Nabu Malikata

Nabu Malikata, the Goddess of Flowers, also known by various names such as the Lord of Joy and Happiness and the Mistress of Dreams, is a deceased god who was a close friend of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, the previous Dendro Archon of Sumeru.YouTube: Sumeru Preview Teaser 03: Prelude to Wisdom The two were considered among the three God-Kings of Sumeru alongside King Deshret, and were friends who each pursued their own paths towards "wisdom."
She was the creator of the Jinn and Khvarena, and a survivor of the Angelic race.
==Profile==
===Appearance===
According to legend, Nabu Malikata was said to have "beautiful" horns on her head. The horns of Nilou's crown in her default outfit, Neither Flower Nor Mist, were made to reflect this trait. Nabu Malikata also wore an amethyst crown, which became traditional headgear for her priests.
When the Traveler sees Nabu Malikata in Liloupar's memories, her appearance is described as being "ineffably beautiful," comparable to "the totality of her Jinn." However, when they meet her gaze, they are faced with "nothingness."
Based on depictions of angels found in Dragonspine's Mural Room and during the World Quest Revelations from the Past, it can be surmised that like her sisters, Nabu Malikata had a winged body and long horns extending behind her head. It is also possible that she once stood several times taller than a human, though this may have simply been artistic license, as her throne is sized correctly for a human.
==Story==
Nabu Malikata was alive when the Second Who Came arrived from "beyond the firmament" and brought war to her kin, using forbidden knowledge to overturn the Heavenly Principles' rules. Forbidden knowledge devastated the land and forced the Heavenly Principles to cast down the divine nails to save it, at the expense of the human civilizations living there. Due to some unconfirmed sin they committed, the Angels were "cast aside by the heavens" and punished by being stripped of their minds, becoming husks of their former selves. While Nabu Malikata was able to maintain her original form, most of the others became Seelies. According to legend, she wandered the barren wastes for 72 days. Springs gushed from her wounds, becoming streams that flowed into gardens. Water lilies grew in these gardens, and the Jinn were born from them. The first jinn begged her to stay with them, and she relented. Purple flowers resembling the moon bloomed wherever she stopped, and they were called Padisarahs.
Sometime during the Archon War, she met Greater Lord Rukkhadevata and King Deshret, who shared his throne with the other two. The three were known as the God-Kings of Sumeru and were good friends. Nabu Malikata was the originator and namesake of the , which originally commemorated Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's birthday. After Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's death, the Sabzeruz Festival became a celebration for her successor Lesser Lord Kusanali's birthday.
Nabu Malikata and King Deshret built the ancient civilization of Ay-Khanoum in the desert as an earthly paradise. While Nabu Malikata was aware of King Deshret's affections for her, it is unknown if the feeling was mutual or not.
At some point in time, Nabu Malikata foresaw the coming of the cataclysm, so she created a shard of Khvarena, whom she referred to as her daughter. This shard would eventually transform into the divine bird Simurgh. The divine bird would be destined to sacrifice itself during the cataclysm in order to save the Amrita from its abyssal corruption. Nabu Malikata gave the shard to Rukkhadevata, as she believed that Rukkhadevata's "light" was more radiant than hers.
At some point, Nabu Malikata warned King Deshret against pursuing forbidden knowledge, the Heavenly Principles, or the "mysteries of the stars and abyss," relating her past experiences and the fate of the Angels to him. However, he remained undeterred and told her about his ambitions. Nabu Malikata was persuaded by the thought of rebellion and decided to assist him in seeking the hidden knowledge. Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was heartbroken by her fellow God-Kings' plans, so she shepherded her own people away to create an oasis in a corner of the desert, leaving Nabu Malikata to wait for a return that never came.
===Death===
According to legend, Nabu Malikata died from the "malice of the burning sun and yellow sand." She used her body as a "conduit" for the "dazzling radiance" and may have deliberately caused a divine nail to fall upon the Desert of Hadramaveth, which destroyed their shared kingdom and created the endless sandstorms of Mt. Damavand."The gentle moonlight" likely refers to Nabu Malikata, as this artifact description also compares her, Deshret, and Rukkhadevata to the "bright silver moon," "blazing golden sun," and "emerald fields" respectively. She did this to help fulfill King Deshret's ambition and guide him to higher knowledge. Though her cause of death is not directly specified, she was likely killed in the destruction wrought by the divine nail. It is suggested that she planned to die so that the bitterness of her death would preserve her legacy forever. King Deshret, who was enamored with her, never realized this intention.
The original Padisarah flower went extinct with her death, and although Greater Lord Rukkhadevata attempted to recreate the flowers in her friend's memory, she was unable to replicate its original shade of purple.
Following her death, King Deshret deceived the Jinn into becoming his servants by telling them the Goddess of Flowers was merely in a deep slumber, and in exchange for the Jinn's power, he would help them find her. He created The Orchard of Pairidaeza as a cemetery for her.
==Character Mentions==
==Trivia==
* Bilqis, used in the World Quest Series name The Dirge of Bilqis, could be Nabu Malikata's personal name:
** A dirge is a mourning song performed at funerals, while Nabu Malikata's resting place, The Orchard of Pairidaeza, is unlocked during The Dirge of Bilqis. This suggests that the dirge is for someone named Bilqis, who in this case would logically only be Nabu Malikata.
** In Biblical accounts, Bilqis is the name of the , who travels to bearing him great gifts and, in many variations of the story, whom she eventually marries. King Deshret's lore draws inspiration from several parts of King Solomon's mythos, which suggests Nabu Malikata could be an analogue for Bilqis.
** The Orchard of Pairidaeza is located within the Desert of Hadramaveth, a name derived from the region of . This area is often associated to be apart of the ancient kingdom of .
===Etymology===
* is an god of literacy, the rational arts, scribes, and wisdom. means "announcer" or "authorized person" and is a cognate with words in several other Semitic languages, such as Arabic and Hebrew , meaning "enlightened" or "prophet."
** Paralleling the horns atop Nabu Malikata's head, Nabu is described as wearing a horned cap.
** Nabu and his father also rode the winged dragon (more accurately rendered with modern knowledge of cuneiform as “Mušḫuššu”), a name which bears great similarity to one of Nabu Malikata's indirect descendants, Sorush.
*** Note that this connection is highly tentative, as Sorush's name is likely derived instead from the Zoroastrian .
* Malikata may be derived from Arabic or from the ideogram of the Middle Persian word for queen, . 
** In the Eternal Oasis, her name is written as "NABU MLKTA" in Deshret Script, the same as the ideogram of the Middle Persian word.
==Notes==
==Other Languages==
==Change History==
==References==
es:Nabu Malikata
fr:Nabu Malikata
ja:ナブ・マリカッタ
pt-br:Deusa das Flores
ru:Набу Маликата
zh:娜布·瑪莉卡塔