PANTHEON: Chinese
Lord of Fire
祝融
TYPE: Melee, Physical
CLASS: Warrior
PROGRESSION: 1/1/1.25/1.5x
LORE:
Zhurong is the god of fire and the south, who taught mankind about fire. He commands the heavenly ministry of fire and serves as its Lord of Fire (火正). Having waged a destructive battle, Zhurong defeated the god of water Gonggong. This had caused the destruction of the world pillar (Mount Buzhou), which covered the land with rising floods and raging flames, so Nuwa intervened to restore the balance within the cosmos. As a deity so uncompromising, he once executed lord Gun, who stole xirang (a self-renewing soil belonging to the gods) to save the people from the great flood.
- Leading the ministry of fire, he appears as a stately elder official.
- He wears hanfu (漢服, see images below) robes--distressed and perpetually burning as he often appears surrounded by fire--with large sleeves and a y-shaped collar (i.e. left-over-right folded) trimmed with a band of decorated fabric.
- He's often depicted with lamellar body armor (see 5th and 6th image below), comprising overlapping rectangular plates attached to a heavy fabric or leather mantle, typical for classical Chinese armor. The armor would lie over the robes and under a zhaoshan (罩衫, see 4th and 5th image below), which is a large open large-sleeved coat.
- The robe's colors are red and black, signifying the element of fire (one of the wuxing) and the heavens respectively.
- His robe is decorated with ancient symbols, such as the abstract bestial-like motif taotie (饕餮, see 4th and 7th image) and other abstract motifs from Chinese bronzes of the Shang and Zhou dynasties (when contemporary noble lineages, such as the Chu, often claimed indirect descent to this god).
- Hanging from the waist sash, he has a stringed jade pei ornament set (組玉佩, see 4th and 8th image below), such as bi discs (璧), huang arcs (璜), and other ritualistic jade accessories.
- Hanging below the sash, there's a bixi (蔽膝, see 4th and 5th image below), which is a long decorated panel of fabric.
- Zhurong's hair is greying black, uncut, and bounded into a topknot (typical for ancient Chinese male hairstyles). He also has a beard like an elder.
- He wears a xiaoguan (小冠, see 1st image below), yuanyouguan (遠遊冠, see 2nd image below), or some other guan headgear. The headgear is adorned with flame motifs.
- As an executioner, he uses a large flaming jian (劍) sword for basic attacks. His fighting style modifies to flaming Shaolin kungfu with his ult (see his abilities below).
Reference images for details....
PASSIVE - SOUTHERN FIRE
Enemy Gods have reduced healing if they are damaged by Zhurong's fire (from his abilities and basic attacks).
- Healing reduction: 20%
- Duration: 3s
If enemies get healed while under this reduced healing effect, the reduced healing is transferred as healing to Zhurong.
Lore: Fire gives both destruction and life, Zhurong brought fire to aid mankind, fire is associated with the south (in the wuxing), and Zhurong is also the god of the south.
Mechanic: Basically a transfer of healing from enemies to Zhurong, which includes hp5, abilities, lifesteal, relics, and item effects. If Zhurong is able to constantly hit all five enemy Gods during a team fight (best case scenario), he basically gains the healing equal to the healing that one enemy God would have received.
ABILITY 1 - THE HEART OF FIRE
Zhurong brings forth a powerful wave of fire. This deals damage, slows, and cripples upon impact.
- Ability type: Wide cone
- Range: 30ft
- Damage: Medium-high
- Slow: 30% for 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2s
- Cripple: 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2s
Lore: In the wuxing concept, fire is heat, qi energy, and the function of the heart.
Appearance: The circulating fire accumulates at Zhurong's hands, near his chest, and then the god directs the fire into a violent blaze in front of him.
ABILITY 2 - A LAND IN PERPETUAL FLAMES
Zhurong brings down his sword, damaging enemies and make them stagger (i.e. intoxicate) in movement.
