Since ancient times, there have been those who prayed to the winds. From sailors seeking good weather to the downtrodden calling on winds of change, mortals have placed their hope in the tempests and gales that sweep across Runeterra.<\/p>\n
Surprisingly, the wind sometimes would seem to answer. Seafarers might spot a bright blue bird just before a healthy tailwind billowed their sails. Others could swear they\u2019d heard a whistling in the air right before a storm, as if to warn them of its approach. As word of these omens spread, sightings of the bird grew more common. Some even swore they had seen the bird transform into a woman. With tapered ears and flowing hair, this mysterious maiden was said to float above the water and direct the wind with a flick of her staff.<\/p>\n
The faithful called this wind spirit\u00a0Jan\u2019ahrem<\/i>, an ancient Shuriman word meaning \u201cguardian,\u201d for she always seemed to appear in moments of great need. As time went on, she came to be known more simply as Janna.<\/p>\n
Her name spread across the Shuriman continent\u2019s coasts, and the seafaring people of Oshra Va\u2019Zaun were her most fervent believers. They depended on calm seas for the trade ships that traveled through their city\u2019s port. Statues and shrines were raised in gratitude for Janna\u2019s benevolence. After the Shuriman empire enveloped the city, these displays of devotion continued\u2026 for a time.<\/p>\n
When the emperor issued decrees suppressing \u201cfalse idols,\u201d Janna\u2019s statues were torn down. Yet despite the growing worship of the Ascended god-warriors, many still offered quiet prayers to Janna, for what could god-warriors do to protect ships from storms? These mortals often wore amulets with the image of a bluebird\u2014smaller, more personal tokens in Janna\u2019s honor.<\/p>\n
Through all of this, Janna continued to aid the vulnerable who called upon her. In a region rife with upheaval, she remained constant. Those with an eye toward history might appreciate the irony of \u201cwinds of change\u201d being the only thing that did\u00a0not<\/i>.<\/p>\n
After the great empire fell, once verdant lands became a desert as the remaining Ascended brought war and chaos\u2014yet Janna shielded the city, now known as Zaun, from the turmoil.<\/p>\n
Over the centuries, Janna watched as Zaun\u2019s ambitions grew. While the city was still a robust trade port, its denizens aspired for more. They dreamed of cutting a canal through the isthmus on which they lived, opening a path that would unite the seas surrounding Valoran and Shurima. The city poured great effort, wealth, and time into the construction. Prayers to Janna waned as mortal dreams focused on mortal machinations.<\/p>\n
However, the canal\u2019s excavation made great portions of Zaun unstable. On one cataclysmic day, entire districts on the River Pilt collapsed below the western sea level, and thousands suddenly found themselves fighting for their lives against the clashing currents.<\/p>\n
As these unfortunate souls faced their doom, they prayed for salvation. They called out the name of their ancient protector:<\/p>\n
Janna.<\/p>\n
Though these mortals had seemingly forgotten her until now, Janna did not hesitate to help them. An immense gale swept over the city as she took corporeal form. Impossible walls of air held flooding waters at bay as people fled the drowned ruins of their homes. Ferocious gusts of wind cut through the suffocating smoke from fires caused by the destruction. Yet while she saved many, thousands still perished that day\u2014but all who survived witnessed Janna\u2019s benevolence. Never again would the city\u2019s people forget their savior.<\/p>\n
To this day, through the rise of Piltover and the ongoing struggles of modern Zaun, Janna\u2019s faithful wear bluebird medallions and show reverence to the winds. And through it all, Janna stands steadfast by the humble and the meek. Zaunites all know that whether they fight for breath amid the toxic clouds of the Zaun Gray, stand against the brutality of violent chem-barons, or fend off other threats, Janna will not abandon them.<\/p>\n
They think Zaun is where the losers live.<\/p>\n
They won\u2019t admit it, of course \u2013 they\u2019ll smile through their teeth and pat us on the back and tell us that Piltover would be nowhere without Zaun. Our hard workers! Our bustling trade! Our chemtech that everyone in Piltover pretends they don\u2019t buy, except they constantly do! Zaun is a vital part of Piltover\u2019s culture, they\u2019ll say.<\/p>\n
