Desna

History

Early history

Desna is an ancient goddess of freedom and luck, and is credited with the creation of the heavens. According to the Windsong Testaments, she was one of the first eight deities of this incarnation of reality.

In her earliest days, the god Curchanus, an enemy of the goddess Lamashtu, was her mentor. Lamashtu laid a trap for Curchanus and stripped him of his beast domain, ripping it from his godly essence. As he died, he gifted Desna with the domain of travel; she has travelled the planes and worlds since, opposing both oppression and Lamashtu wherever she encounters them, and spreading her word while making an effort to experience new wonders when she can.


Battle against Rovagug

During the Age of Creation, Desna was among the original gods who battled the Rough Beast who sought to destroy Golarion, and were eventually able to contain him in the Dead Vault.


Creating and freeing deities

Perhaps by chance, Desna has been involved in the creation or freeing of a number of minor deities. She is said to accidentally have freed Ghlaunder, the mosquito god of infection and parasites, from his cocoon on the Ethereal Plane.

She has a half-mortal son with Cayden Cailean named Kurgess, and together they raised him to godhood.


She is said to have accidentally created Black Butterfly by a pattern she unwittingly placed in the stars. The empyreal lord is even known as "Desna's Shadow".

Invasion of the Abyss

A vengeful Desna killed the demon lord Aolar, known as the Lady of the Hunt, and destroyed her Abyssal fortress after the Lady of the Hunt took control of the body of a recently deceased Desnan priestess to wreak death on the priestess' loved ones. This possession of heroes just after their deaths was Aolar's penchant, especially when the dead person's soul could witness the suffering caused.

Aolar made many enemies in this way, including Calistria, Sarenrae, and Shelyn, who all helped Desna in her vengeance. Calistria's aid especially was key, as Desna's flagrant act nearly started a planar war: Calistria's politicking turned the allied demonic host, the Coalition of Chaos, against itself and averted an interplanar battle.

History on Aur

The Song of the Spheres, as with many deities, has an interest in the strange prison plane of Aur.

As a result, she is one of the most common deities to see at Utopia, and is known to have worked with and guided several heroes.

Her main goal seems to be aimed at incursions from the nightmare plane of Leng, and attempting to stop it from being merged into the plane proper. This has resulted in an increase of attacks on Sevenfold Cynosure, none of which have been especially successful...yet.

Servants

Desna and her faithful hold creatures that symbolize freedom and the night sky as beautiful and holy. Butterflies are a particular favorite, and the appearance of swarms of them is often seen as a sign of the goddess' favor. Other favored creatures include the azatas, aliens, cynosomas, star monarchs, and certain fey creatures of the night.

Her divine servitor race are the thyrliens, winged azatas who watch over those travelling by night and who are the warrior counterparts of the gentler lyrakien.

The Night Monarch: Appearing as a massive butterfly-like creature the size of a dragon, the night monarch is a herald of Desna.

Aurean Heralds: As with many other deities, Desna has taken an interest in Aur. As she cannot send anyone there in person without being trapped by the strange plane, she has recruited additional Heralds to champion her cause.

Carnival: The odd half-orc alchemist has a reputation for communing directly with the gods, especially Desna. He has served as her main agent when dealing with the Leng-infested continent of Azoa.

Heather Greenberg: An odd case, as Heather was directly involved in the death of the Dawnflower and rise of the Evening Sun, Heather was nonetheless invested with the power of the Song of Spheres and sent out with a mission: kill Ragathiel. Upon her death, she splits her time between defending Cynosure and rampaging in the Abyss.

Worshippers

Desna is the goddess of travel and journeys, and there are few who traverse the roads who wouldn't spare her a prayer or a simple-worded plea for benediction. Scouts, sailors, and those who travel for travel's sake make up a large number of her followers, though her focus on luck also makes her a favorite deity among gamblers and thieves. Whatever their calling, followers of the Song of Spheres search the world for new experiences and try to live their life to the fullest.

