Gyanda Maloran, the Third Archknight

Gyanda Maloran, the Cursed Mage of The Magister's Rage

Gyanda Artix Maloran is the youngest son of Karian Maloran, the leader of the Hem Order and a former leader of the Blackstone Order, best known as Matilda the Bear. His relationship with the latter has been strained for many decades because, while she hoped he would be the first of their children to follow in her footsteps as a templar, Gyanda would become the fourth in his family to enter Hem Academy. While he was eager to walk the same path as his father and the two elder brothers he worshiped, fate had other plans. An ancient curse was placed on his ancestor, Artix Maloran, for helping Helen Winstrom and Nicholai Desmond in defeating Maula during her first excursion into Comalan. This curse inflicted his mind with the spirit of one the Death Goddess' champions from the past who could inhabit and control his body nearly at will. The Demon Knight Garanda would kill several of Gyanda's classmates with his hands, forcing the young oni's expulsion from Hem Academy.

Disenchanted by the inaction of the other Gods in light of his tragic problem, Gyanda grew resentful of them and the society which venerated them. This made him vulnerable to the influence of Samson Amul, the leader of a secret coven of blood mages. The actions that he took while led by his anger and his legendary feud with the Demon Knight are best covered in the memoirs he wrote after a traumatic experience with Erdas, the God of Suffering, forced him to confront the truth of his past misdeeds. His conscience cleared, Gyanda began to lead his old coven of blood mages in a movement to bridge the gap between all practitioners of their forbidden magic and the rest of civilized society. With the Crimson Coven behind him, he brought blood magic into a state of public legitimacy for the first time in history with their discipline's unique ability to cure the Curse of Suffering. This dastardly plague, which nearly wiped out the ancient country of Necros prior to their unification with Coronos was found to be most efficiently treated by a technique developed by Gyanda.

Gyanda as he appears in his Starlight Crusade uniform. Years after his feud with Demon Knight Garanda, he leads Resta's soldiers as captain of the spaceship Morta.

While traveling with the Crimson Coven, Gyanda was dismayed to find that his wife had been captured by the sho'kai, a race of aquatic invaders from the nearby planet Mennon. With her and several other people stranded across the stars, he would join Tir Apollo in spearheading a rescue from across two planets, known as the Starlight Crusade. In this conflict, Gyanda plans to brave the unprecedented trials that face him on the worlds of Allene and Mennon and confront Erdas once more so he can finally lay his demons to rest.