After the Shrine Wars wherein Sartan, Lord of Evil was imprisoned by the
Alliance gods under a mountain in the middle of the sea, strange
manifestations began to take place on this newly formed island. It
started with the appearance of a strange stalagmite deep within the
island's mountain. Those despairing of Sartan's demise began to impale
themselves on the stalagmite, and slowly the souls of these sacrificial
martyrs began to loosen the bonds on Sartan. After some time, the malice
of Sartan began to seep up from the bowels of his prison and manifest on
the island itself in the form of a bloody red fog, a miasma of evil that
grew each time some soul sacrificed him or herself onto the now
throbbing stalagmite. And out of this fog appeared a variety of demons,
from small gremlins and razor fiends to the more horrible baalzadeens
and daemons. The followers of Pentharian erected a shrine to guard the
bloody pit that housed the now-glutted stalagmite, but eventually the
shrine fell.

As the miasma of evil spread off the island and entered the main
continent, Oakstone became aware that this malignant fog was
exterminating all plant life wherever it touched. A massive campaign was
commenced to stop anyone from sacrificing themselves onto the
stalagmite. Oakstone erected a shrine to Gaia and began to worldburn
massively those would-be and sacrificers who were also enemied to the
forest. At this time, Pentharian and Lorielan gifted the Church with the
new basilica as a symbol of hope.

But despite the valiant efforts of Oakstone, the Church, and any who
chose to fight the fog, the sacrifices continued and eventually the fog
took on a life of its own, growing on its own accord and releasing a
horde of demons. The Church realized that the symbol of hope
foreshadowed when Pentharian and Lorielan opened the new basilica could
be found in the now-blessed crystal decanter within Pentharian's temple,
and this holy relic offered a way to combat the deadly fog. Around the
clock vigils were held and the fog seemed, if not abated, at least
stalled.

Alas, this was not an ordinary physical phenomena to be combated--it was
the will of Sartan striving for release. Many witnessed several times
the fog suddenly growing exponentially of its own accord, struggling to
form itself into a shape. With increasing and urgent frequency, the fog
pulsed and grew, releasing hordes of demons that terrorized all of
Sapience. As more of the land became stripped of life, Gaia became to
determined to lift the fog herself. Shaking the very earth itself in an
attempt to sink the island, Gaia only found the miasma of evil spread at
an even greater rate. Not only this, but the bonds of Sartan finally
snapped and there was enough of the miasma of evil to form a new body.

The ordeal was not without consequence to Sartan, for his new body was
horribly scarred and mutilated, as if only by his will alone would the
flesh stay to bone. Now renamed Sartan the Malevolent, he settled onto
the island, where his power was now infused within the rock itself.
Rewarding those truly faithful to him, Sartan raised his blistered hand
and manifested Baelgrim Fortress, a monstrous construction of black rock
with five spires forming a pentagram in its center. And to lead the
armies of Baelgrim, Sartan created the Maldaathi Knights, appointing the
necromantic knight Kaelin as High Lord Maleficence, who had proven one
of Sartan's most self-sacrificing loyalists during his imprisonment.

Penned by my hand on the 16th of Phaestian, in the year 301 AF.