Through the years, kingdoms rose and fell outside of Thunder Rift, and refugees from the wars of succession came to the valley. Dispossessed knights, master thieves, powerful clerics, and assorted mages came to Thunder Rift and found it to their liking. Several of them led followers here, and they built villages on the ruins of the old towns. Some of these villages prospered under wise rule by their leaders while others failed miserably. A few made their livelihood by raiding the goods produced by the other villages. There were even those who negotiated with goblins and orcs. Then, a strange plague struck the valley. It swept through the villages of the humans, into the burrows of the halflings, under the trees of the elven forests, and about the craggy fortresses of the dwarves. Despite the best efforts of healers from all of the races, much of the population of Thunder Rift died and rotted away. Even more strangely, evil creatures were not affected by the epidemic; indeed, the disease seemed to make some of them stronger for a time. This led some to assume that an evil wizard of great power had assisted the vile monsters in their cause, for they surely had the upper hand now. Once again, the humans saved the good races of the Rift from total extinction. The greatest human clerics gathered their spells and prayers, and they cast their wills into the preservation of all their allies. Many of them, spent by this effort, slipped exhausted into death, but their magical and spiritual efforts finally triumphed, and the allies were able to hold off again the onslaught of the monstrous humanoids. The orcs and goblins were subsequently driven deep into the hiding places of Thunder Rift, and relative peace finally descended upon the canyon. The dwarves and elves began to rebuild their shattered communities anew while the humans and halflings invited settlers into the valley to repopulate their depleted numbers. The historic Council of the Isle, containing representatives of all four races, was founded to discuss the peoples' collective future in Thunder Rift. They met on Mage Island (from which the Council took its name), in Lake Ganif. Noble and honourable delegates of the four concerned races there laid the groundwork for a lasting peace. They wished to ensure that the Rift Wars (as the dwarf/elf conflict had come to be called) would never occur again. All of them understood that it would be quite some time before the dwarves and elves could live in harmony, but they were resolved to provide a foundation for a lasting accord. As a symbol of the new-forged peace, the Council ordered the establishment of a group of heroes: a party that would travel throughout the Rift and dedicate itself to the disruption of the forces of Chaos. Each race was commanded to send one or two of its most notable champions to this party, effective immediately. The dwarves and elves were unenthusiastic at first, but soon the very best of every race began to vie for the honour of representing their people and homeland in this group. At last, the selections were made. Representing the dwarves was Thragat Orc's-blood, a distinguished warrior who claimed over one hundred orcish kills to his name. The elves provided their best archerwizard, Thessandria Starshine, whose skills with the bow and magic were beyond question. (Even some ambitious human mages had heard of her prowess and were eager to learn from her.) The humans offered two champions, a cleric and a thief. The priest, Father Patrius Timoris, had no equal in the healing arts, while the sneaky Gray Raven reputedly could find no trap or lock to confound his abilities. Finally, the famed halfling twins Korian and Dorian came from their hilly burrows to lend their nimble short swords to the cause. Although their rapport was not instantaneous, the champions strove to accomplish the task given them. Strangely enough, the two who came to understand one another best were Thragat and Thessandria. Their areas of expertise did not overlap and they complemented each other's skills well. After many epic exploits, the group returned to Mage Island to report. Two of their number had perished while holding off a dragon onslaught at Torlynn. Gray Raven and Korian, defending the injured Thessandria, had met their demise at the claws of Ash the Red. Their sacrifice, however, allowed Thessandria to finish the wyrm with a well-placed spell. With much ceremony and honor, the four survivors were established as the Quadrial, the generals of the Rift. Since then, as members of the Quadrial have retired or perished, the Council has replaced them with the cream of young adventurers. An appointment to the Quadrial is the highest honor that can be offered an adventurer in Thunder Rift. The party is always made up of one member from each race-human, elf, dwarf, and halfling.