Hekate

From In the Pantheon
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Hekate is the goddess of magic, currently voiced by Melody Wingfield.

Hekate.jpg

Know Your Goddess

Height: 5’7″

Weight: 135 lbs.

Hair Color: Black and waist-length, widow’s peak. Typically worn down, usually with a few small braids adorned with beads, feathers, and thin leather laces. For business, a low bun held with an ornate silver hair spike capped with an alexandrite cabochon.

Facial Hair: None

Eyes: Amber or Jet

Distinguishing Features: In dim light, Hekate’s eyes glow like a firebrand in the night. She can shutter this feature entirely, in which case, her irises appear black as the void, making her pupils seem to vanish.

Family

Parents: Zeus and Asteria, The Starry One

Siblings: None

Spouse: None

Children: None

Professions

Hekate owns and operates the restaurant and nightclub, Nykteria. They share the same building situated in the City of Olympus on the edge of the God Complex.

Nykteria is the only establishment of its kind. There are no franchises. There are currently Keyholders in nine cities world-wide. These Keyholders maintain club fronts, which serve as portals into Nykteria. From the outside, patrons entering cannot tell that they have been transported to a different place. Entering, it looks like they have stepped into a nightclub. As a result, Nykteria has a whispered reputation of being anything from a pop-up rave to an elite social club to a front for the criminal underworld.

Nykteria is also one of the ways Hekate lures humans to take up residence in the city of Olympus. Those that enter may petition to relocate to Olympus. If they demonstrate the necessary skills, talents, and dedication for Olympus to approve their application, they may exit through the door leading back to the GC HQand into their new lives, living and working in the beneficial shadow of Mount Olympus.

Residence

Hekate resides on the 13th Floor of the GC HQ (God Complex Headquarters). When Hekate is not at her residence, she is typically at Nykteria, which means she could be anywhere in the world.

The white marble building that houses Nykteria occupies the back half of a central plaza in the City of Olympus. A crossroads forms each corner of the plaza. Roads leading from all points in the God Complex meet in the four roads that line this central square. The square is bordered by tall and evenly-spaced cypress trees on all sides, save for the end of the complex that faces the splendor of the GC HQ, the Mount Olympus for this generation of mortals.

Flanking the entrance to her plaza are twin bronze statues of the Lampadaes, the nymphs that serve Hekate. Each statue is comprised of three veiled nymphs standing back to back. Together, they hold aloft a hammered basin that holds an eternally-burning, magical flame. The statues are set on top of square marble bases. Each marble base contains dozens of arched recesses on each side where petitioners may leave votive offerings or light candles before continuing on their journey.

Past the guardian statues at the entrance, the plaza opens up into a wide green expanse of lawn, open to an unobstructed view of the night sky. Centered before the building is a large circular fountain surrounded by a meandering stone pathway that winds around it in an endless loop. The pathway is bordered by thick plantings of black hellebore and belladonna. Where the path loops back on itself, there are benches for sitting and meditating.

The building itself is unusual. Perfectly square, with thirteen columns on each side, there are no doors through which to enter physically from outside. This is because all entrances to the building are through portals set in various cities around the world. For mortals who live in the city of Olympus proper, the entrance to Nykteria can be found on the ground floor level of the GC HQ. This ensures that all citizens of the city must return to the feet of the gods before gaining entrance to Nykteria.

Personal Information

General Overview: Hekate is an ancient Goddess who finds herself at home in this modern era. As the ruler of liminal spaces, she has always found it fascinating how mortals live caught between their animal selves and their divine natures. Throughout human history, she has been at the crossroads of each moment that has shaped civilization. All is choice, and therefore, all is Hers.

Nicknames: Hekate, also the Latin spelling Hecate. Prefers epithets to her actual name — call her by what she inspires in the dark chamber of your innermost heart. She will answer.

Feast Days: Deipnon — the last day of the Lunar Month, true Dark Moon when there is no moon in the sky. Noumenia — the first day of the Lunar Month, when the first sliver is visible in the sky. January 31, August 13/14/15, November 30 are listed as Feast Days, however, these seem to be of likely modern origin.

Likes: Strong drink — coffee, tea, alcohol. Ethnic food. The hour before dawn. Courageous choices. Mortals, bright fools though they be. Riding her motorcycle high speed down winding forest roads. Moonbathing. Riddles. Chess. Bonfires. Dogs…all dogs.

Dislikes: Bland food or drink. Not a fan of daylight. Idiots with Ouija boards who create messes she has to clean up. Cowards. Being told what to do, not that she can remember the last time someone tried that. Deliberate and dedicated ignorance. Substandard chocolate.

Flaws/Weaknesses

Untouchable: Hekate takes pride in being unwavering in her duty and commitments, even to the point of refusing intimate relationships so she can remain neutral.

Bitch Queen: Hekate has a volatile temper when provoked, made worse by a tongue she likes to keep sharpened.

Skills And Abilities

Immortality. Technically immortal. Immune to the effects of aging, cannot die by any conventional means, and is immune to all known mortal diseases and infections. As a deity, they are able to teleport, or "pop" anywhere in the mortal plane with a few exceptions, the God Floors of the GC HQ are mystically protected, so no teleporting to or in between them, anything on the non-mortal plane, i.e., the Underworld, Atlantis, and the Void, are non-accessible without a guide.

