Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-16047389-20140618152829/@comment-13446185-20140620005716

Dark Jeto wrote: That's not what Mannimarco says. He claims that not only was Arkay once mortal, but that in fact that led remarkably similar mortal lives.

"Most Necromancers are fools and weaklings. Fodder for the witchhunters. But you, my servants, you are among the chosen. In the days to come, few will dare to stand against your might. But one obstacle remains. His name is Arkay.

''He was also a man who entered the ranks of the gods. The similarities between his mortal life and my own astonish even me. It is only proper that we should be enemies.''"

- Arkay the Enemy

And bear in mind that this book was written by Mannimarco AFTER he became a god. I don't know what to tell you man, that seems like a strange thing for Mannimarco to say as he knows his stuff, all I can say is that he is probably wrong. After looking into the topic even more, I've found that almost all evidence points to Arkay never being a mortal. He bares notable connections to many existing gods including Trinimac/Malacath as well as Orkey/Xarxes/Tu'whacca, and is even said to be one of the first Et'Ada in The Monomyth.

Varieties of Faith in the Empire says that he wasn't formed until after Lorkhan died, but that is probably only figurative as Tu'whacca (Yokudan Arkay) was said to have been the god of nothing until mortals were birthed (after Lorkhan died) in the same book. It could also be referring to the fact that the actual god Arkay wasn't formed until Alessia created the Eight Divines Pantheon.

Nu-Hatta of the Sphinxmoth when referring to Arkay's "apotheosis" calls it "Lies from a previous age." Which appears to me to say that he was not a mortal, but who knows, MK is pretty cryptic.

Most theories regarding the whole Arkay being a mortal say that the legend probably is in reference to the fact that the god "Arkay" was really a nobody until mortals were born.

I guess that it might be possible that someone mantled the god somehow, that would be the only plausible explanation. I've heard some people believe that this mortal Arkay achieved CHIM, but I'd doubt that.