Malfant and Aranas: Corrupted Kin of Vandin

[Alexander]

The crackpot theory I wish to present today is that Malfant and Aranas are the nether-corrupted kin of Vandin. These two beings may once have labored alongside Vandin as he is known to employ other immortal beings as scribes and watchers, such as Amato who was smitten with Kebyet's beauty and petitioned for her ascension to immortality. Further, the newer information on Vandin speaks of his having aengelic assistants.

More than mere servants or assistants however, I suspect that Malfant, Aranas, and Vandin once worked together as equals and as kindred beings. All three are godlike beings primarily concerned with information: Vandin, the collector all of all information. Malfant, the custodian of forbidden information. Aranas, presently known as the weaver of misinformation, rumored to once have been the Great Organizer of information. All three are described as having many eyes: The Fasa describe Vandin as a great wheel of fire surrounded by many eyes. Aranas is consistently described as having a cluster of many eyes. Malfant is described as having several eyes, with two pairs at the very least.

Vodr is said to be lost as a result of his sacrifice to save our world from a great catastrophe. It is further said that other Prime Immortals were lost during this catastrophe. Just as there is a theory proposing that Verungnr is a form of Vodr corrupted by nether during his sacrifice, I propose that a similar fate befell Malfant and Aranas during the same catastrophe. The oft-forgotten ancient titles Aranas once held of Great Organizer, Architect, and Weaver of Dreams may have been the being's roles before corruption. Malfant, once a guardian of information that would cause disasters if given to mortals, has now become corrupted and bargains with this information for other purposes. Indeed, perhaps it was an error in judgement on Malfant's part that led to the catastrophe: Perhaps Malfant revealed forbidden information to mortals that led to the great catastrophe, and henceforth became infamous for being willing to bargain with dangerous information that would be better left undiscovered by mortals.