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All I've got in terms of lore books right now are Divine Mysteries and a copy of Gods and Magic somewhere around here. So, DM lists off things like Abadar's priests serving as lawyers or bankers, Cayden's priests as sellswords or barkeepers, Gozreh's priests as wilderness guides, Shelyn's priests as barbers or tailors, etc. But all it has to say about a priest of Desna is... they go places... and sometimes those places are really far away.
Besides the fact that this doesn't provide much inspiration for what a priest might have done before becoming an adventurer, it only covers a single one of Desna's AoC's! Where are the astronomers and astrologers (Stars), the fortune-tellers and fortune-makers (Luck), or the visionaries and Freudian psychologists (except they actually like people... also Dreams)?
Is there any lore from older books, then, that might suggest other ways they serve the faithful and their neighbors beyond ritual and... walking?
My assumption is that Desnan priests actively and knowingly fill the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope - they go where they are needed to bring a bit of change in peoples' lived, reignite the dreams of those who have lost them, a catalyst for positive change who leave chaos in their wake, and then move on to the next place, whether divining it themselves or arriving there as the strings of fate are pulled. Like Mary Poppins but for grown people. The Desnan characters I've played alongside have been flighty, ethereal, and unattached to the community, making friends but never putting down roots and willing to make new friends somewhere else.
I have no idea how you would train to join a priesthood like that, but maybe you don't? Maybe you just...decide to do it? Though I am amused by the idea of a Desnan priest taking an apprentice to teach the ways of Saint Kir'sten of Dunst.
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Is there any lore from older books, then, that might suggest other ways they serve the faithful and their neighbors beyond ritual and... walking?
I checked 1e's Inner Sea Gods because I was sure it talked about different jobs and duties Desnan priests have or have done. Her church is described there as "extremely disorganized", seemingly by design, but it does have some details that are relevant to you. In the book, it says that the few temples she does have, especially those that are large enough, often double as observatories. They also keep libraries with astronomical and astrological charts, so you can assume right there that there has to be at least a few astronomers and astrologers involved in the church.
Both Inner Sea Gods in 1e and Divine Mysteries in 2e state that she's worshipped by entertainers and bards, which is definitely influenced by the sheer amount of music in her services and rituals. In Inner Sea Gods, it says specifically, "Worshipers with performance skills share them regularly at festivals, local venues, and celebrations such as weddings." Finally, again in the 1e book, it mentions fortune-tellers, many of which specifically interpret dreams for clients. They're also said to help treat insomnia. I don't think any of this has been de-canonized per se, just that the wandering priest is pretty key to the faith as well.
There's probably other places that delve into the church, but I can't remember right now.