together to successfully fend off the attackers. After the danger had past, the occupants revealed themselves to be Seeker Adept Tyrus and his apprentice, 
Ryze. In a moment of disbelief, Vennix drew attention to the ship's figurehead, revealing it to be a golden maiden. Seeing this as a potential sign, Kalista approached Tyrus, convinced that he might be the one to guide them through the mist to the Blessed Isles. After a tense confrontation and some persuasive words from Kalista, Tyrus relented, acknowledging her sincerity, and pledged to arrange an audience with his masters.
Kalista arrives in Helia for the first time.
Utilizing a waystone, a powerful magical artifact crafted from a relic stone, Tyrus unveiled a pathway through the mists. Upon reaching the Blessed Isles, he successfully persuaded the masters to grant an audience with the Camavoran princess. Presenting her case before the esteemed council, Kalista pleaded for aid. Not certain about the princess' intentions, the masters requested Kalista's patience while they deliberated on the most prudent course of action to assist her.
Growing increasingly frustrated with the masters' indecisiveness and disillusioned by the facade of utopia maintained by the city of Helia, Kalista's spirits waned. However, her mood shifted when she encountered Artificer Jenda'kaya, one of the last remaining Sentinels on the Isles. Quickly bonding over their shared discontent with the city's dullness, Jenda'kaya invited Kalista to her workshop. Here, Jenda'Kaya unveiled her work on relic stone weapons. Traditionally accessible only to mages, these relic stones held immense power. Yet, Jenda'kaya had devised a method to harness their energy, enabling anyone to wield their magical power.
A week passed after Kalista's appeal to the masters, only to be met with their refusal to aid the queen of Camavor. Using the excuse that Kalista had not brought the queen on her journey, they dismissed her plea. Seething with anger, Kalista made preparations to depart from Helia. However, before she could set sail, a mysterious figure approached her - 
Erlok Grael, a Warden of Thresholds. Grael presented Kalista with a small vial containing the Waters of Life, alongside a waystone. Shocked by the revelation that the Waters of Life were indeed real, Kalista was suspicious regarding Grael's true motives. When pressed, Grael disclosed his desire for Kalista to bring her king and queen to the Isles, knowing that the masters would be unable to deny the sovereignty of Camavor in the presence of its monarchs. In return for his aid in resurrecting the queen, Grael sought a position of influence within the Camavoran court. Kalista, harboring doubts about Grael's true intentions, hesitantly agreed to his proposal, feeling she had little choice in the matter. With a heavy heart and a lingering sense of unease, she set forth for Camavor.
Destruction of Helia[]
- 25 BN
In the months that Kalista was away, the king descended into madness. Desperate, he wasted the kingdom's wealth on any charlatan who would promise to save his queen. The queen had died only a few weeks after Kalista left. After she died, in his delusion, Viego locked himself in a tower with the queen's corpse, using Mikael's Chalice to slow her decomposing body. With Viego unable to lead, the kingdom continued to crumble. The border region of Taskaros seceded from the kingdom and declared its independence. The king ordered Hecarim and his knights to quash all insurrection and hundreds are put to death.
When Kalista returned from her quest, she was devastated to learn that she had failed to find the cure in time. The king demanded to know what she had discovered, but seeing his deteriorating state and remembering the promise she made to the people of the Blessed Isles, Kalista refused to divulge her findings. As a result, she was branded a traitor and thrown into the dungeon. Eventually, under Hecarim's persuasion, she revealed her discovery and agreed to lead them to the Blessed Isles, hoping that the scholars of Helia might help break Viego free from his grief-induced madness.
Viego, carrying the corpse of Isolde, set sail for the Blessed Isles along with Kalista, Vennix, Hecarim, Viego's adviser 
Nunyo, and a handful of the Host. As a condition for her guidance, Kalista insisted that the Iron Order remain in Camavor to manage the unrest, much to Hecarim's displeasure. After navigating the Eternal Ocean once more, Kalista used the waystone given to her by Grael to part the mist and grant them passage to the Isles.
As they docked at Helia's main port, the Camavorans were met by a row of spears pointed in their direction. The masters of Helia, unaccustomed to anyone breaching their defenses, regarded the iron-clad visitors with suspicion. Viego pleaded with the masters to help his wife, and after some convincing by the onlooking populace of Helia, they agreed to assist their queen on the condition that the Camavorans remain confined to their ship. The masters gathered their finest physicians, adepts of the schools of chirurgy and arcano-medicine, an expert in the field of toxicants and 
one of the Bretheren of the Dusk.
