Desirat

Desirat
Fan art of Desirat, by Kiyoko.
Deity information
Type	Lesser Idol
Title	The Twilight Phoenix
Common symbol	Burning purple feather
Gender	Feminine
Pronouns	She/her/hers
Alignment	Lawful Evil
Home plane	Material Plane (Exandria)
Realm	Beneath Mount Mentiri (formerly)
Worship
Worshipers	Vengeance Seekers
Associated domains	Light Trickery
Associated patron archetypes	The Fiend The Undying
Appearances
First seen	"The Aurora Grows" (3x49)
Stream	Campaign Three (1 episode)

Desirat is a phoenix-like entity formerly imprisoned under Mount Mentiri in the Cyrios Mountains.

Fan art of Desirat, by Christian Thor Lally.

Description

Appearance

Desirat's body had black and purple feathers leading into flames, and her massive wings were made of pure flame.

The depiction of Desirat in the temple of Uk'otoa on Urukayxl showed a crowd of people clustered around the base and above them three larger humanoid figures haloed by a light or aura elevating them above the crowd. Over them, occupying most of the mural, was a huge bird of dark purple flame wreathing the sky, its wings curved upward and then bent down, and where the wings ended, fire curled and burned. The feathers on the edges of the wings came up into purple and dark gray flame with bits and specks of deep red. Its beak was long and pointed and it had three eyes, each set with a large onyx stone.

Biography

Desirat was the companion and mount of Asmodeus during the wars of the Calamity. She was captured and imprisoned beneath Mount Mentiri by the original pre-Divergence Cerberus Assembly and up until 843 PD remained there, giving birth to the geothermal activity in the area.

During the time of the Julous Dominion, a group living in the area built an entire colony based around this god-like creature, calling it the Twilight Phoenix. They burned effigies to it and believed this was its resting place. However, they also made a lot of enemies, and the Julous Dominion itself hunted them down and killed them in their homeland around the base of Mount Mentiri.

At some point before 835 PD the fire giant city of Vuthos was built around Desirat's prison.

As the apogee solstice of 843 PD approached, and the aurora from the solstice was extremely bright, Desirat attacked the Silver Sun with Bells Hells aboard. Imogen Temult was able to turn Desirat aside with a Command to leave, giving the skyship enough time to dive into a dust storm. Weeks later, Bells Hells learned that there had been an earthquake in the Mount Mentiri area, splitting the mountain in two, and a phoenix had been terrorizing the surrounding region and even beyond the Dwendalian Empire. Most recently, three days before the party arrived in Zadash, this phoenix had attacked the city, but after causing many casualties as the Righteous Brand and other warriors fought it, departed for parts unknown.

Relationships

Uk'otoa and Quajath

The murals of Urukayxl in Beau's journal, by Hunter Severn Bonyun from The Chronicles of Exandria - The Mighty Nein, page 209.

In the yuan-ti temple on Urukayxl, the Mighty Nein saw three murals: one depicting a giant purple bird with fire-like wings and three eyes of onyx, one showing a gigantic sea serpent emerging from the water with many small eyes of amber and three large eyes, and one of a worm-like creature with three eyes of ivory inside its mouth, plowing through the earth. The three lesser idols have a pact; apparently, if one escapes, it will help the others. Before the Julous Dominion took power in the Marrow Valley, Uk'otoa's followers helped Desirat to establish a following and nearly dug deep enough to free the phoenix.

Appearances and mentions

• Campaign Two
  • "Dubious Pursuits" (2x40), mentioned only, unnamed
  • "Agreements" (2x61), mentioned only, unnamed
  • "With Great Power..." (2x94), mentioned only, unnamed
  • "Hunted at Sea" (2x100), mentioned only, unnamed
  • "Devoutness and Dicks" (2x107), mentioned only, unnamed
• Campaign Three
  • "The Aurora Grows" (3x49) (first appearance)
  • "Gathering of Needs" (3x95), mentioned only, unnamed
• Explorer's Guide to Wildemount

Trivia

• One of the "Mysterious Secrets" suggested by the Explorer's Guide to Wildemount for one's character is having received a vision of a flaming bird struggling against its chains beneath a mountain.
• The adventure hook Twilight Phoenix in the Explorer's Guide involves archmages who worship Asmodeus attempting to free his mount from her prison, which would destroy the mountain (and presumably Vuthos) in the process.

References

Art: