ment. But it was the Federation armies that gradually came to
dominate the Council, and in time the policy of isolationism
gave way to one of expansion. It was time to extend its sphere
of influence, the Federation determined-to push back its fron-
tiers and offer a choice of leadership to the remainder of the
Southland. It was logical that the Southland should be united
under a single government, and who better to do that than the
Federation?
That was the way it started. The Federation began a push
north, gobbling up bits and pieces of the Southland as it went.
A hundred years after the death of Jair Ohmsford, everything
south of Callahom was Federation governed. The other races,
the Elves, the Trolls, the Dwarves, and even the Gnomes cast
nervous glances south. Before long, Callahom agreed to be-
come a protectorate, its Kings long dead, its cities feuding and
divided, and the last buffer between the Federation and the other
lands disappeared.
It was about this same time that the rumors of the Shadowen
began to surface. It was said that the magic of the old days was
at fault, magic that had taken seed in the earth and nurtured
there for decades and was now coming to life. The magic took
many forms, sometimes as nothing more than a cold wind,
sometimes as something vaguely human. It was labeled, in any
case, as Shadowen. The Shadowen sickened the land and its
life, turning pockets of it into quagmires of decay and lifeless-
ness. They attacked mortal creatures, man or beast, and, when
they were sufficiently weakened, took them over completely,
stealing into their bodies and residing there, hidden wraiths.
They needed the life of others for their own sustenance. That
was how they survived.
The Federation lent credibility to those rumors by proclaim-
ing that such creatures might indeed exist and only it was strong
enough to protect against them.
No one argued that the magic might not be at fault or that the
Shadowen or whatever it was that was causing the problem had
nothing to do with magic at all. It was easier simply to accept
the explanation offered. After all, there hadn’t been any magic
in the land since the passing of the Druids. The Ohmsfords told
their stories, of course, but only a few heard and fewer still
believed. Most thought the Druids just a legend. When Calla-
hom agreed to become a protectorate and the city ofTyrsis was
occupied, the Sword of Shannara disappeared. No one thought
much of it. No one knew how it happened, and no one much
cared. The Sword hadn’t even been seen for over two hundred
years. There was only the vault that was said to contain it, the
blade set in a block of Tre-Stone, there in the center of the
People’s Park-and then one day that was gone as well.
The Elfstones disappeared not long after. There was no rec-
ord of what became of them. Not even the Ohmsfords knew.
Then the Elves began to disappear as well, entire communi-
ties, whole cities at a time, until even Arborion was gone.
Finally, there were no more Elves at all; it was as if they had
never been. The Wesdand was deserted, save for a few hunters
and trappers from the other lands and the wandering bands of
Rovers. The Rovers, unwelcome anyplace else, had always been
there, but even the Rovers claimed to know nothing of what had
become of the Elves. The Federation quickly took advantage of
the situation. The Wesdand, it declared, was the seeding ground
for the magic that was at the root of die problems in die Four
Lands. It was the Elves, after all, who introduced magic into
the Lands years earlier. It was the Elves who first practiced it.
The magic had consumed them-an object lesson on what would
happen to all those who tried to do likewise.
The Federation emphasized the point by forbidding the prac-
tice of magic in any form. The Wesdand was made a protector-
ate, albeit an unoccupied one since the Federation lacked enough
soldiers to patrol so vast a territory unaided, but one dial would