When the first physician saw the dead queen's body, he was shocked and declared there was nothing that could be done to help her. The Fellowship, realizing the hopelessness of the situation, left the Camavorans to deal with the deranged king on their own. Only the Brother of the Dusk, Yorick, remained. He asked Kalista if he could see the dead queen. Yorick, who had been able to converse with the dead since childhood, spoke to Viego. He assured the grieving king that his wife had departed peacefully. Yorick mentioned that Isolde missed someone called 
Gwen, stirring Viego's acceptance of his queen's passing.
Before the Camavorans could leave, they were approached by Erlok Grael. He appealed to the king, mentioning he had vital information for him. He said to the king that there was a way to bring back her queen and that the masters had lied to them. They would have to submurge their queen in the Well of Ages which would bring her back from the veil of death. Believing the warden's words, Viego ordered the Camavorans to escort them through Helia. When the masters of Helia denied the Camavorans access to the Well of Ages, the king flew into a rage. He ordered Kalista to slay any who opposed him and ransack the city of Helia to find what he was seeking. When she refused, Viego commanded Nunyo to part the mist for the Iron Order's armada who was hiding behind its veil. Betrayed by both her king and his advisor, Kalista formed up the Host around her in order to defend to people of Helia.
As Hecarim's knights pillaged the city, he led his cavalry against the Host, only to find them surprisingly resilient in fending off the attack. Forced to dismount, the Iron Order continued the battle on foot, clashing fiercely with the Host. As the Order gained the upper hand, 
Ledros engaged Hecarim in a duel, ultimately besting the Knight-Commander of the Iron Order in combat. However, Ledros himself had sustained a fatal wound to the chest. Distracted by a dying Ledros, Kalista was caught off guard and stabbed in the back by Hecarim's glaive. Ledros and Kalista breathed their last breaths together, as the rest of the Host was slaughtered by the Iron Order.
Meanwhile, Viego, with Erlok Grael by his side, battled his way to the Well of Ages. Upon arrival, he gently lowered his queen's corpse into the well's healing waters, hoping to restore her to life. However, the ritual was only partially successful. The instability of a World Rune that had lied beneath the well's waters caused the queen to resurrect as a wraith. In her pain, anger, and confusion at being ripped from death, she seized Viego's enchanted blade and thrust it through his heart. The two sank beneath the waters together. The ancient sword's magic and the well's waters clashed, trapping Viego in an endless cycle of destruction and restoration. The waters around Viego's shuddering body began to darken and churn as Black Mist seeped from the king's wound. As Isolde drove Sanctity and its king deeper into the waters, the runic source itself became wildly unstable, flashing with a foreboding light. Grael could only scream as Ruination was unleashed.
The chamber erupted as an enormous wave of blue-green magical energy barreled down the Isles, tearing apart anything or anyone in its way. Hecarim and his knights attempted to flee to their ships, but were caught by the shockwave. With quick thinking, Tyrus managed to shield himself and a handful of survivors, including Jenda'kaya and Ryze, from the blast using his magical sigil. As the shockwave weakened, it reached the wall of Hallowed Mist that surrounded the Isles. The mist wall collapsed as it rushed above the surface of the sea towards the Isles. As it writhed back across the harbor, engulfing the ships and docks, it seemed to reverse the blast's damage. Masts and hulls were remade, and immense chunks of stone were lifted back into place, but imperfectly, leaving buildings frozen in the moment of their destruction. With the veil between realms torn asunder, the souls of the dead were trapped in eternal torment within the coiling Black Mist.
Using a spell he had recently learned, Ryze managed to teleport the handful of survivors onto the Daggerhawk, which had survived the blast. As Jenda'kaya, her surviving assistant Aayilah, and Captain Vennix fended off a wave of Wraiths barreling down the sea's surface with their relic weapons, the Daggerhawk was able to sail out of the specters' reach. With the danger subsided, the surviving Helians and Camavorans mourned Kalista, who had sacrificed herself for their escape.
Aftermath[]
- 25 BN - 5 AN
Kalista's sacrifice inspired Jenda'kaya to fight against the encroaching Black Mist that now seeped from the newly dubbed Shadow Isles. Over the next 30 years, Jenda'kaya, with the help of Vennix, recruits and arms a new generation of 
Sentinels of Light with relic weapons.
After the fall of its monarchy, the 
Kingdom of Camavor fell into ruin, grappling with the loss of its most prominent leaders and a significant portion of its military strength. With dwindling funds and persistent internal strife, coupled with external pressures, the once proud realm likely descended into a state of ruin.
References
- ↑ Realms of Runeterra, Page 66/67