Welcome to Stories of Runeterra. My name is Guy Blacker, Raven Hood on the Interwebs, and I'm just a humble storyteller here to draw you into the vast world of Runeterra by Riot Games. The Riot Games community has crafted an incredible universe anchored in some pretty neat legends. Each week, we jump into the Riot Games universe and narrate something from the world of Runeterra off of the Riot Universe site.
Think of this whole thing as an audiobook project of League Stories and lore by yours truly. This week's story is Nautilus, the Titan of the Depths, and I'm already going to apologize for my terrible impression because I am not operating at 100% right now. So bear with me, I hope, but here is the quote. When consumed in utter darkness, there is nothing left but forward.
Not quite as deep as I imagine him, but celery. A lonely legend, as old as the first piers sunk in Bilgewater, the armored Goliath known as Nautilus, roams the dark waters off of the coast of the blue flame aisles. Driven by a forgotten betrayal, he strikes without warning, swinging his enormous anchor to save the wretched and drag the greedy to their doom. It is said that he comes for those who forget to pay the Bilgewater tithe, pulling them down beneath the waves with him.
An iron-clad reminder that none can escape the depths. Alright. Well, before we get in, you know, go check out the other podcast that I'm a part of. It's called the Gamer Alchemy podcast.
I will not be on the most recent episode, but we had our first guest, Elliot and his current DM joined together to create a gin-themed dungeon for Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition, including the gin from League of Legends lore. So, go check it out. Uh, yeah. And now on with our stories, and bio, for Nautilus.
To understand the legend of Nautilus, one must first know the man. For even the tallest of tavern tales agree, he was indeed a man. Though the waves have washed away the name he was born with, most remember Nautilus as no mere sailor, but as a salvage diver. Just beyond the southernmost reach of the blue flame aisles, lies a graveyard of ships, rumored lost while searching for a blessed land, looking to trade wealth for immortality.
On a fair day, their glittering holds beckoned from beneath the surface and many crews sought divers to collect the lost fortune. None could match the skill of the quicksinking hulk of solid muscle that was... Nautilus. With lungs that could steal the air from the gallium's sails, Nautilus preferred to...
Free dive. Always bringing up plenty of gold and jewels for the crew. The man demanded no special wages, he asked only that the captain toss a coin overboard as they set out, honoring and appeasing the vast ocean. A sailor superstition to be sure, but many a seafaring crew made such offerings to ensure a safe return.
Years of salvage depleted the easy treasure, each haul becoming less and less until one day, Nautilus's crew learned that their ship and working papers have been bought out from under them. The don was scarlet the morning of the new captain came aboard, hailing from a foreign port he brought with him a giant suit of brass and iron. He zeroed in on Nautilus. Indeed, he had purchased the command because of Nautilus.
It was clear the captain was obsessed with a specific wreck, one shrouded in darkness, even on a fair day. The diving armor could withstand the pressures of the ocean floor far longer than any man, long enough to collect what was hidden in the abnormal Merc. The crew agreed working was better than starving, and Nautilus found himself being bolted into the suit, the wooden deck groaning under the load. Panic rose in his throat when he realized that they had nothing to pay the tithe.
The foreign captain laughed as Nautilus was lowered into the water. He assured the crew that whenever the bearded lady was protecting, would make them all rich beyond their wildest dreams. When Nautilus returned to the surface, he would make their silly sacrifice. As Nautilus sank, the light above him dimmed, and all grew quiet.
The man's own breath was the only sound echoing in the iron suit. Then, something reached from the depths. He was being pulled down, and for the first time Nautilus felt liquid fear wrap itself around his heart. It was not treasure his captain sought, but something slumbering, some eldritch power.
Nautilus grabbed the anchor chain, his last connection to the world above, and hauled himself up even as the thing below sought to drag him down, but the weight was too much. Just as his giant metal fingers were about to reach the surface, the chain snapped. Nautilus screamed within the suit, but none could hear him. He tumbled back into the inky maelstrom, clutching the sinking anchor in desperation.
Dark tendrils enveloped him, and he could only watch as the dimming outline of his ship faded away. Then everything went black. When Nautilus awoke on the ocean floor, he was something... different.
The darkness could no longer hurt him. The great metal suit had become a seamless shell around him, concealing the bond that the primordial power had made with his spirit. Trapped in the sunless depths, he could remember only one thing, the new captain's broken promise. Nautilus vowed, there and then, that all would pay the ocean's tithe, he would see to it himself.
Driven ever forward by this thought, he trudged toward the shore, but by the time he reached Buildwandr, years had passed, and he could find no traces of his captain or crew. There was no life he could return to, no revenge he could take. Instead, he returned to the sea, allowing his anger to surface on the greedy, gutting their ships with his mighty anchor. Sometimes, in the tumble of waves, distant memories of who he was, push up above the waterline.
