Original synthesis by The Rune. Sources and the limits of each account appear below.
01
Before the weapons
The darkin are not an ordinary biological species. Aatrox’s story begins among Shurima’s Ascended: warriors transformed through the Sun Disc. His struggle against the Void and the later loss of the empire belong to the path toward his fall. A shared origin does not give every darkin the same personality or purpose.
02
Fall and imprisonment
After the imperial order collapsed, former protectors fought one another and drew others into their wars. Defeat did not end their existence. Aatrox’s account describes imprisonment inside his own sword, aware but unable to escape through death. The prison matters as much as the power: the weapon is central to his story.
03
Weapon and wielder
A darkin and their wielder are not necessarily the same person. Rhaast is the darkin scythe carried by Kayn; Kayn is the human trying to master it. Their wills struggle against one another. Aatrox, Varus and Naafiri reveal other relationships between weapons, bodies and agency. Read each case before applying one rule to them all.
04
Reading their accounts
The Legend of the Darkin offers a voice from within the setting, with its own beliefs and limits. A legend does not independently establish every detail as historical fact. Start with Aatrox to understand imprisonment, then follow Kayn and Rhaast for the conflict between wielder and weapon.
