The Magic Crisis

An event that was a direct result of the conclusion of the Great War, the defeat of the Dark Lord. Somehow, he was able to sabotage the magic of Auire, either destroying, corrupting, or covering it up. Some even theorize that the Dark Lord actually altered life to cut off its magic sensitivity. The true cause and cure is unknown, though the elves have retained a small portion of magic, and the priests of Rinwood Academy are conducting experiments with children who seem to have magical sensitivities not seen in previous generations.

To compound the sudden shift of magical energies, the orcs had destroyed most of the magical archives in their final invasion of the Earthborn Empire during the Great War, before being pushed out with the help of the elves.

Magic is rumored to still survive frequently as miracles bestowed by gods, so faith healings are commonly accepted, meaning the Magic Crisis simply affected the mortals' ability to access and understand the divine science at will.

The elves are forced to use magic storage devices and can no longer store magic in their own bodies. No one has figured out an explanation for this, as the sun is known to provide magic, but the earth produces magic as well, it is unknown whether life is blocked from the magic, or it is blocked from them, or simply annihilated or corrupted by the dark lord, as demons and other black magic constructs still exist.