- Ability type: Medium-wide line
- Range: 55ft
- Damage: Medium
- Stagger: 4s
If his sword hits enemy Gods, the raging fire will consume those Gods and will stay around those Gods for a duration. This raging fire damages other enemy Gods who come near the affected Gods.
- Ability type: Area
- Radius: 20ft
- Damage per tick: Medium
- Duration: 3/3.5/4/4.5/5s
If the sword hits a wall, the raging fire will consume the surrounding area, dealing damage to those who enter it.
- Ability type: Area
- Radius: 20ft
- Damage per tick: Medium
- Duration: 3/3.5/4/4.5/5s
Lore: A nod to the battle between Gonggong and Zhurong (the gods of water and fire respectively), which covered the world with rising floods and raging fire.
Appearance: Flames burst from the sword upon impact with the terrain.
ABILITY 3 - THE FIRE'S SOURCE
Zhurong conjures immense flames around him, propelling himself high through the sky and then crashing straight down, dealing damage at the target location.
- Ability type: Leap
- Target location radius: 15ft
- Leap range: 55ft
- Damage: Medium
Zhurong is also able to grab an enemy God (at the start of the leap), dragging him or her along through the sky and slamming him or her down at the target location.
- Ability type: Cone, grab
- Cone range: 17ft
Lore: The name is a nod to Taoist philosophy, where everything that has ever flourished will also wither and return to its beginnings (Daodejing, verse 16).
Appearance: The leap goes very high and very fast, with heavy smoke and fire like a jet afterburner in its trajectory.
ULTIMATE - PASSAGE OF THE FIRE DRAGONS
Zhurong engulfs himself in a raging fire storm, dealing damage and reducing protections. He is immune to displacement crowd control for the duration.
- Ability type: Area
- Radius: 25ft
- Damage per tick: Medium / per 0.25s
- Protection reduction per tick: ??? / per 0.25s / max 4 stacks / lasts for 2s
- Duration: 5s
Empowered by the fire, the dragons are unleashed and collide unto a ground target, dealing damage and stunning.
- Ability type: Ground target
- Range: 70ft
- Radius: 15ft
- Damage: Very high
- Stun: 1.5s
Having unleashed the essence of fire, Zhurong uses fire-imbued Shaolin kungfu as basic attacks (changing his attack progression) for a duration.
- Progression: 1/0.5/0.5/1x speed, 1/1/1/1x damage
- Duration: 7s
Lore: Zhurong is often depicted as riding two dragons (such as in the Shanhaijing).
Mechanic:
- Zhurong can move, use other abilities, and basic attack during the entire ability.
- Immunity is to displacement crowd control, which are pulls, knockups, knockbacks, banishes, and grabs.
Appearance:
- Zhurong surrounded by a raging fire storm.
- The elemental-like dragons will crash straight down from the sky, impacting the ground in a fiery collision. After their attack, the dragons will spiral around Zhurong's fire storm, connected to and driving the storm.
- For his flaming basic attacks, he uses Shaolin kungfu (instead of his large sword).
- As an elder official, Zhurong is merciless, stern, and uncompromising, considering he dispensed punishment to Gun without mercy, ignoring the intentions of Gun's deeds. His voice lines could thus be based on legalism (see texts such as the Shangjunshu [...] and the Han Feizi [...]), because legalism is a political perspective where statecraft must be firmly based on rule of law, as legalists believed that all men are too motivated by an inherent self-interest that dictates the realities of human behavior. Herein, legalistic law privileged rationality and is unconcerned with morality.
- Zhurong would behave similar to wuwei (無為). This means that he does not act against the order of the cosmos, so his behavior is effortless and detached from humanity, entailing a release from pursuits of self-interest. His voice lines could be based on Taoism (see texts such as the Daodejing), where wuwei is a central concept. This would match with the Wu Liang shrine inscriptions, as it describes Zhurong as...
- "He did nothing and created nothing; He was addicted to nothing and desired nothing; And punishments were not in [his] practice."
- Zhurong is historically considered the progenitor of the Chu noble lineage, so his voice lines could also be based on the poetry compilation Chuci (Songs of Chu).
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