Built on eternal strife, Noxus has never had a shortage of war orphans. With her father dying in an unsung battle and her mother dying in childbirth, Little Raven spent her childhood on an empire-run farm at the foot of the Terry Well Rocks.

Strong bodies and fierce wills keep the children alive while toiling in this barren land, but Riven wants more than just bread on the table. She saw recruiters from the regional warbands coming to the farm year after year, and she saw in them the opportunity to get the life of her dreams. When she finally took the oath of service for the Empire, she knew that Noxus would accept her long-awaited daughter.

Riven turns out to be a natural warrior. Despite her young age, years of hard work have allowed her to quickly adapt to the weight of her weapons and even master a long sword taller than her. The flames of war forged her new home, and Riven felt that her bond with her siblings was unbreakable.

She was so loyal to the Empire that Brond Darkwell personally granted her a blackstone rune blade, and a pale-skinned cabinet sorceress enchanted it. The weapon was even heavier than a shield, and the blade was almost as wide as the shield—just what Ruiwen was looking for.

Soon after, her army set sail for Ionia to take part in the long-planned invasion of Noxus.

This new war dragged on as it became clearer and clearer that Ionia would not give in. Riven's team was assigned to escort another warband through the warring zone of Navoli province. The leader of the warband, Emistan, hired an alchemist from Zaun and couldn't wait to experiment with a new weapon. The battle-hardened Ruiwen is willing to go to war for Noxus, but now she sees that some soldiers are not quite right, and a sense of unease arises. The carriages they escorted were filled with fragile amphorae, and she couldn't imagine what such a thing could be of use on the battlefield.

Both forces met with fierce resistance, and it seemed that even the earth itself was rebelling against them. During a storm, mudslides pour down the mountain, and Riven and her warriors are trapped around the clay pots - just then the Ionian warriors appear. As the tide of battle takes a turn for the worse, Riven asks for reinforcements from Imistan.

The only answer she gets is a flaming arrow that hurtles down the ridge, and Riven understands that this is no longer a war of Noxian expansion, but an extermination of the enemy, regardless of the cost.

The incendiary arrow hits the carriage. Riven instinctively drew her greatsword, but it was too late, and the only thing she could protect was herself. Chemical flames erupted from the cracked container, and screams filled the night sky—Ionians and Noxians all died in bloody agony. The magic of the greatsword shielded her from the scorching poisonous mist, and she could only watch the horrific sight of death, a betrayal that would haunt her forever.

What happened next, Riven can only recall scattered fragments and nightmares. She bandaged her wounds and held a moment of silence for the deceased. But most of all, she began to hate the sword that had saved her life. The inscription on the sword was a mockery of her, a constant reminder of what she had lost. She had to find a way to shatter it, to sever the last trace of her ties to Noxus before dawn came.

But when the greatsword was finally shattered, she still hadn't found peace of mind.

Having lost the faith and conviction on which she depends, Riven now wanders the devastated lands of Ionia, where she exiles herself and seeks atonement from those who will never forgive her: the land, the dead, and herself.

As the leader of the Black Rose, LeBlanc's identity is as elusive as the rumors about her, as fleeting as the illusion that gave her form. Perhaps even she doesn't know who she is, after all, she has been imitated and deceived for hundreds of years......

The founders of the Black Rose were the remnants of an ancient Order that was far older than Noxus, and the later Black Rose had been secretly plotting to manipulate it for hundreds of years, attracting the elite to join them. While few of the members of the Black Rose have been able to learn the origin of their leader, many have unearthed a legend about a Pale Witch. She is said to have helped the disintegrating barbarian tribe fight against the infamous Iron-Armored Wraith, who made the land even more devastated by the Darkspawn. To this day, people are afraid to say his name out loud: Maudecaesar.

He was once one of the core members of the Iron Armor Wraith's side, possessing unique skills and planting the seeds of betrayal against him. The sorceress made a vow to dissolve the source of his power, the Immortal Fortress, and to sever his connection to the Well of Death, thus draining the nightmarish empire from the bottom of the cauldron. However, although the barbarians later established their empire around the fortress, they did not realize that the mysteries contained in it were not completely isolated from the rest of the world. The Pale Witch had always had a talent for illusion, and her greatest trick was to make all of Noxus forget that there was a dark power surging at its center. Later, all accounts of her disappeared into history during the Rune Wars.

The purpose of the Black Rose's existence is to gain the ulterior interests of those who have the power to wield this magic, while also hiding itself in the everyday identities of ordinary nobles, who are attracted by rumors of miracles, and then enslaved and ruthlessly exploited. Even the most powerful military commanders can only serve the true rulers of this secret society, and within them, the rulers will fight each other for power, in a game of intrigue and conquest, both within the capital of Noxus and beyond the frontiers.

For hundreds of years, LeBlanc has secretly advised dignitaries from abroad, appearing in many countries at the same time, using her visions to disrupt order and create chaos. There are rumors that a woman will be promoted to the new leader in each generation, but this answer only raises more questions about which is the "real" deity. When she speaks, is it really her own voice? What price does it take to get her favor in exchange?

Bron-Darkwell can answer the second question. Although Black Rose helped him win the throne, he refused to include Black Rose's hand-picked advisors into the council, so LeBlanc took the necessary extreme measures. She manipulated a young nobleman, Jericho Svein, to uncover the affairs of the secret society, and LeBlanc had herself and several other most important conspirators executed...... At least on the surface, she was put to death.