Lore:Icereach Coven

The   was a coven of witches active in the 6th century of the Second Era, primarily - though not only  - composed of Reachfolk and a clan that serves under the leadership of the witches.  They resided on  , a frozen island in the    and served as advisors of the Emperor during the times of the Longhouse Dynasty  and after the fall of the dynasty as allies of the the army of Vampires and Werewolves known as the Gray Host. 
 
Wicker is a common component in their rituals;  they use it to create many of their ritual fetishes, and it is not uncommon for them to craft sacred wicker effigies.  Their emblem, a blood-red wicker spiral, represents their hunger for power, no matter the cost. The coven marks its territory with totems bearing that emblem.  Wicker, string, bone shards, animal hide, and tree bark are all materials the coven used in forging weapons and armor.  The Icereach Coven breeds  s to be used as mounts. The witches used magic to alter the pups in-utero to achieve a rideable size. These durzogs were quite aggressive, and those who sought to transfer ownership of a durzog to another rider required the prospective owner to sleep with the durzog's saddle before attempting to ride them. 
History
thumb|left|Fort on the Icereach, the base of the Coven
Ancient Past
At some point of the history, centuries before   a coven of Reachfolk Witches known as   acquired the island of Icereach from Nordic owners with a cursed bargain. The more widespread belief among the Nords is that the coven took the island by the means of conquest. Ever since then it served as a base of the Icereach Coven. 

In the times prior to   a group known as   split and lost members to the Icereach Coven. Every year, the coven's seedswoman would grow a coronal to crown their leader. After wearing it for a year and a day, the coven's leader would gift the object to a champion who performed dark deeds. 
Longhouse Emperors
The Icereach Coven served as advisors and mages to the Longhouse Emperors.  It is unknown at which point of the history they were employed by the Longhouse Dynasty but they served as teachers and tutors of the last of the emperors of the dynasty, Leovic.  They were driven from Cyrodiil along with the other Reachmen after Varen's Rebellion.  They were led by a powerful witch known as Mother   and during their escape from the Cyrodil they wound up in the area west of Falkreath. They had taken refuge among the graves west of the town and raised numerous dead Nords from the graveyard to defend themselves from Imperial forces. Ultimately Imperials ceased to continue their pursuit once they suffered great losses and left the matters surrounding the Reachfolk incursion to the local Nords.  Nords eventually managed to cast the faction of Reach Witches out back to their ancient base in the island of Icereach.  
Dark Heart of Skyrim
200px|left|An Icereach Coven banner
At some point between 26th of the Sun's Dusk in   and  , after the Icereach Witches returned to their base at Icereach isle they entered into contact with Gray Host and started cooperation. They were tasked with mastering the Harrowstorm ritual by Rada al-Saran.   Soon the coven started their magical experiments and the area of the Sea of Ghosts around the Icereach island became known for unnatural and unpredictable storms.  

They re-emerged in   and allied with the Gray Host. They started to perform tempest rituals known as  s, which they used to resurrect members of the Gray Host that died and were sent to   in the  .   
thumb|left|Mother Ciannait - the leader of the Icereach Coven
Around circa   King Jorunn sent an expedition from Windhelm to look into a sudden barrage of storms in the Sea of Ghosts around the isle.   Although initially most of the forces sent by King Jorunn were met with fierce opposition ultimately the coven members who resided at the island was defeated by combined forces of Lyris Titanbon, the Undaunted guild and the Vestige.  Although their leader was defeated and their base of operation cleared from their presence they remained an active faction during Gray Host operations in the Kingdom of Western Skyrim and in the Reach. Despite their shared origins, they were generally hated by their kinsmen. 

At some point in   the Icereach Coven was reported to have continued activity in various provinces of Tamriel such as Valenwood, Morrowind, High Rock and Skyrim. The Icereach Coven planned their next step in the city of Riften. They infiltrated the Ratway under the city of Riften  and parts of the Blackreach under the Hold of Eastmarch. One of the members of the coven,  Sister Balra planned an assassination of King Jorunn. She stormed the Palace of the Kings and managed to abduct Jorunn, but her plan was foiled when Lyris Titanborn assisted by the Vestige slain her. 

They joined the Gray Host in their operations in the Skyrim and the Reach. When the Icereach Coven returned to Skyrim, they bolstered their numbers with Reachmen and lured innocents to their cause.  The coven performed the harrowstorm ritual on numerous occasions for their vampiric benefactors. Rites were used several times in order to further their plans in the regions of Western  , parts of   and  .  
thumb|right|Icereach Coven performing a ritual
In Western Skyrim, random harrowstorms were often summoned in order to allow the  s to fret over them while the Host prepared more powerful versions.  Efforts of the coven were fought by the mercenaries hired by The Swords of Solitude, one militia of  . 

Harrowstorms were summoned against the temple of Kilkreath,    near the underground city of  , , near to cities of   and  .  Karthwatch was destroyed by the coven ritual and the rest of the   hold to eventually ceased to exist as its people were either dead or scattered. 

Icereach Coven kidnapped Bjora of Karthwatch, the only known descendant of the bloodline of the Red Eagle. They believed she was prophesied to lead as their Queen. After destroying Karthwatch in a Harrowstorm, they brought her outside Red Eagle's Redoubt and began using magic to implant memories in her, including a vision of Red Eagle handing her a crown of briars while a frightening, fanged man declared that she would lead his armies.  The ritual was ultimately interrupted by her childhood friend, Hafskjar, assisted by the Vestige. 

Eventually, the coven summoned the final harrowstorm in the region. It was completed and unleashed from within Greymoor Keep, rising to affect the capital city of Solitude, with the Host using it to resurrect the last of their numbers. Many exposed to the storm had their life energies taken by it, but efforts of the defenders of the city among others were able to stop the storm and kill High King  , who had been merged with Greymoor Keep and thus his end meant the end of the harrowstorm as well. 

Later during their campaign in the Reach, similar random harrowstorms appeared in several areas of the region, with the city of   having an agent that recruited outsiders to deal with them.  Despite the fact that their base was once a remote island they had a visible presence in the hills of the Karth Valley.  Storms were frequent enough in the region to the point that the agent of Markarth pointed out that new ones would likely appear the next day.  

Eventually, the forces of the Gray Host and Icereach Coven were defeated and Rada al-Saran was killed. The fate of the remnants of the Icereach Coven is unknown. 
See Also
For game-specific information, see the ESO article.

References