Lissandra
Hidden behind the veils of snow and silence, Lissandra rules the Frostguard with a cold, unseen hand. To the tribes of the Freljord, she is a sacred figure--whispers call her a living saint, and her followers move among the people offering healing and ancient wisdom. But beneath this facade lies a darker truth. With her command of elemental magic, she bends the power of True Ice into a weapon of fear, sealing away or skewering those who dare uncover her buried past. That past, long frozen yet never forgotten, may one day thaw--and with it, bring ruin upon Runeterra.
Opening
Welcome back, lore-lovers. Today, we descend into the frozen shadows of the Freljord to uncover the long-buried truths behind one of Runeterra's most secretive and sinister figures--Lissandra, the Ice Witch.
The Chronicle
In an age long buried by time, before the rise and fall of Shurima beneath the shifting sands, ancient magic roamed unchecked across Runeterra. The veil between the mortal world and the unknown beyond it was thin and fiercely contested.
It was in this turbulent era that three sisters were born--Lissandra, Serylda, and Avarosa--each drawn to the warring forces that shaped the world. Serylda, in seeking dominion over the skies, gave her voice to the first twilight. Avarosa, reaching into the abyss below, was left deaf by the void's silent hunger.
Lissandra, defiant and unyielding, challenged the raw chaos of the mortal realm itself. In response, a primal god lashed out, its claws blinding her in a single savage stroke.
Though each bore the scars of their ambition, it was across the frozen battlefields shaped by Lissandra's struggle that the sisters found strength in unity. Their bond made them a force few could oppose--yet even blood runs thin when tested by time and power.
Blinded to the waking world, Lissandra turned inward and began to walk the realm of dreams. Through the restless visions of others, she glimpsed what no one else could--the vast and silent darkness that lay beneath the world. It was more than death; it was an endless promise, an infinite void brimming with dangerous potential.
While her sisters remained unaware, Lissandra reached out to the entities she had encountered in her dreams. They were the Watchers--beings of unfathomable power--and with them, she struck a secret pact. In exchange for shaping Runeterra to welcome the Void's arrival, the Watchers would grant the sisters a form of immortality.
From this dark covenant, the Iceborn were born--those capable of enduring the coldest frost without succumbing. They would survive where others fell, preserved for the world's final hour.
But not all shared Lissandra's vision. Avarosa rebelled against the idea of servitude, claiming it was a fate worse than death. Even Serylda recoiled at what they had become, and what future they were now bound to. Between loyalty and the void's call, Lissandra tried to hold the fragile unity together, pleading with the Watchers for time. But the abyss does not wait, nor does it care.
The Void tore through the far north, breaking into the world with a force that could not be denied. In its wake, the truth of Lissandra's alliance with the Watchers was laid bare. Faced with the end of all things, she was forced to choose--watch the world fall, or destroy what she held most dear.
In a desperate act, she chose betrayal. Her sisters, her allies, all were sacrificed to seal the Watchers beneath a prison of enchanted glacial ice, a barrier no flame could thaw, no time could erode.
But the prison was not perfect. Over time, Lissandra learned that the power she wielded had not destroyed the Watchers--it had only lulled them into slumber. The ice itself began to darken, corrupted by their presence, and the dreams she once walked freely now carried them into her mind. She would wake shaken, haunted, repeating her vow of loyalty to the eternal cold they represented.
Refusing to fall, Lissandra gathered the remnants of her followers. She declared herself and her sisters figures of worship, shaping the Frostguard into keepers of the old secret. If True Ice could delay the end, they would claim every shard of it, and seek out those with Iceborn blood to strengthen their ranks against the inevitable return of the darkness.
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Lissandra and the earliest of her Frostguard moved swiftly to bury the truth. They hunted down every scrap of history, silencing stories and seizing records, weaving a new tale to cover the past. Still, whispers lingered. Myths clung to the wind and songs carried prophecy--that Serylda and Avarosa would one day return to unite the fractured tribes of the Freljord.
To keep such dreams from taking root, Lissandra ordered the quiet deaths of any who bore the names of her sisters' legacy. She herself withdrew into the shadows, sustained by the unnatural gifts granted long ago.
Yet, for all her efforts, the legends of her sisters refused to die. Whether born of guilt or pride, her failure to erase them has now taken form in two powerful Iceborn--one driven by hope, the other by conquest. Together, they rally the tribes beneath banners that echo the old names.
