Shadow Weave

In order to understand the Shadow Weave, one must first know about the Weave itself.   In the beginning, Mystra shared her magic with the world when she created the Weave in order to nurture and protect the planets. Many describe the Weave as a ‘fabric’ on which magic can be drawn from. Therefore casting a spell is equivalent to manipulating or rearranging the weave to create an effect. Some spells require that you ‘feed’ this web, with components, in order to manipulate the weave or possibly the component itself.   The Weave is also linked to fate allowing some to manipulate the connection in such a way as to alter the future to their advantage.   Throughout time, the weave has been used, manipulated, damaged, and in some areas, destroyed. Places where the weave has suffered damage or been destroyed are known as dead-magic or wild magic zones.   When Mystra created the Weave, Shar’s jealousy grew and she began to seek ways to gain control of the Weave. Unable to gain control of the Weave, Shar, having studied it from the beginning created her own dark, distorted version of it.   This Shadow Weave was said to lie between the strands of the Weave, acting in much the same way as the weave but giving strength to spells that lie more within the realm of Shar’s powers. Such dark magic is better suited for muddling the mind or senses rather than manipulating matter. (Enchantment, Illusion & Necromancy are enhanced).   Since the Shadow Weave is a separate force of magic, it is not affected by the displaced or damaged sections of the weave. However, antimagic fields counter shadow magic as well as magic.   Note: Although they work in a similar fashion, magic cast using the shadow weave is different from Shadow Magic where casters use the weave to connect to the Plane of Shadows.   Desiring more control, Shar devised a plan that would allowe her to gain full control of the Weave - she would have Mystra killed. However, while Shar understood that Mystra’s death could cause the Weave to collapse, she did not foresee that without the Weave, the Shadow Weave would be unable to be maintained. It collapsed as well.   When Mystra was reborn, the Weave was recreated. As before, Shar attempted to recreate her Shadow Weave but this time the make up of the weave was sufficiantly different that neither she, nor her followers were able to recreate the Shadow Weave.