But always, the man who is Nautilus stays drowned, just below the surface. And for today's story, which is written with a fun little flair, it's called the Ophidian, by Anthony Reynolds. No, no, this seed's not taken. Pull up a chair and sink a few friends.
Though that might be a poor turn of phrase given my history. I, I've seen a few shipwrecks, been in one myself, as it goes back when I was young like you. Her name was the Ophidian, that ship, all down beneath the jagged streets. I was the only survivor, too.
Maybe you buys me a drink and I'll tell you about it. This? No, no, no. This coin's not for spending, friend.
That's my lucky crack and forward to pay the tithe. The tithe, you know the tithe. Everyone knows about the tithe. Pay the tithe or fish the ocean's wrath.
All the bearded lady? Ha, then you never heard of Nautilus either, the titan of the depths. Barkeep, pour us around, Barkeep. There's a good lass.
This is a tale that needs an ale as they say. And my friend hears by-in. Ah, now that's the good stuff that is. It was almost thirty years back now, returning from a hunt.
I was a harpooner, finest shot in the slaughter-fleeze. We caught ourselves in Axifin, the Vyethae. One of them old big mean buggers and when we were holding the beast back to port. It were just before dawn, Bill George City lights sliggered in the distance, beckoning us in.
There, the razor fish and the berserker shirks followed us close by, because the axe was, you know, oozing into the water you see. End our captain. Well, none of us much cared for him, untrustworthy sort. He swears blind that he paid the tithe before we went.
A single gold crack and he said, for till is all I have to give. But none of us seen him throw it over the side, now did we? So, naturally, as we were suspicious, because we knew he was a tight-fisted old war frat, not to sail on anyways. And that, that's when the titan hit us.
Without warning this bloody great anchor comes at us from below, smashed clean through the keel, up through the main deck, caught us tight and started pulling us down. Oh, it was chaos friend, sailors thrown overboard, waters churned in scavengers' feet, eye-grabbs the captain screaming at him, you're a liar, you're a liar, this is a ladies punishment for those who don't pay. Ship was going down fast, but then the planking gave way, didn't it? And the anchor slid back to the depths.
If it had ended then, more of us might have got away. But it turned over, nautilus. Weren't done with us yet. The ship tipped to starboard, right sudden.
It was the way to the titan himself, hauling up onto the deck. Perhaps once it had been a man, but it weren't no man that I saw that night rising from the waves. I has our captain by the throat. This is your doing, I roared, as I chalk the bastard me eyes wide.
He can see an analyst is coming for us. So I shoves the captain away, down the slanted deck, and this thing catches him in one hand. If you can believe it, it was so big. Fingers closed completely around his buddy, and the captain turned to small men by any stretch.
Here's your tie, thy yells, and jumped overboard. I don't know how long I was in the water. Must have been only seconds, but it felt like an age. But the sea scavengers didn't get me.
Mother serpent be praised, pulled myself up onto the stone pinnacles out there in the straits, and I watched the Ophidian sink. Nautilus still held the captain, squirming and wriggling like a stuck worm, but there was no escape in that grasp. The titan was just standing there, motionless as a statue. Oh, you watched him go down, down into the darkness.
Do I spare me? Don't rightly know. Perhaps I was the only one to make an offering, or maybe Nautilus wanted someone left alive to tell the tale. But on the darkest builds, watch your nights when the murder fogs rolling, you might hear him wading out from the shadows, slow and steady like dragon that accursed anger in his wake.
Want to advise my friend? Keep a coin in your pocket, and always pay the tithe. Don't trust no captain who says he's done it unless you've seen it for yourself. After all, you might not be as lucky as me.
Well, there. See, these ones I kind of have the obscure nature to them that function more like legends. I think Amumu was one. These are the ones I really like, and I don't know if it's because they have this element of like mystery to them, or if I'm just drawn to legend and myth, kind of the gray area.
He was a man, but we don't know what, and now he serves this like grand purpose. Anyway, love that kind of stuff. I hope you enjoyed it. I was kind of doing a bizarre undead streak.
Not was undead. And next week we're going to do Carthus. Carthus it is. And I'll get my singing voice ready.
I'm a little bit, a little bit froggy today. Get that vocal fro going on, you know. I can't even keep it up. Anyway, appreciate all of you coming along.
Went from Australian to Irish there. I don't know what's going on with my life. I'm just going completely crazy. So before I lose you all, I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend.
As always, thank you so much for listening and go ahead and leave a review or mark that star. Leave in the comments on my social media. What you like to hear? You gotta, gotta, gotta.
Thank you so much. Okay. And catch you on the flip side.