The Dearth

The Dearth, also known as the Age of Decline, was the time immediately after the Shattering of Eldaria, in which two cataclysmic forces of magic and anti-magic met and caused the continent of Eldaria to shatter leaving the remaining land as two separate continents known as Harenal and Tol'Galen, and followed by the current age, the Age of Mortals. The backlash of the merging forces disrupted and depleted the ley line energies of Glan'Amar, and for over four hundred years magic, especially of arcane origin, was rarely heard of. Creatures that relied on the magic of the ley lines, assuming they didn't die from the shock of their loss or the backlash of energy, fell ill and weary. Those arcane practitioners who did survive found their magical abilities lost, aside from those with natural magic such as sorcerers. Some magic items remained, the rest being destroyed or greatly weakened. The enchantments that held cities of the Eldar Princedoms failed and the cities fell.
The Dearth became an age without most forms of magic, and an age in which those who were mistreated by magic-users got their vengeance. The Eldaran Princedoms were quick to fall to rebellion while new kingdoms arose around those who successfully rebelled. In those lands, magic became anathema to the citizens. Even those born with natural magics and those who managed to hold connections to deities were looked upon with mistrust if not outright hatred. Others hunted them for experimentation.
For over four-hundred years the new kingdoms of Harental and Tol'Galen warred and hunted anyone suspected of sorcery. Some rose as theocratic bastions of faith while others were more than happy to be without magic in any form. But as time went on magic returned. Slowly, the ley lines reformed and grew in power until wizardry of substantial power became possible again. The end of the Dearth is marked with several events within a short amount of time. In Harental it is marked most notably with the rise of Witch-Queen Bronwyn, a sorceress queen who attempted to seize control of a number of kingdoms in northwestern Harental. In Binordheim, it is noted by the brief awakening of Svafnir as well as the reemergence of landvettr and the spirits of the clans. Other places of the world noted the awakening of dragons, the rise of wizardry, incursions from other planes, and more as their sign that magic had returned in force.