the complete history of the three god-kings of sumeru
(because i wasn’t satisfied with the info on the genshin wiki)
((sources at the bottom, please check my work if you think anything doesn’t sound right))
Goddess of flowers, banquet, dreams (especially as an escape from harsh reality, see 13.2), forgetting, wine, joy, and happiness. Often referred to as the moon.
An angel cursed by Celestia who has the gift of prophecy. She foresees the cataclysm and her own death.
Fated to bloom beautifully for a short time, then to wither and die in sacrifice. She may have wanted this and hoped for a spectacular death that would add “bitterness to lost joy” and “intensify with time”. (1.2, 13.4)
She was said to gift her people wisdom, power, joy, mercy, love, singing, music, wine, and extravagance.
God of the desert, authority, sand, war and order, [warriors, horticulturists, and sages]. Often referred to as the sun.
[The Lay of Al-Ahmar calls him the “son of the sky”, but little else is known about his origins.] (18, Note 1)
Obsessed with the past; often called “the mourning king”. His longing for the past and obsession with reuniting with his lost companions cause him to be corrupted by forbidden knowledge and the whispers of the Abyss.
God of life, plants, verdure, and wisdom. Referred to as the land, the dew, or a nightingale.
Her origins are unknown, but her earliest mention is that of a princess whose wisdom is known throughout the land. (15) She could be a branch from Irminsul like Nahida.
Represents the cycle of life; sacrifices herself multiple times to cleanse the land of Abyssal corruption. “All things that die will gain new life in some other form, And all things that decay will sprout pure and tender roots.” (Her own words in the description of the Laurel Coronet artifact)
~6000 years before present
The War of Funerary Flame ends; the Heavenly Principles is victorious; the moons are shattered and Celestial Nails are cast down across Teyvat, one of which lands on Mt. Damavand and transforms a once-green land into a the Great Red Sand. (1.5, 3.3 {Note 4}, 5, 10)
Nabu Malikata, alongside the other angels, is cast from heaven and cursed for the crimes of Koitar. She wanders the barren wastelands for 72 days, and her wounds gush out spring water, creating rivers that form an oasis of gardens in the desert. (1.1, 1.5, 13.1)
Water lilies bloom from the springs, and the jinn are born from these lilies. Nabu Malikata lives alone with them in the desert oasis for some time. (1.1)
In her mourning, what would eventually become the city of Tulaytullah arises from her tears. (7)
Between 6000–3700 years ago (since these most likely happen before the beginning of the Archon War)
Deshret comes to being. He is younger than the end of the War of Funerary Flame: “She once described to me the night sky adorned with three bright moons to me in a language I have now forgotten — yes, the number of moons should be three.” (5)
Ay-Khanoum is built by King Deshret and Nabu Malikata for the jinn. (13.3)
Rukkhadevata meets the other two gods. She already knows of Deshret’s love for Nabu Malikata at this time, and Nabu Malikata has already heard of Rukkhadevata’s wisdom. Nabu Malikata asks her to answer her three riddles and, overjoyed at her answers, she welcomes her into their garden/palace (presumably, Ay-Khanoum). This is when the three form an alliance and live together in Ay-Khanoum. (15)
Archon War (at least 3700–2000 years ago) (Note 2)
Deshret is offered a gift from Celestia (most likely the dendro gnosis) but refuses it and instead shares the throne with Nabu Malikata and Rukkhadevata. (1.2, 1.5)
The three god-kings rule Ay-Khanoum together, and it is known as a time of peace and prosperity. (3.2, 15)
At some point, on one of Rukkhadevata’s birthdays, the gods get drunk at a banquet, Rukkhadevata starts singing, and Nabu Malikata starts dancing, and Padisarahs blossom wherever she steps. (9.1)
[Deshret already longs for the past, and not even Nabu Malikata or Rukkhadevata can comfort him.] (18)
