Chapter Text
The immediate results of Ruination.
It had appeared with no warning, as a beam of dark-aquan light over every capitol, shooting downward and cascading a glowing mist over wherever it made contact. After a few minutes the beam disappeared, and most of the mist raised into the sky to wrap around itself and form into a writhing sphere.
Then tendrils of that same mist dripped and snaked down, releasing more ghouls and beginning to possess people.
And after a few hours, just like that, it all went away. But the damage had been done. Structures collapsed. People killed. Trusts shattered. Lives ruined.
The same thing happened across every location that the mist had appeared, and each affected area responded in their own unique ways.
Demacia, a militaristic territory known for its incredible sturdiness and magic-dampening petricite, entered an increased state of alert. Giving due caution to the sudden attack, but appropriately confident in their ability to repel especially arcane incursions. Patrols and overall military presence increased, but there was no drastic change to the daily life of a typical Demacian.
On the surface, Noxus behaved exactly opposite to Demacia. Becoming louder and messier in response to Ruination. Nearly all of Noxus’s many factions raised each of their voices and took many bold actions, stating it was all for the empire’s benefit. But for all of the noise that was made, the Noxians were simply continuing to do what they always did, using their power to try to expand their reach and raise their standing.
Ixaocan, capitol of the hidden region of Ixtal, simply proceeded with their planned response. Never having forgotten Ruination, having avoided it during its first appearance and having watched its events unfold from a distance, they created powerful wards against mind-influence and ghoulish creatures and activated them. As a result, they suffered nothing more than the chore of having to occasionally smack away unruly mist.
And they planned on keeping it that way.
On Mount Targon, with green light and gruesome mist having poured from the sky, the Solari and Lunari both declared the phenomena as an act of worldwide aggression from the other side. The pale-skin ghouls could only be monsters born from Lunari faith, and the mind-controlling smoke could only be the Solari’s brainwashing and history-rewriting methods gone awry. Divided yet further and still unwilling to engage in any kind of talk, Targon was put into a state of disarray.
Piltover and Zaun both kicked their production into highgear, quickly repairing the damage done to their own regions and simultaneously shipping their products all around the world. A small few businesses did so in the interest of simply providing aide where it was needed, but most took advantage of the worldwide need for resources to counteract damages sustained and raised their prices accordingly.
In Shurima, the Ruined mist behaved differently from how it did the rest of the world. While it still sent forth ghouls and attempted possessions, the majority of it had focused on smothering and stealing from the Sun Disk. Foreseeing future invasions, Emperor Azir decreed that his loyal warriors defend his empire from the mist alongside his sand soldiers. His faithful mages would then help him work against the mist’s future attempts at stealing the Sun Disk’s energy.
Limitless as the Disk’s power is, nothing may be allowed to desecrate the symbol of his prosperous reign.
After the wave had pulled back in Ionia, The Enlightened One revealed to everyone that Ruination had attempted to poison her connection to Ionia’s spirit. And that it would return to do so again. Understanding the gravity of this, a permanent rotating watch was set up all throughout Ionia. And more. Ionia’s people had all recently become at odds with one another, due to differing responses to the Noxian Invasion, but they will forever be united in their will to protect The First Lands.
The known affected area of the Freljord, a vast winterscape where even the most populous Avarosans number nowhere near the thousands, did not see any broad change beyond having new tracks to learn and a new enemy to ignore. Ghouls leave behind nothing after their death and are a waste of a hunter’s energy, better left to the defenders whenever possible. WIth that said, no instances of mind control had occurred to anyone, nor were there any sightings of mist.
But a giant mass of floating Ruination did appear within the Freljord. It was simply impossible to see for most.
Which Leaves Bilgewater, and its Harrowings-acquainted residents. Although Ruination was of a different and higher threat than what they’re used to, the Buhru practices and the gunslinging tendencies of the town’s inhabitants proved more than enough to carry them through it. As a result, the only real change after that first wave was a new area of moneymaking: defending and taking advantage of the paranoid. With the most populated areas of the world affected by Ruination, it made the money earned from protection and mercenary work skyrocket.
Work that a certain cardshark, and by extension their shotgunner accomplice, did not take on for some reason . . .