LISSANDRA

THE ICE WITCH

In a time long forgotten, before the sands birthed and then swallowed Shurima, beings

of old magic freely walked Runeterra. The borders between the mortal realm and what

lay beyond it were hotly contested.

Into this dangerous and volatile age, Lissandra and her sisters, Serylda and Avarosa,

were born. Each sought to harness the powers at war, and each paid a terrible price.

Attempting to command the heavens above them, Serylda lost her voice to the first

twilight. Avarosa faced the twisting dark beneath the world, and was deafened by its

emptiness, waiting to consume all creation.

It was Lissandra who stood against the wild magic of the mortal world itself. For this

defiance, the savage claws of a primal god raked across her eyes, blinding her.

Though each sister had lost a part of themselves, it was on the frozen fields of

Lissandra’s many battles that they were able to unite and prevail. Together, they were

unstoppable… but even a bond of blood could only weather so much.

With her sight taken, Lissandra chose instead to walk in dreams. As she navigated the

fitful visions of those around her, she realized only she could see the darkness below

for what it was: the lingering abyss promised not only an ending, but infinity. It was

death, both dangerous and full of potential. Unknown to her sisters, Lissandra struck a

deal on their behalf with the god-like entities she had communed with—the Watchers

would grant them near-immortality in exchange for preparing Runeterra for the

coming of the Void.

The three sisters and their most powerful followers were named Iceborn. Those with

this ability to withstand the worst of the numbing frost would be spared until the very

end.

However, Lissandra’s sisters grew displeased. Avarosa argued that the only thing worse

than death was servitude. Even Serylda bristled against what would become of the

world they had fought so hard for. Caught in the middle, Lissandra tried to soothe her

sisters’ concerns while appealing to the Watchers for more time, but the unknowable

nothingness cared not for such platitudes.

The Void erupted into the mortal world in the far north, and with it, Lissandra’s

hidden allegiance to the Watchers became undeniable. In that moment, her only

choices were to let all the world be consumed, or to give up what she cared for most—

Lissandra sacrificed her sisters and the allies they had gathered, entombing the

Watchers beneath a glacial barrier of magical ice that could never be melted.

Lissandra soon discovered that even this elemental power was not enough. The

monstrous beings she had frozen were merely slumbering, slowly tainting the True Ice

around them into something darker. Now, they wandered through Lissandra’s dreams

as easily as she had theirs, and always she would wake, terrified, professing her loyalty

to the chilling eternity they promised.

Ever the survivor, she gathered her remaining followers to venerate her and her

departed sisters. If True Ice would delay the inevitable end of all things, then they had

to gather as much of it as they could find, and scour the frozen lands for any of

Iceborn descent to join their cause.

Lissandra and the first among her Frostguard did everything in their power to rewrite

history, seizing all records of what had truly happened… and yet, rumors and

prophecies persisted in myth and song. It was whispered that Avarosa and Serylda

would one day return to unite the disparate tribes, and so Lissandra had any who were

hailed as their reincarnations quietly killed. Even she retreated into the shadows,

periodically renewing herself with the powers she had been gifted.

Like the threat that lies trapped beneath the ice, Lissandra has never been able to

completely control her sisters’ legends. Whether from guilt or arrogance, her failure to

eradicate their legacy has manifested once more in two powerful Iceborn—one an

idealist, the other a conqueror—and now, between them, they lead many tribes within

the Freljord.

Lissandra watches them carefully, seeking any opportunity to pit them against one

another, all the while redoubling her own efforts to lock away the terrible secrets she

has buried deep under her citadel.

And she must hurry, for the ice is beginning to melt.