WIP: To choose strength
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So I may have missed the bus about keeping up with keeping up with the process throughout, but I do remember my thought processes! To make up for it, I will share where I was at here.
Obviously the first step for this contest was deciding what character to write about. I have a good handful of favorite characters, but none of them called to me like Kayn. He's not necessarily my favorite character, but he has such an interesting narrative design. And by that I don't mean the concept of a demon-weapon wielding assassin is breaking new ground. What I appreciate so much is how his narrative is reflected in his game play -- which is incredible! Since League of Legends is a game that rarely has the opportunity to advance most of their characters' narratives, Riot gave every Kayn player a choice, every game. Does Kayn dominate Rhaast or fall to him? Kayn (or Rhaast, if he wins) gets to develop. I wanted a story that reflected that choice.
From that point, I had to make a decision before anything else. Who wins? Kayn or Rhaast? Well, my gut told me that Rhaast should triumph in the end. My thinking was that, were this a character in a traditional story, Kayn wouldn't be the hero. Sure, he kills for "justice" on behalf of Ionia, but he is still arrogant, violent and overall not a hero. With that being the case, it made sense that his was a cautionary tale -- a warning against hubris. "Do not pick up the demon blade because you think you're hot stuff. It won't end well." Plus, with how limited Darkin were in Runeterra and the fact that assassins are a dime a dozen, losing Rhaast would be a much greater blow. So, I picked team Rhaast.
Then I had to think of the circumstances that lead to this transformation. It needed to be in a moment of conflict, so I started with the idea of him stalking some Noxian soldiers on the way to the capital. He would rip through the bulk of them, showing off his in-game abilities, and then face off against someone much more formidable (perhaps Darius or Draven). He would be pressured to transform and then become Rhaast. I eventually decided to alter this a bit because there was little substance to it. Whoever Kayn killed, and why he killed them, had to have more consequences. Kayn is a killer with a purpose, after all.
Around the same time, I realized something else. Kayn did have a bit of a soft side -- enough that he could potentially be the anti-hero of some story. He is, after all, very loyal to Zed, and also has some hesitance to hurt Shen. These are little traits I teased out of his in game quotes, but they showed me that he could deserve to become the Shadow Hunter. Reaching that understanding, I tried to experiment with a way for him to transform into BOTH forms during the story. This was appealing because I could then reflect the split nature of his transformation in game, but there was a challenge. Kayn doesn't pop back and forth between his forms, so I couldn't have him do it (especially in only 1,000 words, when a single transformation would likely serve as the climax).
That's when I came up with the concept of the vision. What if Kayn sought out a seer to tell his future? I know he is too confident to doubt his eventual success, but a narcissist would also jump at the opportunity to confirm something they're sure of. If he could rub Rhaast's eventual ruin in the Darkin's face, all the better.
From there, the plan became to have him fight the same soldiers, only for things to change at the moment of his transformation. Kayn's recollection of the visions would then play out on the page. In one route, he transforms into the Shadow Hunter and assassinates Swain, to punish him for his role in the Ionian Wars (and Kayn's conscription into the army as a child). In the other, Rhaast dominates him, returns to Ionia, and destroys everything he loves (like Zed). The moment would also tie into some words of wisdom that his father gave him before they were separated -- words that would revolve around the impact of the choices we make. I never solidified them, but it amounted to "Strength for justice is good, strength for selfishness is bad." Anyway, Kayn would transform in a big flash, and that's where the story would end. The reader would get to decide what happened.
This seemed better, but I still didn't like Kayn fighting a bunch of no-bodies in the middle of Nowhere, Noxus. The point along a character's timeline that a story begins is important, and it was far less interesting to see Kayn here than it would be closer to the end of his destination. That's when I decided to flip the proportion of vision to reality in the story. His assassination attempt would be something the seer showed him -- a potential fate or two. He would then come out of the vision, reach some kind of decision, and then go off to live out one version in reality. This is the point where I doubled down on Swain's inclusion. Even though the decision to use child soldiers in the war wasn't ever officially attributed to him, I figured he was enough of a "win-at-all-costs" jerk to do it. Plus, who better a target to reflect Kayn's confidence than the ruler of Noxus? It seemed like poetry.
Everything was still in my head at this point, though I'd sputtered out a few introductory paragraphs that never made it very far. I decided to do some character recon instead, reading up on how Kayn was designed, more of his quotes, etc. I did the same for Swain, though this eventually led me to the realization that his then-impending re-work could make my story even less canon. Regardless, Riot released the new Varus lore around this time. The story was great on many levels, but it also revealed a new possibility. If Valmar can seize control of their body, perhaps Kayn could do the same if Rhaast initially seized control. Could he then become the Shadow Hunter after Rhaast had already emerged? Maybe.
