Little is known of the people who walked the lands before the Qel. It was known that they were a peaceful people, who turned inward for their own advancement. The coastal towns and city-states had traded with them for centuries, some gradually setting among the inhabitants who daily withdrew from society until suddenly, one by one, the began to vanish until they were all gone, save a few.

      These few called together the people who had come to call the seaport city their home together and explained to them that they too, would soon go, and that they would have use of the city left behind and all its wonders.

     The people, who were already calling themselves the 'Qel', were amazed and distressed, for they had been used to the protection and guidance of the city founders, but they were told it was time for them to grow up, and take charge of their lives. That said, the few remaining left.

     The people left behind were a peaceful folk, interested in commerce, arts and sciences. They were more interested in improving their way of life than in moving into other lands to conquer them. War was seen as a foolish waste of life and property, to be avoided where possible. That didn't mean they weren't incapable of defending themselves. They were well capable of doing that and a good thing too.

     The city that came to be known as Qel'Run sat at the head of a great bay. There were easy land passages to the north, east and west making it an obvious trade center for much of that part of the world. Indeed, the city became fabled for it's magic and luxuries.

     They were not without fault though. In the early years, a group of mages trying to find a way to cross planes accidentally opened a Rift into one of the Abysmal planes. It was such an odd fracture that none could close it fully. Someone had to be kept on guard at all times to keep it from being shredded open wider and dark creatures pouring forth.

      This continued for many years until one of the Guardians from Stronghold was shipwrecked on the shores near Qel'Run. Andyless was a tall 'man' standing nearly seven feet tall, with a high domed forehead. Despite his obvious differences, the people took him in, and cared for him, nursing him back to health. He found himself at home among the Qel, liking their easy generosity, their grace and beauty. Slowly he found himself involved in small ways of helping them. Working with architects he helped them design a new waterworks for the city so there would always be fresh water, and the wastewater would be purified before it was returned to nature. Power plants were founded and soon, lamps that took ambient power from the air lite homes and buildings everywhere. Manufactories grew and the Qel began to reach even higher levels of 'civilization'. Soon, Andyless was approached for a safe way to close the rift, or at least set a guardian on it that would keep back all creatures that constantly tried to work their way through.

      There was only one thing Andyless could think of that would hold the Rift: A HeartStone. Rare creations of the gods, they were not easily found. And yet, he knew that this would be a fitting final gift to the people who had taken him in and treated him as one of their own.

     It was a rough and perilous venture, obtaining the HeartStone. He was battered and worn when he returned, but still he insisted in being the one to set it in place. Once it was installed on the pedestal designed for it's resting, the HeartStone immediately took up its post. As for Andyless, he returned to his people in the Stronghold to recover, and teach his people what he had learned of the outside world.

     For more than five hundred years, the Qel prospered. Their technology was fabled. It seemed there was nothing they could do. The Heartstone linked into the power sources provided inexhaustible energy for the people to thrive on. To protect the HeartStone, the Guardian was created, a creature that was made of the combination of technology, magic, and an elven boy who's family lived in the city. It was a formidable protection and the Qel felt safe.

      But sadly such prosperity does not exist without creating enemies.

      Envy was powerful among the outlying lands, and they plotted carefully. The details of how the Heartstone was stolen are unknown. That the thieves got past the Guardian is, in and of itself amazing, but it was and that is history. The Heartstone had left enough residual energy captured within it's pedestal that the rift didn't notice the missing guardian, but the city's power was crippled. Within fifty years, the city-state fell in to disrepair. The lights that had burned brightly flickered and sometimes, went out for hours before burning again. Water pipes burst. And the energies that had protected the city failed.

      It was what the Sul had been waiting for. They overran the city, and took over its government, installing their own temples as over that of the Kel people. In all honesty, the Sul were not an evil people, merely opportunistic, and envious of their neighbors to the south. When they saw the defenses of Qel-Run fall, they saw it as a sign of disfavor of the Qel god and moved in.

     The Qel were not passive in their captivity. A strong underground resistance grew, looking for some way to cast out the invaders. During the occupation, the priesthood did their best to keep the location of the Rift a careful secret. Hidden away, the Qel priests knew that if the Sul priests learned of its existence, then they would have tried to exploit it, as those first ones who had nearly opened the rift to disaster had done. It was inevitable though, that they would learn of it though, and they began an ernest search for the location of the Rift. On finding it, they planned to extract the negative energies leaking through to perform even greater magic than ever dreamed possible.

     But the Qel priests knew that to do this, would be to tear apart the Rift for all time, and open it to the destruction of the world they knew. They contacted the resistance, which tried to keep the searchers for the tomb of the Rift hidden, but it became obvious it was only a matter of time before it was found.

      It was a combination of events that led to the protection of the Tomb, and the destruction of the Qel and Sul peoples. One of the remaining astronomers saw a small 'moon' that would pass near their world. One of the minor priestesses who was able to reach the power nodes below the city and channel large amounts of power to others, learned that the Sul had found the location of the Tomb and would soon begin trying different spells to open it's magelocked door.

     Alone, the Qel could do nothing to keep a holocaust from happening. But together they could create their own disaster that would remove the Sul threat. But, it would also remove the Qel. It was decided that the sacrifice of their race was a suitable price to pay to preserve the rest of the of the world. Together, with the priestess channeling power to them, they called down the small moon.

      Its trajectory was too soft to strike the city, and instead it struck deep in the bay the city nestled against. The wall of water caused by the impact was said to be nearly a mile high, and it changed the shape of the bay. The V shape it once formed with Qel-Run at the point of the V soften to a broad U. When the water retreated, the tallest buildings were gone. The smaller ones remained, some nearly intact. The Tomb of the Rift was sealed under layers of mud.

      The Qel and Sul were gone, save for a few scattered pockets that had been elsewhere in the mountains when the waters came, and they melted into other civilizations that survived the flooding.

     Times passed where the city had been. It was too good a place to ignore, and other cities were built atop where Qel'Run had once stood. The tomb was found by traveling merchant-raiders, but they recognized the powerful spells laid on the doors, and build a castle over it, to protect what lay within. They'd reasoned that whatever was inside the Tomb must be very bad, if such powerful spells had been laid upon it.

      Despite the favorable location of the city, no people stayed for more than a few generations. It wasn't a comfortable place for them. Some spoke of ghosts, some of curses. Perhaps the land itself rejected those who didn't seem right, who were alien to the mindset of the Qel who had lived there before and had embraced all that was Light and good.

     And perhaps that is why, when the first group from the Brotherhood of the Rose set foot on the shores of the great ruins of Qel'Run, they felt at home. Perhaps, the spirits of the last Qel recognized kindred spirits in these adventurers who were bringing home at last, the HeartStone that had been missing for many hundred years. With the return of the HeartStone, it was as if the spirits of the remaining Qel could at last rest in peace, turning over the land to their new guardians.