Editing Thunder Rift (section)

===History of the Rift===
Long ago, Thunder Rift was colonized by [[elf|elves]], [[dwarf|dwarves]] and [[halfling]]s, who initially managed to share the valley peacefully, but ultimately ended up getting into a full-blown racial war - which makes this actually one of the few D&D settings where elves vs. dwarves actually ''was'' a thing, as they generally tend to be more interested in fighting amongst themselves. The slaughter was excaberated by local tribes of [[orc]]s and [[goblin]]s, who began picking off villages on both sides and framing the combatants for it - this ultimately backfired when a survivor revealed the truth, causing the affronted dwarves and elves to declare peace, unite, and kick the shit out of the greenskins.

With equally ravaged populations, the dwarves and elves left their former holdings and migrated to different territories; the dwarves went to the Farolas Hills, and the elves to the Gauntlin Forest. Only the halflings remained where they were.

But, whilst the elder races were rebuilding, [[human]]s came along and began settling their former territories in droves, eager to exploit the natural resources of Thunder Rift. This might have triggered another devastating racial war, this time a three-way slaughter between elf, dwarf and man, but for the fact that the orcs and goblins had rebuilt their numbers and came back looking for round two. Unfortunately for them, they tipped their hands too soon, and this time humanity was able to unite the elves and dwarves and persuade them to stand and fight, rather than risk extinction by sitting back and hoping their old rivals would be annihilated by the resurgent hordes.

Whilst this earned humanity gratitude from the [[demihuman]]s, it still didn't do much to patch up their own relationships, and to the present they prefer to avoid interacting.

A true peace came years later, when a devastating plague struck Thunder Rift, wiping out much of the population. Once again, humans saved the day (because this is a [[TSR]] era book; [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|what else did you expect?]]), with their greatest clerics coming together in a mighty conclave of divine magic that managed to break the stranglehold of the plague and aid the survivors in fighting back a third resurgence of orcs, goblins and other monstrous humanoids. Many of the clerics gave their lives to provide the power to these great spells.

This finally persuaded the four races to meet in a diplomatic conference on Mage Island in Lake Ganif. There, treaties were laid to prevent something like the ancient "Rift Wars" between elves and dwarves from ever recurring, and to symbolize this unity, a new force was created: the '''Quadrial'''. This would be an elite party of [[adventurer]]s, made up of a representative of each race, who would travel throughout the Rift and dedicate itself to protecting all the peoples of Thunder Rift. Membership in the Quadrial would be restricted to the greatest champion of each race, thus turning a position in the Quadrial into a great honor worthy of respect.

The first Quadrial, ironically, was a sextet; the dwarven warrior Thragat Orc's Blood, the elfin archer-mage Thessandria Starshine, the human cleric Father Patrius Timoris and the human thief Gray Raven, and the halfling twins Korian and Dorian. They adventured together for many years, until Gray Raven and Korian perished in their battle to slay a [[dragon]] known as Ash the Red. Sadly, this would not be the first tragedy to befall the original Quadrial: when Thragat and Thessandria announced their desire to wed, it caused an uproar amongst both elves and dwarves, and it ultimately ended when the couple were brutally murdered in their homes shortly before the anticipated birth of their first child. Ironically, evidence suggested to a conspiracy made up of both elves and dwarves, but those responsible was never found; still, the shame was enough to finally force an end to all formal hostilities.

Humanity would get its own turn to break down into civil war some generations later, when the premier fighter and wizard academies of Thunder Rift developed a professional rivalry that boiled over into open war. The major fortifications of both factions were destroyed, with the fighters being the first to lose out. The original fighter academy that started the whole mess, which had once resided in a forest south of the Farolas Hills, was inundated with arcane killing forces, flooding the area with toxic fumes and deluges of venom that slaughtered the fighters and transformed the land into an unnatural swamp, which itself swallowed the structures built on it. A year later, [[assassin]]s hired by the surviving warrior's infiltrated the Wizardspire, the original stronghold of the mage faction, by pretending to be prospective apprentices. They slaughtered every wizard in the academy, and then fled - rumor has it that they still maintain a school of their own in a marsh in the southern tip of Thunder Rift.

And that was the last major event before the present day.