All lies. Obviously.<\/p>\n
They think Zaun is where the idiots go. People too stupid to make it in Piltover\u2019s golden towers.<\/p>\n
People like me.<\/p>\n
I spent months dealing shimmer so I could afford to apply for Clan Holloran\u2019s apprenticeship. I studied every crusty, dog-eared book I could find on gearwork machinery. I built a prototype gearbrace for people with broken or arthritic wrists that increased their mobility. I did everything I could have done to earn an apprenticeship in Piltover. I even made it to the final stage of the vetting process: a face-to-face meeting with Boswell Holloran himself.<\/p>\n
They said it was a formality. Just a way to welcome me to the family.<\/p>\n
He entered the room, looked down at my Gray-stained clothes, and laughed a strangled, joyless laugh. He said, \u201cSorry, my boy \u2013 we don\u2019t take sump-rats here.\u201d<\/p>\n
He never even sat down.<\/p>\n
So now I\u2019m back here. In Zaun. One more idiot.<\/p>\n
The Gray rolls through the streets, welcoming me back. Most days, it\u2019s thin enough that you can breathe deep without coughing up something wet. Today, though, is what we call a Grayout. You choke with every breath. Your chest feels tight. Can\u2019t see much past your fingertips. I want to run, but I know there\u2019s nowhere to run to. The Gray feels like it\u2019s closing in on me, crushing me, smothering me.<\/p>\n
These are the times I pray to Janna.<\/p>\n
Not everyone in Zaun believes she\u2019s real, but my mother always had faith. She told me a bluebird hovered outside her window on the day of my birth, and she knew \u2013 she knew \u2013 it was Janna telling her I was going to be fine.<\/p>\n
She was wrong, of course. I wasn\u2019t fine, in the end. Couple of years ago, she \u2013 my mother \u2013 died while sump-scrapping, and I had to raise myself with the few gears she left me. Then, the usual: couldn\u2019t make friends. Got beaten up a lot. Boy I loved didn\u2019t love me back. Tried to study, tried to think my way up to Piltover. Couldn\u2019t. Figured Janna had forgotten about me.<\/p>\n
But I still keep the pendant my mother gave me: a wooden engraving depicting the bluebird she saw. Just in case of moments like these.<\/p>\n
So I sit on the wet ground because I don\u2019t care enough to find a bench, and I take out the bluebird pendant I always keep tucked in my shirt, and I talk to Janna.<\/p>\n
Not out loud, of course \u2013 don\u2019t need people thinking I\u2019m some chem-burnt freak \u2013 but still, I talk to her.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t ask her for anything. I just tell her about my day, and the day before that, and how scared I am that I\u2019ll never become anything worthwhile and that I\u2019ll die down here knee-deep in the Sump with nothing to show for it just like my mother, and that sometimes I just want to run away somewhere I can breathe and stop being so frightened and not feel like crying all the time and how I hate myself for feeling like I want to cry because I have it so much easier than some other people, and how sometimes I think about throwing myself into the chem pools of the Sump, just throwing myself in with my mother where I\u2019d let myself sink to the bottom and my lungs would fill with fluid because then it\u2019d be over, at least. I tell Janna I hope she\u2019s okay. I hope she\u2019s happy, wherever she is.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when I feel the breeze caress my cheek. Just a light flutter, but it\u2019s there. Soon, I can feel it blow hair across my face. The wind whistles loud and fast, and soon it\u2019s whipping my coat in the air and I feel as though I\u2019m at the center of a maelstrom.<\/p>\n
The Gray swirls before me, pushed up by a breeze that seems to flow from everywhere at once. The fog slowly dissipates, and I can see other passersby on the Entresol level watching it float away.<\/p>\n
The wind stops.<\/p>\n
The Gray clears.<\/p>\n
I can breathe.<\/p>\n
Not just small, cautious gasps, but deep breaths that fill my lungs with cold, fresh air. No longer veiled in Gray, the sun shines past the towers of Piltover into Zaun itself.<\/p>\n
