Legends, Fables, and Myths

A young man stepped off the boat, pulling his cloak tighter against his body. His long breaths releasing small clouds of mist that hovered in the air. He shivered quietly, his slight frame not used to the great cold of the Freljord. He had travelled a great distance, from his small town in Ionia to Bilgewater, to Noxus, and finally to the great north of the Freljord. While he had met no trouble on his way, the journey remained long, and ardous. He was ready to reach his destination. The village up ahead was filled with lights, and he could see the silhouettes of people milling about from place to place. He'd find directions there.

"Well then, who's this here?" The bartender roared. His thick red hair cascaded over his body, and they would have been the most interesting thing about him had it not been for his body. Thick joules of fat rippled over each other on his stomach, and he seemed to occupy the entire bar table by himself. His arms were enormous, packed full of a dense combination of muscle, and an obscene amount of fat. His face was wrinkled, but scarred with various old cuts and bruises, probably from bar fights. His calloused fingers looked like tree trunks, and had it not been for the bartender's next sentence, the young man would have run off in fright.

"Don't you worry chum, I'm just wondering who ye are is all." The large man laughed, and it seemed the entire bar would rumble in unison with his voice. The bar was full of people maintaining conversation, smiles on their faces, and they looked at the young man without an inch of fear or hate in their hearts.

The young man relaxed. "I'm sorry, I'm just visiting. I figured a bar would give me directions to a place I need to get to. Seems that most people in the village are here."

The bartender grinned. "Well where else do you get a good drink around here? My ale is perfect, borne from ice in the Freljord. I found it myself actually, when I came around here a long time ago. Trust me, you won't regret it."

The young man hesitated for a second, before relenting.

"Sure, what harm could a drink do."

"Now we're talking!" The bartender gave a large smile, before attempting to turn behind the bar to grab a mug. His enormous frame caused him to get stuck, but after several large wrenches and pulls of his belly fat, he finally made it to the other side. He grabbed the mug, filled it, and cursed as he realized he had to make his way back around again.

"Gained more weight in me old age." He smiled as he put the mug of frothing ale in front of the young man. "Now, what's your name young man."

"Kenshi." The young man replied, in between sips of the ale. The icy amber liquid flowed down his throat, cooling his body and filling it up. Instantly, he felt more lively, and smiled unconsciously. It was indeed perfect.

"Nice to meet you Kenshi, the name is Gragas." Gragas smiled, and eventually filled a drink of his own. However, the size of Gragas's mug was nearly 3 times that of Kenshi. "People around here used to call me the rabble rouser, but past couple years I've settled down. Old age catches up to all of us y'know." He raised a glass, and the bar patrons raised in approval.

It was only then Kenshi realized that everyone was listening to his conversation. He looked around and heard silence. Everyone was quietly watching him. Not with any ill will, but curiosity.

"Don't pay them no mind Kenshi. I mean, we've had our fair share of interesting people showing up around here. We got yordles, murderers, and monks coming here. I've met a lot of em, shared drinks with them. Normalcy is quite rare in my bar. But that was a while ago. Most of the guys are dead, or old. My bar's gotten a lot quieter now, and I know everyone's face in the village, and everyone knows everyone. So, we're all a bit interested when on a quiet night light this, a new face shows up, especially one as young as you. Yer parents fine with you being here lad?"

"They sent me here actually. To find someone." Kenshi's mood turned somber, and his gaze turned from the crowd back to Gragas.

"I see. The man family? A friend?" Gragas asked.

"Not exactly. My parents told me that he was a... record keeper of sorts. That he'd lived a long time, and knew everything of what happened since they were born. All the wars, and the changes that have happened in their life, he chronicled all of it, and he knew what happened to everyone." Kenshi looked beyond Gragas, remembering his parent's words, before Gragas, who was holding back a huge smile on his face, suddenly interrupted him.

Gragas let loose a rumbling laugh; one that felt like it would shake Kenshi's bones apart. When he finally finished, he looked back to Kenshi, who looked completely and utterly confused.

"Your parents must know me then, because they're talking about me." Kenshi's eyes widened. He probably expected a wizened old man, or a bookish one, surrounded by books. He didn't expect this fabled history-keeper to be this huge fat man in a bar.

"Probably met me at this bar in fact. I must have told them a story or two, but I don't keep records, I got them all here." He pointed a stubby finger at the top of his head. "I've seen a lot lad. Heard a lot of stories, lived a lot of them too. Lost a lot of friends, gained a lot of friends. But I remember everyone, so I'd probably remember your parents. Care to tell me who they are?"

" My fathers name is Yasuo, my mothers is riven." Kenshi replied, to yet another rumble of laughter.

" Ahh… Those two lovebirds finally decided to have children. Yes, I know them. I was there when it all started actually, to when they got married. I was in Ionia at the time, selling this ale at some old tavern. They had quite the fiery romance."

Kenshi smiled. "My mother has quite the temper."

"You're right there." Gragas smiled. "So why did they ask you to come find me?"

"When I was young, I was constantly interested in the history of our land. Of Valoran. There were a lot of incredible events that happened in the time of my parents. They won't tell me, they say that it isn't their story to tell. As I grew older, I began to think about leaving home, to understand more about the history of this place, and what happened when they were alive. If I'm not wrong, Demacia and Noxus used to be at war right?"

Gragas nodded. "Indeed. Until King Jarvan IV signed a peace treaty. That was quite an interesting time. I was there too. I find that I'm always serving drinks in the background when these things occur."

"The desert city, Shurima also used to be just… a desert right?"

Gragas shook his head. "You know your information kid. The current emperor, Azir raised it from the ground. His descendant, Sivir travels around as an emissary as well. In fact I think she'll come here in a couple weeks. The resurrection of Shurima didn't go too smoothly either, now that I recall."

Kenshi began to speak faster, his voice rising. "See, that's what I mean! There are so many stories, so many legends of incredible people doing incredible things. There are so many incredible tales untold, and I want to hear all of it! 50 years ago some things didn't exist, and they do now, and people don't even care! People just hear stories but nobody wants to know how it happened!

"Your dad says you talk too much doesn't he." Gragas smiled.

"Yes…" Kenshi stopped, and bushed, realizing how he had suddenly exploded.

"It's all right kid, I understand. You want to know. No particular subject, no particular histories, but you just want to know about Valoran."

"Yes. In particular these people. I've done my own research, and kept my own lists when I left home, about a group of over a hundred beings. Some are human, some are mythical creatures, but all of them shaped the world we live in now in some way. Can you please, just tell me about them, if you know any of them, and what they did. Please."

Gragas looked to the bar, and back, before groaning. "All right. I'll do this as a favor to your mum and dad, only because they saved my life once. Before you go on talking about that, I'll get to that story later. I'm sure you have some immediate questions you want to ask."

Kenshi rifled through his cloak, before pulling a scroll of paper, which went so long it trailed from the table to the floor.

"It's going to be a long night."

(A/N: So I felt like doing this because, the amount of lore that nobody talks about is astounding. If you have any requests for any characters, I'll try getting to them, and please feel free to post them in reviews. I won't stop writing demons and wolves, but it's just a nice little side project I have.)