Sharjo! I need you! (Or anyone who knows a lot about lore)
Can someone give me all the lore about Freljord, more specifically, Ashe and her tribe and war?
Thanks!
2 Comments
I've segmented my response so you can skip to the parts you're actually interested in.
Poros The Freljord has poros. This is the most important thing to know about the Freljord.
Ancient Freljord - the Watchers and the Iceborn A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the Freljord was ruled by beings called the Watchers. We don't know what the Watchers were exactly (some theorise they are from the Void) but they sure weren't human. The human servants of the Watchers were called the Iceborn. They were given magical powers in return for their service. Three notable Iceborn were the three sisters Avarosa, Serylda and Lissandra. Avarosa and Serylda were not pleased with being mere servants. They led a revolution against the Watchers. According to legend, the Watchers were all cast into the Howling Abyss, never to be seen again. Seeing as there are no more Watchers, this is probably true.
Modern Freljord Fast forward a few centuries (or millenia, I have no idea how long) to the modern age of Runeterra. The Freljord is a tough place to survive in. The people of the Freljord are divided into hundreds of tribes, each fighting for survival. Due to the natural difficulties of growing crops in the snow, many of the tribes are raiders that steal and kill to stay alive. Hence, other nations tend to look down on Freljordians as barbarians. Lately, the small tribes have been joining together into three major tribes:
The Avarosan
It all starts with the young tribe leader Ashe finding the enchanted bow of Avarosa, and learning that she is, in fact, a descendant of this ancient hero. Ashe is an idealist, dreaming of uniting the tribes into a single people, envisioning a future where the people of the Freljord won't have to kill each other to survive. Now, with Avarosa's bow, this dream is becoming a reality. Other tribes are joining Ashe's, and now she leads one of the big three.
This major tribe is called the Avarosan.
Notable members and allies of the Avarosan are 
(
?)
Interestingly, there's a note on the Piltover trade map that states the Avarosan are buying wheat at elevated prices. The fact that they are buying rather than traditionally stealing is a good sign of Ashe leading her people into a peaceful future as a respected part of Runeterra. It is also a bad sign that they're running out of food.
The Winter's Claw
The second of the major tribes is the Winter's Claw, led by Sejuani. Sejuani is the descendant of Serylda, another ancient Iceborn hero. Sejuani things Ashe's vision of peace is an abberation of true Freljordian traditions.
The Winter's Claw is extremely warlike, and I believe they are the major aggressors of the civil war.
Notable members and allies: 
The Frostguard I'll admit, I don't know much about the Frostguard, the third major tribe. They are lead by a woman named Lissandra, who claims to be a descendant of the Iceborn Lissandra, the third of the three sisters. The plot twist is that this woman in actually THE Lissandra of legend , who's been manipulating the history of the Freljord ever since the Watchers got kicked out. Lissandra never stopped worshipping the Watchers, and is slowly enacting a plan to bring them back into Runeterra. We can safely assume that this would be a very bad thing. Trundle is allied with Lissandra, but he's not really part of the Frostguard. As for the rest of the Frostguard, I believe that they've stayed out of the civil war so far. The Frostguard have a citadel as their permanent headquarters, and they're very secretive.
The Future The Freljord hasn't received a lore event as detailed as Piltover or Shurima, so we don't know anything about what happens next in the story. We don't know who's winning the war, for example. All we can do is speculate.
This is Quinn's journal from when she travelled the Freljord. I think it's still canon. There's some more details about what each tribe is like in there.
Also, Ryze's short story "An Old Friend" is set in the Freljord. It shows a bit more of what it's like to live there
For more details on the individual champs, and their motivations in the war, you'd best check out their universe pages here.
I hope this helps. :)