A generation ago, a cabal of witches with leaders now known as the Ruling Coven defeated the theocratic king of Etelel and his Inquisition. The witches reformed the kingdom as the Covenate of Etelel, led by a sinister Ruling Coven. The details are as follows.
The witches of Etelel have always been well-organized, forming powerful covens that existed in parallel to wizarding groups that generally trained mostly men. But a generation ago, something changed. The witches will tell you that the devout king of Etelel began persecuting them unjustly for religious reasons. The royalists will tell you that the witches began seeking political power at any cost. However the tensions began to rise, they did not cool. As covens become radicalized and began preparing for a real conflict, the king mobilized a holy Inquisition to root out the worst of the witches.
But the elder witches had been preparing for this longer than was realized, and they had Violet Thornhallow. She organized the witches to ambush and assassinate the Inquisition wherever they went, and the soldiers and priests were no match for unfettered elder mages. In short time, the witches hunted down the Inquisition that had been organized to hunt them down. They penetrated the royal keep in Deepharbor easily with their magics and killed the entire royal family. Then they seized control of the city and the country. As nobles of the old aristocracy began organizing armies to take back the capitol, Violet sent witches to blitz through them with kidnappings now, using magic portals and fog and hellfire and stealing the sons and daughters of key nobles to hold as political hostages in Deepharbor. Her long vision and aggressive tactics won the day for the witches.
In a few months, most rebellion had been quelled. The witches declared a new government, the Covenate of Etelel, and a Ruling Coven, formed of their most powerful and trusted witches. The Covenate, they promised, would never stoop the injustice and religious persecution of the old monarchy.