Deific Obedience: Dance in a random pattern beneath the light of the stars, trusting in the guidance of destiny. If no stars are currently visible, softly sing or chant all of the names of stars that you know as you perform your dance. Let your mind expand and turn your thoughts away from where your feet might land, allowing your steps to fall where chance wills. When the dance feels complete, cease dancing. Ponder the steps you took and the position in which you stopped, and consider what portents these subtle clues might hold for the future. Gain a +1 luck bonus on initiative checks and a +4 sacred bonus on Perception checks made to determine whether you are aware of opponents just before a surprise round.

Evangelist

Traveler's Tricks (Sp) longstrider 3/day, darkvision 2/day, or phantom steed 1/day

Starlit Caster (Su) Over time you have learned to focus your magical power to better damage agents of evil. You add your Charisma bonus on your concentration checks, as well as on your caster level checks to overcome spell resistance. In addition, when you stand in starlight and cast a spell that deals hit point damage, you can have it deal an extra 2d6 points of damage. This bonus damage is untyped, and manifests as a glowing aura of starlight around the spell’s original effect.

Starry Eyes (Su) You gain darkvision with a range of 60 feet. If you already have darkvision with a range of 60 feet or greater, the range of your darkvision instead increases by 10 feet. This extension applies only to natural, permanent darkvision, not to darkvision that is granted by spells or other effects. In addition, while you stand in starlight the range of your spells (other than spells with the range of “personal” or “touch”) increases as though your caster level were 1 level higher.

Exalted

Slumberer (Sp) sleep 3/day, silence 2/day, or deep slumber 1/day

Splendorous Ally (Sp) Once per day as a standard action, you can summon a lillend azata. You gain telepathy with the lillend to a range of 100 feet. The lillend follows your commands perfectly for 1 minute for every Hit Die you possess before vanishing back to its home on Elysium. The lillend doesn’t follow any commands that would cause it to take evil or overly lawful actions, and the creature could even attack you if the command is particularly egregious.

Blast of Motes (Su) Whenever you channel positive energy to heal living creatures, a shower of starry motes cascades over all of the living creatures in the area of effect. These motes do not impede vision or stealth attempts, nor do they reveal invisible creatures, but they infuse the targets with divine luck. Targets of this ability reduce any miss chance they face by 10%. In addition, when targets of this ability roll damage dice, they may treat all 1s as 2s. The motes and their effects last for 1 round + 1 round for every 4 Hit Dice you have (maximum 6 rounds). If you don’t have the ability to channel positive energy, you gain the ability to do so once per day as a cleric of a level equal to your Hit Dice (maximum 20), but only to heal living creatures. Whenever you use this ability, the beneficiaries are showered with starry motes, with the effects described above.

Sentinel

Fighting Chance (Sp) entropic shield 3/day, blur 2/day, or displacement 1/day

See through Dreams (Su) Desna’s blessing allows you to see through half-real and fantastical images. You gain a +1 luck bonus on saving throws made against illusion spells and effects and against dream-based magic (such as nightmare). This bonus increases by 1 for every 4 Hit Dice you possess (maximum +6).

Shooting Star (Ex) You can throw your deity’s star-shaped favored weapon with great speed and ease. Three times per day, you can make a single ranged attack with a starknife as a swift action. To throw a starknife as a swift action, you must have it in hand, have sufficient actions available to draw the starknife, or have the Quick Draw feat or a similar ability.

Unique Aspects

Archetypes: Stargazer Oracle, Guide Ranger, World Walker Druid.
Prestige Classes: Sphere Singer.
Feats: Butterfly's Sting, Cosmic Gate, Guided Star, Lady Luck's Guidance, Stellar Wanderer, Improved Stellar Wanderer, Trailblazing Channel.
Altar: Altar of Desna.
Armor: Starsong Mail.
Rings: Ring of Stairs and Stars.
Staffs: Staff of Slumber.
Weapons: Shooting Starknife.
Wondrous Items: Cloak of the Night's Sky, Desna's Coin, Dream Candle, Dreamwing Cape, Necklace of Netted Stars, Robe of Stars, Starfaring Robe, Luckstone.
Traits: Faithful Artist, Follower of the Stars, Good Dreams, Starchild, Stoic Optimisim, Thrill-Seeker.
Unique Spell Rules:
Druid/Warpriest: Add Dream as a 5th level spell.
Druid: Add Dream as a 5th level spell.
Rangers: Add Dream as a 4th level spell.
Summons Spells: Add Lyrakiens to Summon Monster II, Star Monarchs (Re-Skinned Giant Eagle) to Summon Monster III and an Extraplaner Young Brass Dragon to Summon Monster VII.

