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Miss Fortune
Sarah Fortune’s revenge against Gangplank reshaped the balance of power. Maintaining influence in the aftermath is a different challenge from destroying an enemy’s flagship.
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Runeterra / Lawless port city
Lawless port city
Bilgewater
A port where monster hunters, smugglers and the beliefs of the Serpent Isles converge.
Inside the story · 2 MIN
Sea trade · Buhru traditions · Rival captains
A port built from arrivals
Bilgewater occupies a dangerous bay in the Serpent Isles, also called the Blue Flame Isles by outsiders. Ships bring people fleeing debt, persecution or old identities. Buildings reuse wrecked hulls and older stonework, climbing above canals and crowded docks. The result is a city whose physical form records successive arrivals, while the indigenous Buhru culture long predates the port’s newcomers.
What keeps the docks alive
Hunting sea monsters feeds industries that sell meat, oil, hides, scales and bones. Crews need specialist knowledge, dangerous equipment and buyers willing to pay before a carcass spoils. Smuggling and bounty hunting exist alongside this work. The promise that almost anything can be bought here comes with a cost: protection is personal, agreements are fragile and a poor bargain can be fatal.
Captains, revenge and authority
The fall of Gangplank’s rule did not create a stable government. Sarah Fortune and rival captains navigate a port in which reputation, ships and armed crews determine influence. Their struggles are personal as well as political. Illaoi represents a different authority, rooted in Nagakabouros and Buhru belief, whose importance cannot be reduced to the business of pirates.
The sea keeps its dead
Bilgewater’s cemeteries extend below floating markers, with bodies returned to the water. Stories of deep-sea powers, unpaid debts and the Black Mist sit close to everyday maritime danger. This gives the city two horizons: the commercial world connected by shipping routes, and the supernatural world that sailors must reckon with whenever they leave harbour.
RUNETERRA
People who shape the story
Gangplank
The former reaver king refuses to accept the loss of his city. His reputation remains a weapon even after his rule has ended.
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Illaoi
The Truth Bearer of Nagakabouros tests the spirit as well as the body. Through her, the port’s story connects to the much older culture of the Serpent Isles.
Read the biographyPlaces to explore
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RIOT MMO
From Runeterra to the MMO
These histories explain the world in which Riot is developing its MMORPG. They do not establish a playable people, a class, a starting zone or a confirmed quest. Follow the journal for the distinction between Riot’s announcements and community analysis.
Follow the MMO journalSources & further reading
Original editorial summaries based on Riot’s published atlas and biographies. Older sources may describe earlier stages of an evolving story.