Character · Noxus

Elise

A spider-hybrid Noxian noble who leads two great houses and serves a spider god.

Who they are

Elise is a centuries-old aristocrat who heads Houses Kythera and Zaavan in Noxus. After murdering her husband she was recruited into the secret Black Rose society.

Searching for an artifact in the Shadow Isles, she was bitten by the spider god Vilemaw and became a monstrous arachnid. She hides that form and keeps her youth by offering victims to her master.

Their story belongs to Noxus and also touches Shadow Isles. An empire that rewards strength, wherever it comes from.

Their story, step by step

  1. Step 1

    Marrying upward

    Elise was born into House Kythera, one of Noxus's oldest noble lines. She used charm and scheming to marry Berholdt of the more powerful House Zaavan.

  2. Step 2

    The poisoned wine

    Berholdt grew jealous of her growing influence, poisoned her wine and demanded she give up power. Once he let down his guard, she stabbed him to death and took the antidote.

  3. Step 3

    The Black Rose

    During her slow recovery the Pale Woman, later named as LeBlanc, told her the noble houses were secretly controlled by the Black Rose. Join or be eliminated: Elise joined, saw the chance for more power, and climbed the ranks through cunning and wealth.

  4. Step 4

    Vilemaw's bite

    To win favor, she went to the Shadow Isles to find the skull of the warlord Sahn-Uzal, called Mordekaiser. In the ruined city of Helia the spider god Vilemaw ate her crew and bit her, turning her into a venomous, shapeshifting spider-woman and his servant.

  5. Step 5

    The accord

    She now feeds victims to Vilemaw, whose venom keeps her young, and gets Shadow Isles artifacts for the Black Rose, while keeping up her noble life.

  6. Step 6

    Silken Danse and the shuttered manse

    At a masquerade ordered by the new Grand General she hoped Vladimir would come, but he did not. Katarina, loyal to Swain, slipped in disguised and killed a man Elise tried to protect. Separately, she briefly teamed up with a thief, No-Face Nyam, to survive a released Soulgorger, then killed him and trapped the spirits in his skull for LeBlanc.

Turning points

  • Killing Berholdt and joining the Black Rose
  • Being bitten by Vilemaw in Helia
  • Killing Nyam to deliver the artifact's spirits to LeBlanc

Where their story stands now

Elise lives in her shuttered palace in Noxus Prime, leading Houses Kythera and Zaavan and serving Vilemaw and the Black Rose. The extent of her feud with Katarina and Swain's side, and what the Grand General is planning, remain unclear.

Where this fits in the story

  1. Noxus · step 1

    From tyranny to tribes

    Before Noxus existed, the Immortal Bastion belonged to Mordekaiser, whose reign is remembered as the Age of Tyranny. After the Rune Wars the Noxii tribes took the fortress and founded modern Noxus.

  2. Noxus · step 2

    The rivalry with Demacia

    Noxus and Demacia fought on and off for centuries. Sion's killing of King Jarvan I is the war's most famous moment.

  3. Noxus · step 3

    The invasion of Ionia

    For about five years Noxus invaded Ionia, conquering territory and taking magical artifacts. The campaign finally failed, and Irelia led the Ionian resistance.

  4. Noxus · step 4

    The Trifarix

    Around 990 AN Swain overthrew Emperor Darkwill and a council of three replaced the emperor. The wiki describes a second invasion of Ionia as looming.

Read the full story of Noxus