Zaun

Biodata

History

Zaun and Piltover were once a single trading post on the northeastern edge of Shurima. The city's major families later attempted to widen its canal and build the Sun Gate sea locks. An alchemical-explosives accident split the land: Piltover became the Upper City, while Zaun became the Lower City. The two developed a lasting conflict, with Zaunites believing Piltover had betrayed them 102.

The Sun Gate enriched Piltover while Zaun sank below it. According to Camille, at least three-fifths of the locks' revenue had originally been meant for Zaunite families, but that income instead flowed to the Medarda Family 118. After the Sun Gate was smashed open, sunlight reached parts of Zaun that had lived in its shadow, and the cities' trade relationship faced a new beginning 141.

Geography and Districts

Zaun occupies enormous, intersecting ravines beneath Piltover. Bridges cross the cliffs, while toxic haze gathers in the lower reaches. Wastewater from Hextech industry, household refuse, and alchemical exhaust flow down from Piltover 102.

Industry and Society

• Industry — Alchemy factories, Hex Crystal refining, mining, and the Academy of Techmaturgy are established in Zaun 81 102 119.
• Chem-Barons — They control factories that many residents depend on for work and maintain ties with Piltover's powerful families 81 119.
• Working conditions — Toxic pollution and dangerous machinery threaten laborers. Viktor says continuous machine operation makes alchemical accidents nearly inevitable 104 132.
• Lost children — Groups of street children navigate Zaun's maze-like alleys and steal from passersby. Ekko leads one such group in the Sump 119.
• Inventors — Ekko develops the Z-Drive in Zaun, while Viktor pursues research aimed at overcoming the limits of the human body 78 119 132.

Story Role

• The 75th Mine — Yuan Chen and Qiyana investigate an unexplained stone wall in a Zaun mine and discover Malphite, a conscious fragment of the ancient Monolith Fortress 80 81.
• The Sump expedition — Yuan Chen sends Ezreal to collect local accounts of dangerous sewer areas. Yuan Chen, Ezreal, and Jarl Medarda later descend into the Sump in search of an ancient weapon 78 103.
• The Dark Descendant harp — Yuan Chen and Camille explore abandoned pipelines below the Sump and find the harp 121.
• Yuan Chen's workshop — Yuan Chen chooses Zaun over Piltover for a planned Hextech workshop and seeks to recruit Viktor as its supervisor 121 129.
• The Sun Gate's destruction — Its removal ends the shadow over part of the undercity and prompts Viktor to hope that Zaun can advance beyond its former constraints 132 141.