Grandl Issa is a Catholic priest and former member of the Brotherhood of Singhaa. After betraying the brotherhood by stealing the Almas Moqaddas, Grandl manipulated fellow priest Randolph Holton into opening the gateway to the supernatural realm known as the Lifestream, where Grandl is now doomed to spend eternity.

History

In 1945, Grandl was born into the Brotherhood of Singaa, an organization whose sole purpose is to safeguard the Lifestream and its many facets from the rest of the world. Like his patriarchal ancestors before him, Grandl was officially inducted into the brotherhood at the age of ten, as is tradition within the group.

As Grandl grew up, his curiosity over the Lifestream gradually turned to greed, and he began to imagine ways of gaining access to the realm himself--something that is strictly forbidden by the brotherhood. Of course, Grandl knew knew nothing about the actual process of opening the gateway to the Lifestream, and so his dreams remained just that.

When Grandl reached adulthood, he was instructed by the brotherhood to enter into a Roman Catholic seminary, where, after years of study, he took his vows and became a priest.

Shortly thereafter, Grandl learned of the Almas Moqaddas--the sacred gem that opens the gateway to the Lifestream.  With this piece of information, Grandl formulated a plan:  he would steal the Almas Moqaddas, learn how to use it, and then enter the Lifestream himself. But Grandl knew that he could not act alone, as the brotherhood would surely find out, and so he needed to find a pawn to do his research for him.

Grandl’s first overseas assignment came in 1994 when he was ordered to infiltrate St. Jude’s Hope Church. He saw this as an opportunity, and, prior to departing for the United States, Grandl stole the Almas Moqaddas from the brotherhood.

While the brotherhood desperately searched for the gem, completely unaware of Grandl’s involvement in its disappearance, Grandl followed his orders and became a member of the small parish church. When he met Father Randolph Holton, Grandl saw a man that was lonely, impressionable, and depressed. He knew that Randolph would be the perfect pawn to help him to research a way to open the Lifestream.

Grandl befriended Randolph, and the two quickly became close.  Little did Randolph realize at the time that he was being used.

Lifestream

One Sunday after Mass, Grandl went to Father Randolph's confessional and, without revealing his identity, handed Randolph the key to a safe-deposit box at the local bank, where Grandl had previously hidden the Almas Moqaddas and some general information about the Lifestream. Grandl hoped that the box’s contents would intrigue Randolph to the degree that the naïve priest would take it upon himself to learn more.

Sure enough, Grandl’s intuition was proven correct as the mysteries of the Lifestream began to entice Randolph, who spent the next several months researching the realm. All the while, Grandl strung Randolph along, leaving just enough clues to push his journey onward.

When Randolph Holton reached out to another priest, Dan Adlersflugel, Grandl manipulated a homeless man named Grant Stork into murdering the priest to pressure Randolph against reaching out to third parties.

When Randolph eventually found a way to open the gateway to the Lifestream, Grandl held him at gunpoint, and the two entered the Lifestream together. Since that time, Grandl has been obliviously trapped inside the Lifestream, continually reliving his life’s ambition to find a way to enter it and completely unaware that he has already achieved this goal.

Father Grandl Issa