Background
The Shadow Coven came in to being during the Turakian Age. The coven was formed by a powerful mage known only as Shade. The coven’s membership was made up of wizards, thieves, assassins, and warriors. It’s members were all the followers of the Shadow Lord, rule of the Shadow Plane. New members to the coven were taught the doctrines of the Shadow Lord.

Like many groups of the time, their goal was to take over as much territory as possible. However, unknown to most members was the true goal of the coven. This was to prepare this dimension for the merger with the plane of shadows, this goal was only known to the inner circle of the coven, a seven-member council. The members of the council were hand picked by the Shadow Lord to prepare for his triumph.

The Coven started several campaigns of terror that slaughtered thousands and enslaved even more. They would retreat to a mountain stronghold before starting yet another campaign. Their area of influence spread further and further as the age continued. They amassed a large collection of wealth, books, magical items and magical artifacts. At the height of their power they feared no one or no creature.

During the middle of the age they found a powerful magic gem that they felt would allow them to merger the two dimensions. A great ceremony was planned; this ceremony would climax with a great sacrifice of numerous coven members, lesser members of course. It was during this ceremony that an army combined of various holy warriors, mages and other forces of “good” attacked the stronghold and disrupted the ceremony.

During the battle a powerful Cleric sacrificed himself to destroy the large gem. The explosion that ensued killed all that were in the grand chamber, as well as caused the mountain to implode. The result of this epic battle not only saved this dimension but also is considered to have totally destroyed the Coven of Shadows.

This is of course not true several members of the coven survived, though none of the inner council. Most survivors went back to the previous lives. All kept their membership to the coven a secret, except a very few. Several of the surviving thieves for a guild called the Shadows. They became a powerful thieves guild, but nothing like the coven.

Into The New Ages:
Through the various ages that followed the Coven stayed “destroyed”. Several of the surviving mages slowly began to collect various magical items again. Lead by a sorceress known as silhouette, she followed the wishes of the Shadow Lord. The coven remained in secret, slowly gain power and wealth again. The Covens main goal at this time was to amass as main power magical items it could and as many of the rare fragments of the Shadow Gem that exploded as it could. Through the following millenniums the Coven gathered magical items and information, preparing for the time when the Shadow Coven would return power.

Present Time: The Shadow Coven in modern times is a force to be reckoned with. With the abundance of super-powered beings, aliens and mystics, there seems to be no limit to the force they can gather. The villain Shadow Bane, a former morbane with the group Demon, formed the newest coven. A mystic known as Silhouette helped him form the coven and find others to join them. Death Dragon, Shadow Archer & the mutant Dark Storm were eager to join the service of the Shadow Lord. Unbeknownst to all, Silhouette is the true leader of the coven; she allows Shadow Bane believe he is.
*Creator Note:
Shadow Bane, listed below, is was a morbane who had his powers modified by the powers of the Shadow Lord. He character sheet, therefore, is similar to a Demon Morbane.
Some of the powers of the group are bought with the limitation Only in Shadows/Darkness. While most of the time it’s pretty straight forward, one exception is the teleportation. The special effect is that the character will step into one shadow or darken area and emerge from another. During a combat situation it can be entertaining to watch the player try to keep up with the teleporter

Champions: In a champions campaign the Shadow Coven is a mystical group that has become somewhat of a rival to Demon. Their ultimate goal is to merge this plane with the shadow plane. The covens members are all ambitious and extremely driven towards this goal. They will sacrifice anyone to achieve their goal, and will gladly destroy anyone who attempts to stop them.

The Shadow Coven came to public knowledge when several members of the group broke into a museum in England. They stole various ancient books and some new discovered items. These items, a bow and some clothing, were believed to belong to an assassin named the Blood Archer. The coven also stole what is thought to be the largest fragment of the Shadow gem known to exist. Their greatest weakness only seems to be their rivalry with Demon. The two groups often come into conflict over magical books or items. Demon has even started a new team who sole purpose is to find and destroy the Coven.

For characters the coven is a formidable opponent to contend with. It’s Membership is made up of powerful mages, martial artist and other super humans. The coven has no concern for the welfare of others, or the destruction they cause. They feud with Demon complicates matters greatly. Besides the open battles that have ensued, the characters, and innocents, can easily be caught in the middle of their feud.

In a campaign the coven can be used is various ways. They can be working in the background, amassing followers and wealth. The coven recruits lesser members for the use as pawns or sacrifice. The characters could be called in to find/rescue the daughter of a powerful politician, perhaps.

The coven could be starting a new mystical ritual to summon hordes from the shadow plane to use as minions. They may be summoning a large portion of the shadow plane to materialize on earth as a stronghold. The coven also strives to amass wealth and magical items, for both of these bring power. Simple robberies to large heist are options for the coven. These are just a couple of ideas that could be used.

Other Genres:
The coven can be used in other settings as well. Obviously, they can be easily used in Fantasy Hero as stated in above.
In Dark Champions or Pulp Hero they could be used as a mystical group, or a secret order of the rich. They could simply be used behind the scenes to make they members rich or more powerful.
In Star Hero they could be used as a group of Psion or even Mages/Techno-mages. This group could be working to conquer worlds or amassing wealth and influence. They could also be working for a powerful enmity that is attempting to take over a planet or group of planets.
These are just a couple of ideas for the different genres.

Members:

Shadowbane - Leader
Silhouette - True Leader
Shadow Dragon
Shadow Archer
Mind Shadow
Full 6th Edition Write-up For Shadow Coven can be found HERE