Although Sciplings are at a point culturally where they are losing their belief in magic, wizardry is alive and well in the Alfar realm. Three kinds of magic are practiced. Ljosalfar wizards are fire wizards and are organized as a guild. Dokkalfar wizards are ice wizards and are organized as a council. In addition, there is a more ancient form of magic, Rhbu magic.
Rhbu magic is considered to be a dying art.
Some Rhbus are believed to be hiding in the mountains. Before Wizard's War begins, a lot has already happened. Two brothers, Fridmarr and Bodmarr, along with a Ljosalfar wizard, Gedvondur, got themselves involved with a Dokkalfar wizard Sokvir, which ultimately led to the domination of the local towns and villages by the Dokkalfar under the leadership of Sokvir. The Dokkalfar takeover was made possible by the desecration of a huge Rhbu magical earthwork, the Solvofirth Pentacle, composed of five sites, twenty miles apart. Fridmarr, who disappeared, was considered a traitor to his own people, in that he was believed to have betrayed his own brother to his death.