The Children of Hecate
To the west of Brockaerth, the Children of Hecate are centered around the holy city of Hekatesion situated on a plateau overlooking the river. They dominate the surrounding plains and the forest to the west.
Ruled by Thalestris, the Queen of the Night, they are famous for the all-female Amazon Companions, an elite Hoplite force that also combines missile troops.
Thalestris, the Great Queen of the Night wishes to engage in trade for the mutual benefit of all. The forests to the west of the Great River Acheron contain many animal species that are both plentiful and nutritious. Currently, there is a glut of Giant Edible Dormice, which our hunters catch in nets and which can be exported both alive and also butchered and prepared for the oven.
ReplyDeleteHere is some more information about the Children of Hecate;
ReplyDeleteThe religion of the Children of Hecate is centred around the goddess Hecate, the Keres (female death-spirits drawn to battlefields), the Moirai (Fates) and the Erinyes (Furies). The goddess Nyx (Night) and the god Thanatos (Death) are also revered. The priestesses of Hecate are feared as witches and magic users and often accompany the armies of the Queen of the Night into battle. It is rumoured that the priestesses can raise the dead to fight as skeleton warriors.
The origins of the Children of Hecate lie in an age of tribal migrations, and their earliest myths tell of a great famine that caused them to leave their villages in the mountains of the far south. A wise woman, Myrine dreamt that an unknown being came to her and told her to travel north to find the legendary place where she, later identified as the goddess Hecate, was born. Along the way, the tribes fought and conquered other tribes. They learnt to capture, train, breed and ride horses and raise and keep sheep and cattle. Eventually, they found the ancient black rocky plateau which was the birthplace of the goddess, who appeared at the full moon to the assembled tribes and told them that henceforth they would be her children and live under her protection for as long as the daughters of Myrine were their Queen. From that time, they have remained true to the goddess and have only had female rulers.
The rocky plateau is now the site of the acropolis of the city of Hekatesion, where the first shrine of the goddess was built for her worship.
Nowadays the land surrounding the city of Hekatesion is named Myrine, in honour of the first Queen of the Night.