Lissandra watches them with cold intent, ever ready to turn them against each other. Meanwhile, within the frozen heart of her stronghold, she renews her work--hiding, sealing, and burying the secrets that could unravel all she has preserved. But time runs thin. The ice, long unbroken, has begun to thaw.
There came a moment when Lissandra felt it stir--one of the Watchers, rousing from its uneasy slumber. She stripped herself bare upon the frozen stones of the Howling Abyss and, through sheer will, reached into the dreams of the Freljord. In her astral form, she wandered from mind to mind, gathering fragments of thought to lull the ancient being back to sleep. Along the way, she took note of a young girl, a dreamer like the rest, but touched by the cold in a way only an Iceborn could be.
As the ritual neared its end, Lissandra dared to enter the Watcher's own dream. There, she witnessed herself consumed, devoured whole by the very force she had once bound. Waking with a cry, bile spilling from her mouth, she knew the danger had passed--for now. The Watcher slept again, and that was all that mattered.
On the night of the frost moon, Lissandra wandered through a sacred place of her own design--a silent crypt of frozen coffins. Within them, half-living souls were locked in eternal sleep, their dreams harvested to feed the Watchers. As she drifted through their slumber, she paused before two sisters, sealed together in ice, bound by some ancient love. Their devotion, to her, seemed laughably fragile. She had long cast off her own sisters and found such losses more useful than sentimental.
Fearing the power of untamed memory, Lissandra sent her hunters to strike at the Notai--a tribe of storytellers who preserved ancient truths through song and tale. Among their captives was a boy named Nunu, brought to the Foundling Village, where Lissandra questioned him at length. Her interest lay not in the boy himself, but in the myths passed down by his mother. One song in particular haunted her, and she pressed him again and again to recall its words.
She spoke to the boy of a terrible beast--one that crushed all who sought its secret. Frostguard after Frostguard had been sent to claim its power, yet none had returned. Beneath her tale lay her true purpose: she sought the lost relic known as Svellsongur.
Yet there was another artifact that consumed her thoughts: the Heart of Blue. A shard of primal power capable of forging True Ice in its purest form. If she could wield it, perhaps she could reinforce the prison she had built, and keep the Void from seeping further into the world she still fought--desperately--to preserve.
Allies, Enemies, and Pawns
Behind every betrayal and secret she buries beneath the ice, Lissandra weaves a vast network of fragile alliances, forgotten enemies, and manipulated pawns.
In the early days of the Freljord, Lissandra faced Volibear in battle--and lost her sight to him. Since then, she and her Frostguard have worked tirelessly to suppress his cults, along with those of other ancient demigods. Yet Volibear endures, his power growing with every new follower.
Legends claim the Three Sisters once turned to Ornn for aid in building the Howling Abyss, though such stories are difficult to prove--especially with so much of history rewritten by Lissandra herself. Anivia, too, is an enemy. Lissandra sends raiders to harass Notai caravans that spread Anivia's lore. Their conflict escalated to open war when Anivia herself clashed with the Frostguard in battle.
Among the Frost Trolls, Lissandra found a useful ally in Trundle. Many of his kind were frozen by her magic and remade into obedient thralls. Trundle himself seems either unaware--or uncaring--of the true cost of her alliance.
When Udyr was still a boy, Lissandra saw the danger in spirit walkers and tried to end their line. He survived, and her failure haunts her still.
The people of the Freljord believe Ashe and Sejuani to be the reborn forms--or perhaps descendants--of Avarosa and Serylda. If so, that makes Lissandra their distant great-aunt, though no family affection remains. She leads the Frostguard in open war against both their tribes. She has sent raiders to attack Avarosan settlements. Her forces clashed with Sejuani's Winter's Claw. Even Tryndamere has battled Frostguard warriors, as seen in official accounts. When Ashe sought her ancestor's resting place, it was Lissandra's followers who struck, desperate to hide what truths the grave might reveal. Lissandra also seems aware that Ashe's tale of her bow is a fabrication--one more lie among many.
Closing Words
The Watchers still stir beneath the ice, and Lissandra still watches the world through a veil of frost and secrets. If this story left you wanting more, be sure to like, share it with fellow lore-lovers, and subscribe so you never miss another whisper from the shadows. And if you'd like to be part of something deeper, join our Discord--where we're building a cozy, curious community of lore-lovers just like you, eager to discuss, debate, and dive even further into the myths of Runeterra.
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