Either way, the possibility helped me feel better about returning to a single transformation. Especially if it was all a vision, the difficulty of seeing his potential failure would have a greater impact on Kayn than seeing both possibilities. It would give him a chance to demonstrate his arrogance and, since it wasn't quite real, give the story a kind of temporary tragedy. Ultimately, it could all end with Kayn refusing to accept the future as set-in-stone. Regardless of the consequences, he would go to try and kill Swain. The seer would then imply that choices change the future, and the reader could end the story wondering whether things actually played out differently than the vision.
From there, I started writing. I didn't want to spend too long on him going through the Immortal Bastion since I only had so many words to work with, but it provided some rising action and the chance to establish the characters of Kayn/Rhaast. I let him slaughter some people to show his strength, demonstrate the way Rhaast tries to undermine the assassin's confidence, and moved physically toward his target. Originally, I intended for Swain to have Darius with him -- to give Kayn someone else to fight. After all, I found it unlikely that a master tactician would never leave himself alone. Ultimately, this was scrapped for space, sadly. All the same, things worked out thanks to the timely release of Swain's re-work. Vision of Empires gave me a perfect reason to have Swain prepared for Kayn's arrival, and his more "lead-from-the-front" feel made me feel better about having him deal with Kayn alone. So, the two would exchange a few words (to justify the importance of the moment for Kayn and the irrelevance for Swain), then a few abilities, and then Kayn would transform when pushed to the brink. Rhaast wouldn't have time to do much himself, but I decided that was ok. All that mattered was Kayn's faliure -- not whether he killed Swain (and, of course, he could never actually succeed there). Once he returned from the vision, you know the rest.
When the first draft was done, it was a few hundred words over the limit. So, I set about trimming the fat until I got within a few words. That's when changes were very hard and I wished the limit wasn't so strict. All the same, I reworked my words enough to make it all fit in a way I was satisfied with. I may have grumbled about it, but accepting those kinds of constraints is important for someone who wants to write fiction professionally. Especially in video games, sometimes you'll encounter those limits.
Once that was done, I ran it by a friend and Kayn-fan who I trusted to give me an honest opinion. Since this was my first piece of League fan-fic, I was a bit nervous -- but he seemed to like it. With that sorted, I read through it aloud a couple of times, tweaked some awkward phrases, and came up with the final product. You'll find that attached!
And yeah, that's the gist! Hope doing it this way is cool, instead of updating as I went along. After all, thanks to the timing of Swain's re-work, I didn't start actually typing it out until fairly recently haha. Most of the iterating went on in my head.
Anyway, hope you enjoy! And as much as I think many of the other awesome stories here are cool, I really hope I place >:)
Obviously the first step for this contest was deciding what character to write about. I have a good handful of favorite characters, but none of them called to me like Kayn. He's not necessarily my favorite character, but he has such an interesting narrative design. And by that I don't mean the concept of a demon-weapon wielding assassin is breaking new ground. What I appreciate so much is how his narrative is reflected in his game play -- which is incredible! Since League of Legends is a game that rarely has the opportunity to advance most of their characters' narratives, Riot gave every Kayn player a choice, every game. Does Kayn dominate Rhaast or fall to him? Kayn (or Rhaast, if he wins) gets to develop. I wanted a story that reflected that choice.
From that point, I had to make a decision before anything else. Who wins? Kayn or Rhaast? Well, my gut told me that Rhaast should triumph in the end. My thinking was that, were this a character in a traditional story, Kayn wouldn't be the hero. Sure, he kills for "justice" on behalf of Ionia, but he is still arrogant, violent and overall not a hero. With that being the case, it made sense that his was a cautionary tale -- a warning against hubris. "Do not pick up the demon blade because you think you're hot stuff. It won't end well." Plus, with how limited Darkin were in Runeterra and the fact that assassins are a dime a dozen, losing Rhaast would be a much greater blow. So, I picked team Rhaast.
Then I had to think of the circumstances that lead to this transformation. It needed to be in a moment of conflict, so I started with the idea of him stalking some Noxian soldiers on the way to the capital. He would rip through the bulk of them, showing off his in-game abilities, and then face off against someone much more formidable (perhaps Darius or Draven). He would be pressured to transform and then become Rhaast. I eventually decided to alter this a bit because there was little substance to it. Whoever Kayn killed, and why he killed them, had to have more consequences. Kayn is a killer with a purpose, after all.
Around the same time, I realized something else. Kayn did have a bit of a soft side -- enough that he could potentially be the anti-hero of some story. He is, after all, very loyal to Zed, and also has some hesitance to hurt Shen. These are little traits I teased out of his in game quotes, but they showed me that he could deserve to become the Shadow Hunter. Reaching that understanding, I tried to experiment with a way for him to transform into BOTH forms during the story. This was appealing because I could then reflect the split nature of his transformation in game, but there was a challenge. Kayn doesn't pop back and forth between his forms, so I couldn't have him do it (especially in only 1,000 words, when a single transformation would likely serve as the climax).
