Shar, the dark-tressed deity of Darkness and Secrets, has nursed a grudge against her sister Selûne and their daughter Mystra since the Dawn of Creation.
While her battle with Selûne have been both grand and subtle, her vengeance against Mystra have been brewing so long and so coolly that most doesn't even know it exsist.
Yet sages of divine lore categorizes her as "the Ruler over pains hidden but not forgotten, bitterness carefully nutured away from the light and from others, and quiet revenge for old slight, no matter how old".
With this as her legacy, it should be no surprise that Shar would seek recompense from Mystra, but none thought she would do it in the matter she have chosen...

The Shadow Weave:
Because she knows that striking directly against Mystra at this time would be foolish and dangerous, Shar chose an indirect way to combat her traitorous daughter.
If Mystra is the source of Magic on Faerûn, making every mortal spellcaster beholden to her to some extent, it would be possible to steal away some of that power and the associated worship by creating another source of magic that was under Shar's control and whose practitioners would have to be beholden to her if they wished to survive its use unscatched.
Shar studied the Weave and her own energy in remote parts of the world to experiment on it, eventually coming to understand how it worked and duplicating with her own subtle and dark creations.
Eventually this experiment grew to encompass the entire globe, although none knew of its existance.
This creation is the Shadow Weave, a dark and disordered copy of the true Weave that enchances the magic of shadows, enchantment, necromancy, and illusion.
With the Shadow Weave, Shar hopes to draw evil-inclined spellcasters to her flock, especially since those are the kind of people who would avoid paying to the good-aligned Mystra anyway.
While the Shadow Weave has existed for quite some time, only recently has its use begun to spead rapidly as its powers become known to many.

With people drawn to her Faith and her souce of Magic rather than that of the normal Weave, Shar hopes to draw power away from Mystra, so that the Lady of Mysteries is reduced to an intermediate or lesser deity, at which time Shar might be able to force Mystra to serve her or destroy her outright.
With Mystra subservient or gone, Shar would be able to attack Selûne, using her complete control over magic to slaughter large numbers of the Moon Maiden's worshipers, weakening her eternal rival to such an extent that Shar could finally be victorious.

Philosophy and Worshipers:
Shar is a newcomer to the powers of Magic and has not established a firm platform for her followers that worship this aspect of her.
Her primary goals are the acquisition of new followers, mainly by tempting them with the power offered by the Shadow Weave.
She tries to have those who turn to the Shadow Weave chose her as a patron, and in return for this, she sooths the pain of the mental damage caused by drawing upon her dark secret.
Shar is careful to avoid tempting divine spellcasters to take this last step, as she has no desire to create more enemies when she sees her moment of victory over Mystra and Selûne over the horizon.
It is possible that Shar and another deity might make arrangements for a special follower to gain Shar's blessing without having to choose her as a patron; Such agreements usually involve an extra quest for Shar and one for the character's actual patron as well.

Shar is especially fond of seducing sorcerers and wizards known to train many apprentices, for such mages tend to produce young mages who also rely on the Shadow Weave.
She also enjoys corrupting those who manufactors magical items, particularly prolific crafters such as enclave Red Wizards, for their items are Shadow Weave items, which encourages every person handling them to turn to the Shadow Weave.


The Shadow Weave is the space between the strands of the Weave, the gaps in the Spider's Web, the bubbles of air trapped in the water of the ocean.
It reaches everywhere the Weave does, and more, for the Shadow Weave is not subject to Mystra's Laws or state of well being.
If Mystra were to die, and the Weave collapse, the Shadow Weave would persist.
Users of the Shadow Weave are not subject to wild magic areas or dead magic areas in the Weave, for they draw upon another source of power.
It might be possible for dead or wild magic areas to form in the Shadow Weave, but that would require great magical force to be expanded against it, such as the death of a deity who use the Shadow Weave or the destruction of an artifact or mythal created with the Shadow Weave.
No such events are known.
Should these events come to pass, the effects would be similar to a Weave user in an area of wild or dead magic, except that the Shadow Weave user would be effected and not the Weave user.
A creature that uses the Shadow Weave cannot cast spells with the light designator or activate spells completions or trigger items with the light designator.
Any attempt to do so is a standard action and produces no effect, just as if the user were trying to cast a spell within an antimagic field.
Antimagic field negates all magic within its area, so it does affect a user of the Shadow Weave.
Shadow Weave spells do not bypass spell resistance, although users of the Shadow Weave get a bonus on level checks to overcome spell resistance when casting spells from the schools of Enchantment, Illusion and Necromancy.


