[Morgoth]

I am willing to claim that there's absolutely no way for Dessembra/Dassem to be Dessimbelackis. The question i think is whether Dassem had already ascended into godhood by the time he faked his own death and became Traveller - you can talk all you want about eye colour, I'll just put a finger in each ear and sing: lalalalalalalalalalala.

[polishgenius]

There's no indication that Dessimbelackis was Dessembrae (iirc he only became Dessembrae after Ultor 'died'), but now that you mention the similarity I totally wouldn't put it past Erikson to have Dassem have been the First Emperor.

[Dolorous Menhir]

I'm fairly sure Dassem was Dessembrae before he "died". There was a chapter opening that referred to "the worship of Dessembrae, the cult of Dassem Ultor" among Malazan armies. These cults were purged when Laseen took power, so existed before Dassem "died".

Presumably there were a major source of his power, since he was growing to rival Hood. Note that that chapter opening confirms Dassem=Dessembrae, if anyone was still doubting Leoman's word.

There is no connection between Dassem Ultor and Dessimbelackis, the similarity of name is just a coincidence. And I'm not just asserting that, it's the author's explicit statement in this Q&A thread (paragraph 8).

http://www.malazanem...read.php?t=2203

I'm still curious about the instance when Dassem Ultor was described as "the First Sword reborn". (I forget where it occurred). The only other First Swords we know of are Tool (who is not dead) and anyone who may have held the post in the First Human Empire of Dessimbelackis. So a link to that Empire may still be on the cards.