The Last Kingdom

## THE FADING

In the Third Age of Crowns, the scholars of Valdris first noticed the dimming. Spells that once blazed with power now flickered like dying candles. The great wards protecting the kingdom's borders began to fail.

They called it the Fading.

At first, the mages denied it. Magic was eternal, they insisted. It had always been and would always be. But the evidence was undeniable. Each generation of wizards was weaker than the last. The ancient grimoires, once crackling with power, now read as mere words on a page.

**THE THREE THEORIES**

1. **The Depletion Theory** - Magic is a finite resource, and we have simply used too much.

2. **The Severance Theory** - Our connection to the Source has been damaged, perhaps by the Cataclysm of the Second Age.

3. **The Cycle Theory** - Magic ebbs and flows like tides. We are merely in a trough that will eventually rise again.

None have been proven. All are debated in the remaining academies.

What is certain: by the current year, only one in ten thousand possess any magical ability at all. The kingdom that was built on magic must now learn to survive without it.