During the course of her eternal war with the goddess Selûne, the goddess Shar created the Shadow Weave in response to Selûne's creation of Mystra and the the birth of the Weave.
If the Weave is a loose mesh permeating reality, the Shadow Weave is the pattern formed by the negative space between the Weave's strands.
It provides an alternative conduit and methodology for casting spells.
Shar, being the goddess of secrets, have mostly kept the secrets of the Shadow Weave to herself.
Over the millenia some mortals, mainly her sevants, have been allowed to discover the Shadow Weave or have stumbled upon it during their researches.
Shadow Weave users enjoy several advantages.
First, they ignore disruptions in the Weave.
A Shadow Weave effect works normally in a dead magic or wild magic zone.
(An antimagic field, which blocks the flow of magic, remains effective against Shadow Weave Magic, as does spell resistance)
Skilled Shadow Weave users are able to cast spells that are extraordinarily difficult for Weave users to perceive, counter, or dispel.
Shadow Weave users also suffer some disadvantages.
Fist, Shar has full control over the Shadow Weave and can isolate any creature from it or silence it entirely without any harm to herself.
Second, the secrets of the Shadow Weave are disquieting and injurious to the mortal mind.
Without assistance from Shar, a Shadow Weave user loses a bit of his or her mind.
Third, while the Weave serves equally well for any kind of spell, the Shadow Weave is best for spells that sap life or muddle the mind and senses, and is unsuited to spells that manipulate energy or matter - and cannot support any spells that produces light.
Finally, the more familiar a mortal becomes with the secrets of the Shadow Weave, the more divorced she becomes from the Weave.
An accomplished Shadow Weave user can work spells that Weave users find difficult to detect, dispel, or counter, but the Shadow Weave user also becomes similarly unable to affect spells worked through the Weave.


Shadow Weave Items:

Magic items created by those who use the Shadow Weave are rare and dangerous.
Only the clergy of Shar and Shar's few devotees create any number of Shadow Weave items.
Shadow Adepts unallied to Shar's church are rare and reclusive enough that only a handful of magic items are manufactured asShadow Weave items.
Shadow Weave items are nearly identical to items created by Weave users, but the differences are profound.
Spell-like effects generated from Shadow Weave items have the same benefits and limitations that a Shadow Weave caster has;
Effects from the schools of Enchantment, Illusion, and Necromancy gain +1 bonus on their save DC and a +1 bonus on caster level to overcome spell resistance.
The same bonuses apply to effects with the Darkness designator.
Effects from the Evocation and Transmutation have their caster level reduced by 1 (Though their cost are based on the original caster level).
The reduced caster level affects the spell's range, duration, damage, and any other level-dependant variables the effect may have.
The effects save DC is reduced by -1 and caster level checks to overcome spell resistances suffer a -1 penalty as well.
The DC to dispel Evocation or Transmutation effects from a Shadow Weave item is 11 + the reduced caster level.
In general, Shadow Weave users does not bother to create magical items that includes Evocation or Transmutation effects.
Shadow Weave items cannot generate effects with the light designator.
Shadow Weave items can pose a seriouse danger to users who are not familiar with the mysteries of the Shadow Weave.
Activiting a Shadow Weave item through spell completion, spell trigger, or command word deals 1d4 points of temporary wisdom damage to the user unless the user has the Shadow Weave Magic feat.
A use-activated Shadow Weave item deal 1 point of temporary wisdom damage the first time it is used each day unless the user have the Shadow Weave Magic feat.
If the item functions continuosly, the temporary wisdom damage occurs at dusk each day or when the user takes off or puts away the item, whichever comes first.



((Magic of Faerûn, page 6, 7 and 10))
((Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting page 57 and 5Cool)