I can see the Piltovans above, peering down at us. Without the Gray clouding their view, they can see us from their lofty bridges and balconies. I don\u2019t think they like it very much. Nobody wants to be reminded they live above a slum; I see a few scowls.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when I see him again: Boswell Holloran. Holding a sweetcake in his hand, looking down at me again. An expression of disgust on his face, just like before.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m so busy staring at his contemptuous face that I don\u2019t notice the presence behind me until her hand is on my shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s okay,\u201d she says, and I know without turning who it is.<\/p>\n
She squeezes my shoulder, then kneels and crosses her arms in front of my chest, pulling me into a hug.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be okay,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Strands of her hair fall onto my shoulders. She smells like the air after a long rain.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might not be okay now. You might not be okay for a while. And that\u2019s fine. But someday, without knowing exactly when or why or how it happened, you\u2019ll feel happy,\u201d she says. My face is warm and wet and I don\u2019t know when I started crying but it\u2019s a relief, like the clouds are clearing, and I hold her arms and she holds me, just telling me over and over that it\u2019s okay, that she\u2019s here, that things will be better.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know how long she holds me, but soon I see everyone on Zaun\u2019s Entresol and the balconies of Piltover above are staring.<\/p>\n
Before I can say anything, she says, \u201cDon\u2019t think about them. Just take care of yourself. Will you do that for me?\u201d<\/p>\n
I try to speak, but instead I just nod.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you,\u201d she says, and she kisses my wet cheek and gives me one last, quick squeeze.<\/p>\n
She rises and glides past me. For the first time, I see her in her entirety \u2013 a tall, ethereal figure that I would\u2019ve assumed was from my imagination if she hadn\u2019t just touched me. I notice her long, pointed ears. Feet that don\u2019t touch the ground. Hair flowing in the wind, even right now when there isn\u2019t any. Eyes so blue I feel a little cold just looking at her.<\/p>\n
But then she smiles, winks, and says, \u201cYou\u2019ll want to watch this next part.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a massive gust of wind, so fast and sharp I have to cover my eyes. When I open them again she\u2019s gone, but the wind is still blowing. It blows up toward Piltover and its gawking citizens.<\/p>\n
It whistles as it picks up speed and strength, and the Pilties run for cover but it\u2019s too late, the breeze hits them full force, sending their frocks sailing and mussing their hair. Boswell Holloran shrieks in terror as the wind launches him off the balcony.<\/p>\n
It seems as if he\u2019s about to plummet toward certain death, but another gust of wind shoots up toward him, and his descent slows significantly, as if the wind is guiding him down. You wouldn\u2019t know it to look at him, though. Even though he\u2019s falling with all the velocity of a tumbling leaf, He screams the entire way down. Very high pitched. Very undignified.<\/p>\n
His clothes flap upward, smacking him in the face as he descends, until he\u2019s hovering a few inches above a puddle.<\/p>\n
\u201cI \u2013,\u201d he begins, before the wind disappears altogether and he plops ass-first into the puddle, ruining what I assume was a very expensive ensemble. He yelps in a mixture of surprise, pain, and irritation, splashing around like an angry child. He tries to get to his feet, only to slip and fall back down all over again. If I\u2019m being completely honest, he looks like an idiot.<\/p>\n
And I can\u2019t stop laughing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Janna Biography Since ancient times, there have been those who prayed to the winds. From sailors seeking good weather to the downtrodden calling on winds of change, mortals have placed their hope in the tempests and gales that sweep across Runeterra. Surprisingly, the wind sometimes would seem to answer. Seafarers might spot a bright blue…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":8712,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1674],"tags":[1669],"class_list":["post-8711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-supports","tag-league-of-legends-champions-moderate-difficulty"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8711"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8713,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8711\/revisions\/8713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}