Witch Coven

The Witch Coven is a mysterious coven of Witches who constructed the now Ruined Nether Portal. They live on the Mushroom Swamp Island where they were once disguised as normal people.

## History

### Nether Portal

The Witches built the portal for the purpose of entering a different realm called the Nether on a quest to discover the Ancient Debris, which is said to be the key to the most powerful resource in existence. On their quest to finding the Ancient Debris, many different creatures were attempting to halt the group of Witches, especially a clan of Piglins, which led the group return to the Overworld, only to be followed by the clan.

Hundreds of years later, the Villagers that had settled in the Plains, broke the portal, and to that day, the portal remains damaged, so that the Underworld Clan could no longer travel through it from the Nether.

### Revelation

One day, a child from the Plains Village stumbled across a bridge to a mysterious island and her curiosity took her across it. She spotted a beautiful glowing altar in the center of the village and immediately went to investigate. She discovered an assortment of crystals, candles and dried flowers shrouded in a vibrant green glow. Curious, she picked up one of the crystals and heard a sudden and loud shriek from the upper side of the mysterious village. The young girl had inadvertently broken an ancient spell used by the coven to disguise themselves from the outside world. The girl then made a run for the bridge as her surroundings began to transform around her. The distant terrain became more menacing, the fields became waterlogged, the trees transformed into giant mushrooms, and the once quaint houses started to look unusual and creepy. As the girl neared the other side of the bridge, the Witch who had discovered her sent a spell after her in an attempt to protect the coven's secret. The girl managed to escape unscathed, but the bridge was badly damaged. The girl alerted the villagers and this prompted them to built an outpost close to the bridge to prevent the Witches from traveling to the mainland. However, it is said that the inhabitants of the outposts are a little overprotective and will attack anyone who gets too close.

#### The Darkwood Merchants and the Glow Squid

The Witches remained isolated from the mainland for years, until a young woman came to the island. This woman was Eden, the eldest child of the Darkwood Merchants, who were now infected with a zombie plague. Eden begged the coven to save her family as well as lift the curse they were subjected to, a result of her sibling’s theft of an Ancestral Statue from the Ancient Jungle City. The Witches agreed to help and gave her four bottles of antidote. However, this was but a ruse to put their plan into motion. Eden soon found out that the potion did heal her family’s wounds, but ultimately turned them into Evokers. The Witches would prepare to take over the island and defeat the Wizard while the Merchant Evokers would defend their mansion until the Witches came to claim it and its secrets. Eden, however, escaped to the Mesa Village and avoided this fate. This wasn’t their only dealing with the island’s inhabitants though. When the Witches fled the Plains, they dropped an enchanted Heart of the Sea, which they only realised when they arrived on the Mushroom Swamp Island. The coven sent a Giant Glow Squid to retrieve it, but it found that the artifact was in possession of an entirely new race of people: The Merpeople. The Glow Squid attempted to steal it from their monument, but failed and was chained to the bottom of the Mushroom Swamp Island, it’s exposed tentacles destroying any unfortunate ships that dared to sail too close to it, including the ship containing the first clue to the Pirate’s Treasure Hunt.

## Buildings

### Altar

The altar that sits in the middle of the island once disguised the witches, hiding what they truly looked like from the rest of the USW. It was deactivated years ago, revealing to the outside world what they truly are.

### Witch Huts

The witches live in wooden huts with purple roofs that are scattered across their island. The altar once made these huts look like normal houses.