The Coven (Organisation)

# The Coven

The Coven was an underground occultist group in Season 2 of the Accidental SMP. The Coven had many members, all admitted into The Coven by ways of an initiation. The Coven was the central organisation involved in the mushroom saga.

## Coven Origins

The Coven was created when Chochy asked Moss about the rumblings of an ancient god being present on the server. The two then decided that they should honour these gods, creating the Coven's first shrine, known as the sigil, it stands in town next to "The Moobloom in the Square". They then decided to continue honouring these old gods through erecting more structures to these ancient powers. As they began to do so it also became clear Moss had some more connections to the Mushroom King, one of those old gods.

## Coven Activities

The coven had many rituals and activities for members, from initiations to honouring the gods and invoking their power, and erecting new buildings in order to connect with them.

### Initiations

Coven initiations took place when a coven member was able to complete three hidden riddles and find the coven building, hidden away from town. It was confirmed by Moss that two present members need to be at an initiation, and it can be speculated due to the ceremony's acts that the Mushroom King was initially required to be present in some way.

Once the Coven was located, members would be required to give offerings to the old gods on an altar. These offerings would need to relate to the four old elements, Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Coven members would be given time to explore the wilderness around the Coven building to locate representatives that would then be placed inside a stone circle on the altar, and members would ask the Mushroom King for a verification that the offerings were enough. The Mushroom King would then speak through Moss to confirm or deny entry. *Notably no Coven member so far has been denied except for Mac 'N' Cheese, Chochy's horse, who never went to forage offerings.*

Those who passed the initiation would then become full members of the Coven, allowed to read the Coven Tome, granting information of the knowledge the Coven holds. They would then get access to a locker in the Coven's ground floor, aswell as permission to use Coven offerings for personal use.

### Communications

Coven members could also perform ceremonies to try and talk to the old gods, by collectively foraging offerings and ringing a ceremonial bell to get the god's attention. The first time this was shown was when the first official Lorestream took place, exploring Moss and the Mushroom King's connection. Chochy and Alex wished to talk to the Mushroom King to ask questions, and while unable to get much, they were able to communicate outside of the usual initiation times. This ability also became one Moss could do outside of the coven circle, but with possible risks.

The most notable occurrence of this was during the Mushroom Saga's exploration of Moss and the Mushroom King's connection when in a new structure the coven members tried to talk to him, his voice becoming clearer as the structure became more complete. In a broken circle in the Mushroom King's Lair, the risks of not sealing the Mushroom King (or a sign of his true power) came to a calamity when the Mushroom King demanded to control Moss's body either through killing Moss, or merging with him. The result when moss fought for their own life was unclear.

### Foraging

Coven members would often forage the local flora and fauna to find offerings for rituals. This was also essential for initiations.

## Buildings

The Coven believed structures were important for specific functions of communicating with the occult. The Shrine, Coven Dwelling and Mushroom King's Lair were all made by members to suit specific purposes:

* The Shrine, was erected to start connecting the players to the gods.
* The Coven Building was built to give coven operatives a secret base of operations.
* The Mushroom King's lair was built to strengthen the connection to the Mushroom King, and would later become his home.

## Trivia

* The Coven was initially meant to be a small subplot, but members enjoyed the idea so much it was written into more of the season's story.
* The week The Coven was made, many server members found a strange altar just out of town, with a blood covered altar of blackstone, and later another was found in the nether, currently it is unknown where they came from.