With the Institute of War in place, the bitter rivals of Noxus and Demacia continue to mass military strength. In order to keep battles between the two to a manageable size, a plan for a League of Legends was put into the works. Noxus, however, sets it sites elsewhere.
The Institute of War was built between Noxus and Demacia with full support from both sides. The Demacian Council was skeptical as to why Noxus was in full support of the Institute, but with most of Noxus powerful magi apart of the newly formed Institute it seemed that was reason enough. The Institute of War would, from now on, monitor war between any two warring city-states and attempt to keep the peace between Noxus and Demacia. However, even with the presence of the Institute, both sides were still massing military strength for the inevitable showdown between Noxus and Demacia under the supervision of the Institute.
An idea was had during the third meeting of the magi within the Institute of War. No matter how powerful the collection of mages were within the Institute, they could not all supervise and maintain orderly conflict between two huge armies that were being built. In order to keep the numbers of combatants at a minimum, it was suggested that each city-state sends a small handful of champions to represent their military and they would fight to decide who the victor is in the dispute. To also keep champions from being a martyr and igniting uncontrollable war, champions will be infused with magic in order to keep them alive, even after being killed during a battle within the Institute. To keep the fighting between the two parties fair, restriction magic will also be set on champions to keep all of their strength and endurance at equal levels. However aside from champions, the two parties can also send magi who will act as summoners of their parties’ champions.
The summoners will keep the battles between the evenly matched champions from becoming stalemates or victories from acts of luck. Summoners will also be able to see the vision of their champion in every direction as well as friendly champions. This will allow champions to know what is going on at all times and to act accordingly. When champions are submitted into the Institute of War to fight in its battles, the champion’s natural strength and skills will be considered when the restriction magic takes old of them. When this happens the champion will gradually gain back their strength and endurance as well as their skills will be unlocked by their summoner allowing them to widen the playing field between themselves and their enemies.
To keep things interesting, the Institute will also be sending a small band of magically sown rags and wood that will act as minions to each party. These minions will wield simple weapons and are of little threat to champions, but they can act as a sort of threat when there are a lot of them. Also when minions, or other champions, are killed by a champion, the champion will be rewarded points to act as currency that can be used by the summoner to enhance the champion’s strength or skills. The Institute also required two large patches of land in order to create the battlefields the champions and summoners would fight on. These battlefields will be known as the Fields of Justice and would be surrounded by a magical barrier that will keep anything from entering or leaving the Fields of Justice.
This was a very odd proposal for the Demacian Council to consider. It was extremely different from the way of fighting they were used to. Noxus, however, saw this as another opportunity to show their strength, no matter the playing field its men will outshine any adversary. With the approval from Noxus, Demacia was quick to follow and the Institute of War was quick to begin the creation of the League of Legends. With the Institute of War busy in its new endeavor and Demacia relaxing on the thought of newfound peace, Noxus finally found its opportunity to show its strength elsewhere on Runeterra.
Ionia is a small island nation off the Noxian coast of Valoran. It is a nation of freedom and prosperity with the thought of its isolation as its biggest defense against the warring states on the Valoran mainland. A culture of tradition and solitude, Ionia is home to the greatest cultural developments and known for its people to possess odd magic. Noxus saw Ionia as a target that would prove to Demacia that they cannot stop Noxus everywhere they go.
The Ionian coast was a beautiful beach with many large and extravagant buildings scattered across the horizon. Boram Darkwill himself surveyed the first Noxus landing on Ionian homeland, he would put this day down in his memoir as the day Noxus bested Demacia for the second time.
*This is unofficial lore, it may not reflect official lore*