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With Irelia’s champion update, we’ve also gotten a lore overhaul for a handful of Ionian champions and Riven!
Lee Sin, Karma, Yasuo, Riven and of course, Irelia, have all received updates to their lore. Though Riven is from Noxus originally, her lore has heavy ties into Ionia as it’s where she wanders after exiling herself.
Two Rioters, Joon Hyung “Boogergames” Ahn and Odin “WAAARGHbobo” Shafer, also go into detail about the vibes of Ionia and how things work there in the video below.
The region is heavily based on magic and spirits, as well as living in harmony with said spirits.
Ionian lore was slightly expanded on more in 2017 with the release of Xayah and Rakan, a new chimeric species called the vastaya. This update also recreated Ahri as this species. Ionia is also broken down into different factions, like the Kinkou (the ninjas, like Shen and Akali) that Riot will get more into at another time.
It seems that the broad and simply defined regions we once knew are now branching out further and getting more detailed about the groups that live there. Keep the stories coming, Riot!