At some point, Nabu Malikata foresees the cataclysm and separates some of her power from herself, the Khvarena, which she refers to as her daughter, and which has the power to cleanse Abyssal energy. Then she gives her to Rukkhadevata to be her new mother, knowing that Rukkhadevata will need her during the cataclysm. (2.1, 2.3)
Deshret plans to combine the minds of all his kingdom with the intent to put power in the hands of humanity, thus creating a utopia where all are equal and live in harmony (later, this seems to be the goal of Aaru’s Shut/Khaj-Nisut/the Golden Slumber). Nabu Malikata warns that it will lead to gods becoming subservient to humans. (1.2, 3.2, 14.1)
Nabu Malikata foresees her death being used as a bridge or doorway for Deshret to use to defy Celestia. She tries to convince him not to pursue this path, but his desire is unchangeable, and she agrees to work with him instead, accepting her fate. (1.2)
Heartbroken by her companions’ plans to defy Celestia, Rukkhadevata leaves Ay-Khanoum, never to return. (12.3, Note 3)
She begins to grow an oasis in the corner of the desert, where some trees already existed but sand still covered the ground. She used the Sourcesong to sprout an offshoot of Irminsul, the Ashvattha, from which the Aranara were born. (11)
Events leading to the death of the Goddess of Flowers (still during the Archon War)
Nabu Malikata tells Deshret about her past, as an envoy of Celestia, and warns Deshret not to pursue the truth of this world, and not to rebel against the Heavenly Principles for her fear that they will send down another nail and destroy Ay-Khanoum. (1.5)
Deshret disagrees with Nabu Malikata’s fears and instead asks her to help him, saying something unknown that Rukkhadevata would not approve of, and because both gods want to transcend the laws of Celestia (and possibly make humans equal to gods), she is finally convinced. Nabu Malikata tells him that she can grant him the knowledge he seeks to carry out his plan, but that he will lose everything in the process. (1.2, 1.4)
The night before Nabu Malikata’s death, forbidden knowledge enters Sumeru. (2.2)
Nabu Malikata sacrifices Ay-Khanoum and her own body and soul to bestow her knowledge on Celestia and the Abyss to Deshret, and a sandstorm turns Ay-Khanoum back into barren desert. (1.4)
A Celestial Nail might have dropped on them here. (See below & Note 4)
“Heed my warnings: seek not the Master of the Four Shades, and inquire not of the mysteries of the sky and the abyss. … Otherwise, as shown by the nail of retribution, certain calamity and sorrow shall follow.” (1.5)
“The first divine pillar descended from the skies, burying tree and meadow under the flowing sands. The golden sun fell, then rose again, clothing the sea of sand in an opulent death-shroud. Later, the venomous winds of time disturbed the slumber of the fallen, attracting nostalgic delusions.” (3.3)
Deshret uses all his strength and intellect, as well as the power of the jinn and the Celestial Nail on Mt. Damavand, to complete construction of the eternal oasis. Real Padisarahs bloom on his of the three thrones at the center. (1.3, 3.1, 4.2)
The jinn turn their loyalty to King Deshret, and Gurabad is established near the eternal oasis to guard the entrance. (4.1, 4.2, 12.1, 12.2)
Deshret makes a deal with Apep to build his kingdom undisturbed, with the promise that she will eat his corpse when he dies and absorb his forbidden knowledge. (10)
Other vassal states are established, and they war with each other bitterly for 100 years. Deshret seems to be absent during this time conducting his research. (16)
Nabu Malikata’s death causes Deshret to descend into madness. He is also affected by erosion, which exacerbates this madness. (5, 6, 14.2)
At least 100 years after her death
Gurabad falls and Deshret returns to punish Liloupar for her actions. (19.1)
Deshret unites the vassal states with Rukkhadevata and her people and together they rebuild an oasis civilization based on the ideals of equality and harmony taught to him by Nabu Malikata and “the crystal” (Celestial Nail?). (14.1, 16)
