Deskari
Thought to be the son of Pazuzu, Deskari is believed by many scholars to be the Usher of the Apocalypse.
"Deskari's Abyssal minions are like vermin in the world of mortals. Lift a piece of wood, and they are there. Split a stone, and you will find them."—The Book of the Damned
Deskari, called the Lord of the Locust Host and Usher of the Apocalypse, rose from humble origins to become a great source of evil. His "father," the demon lord Pazuzu, mated with an unnamed giant insectlike demon in the Abyss, and from this union Deskari was hatched, was born, or simply emerged into existence. Somewhat protected by Pazuzu's strong influence and sheltered by his Abyssal realm, Deskari was able to gather thousands of troops under his banner, found an insidious cult on the Material Plane, develop into a nascent demon lord, seize his own Abyssal realm, and elevate himself to full demon lord status. As a nascent demon lord, Deskari actually dwelt in the realm of another demon lord, an ally of Pazuzu. That demon lord was defeated centuries ago, and Deskari took control of its Abyssal Realm.
Deskari appears as an insectoid centaur creature. His lower half resembles a six-legged locust. From where the locust's head should be sprouts a vaguely humanoid torso covered in chitinous plates, with arms holding a terrible scythe called Riftcarver. This blade looks like the scissoring claw of a mantis and was crafted from the remains of his father's monstrous mate. Deskari's head is that of a monstrous insect, with bulging eyes, multiple mandibles around a serrated mouth, and a crown of spikes or antennae. His wings are individual swarms of biting flies extending from his back, and he can see with their countless eyes just as well as with his own.
When Deskari is pleased, locusts consume enemies' supplies or gather harmlessly on walls, blades become poisoned, hostile swarms disperse, and worshipers' awareness expands as if they could see in all directions. When he is angry, sounds are drowned out by a hideous buzzing, swarms turn hostile and consume anything they can reach, the earth collapses into sinkholes, and bones become brittle. Deskari is chaotic evil, and his portfolio is chasms, infestation, and locusts. His weapon is the scythe. His unholy symbol is a pair of crossed locust wings that are dripping with blood. His sigil resembles a one-eyed insect's head. His domains are Nature and War. His priests are clerics, warlocks, and fallen paladins. Although locusts are part of his portfolio, he has no druid worshipers—in fact, he and his followers are especially hateful toward druids.
Deskari thinks of himself as superior to other demon lords, especially those who arose from humanoid creatures. His chitinous flesh is harder, his eyes are more numerous and more perceptive, and his saliva is a deadly poison. A child of two powerful demons, he was never a mortal, and therefore was never a larval soul, so he deems his origin more pure—he was always a demon and never anything else, and thus he has always been superior to any demon lord who had a mortal life before becoming a demon. Likewise, he esteems other lords who predate mortal sin (including his father, Pazuzu) or who originated as qlippoth more than the once-mortal. He does not speak of this attitude, but it guides his plans and his interactions with his minions and peers.
Many of his demonic minions are mindless (or near mindless) creatures who obey him (or his generals) only because of his and his generals' special ability to communicate with vermin. These minions' mindlessness makes them dangerous to all other nearby creatures, and ensures these demonic vermin are impervious to bribery or attempts to charm them. Unless he has need of them or requires them to specifically avoid a creature or fragile plan, he allows his creatures to roam free and consume anything they can kill.
As the demon lord of locusts, he is aware of the natural cycles of eggs and swarming. He knows that swarms naturally consume everything in their path and leave a barren wasteland, and understands that sometimes a swarm must in turn be consumed to sustain another creature. Just as some insects remain buried for years to mature before they swarm, he instructs his cultists to remain hidden and quiet until he deems it is time to strike. Those who emerge too soon and are destroyed for their haste are unfit specimens unworthy to serve him in their current form—but they provide him with new larval souls with which he can create new demons. Some cultists bury their Abyssal allegiance so deeply they forget who they serve (sometimes using magic to facilitate this), awakening only for a specific trigger or at the demon lord's will so they can carry out their mission.
Divine Domains
Nature, War
Holy Books & Codes
Deskari's holy text is a confusing, almost poetic series of 10 inscribed clay tablets called One Thousand Voices in My Flesh. Part spiritual guide, part screed against the mortal world, it is a first-person anecdote written by a human priest infested with Deskari's eggs, which spoke to him in many voices until he was compelled to take his own life by leaping into a chasm. It includes many odd phrases in Abyssal that have different meanings depending on whether the speaker is talking about minds, living bodies, or food.
Divine Symbols & Sigils
One-eyed insect's head.
Holidays
Worshipers of Deskari honor the first day of spring, a time of new life when insects emerge from their cocoons, and the harvest moon, when those creatures descend upon mortal crops and devour them, leaving ruin and sorrow in their wake.
Divine Goals & Aspirations
Despite his monstrous and inhuman appearance, Deskari is not a mere brute or a mindless thing like a common insect; such a creature would not be able to rise to the power of a demon lord, as it would inevitably be outwitted or enslaved by a creature of greater intelligence or magic. Rather, Deskari is a genius who has lived for thousands of years, and understands the nature of mortal fear, sins, and souls. And just as a hive is willing to sacrifice drones and soldiers to destroy a dangerous invader or expand its territory, Deskari is willing to spend the lives of his minions or even allow great losses if doing so helps him achieve victory in the long run.
Deskari also believes in giving those fighting against his armies time to defeat themselves by succumbing to corruption and unwittingly doing the demons' jobs for them. With the aid of Baphomet and his cult of Ivory Templars, the demons pick away at the mental fortitude of his adversaries, using disguised demons or hidden cultists to vex and stir contempt, and then let human nature do the rest.
Deskari hungers for power, territory, and the resources to feed his armies and monstrous brood. His eventual plans for total conquest might put him in opposition with other demon lords with similar interests, but the timeline for these endeavors is long enough that he expects to defeat them directly or to have infiltrated their realms with his own agents and destroyed them from within before they pose a significant threat.
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