Darius realized this was a leader he was prepared to follow. The oaths of the Hand were to Noxus, not any particular ruler, and Swain was a man who spoke honestly of his new vision for the empire. As Hand, many of the noble houses would expect Darius to avenge Darkwill, but he had known and greatly respected the disgraced general Swain, and had spoken against his discharge after the botched offensive in Ionia some years earlier. The act had been supported by many allies, including Darius’s own brother, Draven. He marched his veterans into the capital, only to find that the emperor was dead, killed in a coup led by Jericho Swain. He was growing weary of endless wars of attrition, and returned to Noxus to demand a reconsolidation of the military. Darius narrowly survived assassination attempts, ambushes, and even capture by the vicious Winter’s Claw. The campaign dragged on for years, ending in a bitter, icy stalemate. Those who knew Darius best knew he craved neither power nor adulation-he wished merely to see Noxus triumph over all-so Darkwill ordered him and his warhosts far north into the Freljord, to finally bring the barbarian tribes to heel. Such was his fearsome notoriety, even in the lands beyond Noxus, that it was not uncommon for entire cities to surrender at the first sight of his banners.Īfter a grinding victory against the cloud-fortresses of the Varju, a proud warrior people who had resisted decades of Noxian aggression, Darius was named the Hand of Noxus by Emperor Boram Darkwill himself. Darius turned the majority away, accepting only the strongest, the most disciplined and iron-willed.
He was rewarded with a senior command of his own, attracting many thousands of eager recruits from across the empire. Roaring in defiance and hefting his bloodied axe overhead, Darius rallied the scattered warbands and won a great and unexpected victory against a far more numerous foe. On the bloodsoaked fields of Dalamor Plain, he even beheaded a Noxian general after the coward ordered a retreat. From humble beginnings, he rose steadily through the ranks, always putting duty before all else, and garnering great respect for his aggression, discipline, and refusal to ever take a backward step. Within the empire, anyone could rise to power, no matter their birth, culture, or background, and none embraced this ideal more fervently than Darius. Over the years, they fought in many grueling campaigns of conquest from one end of the known world to the other, as well as crushing a number of rebellions against the throne. Every day on the streets was a battle for survival, and Darius earned more scars by his twelfth summer than some soldiers do in a lifetime.Īfter Basilich was seized by the expanding Noxian empire, the victorious commander Cyrus saw the strength in these defiant brothers, and they found a home within the ranks of his warhost. Darius struggled to provide for them both, constantly fighting with gangs of older urchins and anyone else who threatened his little brother-even the city guard. Darius and his brother Draven grew up as orphans in the port city of Basilich.
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