That's when I came up with the concept of the vision. What if Kayn sought out a seer to tell his future? I know he is too confident to doubt his eventual success, but a narcissist would also jump at the opportunity to confirm something they're sure of. If he could rub Rhaast's eventual ruin in the Darkin's face, all the better.
From there, the plan became to have him fight the same soldiers, only for things to change at the moment of his transformation. Kayn's recollection of the visions would then play out on the page. In one route, he transforms into the Shadow Hunter and assassinates Swain, to punish him for his role in the Ionian Wars (and Kayn's conscription into the army as a child). In the other, Rhaast dominates him, returns to Ionia, and destroys everything he loves (like Zed). The moment would also tie into some words of wisdom that his father gave him before they were separated -- words that would revolve around the impact of the choices we make. I never solidified them, but it amounted to "Strength for justice is good, strength for selfishness is bad." Anyway, Kayn would transform in a big flash, and that's where the story would end. The reader would get to decide what happened.
This seemed better, but I still didn't like Kayn fighting a bunch of no-bodies in the middle of Nowhere, Noxus. The point along a character's timeline that a story begins is important, and it was far less interesting to see Kayn here than it would be closer to the end of his destination. That's when I decided to flip the proportion of vision to reality in the story. His assassination attempt would be something the seer showed him -- a potential fate or two. He would then come out of the vision, reach some kind of decision, and then go off to live out one version in reality. This is the point where I doubled down on Swain's inclusion. Even though the decision to use child soldiers in the war wasn't ever officially attributed to him, I figured he was enough of a "win-at-all-costs" jerk to do it. Plus, who better a target to reflect Kayn's confidence than the ruler of Noxus? It seemed like poetry.
Everything was still in my head at this point, though I'd sputtered out a few introductory paragraphs that never made it very far. I decided to do some character recon instead, reading up on how Kayn was designed, more of his quotes, etc. I did the same for Swain, though this eventually led me to the realization that his then-impending re-work could make my story even less canon. Regardless, Riot released the new Varus lore around this time. The story was great on many levels, but it also revealed a new possibility. If Valmar can seize control of their body, perhaps Kayn could do the same if Rhaast initially seized control. Could he then become the Shadow Hunter after Rhaast had already emerged? Maybe.
Either way, the possibility helped me feel better about returning to a single transformation. Especially if it was all a vision, the difficulty of seeing his potential failure would have a greater impact on Kayn than seeing both possibilities. It would give him a chance to demonstrate his arrogance and, since it wasn't quite real, give the story a kind of temporary tragedy. Ultimately, it could all end with Kayn refusing to accept the future as set-in-stone. Regardless of the consequences, he would go to try and kill Swain. The seer would then imply that choices change the future, and the reader could end the story wondering whether things actually played out differently than the vision.
From there, I started writing. I didn't want to spend too long on him going through the Immortal Bastion since I only had so many words to work with, but it provided some rising action and the chance to establish the characters of Kayn/Rhaast. I let him slaughter some people to show his strength, demonstrate the way Rhaast tries to undermine the assassin's confidence, and moved physically toward his target. Originally, I intended for Swain to have Darius with him -- to give Kayn someone else to fight. After all, I found it unlikely that a master tactician would never leave himself alone. Ultimately, this was scrapped for space, sadly. All the same, things worked out thanks to the timely release of Swain's re-work. Vision of Empires gave me a perfect reason to have Swain prepared for Kayn's arrival, and his more "lead-from-the-front" feel made me feel better about having him deal with Kayn alone. So, the two would exchange a few words (to justify the importance of the moment for Kayn and the irrelevance for Swain), then a few abilities, and then Kayn would transform when pushed to the brink. Rhaast wouldn't have time to do much himself, but I decided that was ok. All that mattered was Kayn's faliure -- not whether he killed Swain (and, of course, he could never actually succeed there). Once he returned from the vision, you know the rest.
When the first draft was done, it was a few hundred words over the limit. So, I set about trimming the fat until I got within a few words. That's when changes were very hard and I wished the limit wasn't so strict. All the same, I reworked my words enough to make it all fit in a way I was satisfied with. I may have grumbled about it, but accepting those kinds of constraints is important for someone who wants to write fiction professionally. Especially in video games, sometimes you'll encounter those limits.
Once that was done, I ran it by a friend and Kayn-fan who I trusted to give me an honest opinion. Since this was my first piece of League fan-fic, I was a bit nervous -- but he seemed to like it. With that sorted, I read through it aloud a couple of times, tweaked some awkward phrases, and came up with the final product. You'll find that attached!
And yeah, that's the gist! Hope doing it this way is cool, instead of updating as I went along. After all, thanks to the timing of Swain's re-work, I didn't start actually typing it out until fairly recently haha. Most of the iterating went on in my head.
Anyway, hope you enjoy! And as much as I think many of the other awesome stories here are cool, I really hope I place >:)