A recently-datamined League of Legends emote known as “Spirit of the Hearth” has offered gamers what appears to be an unintentional first peek at the next champion to join the huge League roster.
The emote, first shared on X (formerly Twitter) on May 14, depicts a mysterious new spectacled character writing in a notepad with a feathered quill. This character, which is marked as “AURORA” in the leaked League files, is all rugged up in winter gear and has long brown platted hair. Her appearance on a forthcoming emote indicates that she will soon be a playable champion.
Several clues supported the early Aurora hypothesis. The first is that the /r/AuroraMains subreddit has already been created but is hidden; Riot usually prepares for champ releases by creating these character-specific forums ahead of time. The second relates to a teaser shared in January. In the teaser of a Runeterra mage’s workstation, players have seen Aurora’s notebook and brand markings, which also exist on her emote appearance.