In the aftermath of the Age of Black Woe, the Malevolent One had dwelt in the Inferno, recovering from His wounds and commencing the years-long process of consolidating the power vacuum left by the demise of Pazuzu and the various dread lieutenants slain in his service. With Sartan's eye turned away from the Prime, Mhaldor waited eagerly for word of the Master's return, word that eventually came via Zoci, the Prelate of Malice.

Focused as He was on the Emael'daon situation, matters of Empire concerned the Malevolent God. Orders came from the Inferno to reassert Mhaldor as the Lord's Holy City - jewel in His Imperial Dominion on the Prime Plane. To do this, Zoci planned to bind the twin Kingdoms of Blackrock and Enverren more closely into Mhaldorian rule. Outlining a plan to Tyrannus Axios, the Prelate tasked Axios with the arrangement of a political wedding between Barak D'Nichliz and Venasia Enverren in order to see the Lord's will done.

Details of what came next are scarce, yet within some short months of this task, upheaval struck within the depths of the Blackrock Caverns. Disappearing in the dead of night, no sign nor sound could be found of Gringor, the sole challenger to Barak's rule. With his chief rival having mysteriously vanished, Barak ascended his new throne with no small measure of pomp, ceremony, smugness, and malice, declaring fealty to the Malevolent God and naming himself King in Majesty of all the Blackrock Halls.

Venasia was a more difficult proposition. Flattery and increased patrols from Ambassador Smashy helped, but the Lady still harboured resentment toward Mhaldor - resentment born at the onset of the second Conclave Reckoning whereupon she was spurned as a candidate and, in her eyes, grievously offended. In an attempt to make amends, Mhaldor lavished Venasia with praise and promises of a peerless crown if she would accept an arranged marriage to King Barak. Though she balked at first, the prospect of becoming a queen in truth was too much for Lady Enverren to bear, and she soon agreed, provided Mhaldor furnished her with the aforementioned crown.

Mhaldor soon took to the Blackrock Mines, following the guidance of a Salamandrin delver. Months passed in sweat-filled toil and labour, the citizens of His Holy Isle hewing free giant blocks of granite that they then chipped away at in search of gems. Brokering a deal with Constantine, the world-renowned jeweller of Tasur'ke, the Mhaldorians unearthed hundreds of gems and jewel fragments and at last produced Venasia's desired crown.

Phaestian arrived in the year 935 and the appointed hour of the wedding soon came. All of Mhaldor gathered in the Black Cathedral while Tyrannus Axios escorted Venasia personally to the ceremony, accompanied by a contingent of Salamandrin legionnaires as an honour guard. Barak, the lower in status despite his kingship, arrived second; flanked by divisions of Blackrock dwarves, the King in Majesty wore black fullplate and swaggered in with all the confidence befitting his station.

Atop the pulpit, Zoci bore full ceremonial garb - miter and robe and staff - and gave a rousing sermon in honour and glory of the Malevolent Lord, promising a marriage founded not in love and compassion but in service and duty to Evil alone. The bride and groom exchanged gifts of soldiers in recognition of their duty, before sacrificing dozens of slaves upon the unholy altar. As blood ran through the gutters of the Cathedral and the bloody pipe organ blared out funerary hymns of unholy matrimony, Venasia and Barak affirmed their oaths to Lord Sartan, with the audience joining in with calls of their own.

And, as Zoci pronounced them husband and wife, Barak and Venasia took up ritual knives, binding their arms together before opening each other's throats in sacrifice to the Malevolent One. While the crowd looked on in rapture and the organ piped and piped and piped on, a great gash in Creation opened, the howling of daemons announcing Evil's Lord and His arrival on the Prime Plane. Restoring Venasia and Barak to life, Sartan gave His rare approval of the union, bestowing His blessing on Blackrock and Enverren in the process.

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Summary: Venasia Enverren and Barak D'Nichliz were wed in an arranged marriage by Mhaldor in order to join their kingdoms as part of Mhaldor's dominion. After lots of blood sacrifice and preaching, Sartan returned from the inferno to bless the union.

Penned by My hand on the 9th of Sarapin, in the year 936 AF.