For Demacia in the twenty-second year of the Freljord Calendar, the Northern Expeditionary Army and Freljord had to be the year's hottest topics.
Although the war of unification not long ago had also lasted two years, after the Battle of Eight Paths Slope it had mostly consisted of pursuing the defeated and clearing out local nobles. Those accomplishments weren't enough to earn many promotions.
For the new generation of Demacian soldiers and Hextech users, eager to make a name for themselves, this expedition to the north was the best way to prove their worth.
Not everyone understood why Lux had chosen to march north, but that didn't stop all of Demacia from taking part in the war in one way or another.
However, while the Demacians seemed to have turned all their attention northward, from the perspective of all Runeterra, the impact of this rising nation was felt most in the economic sphere.
In the past, Demacia had mostly played the role of consumer in international trade across Runeterra. Though it imported some novelties that weren't available locally, the country as a whole had little dependence on trade. Its fertile land was plain to see, and the nobles in power preferred collecting steady rent and taxes from the farmers. Trade, for the most part, merely kept essential goods in circulation.
Back then, Demacia's most successful merchants weren't the ones who made the most money, but the ones with the most connections. A merchant's ultimate ambition wasn't to monopolize trade, but to become a smooth-talking broker and work their way into the ranks of the nobility.
But with the rise of the north and the establishment of New Demacia, the country's image was changing before everyone's eyes.
At first, Northern Trade was a small, exclusive affair, limited to exchanging goods between