FIORA

THE GRAND DUELIST

As the youngest daughter of the noble Laurent family, Fiora seemed destined for a

life as a political pawn, to be married off in Demacia’s grand game of alliances. This

did not sit well, and from an early age she deliberately defied every expectation

placed upon her. Her mother had the finest craftsmen of Demacia fashion the most

lifelike dolls for her to play with—but Fiora gave them to her maids, and took up her

eldest brother's rapier, forcing him to give her lessons in secret. Her father obtained a

set of dressmaking mannequins for her personal seamstress to craft wondrous gowns—

but Fiora merely used them to practice her lunges and ripostes.

Despite her years of quiet resistance, a politically advantageous marriage was

eventually arranged with an outlying branch of the Crownguard family, after her

eighteenth birthday. Plans were set for a summer wedding. It would take place in the

capital, and King Jarvan III himself was to attend.

On that day, as the invited guests began to arrive, Fiora stood up and declared that

she would sooner die than allow someone else to decide the course of her life. Her

betrothed was publicly shamed by this outburst, and his family demanded satisfaction

in the old manner—a duel to the death.

Fiora immediately agreed, but her father Sebastien implored the king to intervene.

Jarvan had done much to end such feuding among the nobility, but in this case his

hands were tied. Fiora had already accepted.

There was only one option left. Sebastien invoked his right to fight in her place.
High Marshal Tianna Crownguard likewise named a champion to fight for her kinsman,

selecting a veteran warrior from the Dauntless Vanguard. Sebastien’s defeat seemed

almost certain. The Laurent name would be ruined, and Fiora exiled in disgrace.

Presented with so stark a choice, he made a decision that could damn his family for

years to come…

The night before the duel, he attempted to slip his opponent a draught that would

dull his senses and slow his reactions—but he was caught in the act, and arrested.

The law was clear. Sebastien Laurent had broken the most fundamental code of

honor. He would be humiliated upon the executioner’s scaffold, hanged like a

common criminal. On the eve of his death, Fiora visited his cell, but what passed

between them remains a secret known only to her.

The next day, Fiora approached the king’s dais in full view of the crowd. She knelt

before him, and offered up her blade—with his blessing, she would claim the Laurent

name from her father, and justice would be served. The duel was blindingly swift, a

dance of blades so exquisite that those present would never forget what they

witnessed. Fiora’s father was a fine swordsman in his own right, but he was no match

for his daughter. They said farewell in every clash of steel, but in the end Fiora

tearfully buried her rapier in her father’s heart.

Solemnly, King Jarvan ruled that Sebastien had paid for his crimes in full. Fiora would

be his successor. The quarrel between the families was resolved, and that would be

an end to it.

Even so, such scandals are not easily forgotten. Fiora took to her new duties at court

with her customary clarity and directness, but found that rumors and gossip continued
to follow her at every turn. She had usurped her brothers’ claims to the family name.

What could this arrogant child bring to the Great City of Demacia but more strife and

bloodshed, if she would not take a husband?

Rather than demand more justice at the edge of her sword, Fiora instead turned to

her wider family—cousins and more distant relatives, with many renowned

swordmasters among them—and silenced her critics by granting noble status to all in

her household. Together, they were dedicated to the refinement of bladecraft within

the kingdom. Dueling was an ancient art, but need not always end in death.

And if any care to disagree with that notion, Fiora will be only too happy to test the

strength of their conviction in combat herself.