In the years that followed, Sir Jameson the Defender, a notable human warrior, established a fighter's academy in a box canyon just south of the Farolas Hills. His school grew and flourished, and other adventuring professionals saw that they could only gain by following his example. The mages established their school and sanctuary in a small group of mountains that pierce the Great Grasslands, atop a peak that would come to be known as Wizardspire. The clerics, in turn, established a temple and seminary in the town of Melinir, and the thieves founded guilds in Melinir and Torlynn (but only the Melinir branch would survive). Order descended upon the valley, and the many races settled down to their studies and to farming the lands. Sadly, the peace was not to last long. Even though the humans had unified the valley and brought peace, they could not not get along amongst themselves. With the threat of monsters fading into the distant past, various factions began to bicker over the balance of political power. The warriors and wizards were the first to quarrel openly. 13 Argument turned to blows, and the warriors and wizards went to war. Pleas for enlistment spread beyond the Rift and mercenaries of all classes joined the battle. The major fortifications of each side were destroyed. A fighters' keep that stood in the centre of the once-fertile box canyon sank into swamps that the mages conjured. The wizards' retreat in the mountains, assailed by gargantuan engines of war, cracked and tumbled into rubble. Yet the fighting raged on. Steel sang and magic sizzled, but the war showed no signs of ending. At last, when the mages sensed the waning of their powers, they unleashed a killing force that altered the face of the land. There was a forest that served as a barrier between the two lands, but it was reduced to a twisted, stumpy mockery of what it used to be. Everything in that area died or mutated hideously because of the fearsome sorcery worked that day. Most of the warriors perished as their territory sank into a desolate, bubbling morass of poisonous fumes. The entire box canyon became the site of the Gloomfens. Those who survived wreaked a horrible vengeance on the sorcerers in turn: they waited a year to lull the magicians into a false sense of security, and then they moved. The wizards no longer expected to become objects of a fearsome slaughter, so they admitted a group of young men who petitioned for magic instruction. Then, the blood of masters and apprentices alike flowed thickly through the makeshift halls of the wizards' new retreat atop Wizardspire. It is said that nothing was left alive. The assassins fled from the tower to the south and disappeared out of knowledge. Legends say that they still hide from the vengeance of any of the wizards' successors in the marsh in the southern tip of Thunder Rift, honing their fighting skills to a deadly edge. It is well known that both the warriors and the wizards left behind considerable treasure caches. The fighters legacy, unmatchable arms and armour of unknown make and origin, must still lie submerged in the Gloomfens. The ruins of the fighter's academy still lie in the swamp, too, and none have yet emerged from the fens carrying their riches. And the sorcerers, collectors and creators of great magic, may have left behind a hoard even more majestic. The treasures of Wizardspire still rest in the mages' vaults, yet none have been claimed by the adventurers of Thunder Rift. Perhaps it is because rumours abound of fell guardians, waiting to destroy all who would profane the sacred resting places. While all these riches may well be protected by fierce creatures, they still lie in wait for those who have the courage and ability to come and take them.