Deshret creates his Seven Pillars. (14.3)
[Three of the Pillars (Heryshaf, Thoth, and Sobek) convince Deshret to use forbidden knowledge to pursue resurrection and eternal life.] (18)
Rukkhadevata parts ways with Deshret and returns to the rainforest. (2.4, 14.3) (Note 3)
Deshret tells her to not forget him or Nabu Malikata when she leaves. His obsessive remembrance for the past directly leads to his corruption by the Abyss and forbidden knowledge. (3.1)
After the fall of Gurabad and Deshret’s consumption of forbidden knowledge
Rukkhadevata transforms the Khvarena into a bird called Simurgh. (2.2, 2.3, 2.4)
Deshret decides that fear, grief, the barrier between life and death, sun, moon, gravity, and the original principles should be done away with to transcend the barriers set by Celestia, and that all living things should be removed to prevent knowledge from being stolen. At the heart of this goal is the desire for him, Nabu Malikata, and Rukkhadevata to live together again in an eternal oasis. (5)
[Deshret spends 200 years building a labyrinth beneath his kingdom, then traps himself inside in search of forbidden knowledge and an elixir to separate his mind from his body.] (18)
[Deshret successfully separates his mind from body and merges his soul with the millions of people of his kingdom, inhabiting the walls and stairways of his labyrinth. A sandstorm completely destroys his kingdom, leaving only a few survivors, who are made blind and mute as punishment for using forbidden knowledge.] (18) (Note 5)
Forbidden knowledge spreads throughout Deshret’s civilization, causing Eleazar and the Withering, and he hopes Rukkhadevata might help him suppress it, if not for their past friendship then at least for the memory of Nabu Malikata. (5, 9.2)
Rukkhadevata has Deshret’s people build temples and she uses up most of her power, diminishing her form, to imbue the temples with her power. (9.2)
The crisis is temporarily suppressed, but eventually, Deshret sacrifices himself to stop the outbreak of forbidden knowledge and purge it from the desert. (9.2, 9.3)
Apep eats Deshret’s body after his kingdom collapses, but the forbidden knowledge she consumes is too much for her and she isn’t able to use it. (10) (Note 5)
After Deshret’s death, his civilization collapses and splinters into multiple kingdoms, ruled by mortal kings (among which are a rebuilt Ay-Khanoum and Tulaytullah), thus fulfilling Nabu Malikata’s prophecy that though the gods will perish and their civilizations collapse, humanity will persevere. (1.3, 8, 19.2)
Rukkhadevata, being the only god-king left in Sumeru, presumably becomes the dendro archon around this point.
The Seven Archons are summoned to Khaenri’ah to fight off the Abyssal invasion, except for Rukkhadevata. (9.3)
A second instance of forbidden knowledge pollutes Irminsul during the cataclysm. Rukkhadevata creates the Akasha system to repel it with the dreams of all Sumeru inhabitants, but she realizes that she has also been polluted by it. (9.3)
Rukkhadevata crosses Sumeru, dispelling Abyssal forces on her way to the rift in the sky at the Girdle of the Sands. (17)
Simurgh helps Egeria to fight back against the Abyss during the cataclysm. When Egeria is killed and the Amrita forms, it is tainted by the Abyss, so Simurgh sacrifices itself to cleanse it, and Rukkhadevata grows the Harvisptokhm from the purified Amrita, which seals the Abyssal rift in the sky. (2.2, 2.5)
Rukkhadevata becomes the Gaokerena at the heart of the Harvisptokhm and the Vourukasha Oasis itself in an attempt to cleanse the Abyssal corruption that remains throughout the Girdle of the Sands area. (17)
In game, the Lay of Al-Ahmar is stated to be possibly unreliable. Anything sourced from this is put in brackets since we don’t know what can be trusted from the text.
Zibai & Zhongli seem to have confirmed during Lantern Rite that the Archon War ended 1000 years ago, but in the Sumeru archon quest Rukkhadevata says that Deshret sacrificed himself “thousands” of years ago, so this is where I’ve decided to place the cutoff for Sumeru’s Archon War timeline.
