Chapter 212: Dragon Turtle
Shurima is an amazing country, and although the dynasty has fallen, there are still tenacious people who settle here, and unlike the foreign adventurers, the natives believe that they will be punished by the gods for their actions in coming here.
And after Sivir felt the mysterious call, the creatures that had been galloping on the land also moved towards a certain area of the Shurima Desert at great speed.
The species of this creature can be seen in the moments when the creature occasionally stops to rest.
But no one who has heard of it can understand how this amazing species came into being, and some even suspect that he is an apostle created by the gods.
Many people adore it, a few scoff at it, but all know nothing about it. The strange and interesting creature Ramos is a mystery.
He was covered in a spiked shell, and speculation abounded about his origins—some said he was a demigod, others said he was an oracle, others said he was just an ordinary beast that had been completely mutated by magic.
Whatever the truth, Ramos remains silent and does not stop for anyone, forever roaming the desert.
Some believe that Ramos is an ascended being, an ancient god who walks on earth, who appeared in the face of Shurima's crisis and became a guardian in heavy armor. Some superstitious people swear that he is the messenger of the vicissitudes of life. Whenever the earth is pushed to the brink of a great change, he will appear as expected.
Others speculate that he was the last individual of an endangered species, and that his kind was once found to be the ends of the earth, until the runaway magic of several rune wars destroyed the original desert.
With so many rumors of his great powers, magic, and mysteries, many Shurima people involuntarily seek out his wisdom. Prophets, priests, madmen, and the like all claim to be able to find Ramos's abode, but it turns out to be very elusive.
That being said, there is much evidence that he existed long before any extant memory, and his image appears in the mottled mosaics on the walls of the ancient Shurima ruins.
In the early days of the Ascension Ceremony, many large stone monuments were left behind, and there were also shapes similar to him in the ornamental patterns. Some believe that he is an immortal demigod.
But there are also skeptics who believe that the simplest explanation makes the most sense: Ramos is just one of the many in the world.
Some say that he only favors those who are qualified pilgrims, appearing when they need his help most, and those who are lucky enough to see his deity have all experienced important life turns. This one once rescued a kingdom heir from a fire, who later renounced his identity and became a shepherd.
An elderly mason had a deep and brief conversation with Ramos, and was inspired to build a sprawling market that eventually became the bustling center of the ancient city of Nasheram.
Some devout believers believe that Ramos can guide the soul on the path to enlightenment, and they perform elaborate rituals.
I hope to be able to receive the favor of this god. This group of disciples of the Ramos sect holds an annual ceremony to express their strong faith. They will mimic Ramos's famous rolling run, rolling through the city in droves.
Every year, thousands of Shurima trek to the most remote and treacherous corners of the desert in search of Ramos. Many theories hold that for those who qualify, Ramos will answer a question, provided that he is found first.
Pilgrims knew Ramos' fondness for desert specialties and brought with them many kinds of offerings, all of which were said to have the power to induce blessings.
They fill their mules with bottles of sweet goat's milk, crates of beeswax ant nests, cans of fresh beehives.
Many disappeared into the desert and never returned, a few returned with stories of encounters with demigods, and many more said they woke up to find all the food supplies in their bags suddenly and mysteriously missing.
Whether he was truly an oracle, an ascender, or a mighty beast, Ramos' endurance was a well-known miracle.
He had broken into the impregnable fortress of Ceylon, a terrifying fortress designed by a mad wizard. The fortress is said to harbor unspeakable magical fears—terrifying mutated monsters, flaming corridors of rage, and a choke point guarded by shadow demons.
Less than an hour after Ramos entered, the massive fortress crumbled into a cloud of dust, and Ramos was seen rolling away. No one knew why Ramos had entered the dark door, or what secrets he had learned inside the fortress.
In the year of the Great Flood, it took him less than two days to cross Lake Imali, dig a hole miles deep, destroy a massive anthill, kill the queen ant, and eliminate the pest on a nearby farm.
There were times when he was a loving hero. When the Noxian Warbands invaded the northern settlement of Shurima, many scattered tribes banded together to defend the territory at the foot of the Temple of the Ascension.
But neither in size nor in skill, they were not enough to match the Noxian invaders, so the battle was fierce and they were about to be defeated, at which point Ramos joined the fight.
Both sides were amazed to see such a mysterious creature appear, and the soldiers stopped fighting altogether altogether and watched him roll through the crowd.
As Ramos passed by the temple, its foundations were shaken, and large stones fell from the sky and smashed into the enemy army, killing many enemy soldiers. The Noxian army was then outnumbered and retreated to the cheers of the Shurima people.
Many people swear that Ramos saved the town out of love for Shurima, while others believe that he was merely guarding his own territory, his favorite cactus flower. And at least one Shurima claimed that Ramos was merely sleepwalking and did not want to destroy a temple at all.
Whatever the truth, Ramos' story is considered a gem by the Shurima people. Any Shurima child can cite a number of theories about Ramos' origins, more than half of which they improvised freely.
With the resurgence of the ancient kingdom of Shurima, more and more legends have been made about the armor, just as it was before it fell, and it is believed that his appearance heralded even darker times to come. But how could such a loving, optimistic soul herald an age of destruction?