Leona
Imbued with the fire of the sun, Leona is a holy warrior of the Solari who defends Mount Targon with her Zenith Blade and the Shield of Daybreak. Her skin shimmers with starfire while her eyes burn with the power of the celestial Aspect within her. Armored in gold and bearing a terrible burden of ancient knowledge, Leona brings enlightenment to some, death to others. LifeStory: Leona was born to Sunforgers Iasur and Melia within the Rakkor tribes of Mount Targon. Along with her younger siblings Aidonel and Kespina, Leona was raised since birth to honor the faith of the Solari, a religious sect of the Rakkor that highly venerated the sun. Leona took to the Solari faith as easily as breathing, proving excellence in capability, willpower and devotion to the faith. Leona's faith and skill was so strong that her peers grew jealous, as nobody had doubts that she would one day become one of the elite Ra'Horak warriors of the Solari. Relationship with Diana: One day, the Solari took in a young orphan named Diana, who did not follow the Solari's values as easily and instead preferred the moon and the night. The Solari punished Diana constantly and called her a heretic for her blasphemy, but Leona felt pity for her and saw her as a lost soul searching for meaning. One night, Diana confided a secret to Leona and spoke of the hidden alcove she discovered in the mountain, an ancient place where the walls depicted strange imagery of the moon and forgotten societies dressed in silver armor, proving that the sun and the moon were in fact not enemies at all. Noticing the heresy of what Diana described, she urged her to abandon this search and never speak of her discoveries, seeking to protect Diana from the brutal punishments of the other Solari if they heard of what she found. Diana reluctantly promised Leona that she'd abandon her discoveries and the two never spoke of it again as time passed, while Leona believed that her friend finally came to her senses. Ascending Mount Targon: On one fateful night, Leona caught a glimpse of Diana sneaking out of the temple. Though Leona's first instincts was to tell the elders, she instead decided to protect her friend from their punishments and set off to follow her into the night. Following Diana, Leona ascended Mount Targon itself and endured a brutal trial unlike anything she'd ever faced before as every fiber of her being was tested to its limits. As she passed frozen bodies embedded into the mountain's slopes, Leona continued her journey and endured thanks to her training, willpower and drive to protect Diana. Miraculously, to Leona's surprise, she finally reached the peak of the mountain after what felt like an eternity. Exhausted and beholding an uncanny landscape at the peak, she found Diana engulfed in a column of silver light, writhing in agony to Leona's horror. As she rushed to her aid, a second, golden column of light burst from the heavens, fell on her and enveloped her entire body. Becoming an Aspect: Leona felt the sun's powers course through her and sear away her very being, but her indomitable will allowed her to retain her consciousness. Leona expected to be incinerated but instead emerged the new Host for the Aspect of the Sun, realizing that she was destined to protect the Solari in dire times to come. Diana also emerged as a new Aspect of the Moon, now clad in silver armor that reflected the golden armor Leona found herself wearing. Diana was overjoyed that the two of them became Aspects together and begged Leona to join her on a new quest to find answers outside of the Solari faith, but Leona demanded that they return home and present themselves for the priests' judgements. The two argued and neither conceded as they engaged in swift combat utilizing their newfound powers. Diana eventually had her crescent blade at Leona's throat but refused to deal the killing blow and fled. Devastated, Leona descended the mountain without Diana and hurried to report to the elders. Unfortunately, when Leona arrived, she found many Solari priests and Ra'Horak guards slaughtered, seemingly by Diana's hands. The survivors emerged and awed at Leona's arrival, amazed by the arrival of not one but two Aspects among them. Now as the new Aspect of the Sun, Leona knew that great threats and changes were coming to Runeterra and vowed to act as a guiding light for her people serving as fierce leader.
