| Relics | |
| |
| Tristan's Desire | |
| Location | The Carnal Tower |
|---|---|
| Acquisition | Virgil |
| Alignment | N/A |
| Level Requirement | N/A |
"The curse of a potent love potion."
Overview[]
Tristan's Desire is a relic in Dante's Inferno. It increases the damage of all Magic attacks. As the relic levels up, the damage increases as follows:
- Lvl 1: 10%
- Lvl 2: 15%
- Lvl 3: 20%
Background[]
This relic is a reference to the medieval legend of the tragic lovers, Tristan and Iseult (Tristan and Isolde). Tristan (Latin & Brythonic: Drustanus; Welsh: Trystan), also known as Tristram, was a Cornish knight in the service of his uncle, King Mark. Mark was betrothed to the princess of Ireland, the beautiful Iseult. As his most trusted knight, Tristan was sent to Ireland by Mark to bring Iseult to Cornwall to marry the king. To aid Iseult in her marriage, in her possession was a powerful love potion intended for Mark, so that the pair would have a genuinely happy life together. Unfortunately, before arriving at their destination, Tristan and Iseult accidentally consume the love potion during a feast and fall helplessly in love. Unable to stop themselves, Tristan and Iseult have an affair, even after they arrive in Cornwall and Mark marries Iseult; they use trickery to fool Mark into believing nothing is going on.
There are many variations of the legend's ending, but in the more well-known ending, Mark finds out about the affair and tries to punish the couple. Tristan successfully escapes death by hanging and rescues Iseult from exile. He returns Iseult to Mark, then reconciles with the king by agreeing to leave Cornwall. Years later, Tristan is wounded by a poisoned spear and sends for Iseult to heal him. He requests that the sailor sent for her raise white sails if Iseult will come help him, and black sails if she refuses. Unable to rise, Tristan asks his wife (ironically also named Iseult) what color the sails are, but the jealous woman lies to him, saying the sails are black. Tristan dies after hearing this, and when Iseult arrives and sees his corpse, she too drops dead of grief.
In the original epic written by Dante, Tristan is explicitly stated to be found among the damned in the Circle of Lust, although it is not known if Iseult is with him.