History of Magic

To form the world that would one day become Irminsul, the gods stole parts of the Fey Realm and Umber Reach, the plane of shadow. The local powers of those two planes resisted the gods, of course. The Elder Fey went to war which eventually led to their defeat. The Umber Lords, near divine beings that ruled the dark domains of the plane of Shadow, were more insidious. Ever petty and vindictive, they realized they could not win against the gods, but they could ruin their victory. They cursed the stolen lands to resist any divine influence. The gods could construct part of their new world from the remains of the Umber Reach, but they would never rule them direclty.
And so, ever since the creation of the world, the lands south of the Scorched Barrier have been barred from divine influence. The gods cannot hear the prayers of mortals and cannot extend their will and power into the region. At first this frustrated them and they attempted to lift the curse, but as the centuries past and failures accumulated, the gods instead chose to ignore what had become known as the Silent Lands.

Available Magic

Divine Magic

The absence of the gods most clearly translates itself in the absence of most divine magic. The gods cannot grant spells to their followers in the Silent Lands. As the gods have been silent for centuries, most mortals have moved away from worshiping them and have turned to other forms of religion such as ancestor worship or spiritualism. Some have learned to draw divine power from these beliefs by bartering with powerful spirits, drawing from internal reserves of divine power or seeking out ancient prayers to the Umber Lords. The Umber Lords themselves are barred from the Silent Lands, but these mystical prayers have offered some a way to contact them and channel their power.

Arcane Magic

The ban on divine influence has also barred the god of magic from maintaining the weave across the Silent Lands. Centuries of neglect have made it collapse in to almost nothing, making the practice of traditional arcane magic almost impossible. Thankfully, an alternative has presented itself. Long ago, as the weave was failing, a powerfull sorceres named Chandra traveled to the northern lands to contact and seduce the god of magic, hoping to convince him to help her people. Met with indifference at the plight of her people, Chandra chose to betray her new lover, stole the secrets of the weave and fled back to the Silent Lands. Once there she used the strongest power available, the remants of the plane of Shadow that still lingered, to create a new weave, the Shadow Weave.
Forging the Shadow Weave transformed Chandra into an immortal being of immense arcane power. However, she must stand vigil over her creation and it is her undying will that keeps it from dissolving into chaos. She rules over the Azul, the city of lies and her followers have become the foremost experts on arcane magic in the Silent Lands.
However, the Shadow Weave is not an exact replica of the normal Weave. Not all magic flows through it as easily and all of it is tainted by its dark influence. Traditional wizards and sorceres have almost no power in the Silent Lands, and only those who surrender to the beguiling influences of the Shadow Weave can hope to achieve arcane power similar to those in the noth.

Other forms of Magic

The absence of readily available divine sources and arcane power has forced resourceful individual to search for power elsewhere. Using raw, untamed magic they reached out to extraplanar entities such as fiends or genies and made pacts for more power and ways to control it. Others have sought refuge in the primordial power of dragons, attempting to mimic their control of creation.

Incantations and Rituals

While collapsed, the weave is not completely gone. Through careful study, mages haves learned to create elaborate rituals that can channel the raw arcane power of the collpased weave into a more useful form. Known as Incantations, these rituals are powerful and carefully guarded secrets that could potentially be used by anyone.
Incantations

Perception of Magic

Magic and its practicioners are much more rare in the Silent Lands than in other parts of Irminsul. Because of the dark influence of the Shadow Weave and the dark pacts made for power by others, magic has a bad reputation among common citizens. Sorcerer has become a generic term used to describe anyone wielding any form of magic, and all sorceres are feared.