There’s a little discrepancy between these two accounts, where Jeht and Liloupar seem to agree that Rukkhadevata left the desert before Nabu Malikata’s death and never returned, but the artifact states that she left after her death and“returned” to the rainforest, and the ascension material says she was “determined to leave”. My guess is that she left while Nabu Malikata was still alive, then returned years after her death to help Deshret establish his new civilization, but left again later on.
A Celestial Nail definitely dropped ~6000 years ago in Sumeru. However, the Gilded Sands and Flower of Paradise Lost artifact sets seem to suggest that one could drop on Deshret and Nabu Malikata as a consequence of their actions, and also that one of them affected Deshret, despite the fact that he was most likely not alive when the first nails were dropped (since he didn’t know about the 3 moons). Maybe 2 were dropped at different times?
If what is said here is true, the “worms” that ate Deshret’s body after he separated his mind from his body could be referring to Apep. We know he was successful in creating the Golden Slumber because of the world quest of the same name, and whenever he appears in game, it’s as a disembodied eye. Whatever the case, he did end up sacrificing what remained of himself in the end to cleanse the desert of forbidden knowledge.
**Note: the most reliable sources here are the artifact sets, the weapon descriptions, and the words of Rukkhadevata in the archon quest. The rest have the potential to be inaccurate since they are not from the POV of the three gods themselves and it is shown in game multiple times that many people of the desert believe in inaccurate accounts of their gods.**
1. Flower of Paradise Lost artifact set
— 1.1 Ay-Khanoum’s Myriad
— 1.4 Secret-Keeper’s Magic Bottle
2. Vourukasha’s Glow artifact set
— 2.1 Stamen of Khvarena’s Origin
— 2.4 Feast of Boundless Joy
— 2.5 Heart of Khvarena’s Brilliance
3. Gilded Dreams artifact set
— 3.1 Dreaming Steelbloom
— 3.2 Honeyed Final Feast
— 3.3 Shadow of the Sand King
4. Desert Pavilion Chronicle artifact set
— 4.1 First Days of the City of Kings
— 4.2 Defender of the Enchanting Dream
5. Staff of the Scarlet Sands polearm
6. Beacon of the Reed Sea claymore
7. Tulaytullah’s Remembrance catalyst
8. Xiphos’ Moonlight sword
9. Chapter III archon quest
— 9.1 Act I - Through Mists of Smoke and Forests Dark (The Trail of the God of Wisdom)
— 9.2 Act IV - King Deshret and the Three Magi (Secret of the Scorching Desert)
— 9.3 Act V - Akasha Pulses, the Kalpa Flame Rises (Where the Boat of Consciousness Lies)
10. Sapientia Oromasdis Chapter: Act II - Homecoming character quest (What Shape Does the Self Hold)
11. Aranyaka world quest, Part III - Nursery of Lost Dreams (For Fruits, Seeds, and Dreams)
12. The Dirge of Bilqis world quest
— 12.1 The Temple Where Sand Flows Like Tears
— 12.2 Dune-Entombed Fecundity: Part II
— 12.3 Dune-Entombed Fecundity: Part III
13. Oasis Garden weapon ascension material
— 13.1 Oasis Garden’s Reminiscence
— 13.2 Oasis Garden’s Kindness
— 13.3 Oasis Garden’s Mourning
— 13.4 Oasis Garden’s Truth
14. Scorching Might weapon ascension materials
— 14.1 Remnant Glow of Scorching Might
— 14.2 Dream of Scorching Might
— 14.3 Olden Days of Scorching Might
15. Scroll of Streaming Song book
16. The Tale of Shiruyeh and Shirin book
17. The Folio of Foliage book
18. [The Lay of Al-Ahmar book]
— 19.2 Mausoleum of King Deshret, East (Underground)
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