Freljord

No one has ever become the single accepted leader of this frozen land, and the weather seems to suit that arrangement. Sejuani, Fury of the North, charges straight at anything that endangers her people, while Ashe, the Frost Archer, waits with patience and an arrow that seldom goes astray. Neither method has drawn the tribes of this land together, and neither looks ready to push harder.

Several of the region’s warriors meet the cold with sheer stamina instead of tactics. Olaf, the Berserker, handles a battlefield the way others handle a comfortable meal. Tryndamere, the Barbarian King, has come through so much that little still catches him off guard. Volibear, the Relentless Storm, and Trundle, the Troll King, face the same pressure in less human ways, each defending territory through sheer persistence. Braum, known as the Heart of the Freljord, is the uncommon exception: his strength mostly serves to protect those around him rather than to gain anything for himself.

Beneath the tribes people can see, older forces are rumored to stir. Three figures in particular feel more like legend than any ruler still living:

• Anivia, the Cryophoenix, something that dies and rises again instead of simply living out one life
• Lissandra, the Ice Witch, whose hold on the region’s most ancient magic has outlasted every tribe that tried to contest it
• Ornn, the Fire below the Mountain, a forge-god who prefers to stay out of sight unless someone gives him cause to emerge

Braum’s shield and Volibear’s storm belong to no single tribe, which is part of the reason neither has ever been fully claimed by one. This resistance to ownership shows up across many of the land’s odder champions too: here, reward tends to go to whoever endures on their own terms rather than to whoever pledges allegiance first, whether that means outlasting a battle that never ends or outliving every rival who attempted the same claim before them.

Caught between the tribes fighting over the surface and whatever lies restless beneath it, this frozen land has never needed outsiders to make its winters any harsher.