The Wars of Cinders and Silence: The Last Struggle of the Arcane

The Wars of Cinders and Silence, waged between 4992ey and 5046ey, were the series of escalating conflicts between rival wizards before the imposition of the Censure. These wars began as an outgrowth of the political contests between nobles who were employing battle mages in their retinues. As rivalries between the mages grew, their loyalties to the various lords were shifting and faltered. 

In time, these mercenary wizards were more concerned with the supremacy of their own magic than the political aims of their masters. This sometimes meant the wizards were more concerned with choosing opponents that boosted their reputation, rather than those whose defeat benefitted their lords. In time, the battle mages fought arcane contests without regard for the political alliances and rivalries of their employers. The resulting wars, spanning over five decades, saw the landscape of Westrun, and even beyond, scarred by the unchecked chaos of unregulated magic use.

What began as individual wizards battling for supremacy eventually evolved into a growing divide between two opposing schools of magical philosophy. The Pyromancers of Erenth, in league with the self-styled Archflame Vaelgor the Everburning, believed that magic should be a force of absolute power, wielded by those who could command it without restraint. Their ideology saw them forge pacts with infernal entities, trading their souls and servitude for devastating magical strength. In contrast, the generalist wizards, led by Archmage Ghrylan at the outset of the war, sought to maintain structure and discipline in the arcane arts, emphasizing controlled study and careful governance over magic’s destructive potential.

What began as minor eruptions between competing mages escalated into open warfare when, in 4992ey, a conclave of Pyromancers laid siege to the city of Alduldaros of Collonia, burning it to the ground in a single night. The battle mages, unable to ignore such unchecked destruction, retaliated with a devastating counterattack in 4995ey to erase the Archflame's stronghold at Ruinspire from existence —an act that would come to be known as the First Silence.

The Aftermath and the Censure

With the Pyromancers effectively eradicated and their infernal allies banished, the kings of Westrun and the remaining arcane order realized that such unregulated magic could no longer be tolerated. In 5046ey, the Censure was enacted, imposing strict controls over the practice of magic. Only those licensed by the Dweomersecte could lawfully wield the Art, and unregulated sorcery became punishable by death.

The war also marked a shift in magical philosophy. The Dweomersecte, once a loosely affiliated society of scholars, became the official governing body of magic in the Eight Kingdoms. The kings of Westrun, who had previously tolerated a wide range of magical traditions, now became strict enforcers of the Censure, fearing a return to the devastation of the past.

Legacy of the Wars

Though the Pyromancers of Erenth were eradicated, rumors persist that some survived in exile, hiding in the lawless wastes beyond the reach of the Eight Kingdoms. Meanwhile, the Dweomersecte’s dominance over arcane law continues to shape the world, with their authority growing even stronger in the centuries following the war.

The devastation of these wars serves as a cautionary tale for all practitioners of the Art—a reminder that magic, untethered by wisdom, is as much a force of ruin as it is of wonder.