Divine Fighting Technique

Among the divine fighting manuals of the Inner Sea, few are as ancient as Clamor of the Spheres, a collection of fighting techniques favored by Desna’s faithful. True to its name, the manual focuses on interpreting the chaos and sounds of combat, but nevertheless provides insightful and downright brilliant methods of defense with Desna’s favored weapon, using techniques that treat a fight with a starknife more as a beautiful dance than a battle.

Optional Replacement: A chaotic good bard of at least 2nd level who worships Desna can replace a versatile performance with the following initial benefit.

Initial Benefit: You can add your Charisma bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls when wielding a starknife. If you do so, you don’t modify attack rolls and damage rolls with your starknife with your Strength modifier, your Dexterity modifier (if you have Weapon Finesse), or any other ability score (if you have an ability that allows you to modify attack rolls and damage rolls with that ability score).

Advanced Prerequisites: Dex 17; Divine Fighting Technique; Point-Blank Shot; Rapid Shot; base attack bonus +11 or Sleight of Hand 11 ranks.

Optional Replacement: A chaotic good bard of at least 10th level who worships Desna can replace a versatile performance with the following advanced benefit without meeting its prerequisites.

Advanced Benefit: You can impart a powerful spin to a thrown starknife so that multiple blades strike the target rather than just a single blade of the four, dealing extra damage with the other blades. As a full-round action, you can make a single attack with a thrown starknife, rolling 1d4 to determine how many effective strikes you gain with the attack (if you roll a 1, then only one blade strikes). If the attack hits, all of the effective strikes damage the target. Apply precision-based damage (such as sneak attack damage) and critical hit damage only once for this attack. The damage bonus from your appropriate ability score modifier applies to each strike, as do other damage bonuses, such as a bard’s inspire competence bonus. Damage reduction and resistances apply separately to each strike.

Deific Code

Although Desna is too chaotic to hold Paladins, and not evil enough to have Anti-Paladins typically serve her, she does expect her followers to hold certain aspects in their mind as they serve her.

There is nothing wrong with a place to call home, but the world should be seen, not just heard of. Travel when you can, to new places if you can.

Dreams are the domain of the Song of Spheres, and should be visited when you can. Only avoid sleep when needs must. Never corrupt the dreams of another.

All beings deserve a chance. Just because you've met others that did you wrong does not mean you need to return that distrust. Caution is wise: hate is not.

Never allow another to choose the path you walk. Guidance is fine, but at the end of your days, you should have chosen your own life.

Table of Contents

History
History on Aur
Servants

Heralds

Worshippers

Deific Obedience

Evangelists

Exalted

Sentinel

Unique Aspects

Deific Code

Titles: The Song of the Spheres, The Great Dreamer, Starsong, The Tender of Dreams, Lady Luck, Resplendent Goddess of Fortune, Goddess of the North Star, Queen of the North Star, Mother Moon
Azlanti period: The Wandering Star
Adjective: Desnan
Realm: The palace Sevenfold Cynosure, in the star Cynosure
Alignment: Chaotic good
Areas of Concern: Dreams, Luck, Stars, Travelers
Worshipers: Travelers, astronomers, gamblers, Varisians, musicians
Edicts: Aid fellow travelers, explore new places, express yourself through art and song, find what life has to offer.
Anathema: Cause fear or despair, cast nightmare or use similar magic to corrupt dreams, engage in bigoted behavior.
Domains: Chaos, Good, Liberation, Luck, Travel
Subdomains: Azata, Curse, Exploration, Fate, Freedom, (Imagination), (Revelry), Revolution Favored Weapon: Starknife
Symbol: Butterfly
Sacred Animal: Butterfly
Sacred Colors: Blue, white

AON | Wiki