Transmogrification. Hekate can alter her appearance and size to that of any living creature. She will typically appear in her traditional guise as a beautiful, wild-eyed woman but can modify her appearance to suit the needs of the moment. Age is literally a number. She can also appear in her Eidolos form as a spectral version of herself, unbound by the laws of matter.

Babble-Speak. Hekate can communicate in all languages and dialects.

Delving. Hekate can plumb the mind of any mortal or living creature to discover their true intentions and desires.

Kaleokyon (Call the Hound). Hekate can summon a pack of infernal hounds with a thought. These hounds can travel far distances over and through the earth to deliver messages and fetch things as needed.

Kardiodaitos (Heart-Eater). Hekate has the ability to remove a piece of a human’s heart if it is offered in sacrifice to her. If she eats it and accepts the sacrifice, the devotee becomes bonded to her and can call on her for help, but must also do her bidding as an extension of her influence in the world. This vow cannot be broken. If the devotee violates the arrangement or seeks release from their oath, she will come and take the rest of their heart and release them from not just that choice, but all future ones.

Kleidoukhos (Keeper of the Keys). Hekate has the ability to open gates, unlock doors, alter paths, remove obstacles at will, both physical and mental/spiritual. Though a physical key is not necessary, she will often manifest one for those she helps as a talisman, because humans need such trinkets.

Nekromélos (Death Song). Hekate has power over the souls of the dead. Flesh is the vehicle by which mortals exercise choice. Thus, once separated from their mortal coil, their spirits are susceptible to energetic influence. The Nekromélos, or Death Song, is an ancient chant by which Hekate can summon the spirits of the departed that have not crossed the Styx into Hades’ realm. It can also be used to animate corpses to speak, pause a mortal’s passing at the moment of death, and other things too terrifying to name.

Trimorphos (Triple-Formed). Hekate can separate herself into three separate beings to hold council with herself, to surround those who seek to escape, and to dowse past/present/future by looking down all three paths simultaneously. While in her Trimorphos state, each aspect of her controls one of the realms in her keeping. One wields the power of the heavens and storms. One wields the power of the sea and the pull of the moon and tides. One wields the terrible power of the earth and all that is under it. In her Trimorphos state, she is at her most dangerous.

Witch Queen. Hekate is goddess of all forms of magic and enchantments. She will occasionally come when called as part of coven invocations, which keeps her reputation as She Who Shall Not Be Fucked With nicely intact.

Personal Attire

Normal Daily Wear: When not wearing her usual jeans, black boots, silk camisole and black leather jacket, Hekate’s style could best be described as Boho Goth. She wears a necklace of amber and jet beads, silver hoop earrings and slender silver rings on each finger, and is often seen with temporary tattoos of black henna on her inner forearms. When she is on official business, she prefers the pin-up look of tailored suits and vintage shoes, with a strong red lip.

Magical Artifacts/Weapons

Hekate carries the traditional tools of her trade, which may be used for magical purposes:

Knife — to permanently sever and divide on all planes

Rope — to permanently tether and bind on all planes

Keys — manifested at will and as needed

Strophalos — a meditative sigil bearing a serpentine path around a central star

Historical Synopsis

Hekate is an ancient goddess hailing from Greece, Anatolia, and Thrace. She held dominion over the heavens above, the earth below, and the sea between, and was respected by Olympians and Titans alike. Accompanied by her hounds, she traversed paths between the Underworld and the world Above. As Goddess of Crossroads, offerings, and sacrifices were left where roads met and diverged. Goddess of the Night, of Witchcraft, of Necromancy, of the Moon and of Wild Places, of Ghosts, of Liminal Spaces and Thresholds. Bestower and withholder of wealth, prosperity, wisdom, and victory. Associated with: crossroads, choice, keys, serpents, hounds, the dark of the moon, torches, spirits, the dead, all forms of magic.[1]

Introduction written by Melody Wingfield

I see my reputation has preceded me. Good. I am the stuff of legends, after all — ancient and urban. Those things that go bump in the night? It’s true. They’re mine. Death. Magic. Darkness. All the beautiful things forsaken by the light.

Oh, for fuck’s sake, don’t tremble! I hate that. If you’re in trouble, believe me, you’ll know it. Right now, we’re just talking. Sit down. Have a drink. Better? Have another.

I know I’m intimidating, but that’s your fear talking. Fear is nothing but a big shadow cast by a small thing in the mind. That’s why I like darkness. On a moonless night, there are no shadows. And then, what is there to fear?

Everyone comes to my crossroads, carrying everything they own. I don’t mean possessions — I mean power. The things that can’t be taken away from you. The choices you’ve made, including the times you’ve chosen not to choose, are your power. Own your choices, own your power. That’s the basis of all magic.

Would you like to learn?

Then, seek me out in the Dead Hours. Bring me offerings of honey and myrrh. Leave gifts for my hounds and a feast for the dead. Kiss your hand to the moon-scythe at dawn that harvests dreams. Whisper my name as you cross the threshold in your comings and goings. Spoken oaths are light as air, vows fulfilled are stone — so give your promises sparingly and once given, engrave them on your bones.

Call me by any of my hundred names — I will answer. Call me with the silent utterance of need — I will come. And when you arrive at the crossroads, summon the Shade of your courage and choose your path. Do not look back, for all you leave behind you is mine — forever.

Shall we begin?